Should you write your blog posts for traffic or visitors?
It’s safe to say that SEO is important, but how important is it to put all your time, money, and effort in learning all the tricks and techniques? There’s no doubt that the SEO industry is booming from all published books, blogs, and even start-ups built for SEO services.
If you are new to SEO…my advice is to just start blogging and don’t even worry about SEO.
You’ll spend way too money buying seo tools and software online because it promises you the world for only $39.99 a month!
Going back to the question….Should you write for SEO or for your readers? My answer is Yes!
- SEO – I believe every blogger should optimize their posts for SEO but it really shouldn’t be your most important focus. Many successful bloggeers online got where they’re at now not because of Google, but because of their loyal readers.
- Readers – Your readers are the most important factor to your blog success. It’s a pretty simple equation: no readers = no bueno
Focus On Readers
The struggle between the two is that you’re trying to get your blog in the SERPs by focusing too much on SEO, you’ll starting losing connection with your readers. Your readers like your blog for many reasons:
- They what you write about and how you write it.
- You write personal posts that show your readers that you’re an actual person
So what does this all mean and how can you apply this to your next blog post?
Here’s what you do….
Apply these simple on-page SEO tips for your blog:
- Title – Add the keyword into your blog title but don’t over do it.
- Permalinks – If you have your blog setup on WordPress, you can easily change your permalink so that your link location contains those keywords that you used in your title.
- Internal links – Cross reference other posts using related keywords. This helps you rank higher in the SERPs for your posts
There are TONs of other seo strategies that I can show you but that’s not what this post was written for. Follow these simple seo steps and focus on your readers by writing great content and eye-catching headlines!
photo by: .ygor
Related posts:
- Blog Traffic – Getting 0 To 200,000 Visitors From 8 Blogging Lessons
- 7 Tips For Writing Kick Ass Blog Posts
- Your No Fluff Guide To Better Title Tag Optimization
- 3 Secrets To Getting Real Traffic To Your Site…Revealed!!!
- Your Traffic Stats Don’t Matter, Unless…….
JackNguyen.com Runs On The Thesis Theme!
Thesis is the search engine optimized Wordpress theme for serious bloggers and for those without PHP or any other coding background.
For advance users, Thesis has amazing customization possibilities via Thesis hooks, design options, you can use the template over and over again without having it look like the same site. With the Developer's License you can run multiple blogs on Thesis.
Loading ...
{ 24 comments }
Twitter: FamousBloggers
March 13, 2010 at 7:35 pm
All SEO experts recommend that you write for your readers, and SEO will come alone!
By the way, I don’t find the conflict between writing for readers and SEO yet! I don’t understand it, all my posts are for readers but it’s also SEO optimized, what’s the problem?
I think if the post or article is well written in interesting way for readers, no body will ever complain for been well seo optimized, even all seo advices today is about not to stuff your content and keywords in a crazy way!
I see the 3 points you have mentioned pretty cool, and you can play with them in a good way to enhance your rank and also lead your readers to other informative related posts to keep them on the page for longer time, so the key here is to have useful content so yu can really keep them enjoying the stay on your blog!
You don’t need to spend anything on SEO, specially at the beginning of your blogging life, I suggest this come latter after reading more seo articles here and there so you will know what exactly you are paying for!
Hesham @ FamousBloggers´s last blog ..Top 10 SEO and Marketing Tips from MMO Social Network
Twitter: jacknguyencom
March 14, 2010 at 12:16 am
Great comment Hesham! Many people use seo tools that tell them their post isn’t 100% optimized, and they’re forced to change their post by adding more keywords in their title, body, etc.
I myself love to do both, because I believe you can do both without sacrificing your content for your readers.
Everything you can possibly learn about seo can be found online through blogs, forums, etc. Do a little digging and you’ll be set.
Jack Nguyen´s last blog ..5 Ways To Dramatically Increase Your Alexa Ranking
Twitter: FamousBloggers
March 14, 2010 at 7:15 pm
You know?! Most of the times I actually had to remove keywords more than adding more keywords
I think I am practicing the SEO much better than before!
mmm, there a word need to be changed on my comment above “right” to be “write”
I am so tired!
Hesham @ FamousBloggers´s last blog ..ComLuv new Theme, Traffic and more Exposure for CommentLuv Enabled Blogs
Twitter: jacknguyencom
March 14, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Yeah, depending on the word count, sometimes we don’t realize we’re using so many keywords in their blog post.
What mispelling Hesham?
Jack Nguyen´s last blog ..Alltop News Feed – Submit Your Blog Now!
Twitter: BuildThatListCo
March 13, 2010 at 8:21 pm
You got it exactly right! I focus on my readers, but always make sure that I drop a couple of nicely placed keywords for the search engine traffic. I think that the title tags are one of the strongest SEO factors you can have in a blog post.
Tom@Best Affiliate Products´s last blog ..Finding the Perfect Temperature For Your Mailing List
Twitter: jacknguyencom
March 14, 2010 at 12:21 am
I agree Tom, your title tag is important in more than one way. It’s important to have your keywords in your title early because that’s what’s getting indexed when someone is searching that keyword term in Google, etc.
