I have been blogging now for just about a year. Over that time, I have heard much said about search engine optimization (SEO). So bloggers pay very close attention to all the ins and outs of SEO while I have heard people with 30-40,000 blog hits per month say they never worry about it. (One trainer said, “Just write consistently and the SEO will take care of itself!)

I do consider the SEO aspects of my blog. I’m kinda a “middle of the road” SEO guy. As a result I have come up with what I think are the five key principles of SEO.

1. You do need to consider the titles of your blog posts. Your titles are what the search engines look for first when considering how to rank your content. If you are not using long-tail key words to identify the people you are trying to reach, your posts may never get read.

2. Don’t let your blog get spammy by repeating your key words/phrases too many times or in ways that don’t make sense. The spiders these days are pretty smart and understand how marketers try to get rankings for posts that are not really what they claim to be. Using your key word/phrase too many times alerts the spiders to spammy sales letters rather than real, valuable content. These sites rarely get a high ranking.

3. Only seek to advance one keyword phrase in each post. You can write new posts everyday that deal with other key words/phrases as well. Really good bloggers work hard to not confuse the spiders or their readers with too broad a topic in each post.

4. Think about dominating 5 keywords/phrases that really tell the story of your business while providing you a non-stop pipeline of new customers. You cannot really be all things to all people. Specialize on the things that are going to make you the thought leader in your niche!

5. Be consistent in the production of your content. Many are the bloggers whose blogs never achieve a good SEO ranking, not because they don’t write well, but because they don’t write enough.

For me, SEO sounds a lot harder than it really is. Just be thoughtful, decide what it is you are going to write about, and make sure you keep writing. With this philosophy and the five keys principles of SEO, your blog is sure to bring you much success and your clients much new and valuable knowledge!

Talk more later ….