Blogging & Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tips

Many of us know how important it is to blog in order to grow our business.  Unfortunately, many of us don't know how to blog in a manner that would generate effective and fruitful results.  I know I'm no expert on the topic!

I decide to do some research on how to blog in order to attract more search engine traffic to my business.  Coming across many useful and insightful information, I decided to summarize them in my own words and present them in this blog.  I have found the following tips that I would like to share with all my fellow real estate agents and home stagers:

• Use keywords that target specific topics/audience vs. a more general high traffic keyword.  While the targeted keyword does results in lower traffic to your blog than a general keyword, the targeted keyword generates more clients and sales.
• Set up your blog in a way that allows you to repeat the keywords that you want to target over and over again to index yourself in a better ranking.   
• Check your website statistics to note when you get 'spidered' the most!  Make sure that you then blog on the anniversary of that period to increase the number of spider visits.
• Your blog posts are like food to the spiders crawling the world wide web to index your site.  So the more you post, the more spider visits your site will get, resulting in a better ranking on Google.
• Establish yourself as a guru in your area of experties by blogging about what you know how to do best! 
• Google places little value over meta tags used on your website and will not use them to better your ranking.  Blogging, on the other hand, will give you better rankings and set you ahead of others.  As long as the title, the keywords in your content, and tags are consistent, Google will raise you to the top of the search engines.
• Let people know about your blog!  Through other networking websites, direct your friends and followers to your blog.
• Leave comments on other people's blogs because it will bring attention to you as well and it gives you more chances to share your expertise.
• Insert images whenever you can - and name them with keywords
• Don't blog just for the heck of it.  Don't post material and topics that you know are not a source of interest to your target market just for the sake of blogging.  You will end up hurting your reputation and readers will stop paying your blog a visit.  Remember that your blog can be the first impression your business leaves on potential customers/readers.  Make it count by posting what is really interesting and relevant.   
• Don't be concerned with how many readers you have or how many comments you get on your blog posts.  Don't be discouraged if they are low in number.  Keep blogging away to establish your credentials and your business voice in the industry and on the web; and to pave the roads to your websites so that search engines would find you! 

It seems that these days, blogging is like waving a flag and saying "I exist!  I am here for you to find me" to search engines.  If you don't do it, and do it properly, then you will get buried under millions and millions of sites out there!  So, happy blogging :)

Credits: http://websearch.about.com/od/keywordsandphrases/a/blogseo.htm

http://businessbloggingconsultants.com/2009/09/09/meta-tags--and-why-blogs-are-better-than-websites.aspx

 Lina Labib ~Illinois Home Stager (Chicago & Chicago Land Area) ~ Deluxe Home Staging ~ 224-217-5067 ~ Lina@deluxehomestaging.com ~www.Deluxestaging.com