"How to use basic SEO on your blog and why you should"

SEO - you will or will not have heard of it and do or do not understand it, it is important in some ways but not so important that you should get obsessive over it, just getting some simple basics in place and learning as you along by experience, what works and doesn't work for you (your blog) is enough.

Don't worry if you have already started your blog, you can implement and change things with blogger and from here on you will have the added benefit of the basics being considered with each post you do.

If you have yet to start your blog, you have the opportunity of considering the added benefits of this basic SEO knowledge to make a better choice from day one.

So, what is SEO and why does it matter for your blog(s)?

Search Engine Optimisation. In short, optimising for search engine results.

Some could say it's "gaming" the SE's (search engines) to improve results and of course there are good and bad sides, tactics, methods. Obviously we are only doing good, nothing to be gained long term from bad tactics.

Yet as there are so many different aspects to SEO I want to just focus on the very basic few every blogger should implement from the start.

Keywords, one of the most important main aspects to SEO anyway, nevertheless the basics have to be understood and used.

Consider a search engine and how they give you the information you search for, whatever search engine you use, you will have to enter one thing 100% of the time... that is "words" and it's ONLY words that search engines have to work with for a searcher, after all you have to write something.

These words, or "search terms" like questions are known as "keywords" to those who use SEO knowledge in any way. Keywords matter.

What I see some people get wrong is the way they look at the keywords and how they then use them, putting to much importance on the actual keywords then overusing them when they write, "keyword stuffing" as the worse cases are known as.

Far better to look at your keyword(s) as a theme... then use it as a theme.

Every niche, topic could be broken down to one or two keywords, and these will be the hardest to get seo results for, for example "blogger" .. how many sub themes and therefore keywords under that?!

Google "blogger" without "" and you see what you would be up against if you were to target that main keyword theme, at this time of writing it is 153,000,000 competing sites!.

But it's not often anyone just types one word into the SE's search box, more likely a question.

Which is why people use what they call "long tail" keyword phrases, these are several word phrases relating to the overall main top keyword so in this example, even a question is a long tail search term.

Maybe they would have theme based on the keywords : "how to use blogger, blogspot, tips" ... at this time 3,220.000 !!  *cough.I know, just used this very blogs link with that phrase as the example, with admittedly a bad phrase to compete with, but it will make sense soon enough why, and if the links are also keyworded like that, it is an SEO benefit, not that I rank anywhere for it...for now!

A better keyword phrase I could link this blog to is "how to use blogger" and at this time it's 58,100,000, so alot bigger, a wee bit to big and I rank nowhere with it!

But this real search (click it) "blogger made simple" shows 13,100,000, at this time, alot less than the last one and I come second with this blog, and forth with my main personal blog which is showing a post about this blog. (at this time)

But, less people competing also means it's likely less people are searching with that phrase too.

And... that's ok, because over time keywords change, variations arise, phrases people search for change, SE's are also getting better with results over times, so it benefits you to use several variations of the theme.

Note I didn't say strictly the keyword itself, just the theme, this is for a reason.

A huge portion of searches, as google have said, have not been used before, so people are using very different search terms and probably using the search box in different ways too.

Basic SEO changes start with the reader experience, not the machine.

REO, then SEO - Write for the reader first, machine second.

The truth is you are really writing for the user, reader first, then the search engines. Get the first right the second works itself, while following some basic SEO knowledge while you go along will help the second improve.

REO? I just made it up, (you heard it here first) but what do I mean by it anyway?

Reader Experience Optimisation.

Lets face it, its readers that matter, even if you are with the intent of monetising your blog or other such "gains" and many will say crap blogs make money and such, yes they do, but not forever, one google slap to the way they rank you and its gone...

Anyway, the point is, if your blog content is reasonable and people read it, it's showing use, (crappy blogs dont) so the main and most important thing in my opinion is to give the reader what they want, strive to improve their experience first, giving them better content, adding to their experience however you can, while keeping it all related to your main theme, and that will show the SE's your blog matters for that theme and therefore those searching within it.

If this post is making some sense to you, and you are learning something about "basic SEO and why your blog needs it" you may well come back for another read.

The other thing is if the readers like it, they will be more likely to share it, sending you new readers, more traffic in other words, this will continue depending on the experience you give the new readers, impress them too, impress them first.

Not every reader is equal, which means you won't please everyone, but strive to continually improve what works.

Not all traffic is equal, which means SE's need to learn from your blog what traffic you want, and what your theme is, which is why you write for them second, and they go by the keywords you target among other things, bear in mind there is no benefit to overdoing it either, it can backfire.

Basic SEO is to use your theme "words" where possible, where it fits in, adding other various themed words will also benefit simply because you will never know what search terms some people find your blog with, more so if, as google already said, many searches are new phrases...

Who knows when you will hit the right sentence that someone just types into the search box one day, that frustrated person typing in "how do I add this damn feedburner to my blogger blog" while pulling their hair out.

I wrote this post for you, the reader, but I also use the basic SEO I write about within the post, keeping to the overall theme of blogger for the new user, blogger made simple.

I wrote of the need to have a basic understanding of SEO and why it matters for your blog, while also doing some it in this blog post itself, helping my SEO for the main overall theme of blogger-made-easy, the blog where blogspot users get the basics, and leading by example, doing what I say.

SEO matters, but when overdone it doesn't.

Write better for the reader, they are the ones you want sharing you content, this only leads to the SE's giving it more "weight" anyway, thus ranking you higher over time because what you share is relevant, real, and on topic, if lucky, some readers will even link to your content, giving you the all important backlinks with keywords, something SE's like, more so when "anchored"... that is the links are written as a keyword phrase, like the ones I shared above.

Basic SEO, in short, to be done from the start, great relevant content which is keyword focused, and make your content easily shareable, easy to link to.