As we so often like to say, we believe that blogging is still the best all-around method of 
promoting your business online. There is value in all of the various forms of Internet marketing, but fundamentally, your blog is your main form of outreach. Most of your Internet ad strategies are going to revolve around getting people to look at your website, and your blog is a big part of that.
However, a poorly-optimized blog is an under-performing blog. There are numerous blog optimization tips out there which can help you increase its performance, so we thought we'd bring together a few of our favorites, with an eye towards new strategies that have been developed recently.
Read on to see how to make a good blog better with these blog optimization tips!
Great Blog Optimization Tips For Better SEO
• Vary up your keywords. Google's recent "Penguin" updates have made some big changes to the industry, especially changing how we think about keywords. The old standard of having specific keywords at a 1-2% rate is becoming depreciated. Look instead to having several variations on the same basic keyword ideas, which Google sees as being more legitimate.
• Use metadata for content, not keyword-stuffing. The metadata in your website - including your site map and all the meta-tags within your HTML - should focus on providing extra content. Keep descriptions useful, human-readable, and to the point. Google's new Rich Snippets are especially helpful, since they add information about you to web searches relating to your site. And speaking of metadata...
• Sitemaps still work. A sitemap is an XML file that sits in your website's root directory and lists all the pages on it. These are invaluable for helping to ensure search spiders properly index all of your website, and should be updated frequently to reflect new changes to your content. It's a simple and easy way to keep your indexing fresh.
• Make social sharing easy. This may be obvious, but social media continues to grow in size and influence. Every piece of content you post, from blogs to videos, should have a plethora of instant sharing options that encourage people to spread your message.
• Leverage those Calls-to-Action. CTAs are one of the best ways of turning visitors into leads, by convincing them to trade personal information for more content, demonstrations, free consultations, or other services. Put CTA buttons on your blogs, and try to keep them thematically linked so they seem relevant to the blog's content. A CMS suite such as Hubspot can be highly effective for finding good content/CTA matches.
• Tag all your posts. As your blog and other types of content expand, they should be
properly tagged and categorized for easy browsing by your visitors. Generally speaking, you should make it as easy as possible for people to continue reading pages on your site, and good categorization is a major part of this. It also helps convey the idea that your website is an authority worth investigating.
• Make your website mobile-friendly. Most mobile browsers on tablets and smartphones have limited bandwidth and cannot handle "fancy" website elements like Flash. Optimize your blog for speed and efficiency. Compress your images, don't rely on plugins, and make sure the layout works well on mobile browsers. Consider having a separate mobile version of the website if this is impractical. With mobile Internet access continuing to grow, it's a market that you cannot afford to drive away with poor optimization.
One of the most important keys to blogging success is to always keep up with the latest blog optimization tips. The SEO industry is changing constantly, and you need to stay on top of it if you want to ensure your Internet marketing efforts are a success.
Have you heard any good new blogging tips lately? Let us know about the latest buzz in our forum!
