Previously, we have learned about blog optimization through various methods. This time, I'd like to reiterate what we have learned and summarize it in a simpler guide. If you are a beginner, this article will help you to start your own Blogger website optimization.
Before you continue reading this article, I'd like to make sure that you are familiar with Google Search Console. You can read this article about indexing: How to Index Blogger Post Using Google Search Console Tool - Basic Search Engine Optimization.
Once you have learned how to index your blog, now let's learn how to optimize it!
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| Illustration of website performance. |
The algorithm that determine your website's ranking is always changing every month. Google will always update its core so that the search engine can provide better result. If your website provide relevant information, your chance to have a higher ranking will increase.
However, having relevant information alone will not be sufficient to compete with other websites. You need to do better and more! Thus, you need to optimize your blog for Google Search engine.
Read also: My Essay on The Reality of Blogspot and AdSense Monetization
Provide Descriptive Information
First, you need to optimize your content. To do that, you will need to create an accurate title. A good title is very important. In fact, nowadays, a lot of people tend to only read the title and not the article itself. It is a bad habit, however it goes to show that good title will drive traffic into your website.
Good title should be accurate, interesting, not too short and not too long.
Not just title optimization, you need to optimize your articles as well. Be descriptive with your articles. A good article does not have to be too long. A short article, around 600-800 words, that can describe a detailed information will be the most ideal.
Remember the 5W + 1H principle to create a descriptive article.
Then, provide a good and clear distinction between topics. Discussing multiple unrelated topics in one article will cause your readers to feel confused. Such article is usually shallow, that's why you should avoid making listicle. The most ideal article should only focus on one topic and perhaps break it down into several sub-topics.
Use Labels in Blogger to classify topics. Use Headers or bullets for sub-topics within an article.
Provide Complete Information
A website that only serves shallow information will not do well in Google Search. You can not expect to gain organic visitors if your website only serve useless articles. Again, being descriptive is the key.
Google Search engine will be able to understand your contents if you have good description over your articles. You should always know what you are writing. If both engine and human can read it, then it is an excellent article.
Do not forget to provide a search description in your articles. In Blogger it is located on the right side bar in the text editor. Search description is not your title, it should be a short sentence (less than 150 characters) which can describe the whole article. In my blog, you can read the search description below the title.
Do you want to have a Blogger theme that can display search description under the title? Buy Fletro Pro!
Topic Adjustment
We all know that a consistent update is necessary in order to have good blog performance. Having a schedule will help your website to grow better. However, consistent update schedule is not enough!
You also have to adjust the topic of your content based on the seasonal trend. The law of supply and demand also applies to website traffic. When the trend is shifting, you need to adapt.
For example, it is almost Christmas. You should try to incorporate the season into your website's content. Provide special deals or events based on the season. Another example, Google have recently released the Pixle 6 and it becomes a trending topic. If you buy the phone, you can also try to chime in with your own opinions.
Following the short trend is always the best way to keep your blog fresh. However, do not forget to also create articles that can stay relevant for a long time. The long term trend is as important as the short ones.
Update Your Website
Websites are always changing. The relevancy of your old articles will be decreasing. Sometimes, it is a good idea to update your old articles so that it can stay relevant. Adding new information in your old article is not bad idea.
For example, the method of AdSense registration from Blogger has changed. If your tutorial article is still referencing information from 2019, there is a good chance that your tutorial is no longer true. Instead of letting it rot, update the tutorial!
Not just the content, you also need to update the interface of your blog. If you are still using the old themes, you may need to change it into the modern ones. Make sure that your blog is mobile friendly and load fast. Custom theme such as Fletro Pro, LinkMagz or Fiksioner is recommendable.
Use Texts
Google Search is heavily reliant on keywords to provide relevant results. If you want to be visible on Google Search, then obviously you need to provide texts with relevant keywords.
Pictures and videos are essential to enhance the quality of your articles. However, Google engine will have a harder to to read pictures and videos. If you want to have an optimized blog, then you should rely on texts. Pictures and videos are complementary.
For example, if you are using Blogger as an online store, you may use a lot of pictures to show your products. Even then, you will need to provide context to those pictures.
You can further optimize your blog by adding text to your pictures and videos. For pictures, add caption, alt text, and title text. The text should be describing the picture. If you put a picture of a cat, then describe the cat in the caption and alt text. If you display a picture of person, then describe how the person looks like and what he is doing.
For video, unfortunately Blogger does not have a caption feature. However, it is always better to describe the content of the video inside of your article.
Get Referrals
You are probably familiar with the term of backlinks. However, while backlink is certainly useful, it is often misunderstood by beginner bloggers. Please remember that not all links are equals. Random links on random websites will not be as powerful as having listed on reputable websites.
Spamming links is a bad bad referrals strategy. Google is getting smarter when it comes to detecting spam. A strong backlink occurs naturally. You do not ask for a backlink. People will naturally use your website as source material if it serves great contents.
Moreover, branding can be more powerful than an just active links. Google has been hinting that getting mentioned in a reputable news website will be great for your blog visibility.
Use Professional Service
If you have the resources, and want to compete commercially, you will definitely need a professional help. They will be able to spot the weakness of your blog and provide various solutions.
Of course, you will have to pay considerable amount of money to hire a SEO expert. After all, search engine is becoming even more competitive than ever. Make sure the person that you hire is actually legit. Too many scammers and black hat SEOs out there, so be careful.
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