Your title tag is also the first thing your readers sees. It makes them decide whether they want to click that link to continue reading, or not. So you need to spend some time to write catchy titles to draw readers to your blog post.
Jack Nguyen´s last blog ..Affiliate Marketing + Article Directory = Rejection?
3 solid and simple WordPress SEO tips Jack. Good post!
Marko Saric´s last blog ..Reader comment: counting keyword density and worrying about SERP’s
Twitter: jacknguyencom
March 14, 2010 at 1:13 am
Thanks Marko! Very simple but powerful SEO tips!
Hello Jack, nice blog you have there and your post are really great too! thanks for sharing your ideas and knowledge. I agree 100% that we bloggers must write for our readers not for Search Engines
Twitter: jacknguyencom
March 14, 2010 at 10:29 am
Right! but don’t take SEO totally out of the picture. You can do both!
Jack Nguyen´s last blog ..5 Ways To Dramatically Increase Your Alexa Ranking
Twitter: tnsblog
March 14, 2010 at 10:55 am
first of all thanks for the tips jack and secondly i don’t optimize my site even 1% for SEO. i hate seo but love social media.
Though Social Media proven be very effective for my Blog.:)
Dev | Technshare´s last blog ..SEO – Your Basic Fundamentals
Twitter: jacknguyencom
March 14, 2010 at 2:50 pm
Yea social media is a must! Depending on your niche, SEO plays a big part in traffic and works well for most blogs. At the end it’s all about your readers though!
Jack Nguyen´s last blog ..Affiliate Marketing + Article Directory = Rejection?
Twitter: experimently
March 14, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Social media, are we talking Facebook and Twitter here or Digg and stumbleupon and so on? I have only tried twitter. I’ll mess around with the rest sometime soon though, see what it gives. Good thing it’s part of the stuff I want to experiment with, or I’d just focus on the content and see what it would bring.
Experimently´s last blog ..Experimently gives the finger to online renting
Twitter: jacknguyencom
March 14, 2010 at 10:35 pm
You’re on the right track, all these social media sites already have the traffic. Your job is to be consistent and participate in a few handful of social media sites.
A good tip is to always fill your account profile as mush as possible to show users your an actual person.
For Twitter, find a high profile public figure in your industry and see who’s following that person. For instance, if you’re blog is about blogging tips, go check out Problogger’s Twitter account and see who’s following him.
Start following these people but be careful not to over do it, because you’ll have your account suspended. What you’re doing is you’re basically introducing yourself and your site info in your profile to others with the same interest as you. These users will read your profile and hopefully click on your link to your site!
Now if you want to kill two birds with one stone, go to my past post about Retweeting a stumbled link to your Twitter followers here:
http://www.jacknguyen.com/how-to-tweet-your-stumbled-link-and-promote-it-easily/
Hope this help!
Jack Nguyen´s last blog ..7 Blogging Mistakes You Can Avoid Right Now!
I think that it would be best if you write for your readers since they may come abck if you did your job well.
Paul@Palabuzz´s last blog ..Grace Lee has an accident in Korea
Twitter: jacknguyencom
March 14, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Yup Paul – There are thousands of blogs out there sharing the same content. The only way to stick out from the rest is to write for your readers in a way that differentiates yourself from other bloggers.
Jack Nguyen´s last blog ..4 Wordpress Plugins To Help Moderate Comments
You are right Jack you will find the same content everywhere related to that topic but still you need to make it unique so that there will be many visitors that is the traffic which gives you resources and makes your blog to get rank in google.
Twitter: jacknguyencom
March 15, 2010 at 8:55 am
That’s right Nimmy – Adding your own personal twist with your own experiences is a great way to differentiate yourself from the others.
Jack Nguyen´s last blog ..Affiliate Marketing + Article Directory = Rejection?
I focus on the readers for the most part because I’ve discovered that when I have great content, readers are more likely to link to it. Also, they’ll keep coming back for more.
Twitter: jacknguyencom
March 16, 2010 at 11:55 am
You hit it right on the nail Ria!
Jack Nguyen´s last blog ..The Art of Smart Commenting…For Dummies.
One should always aim at writing for the users , if users find it good they will become loyal to it.
Twitter: jacknguyencom
March 24, 2010 at 9:23 am
Agree, but it’s good to keep that a good balance of both.
Jack Nguyen´s last blog ..The Pareto 20 80 Principle And How To Apply It To Blogging
I think it really comes to pulling in traffic using SEO, gaining that top ranking so people can find you but once they get onto your website you should write as if you’re talking directly to the reader.
I love the power of ‘you’ whenever I write. If you can keep the topic of the post directed at the reader, they will be pulled into the content.
Instead of using specific copy such as “wouldn’t you love to be sitting on a desert beach with a coconut drink and your computer” you should just keep it simple with “wouldn’t you love to relax”.
The reasoning behind this is that people think of their own ideal image. When you write a specific thing, you take the reader out of the element because you’re setting it in concrete.
It’s better to keep it a little broad while talking to your reader so they can fill in the blanks with their imagination. That’s power.
Murlu@Make Money Online´s last blog ..How To Make Money Online With ArticleMe
Twitter: jacknguyencom
May 3, 2010 at 9:08 am
You’ve summed it up well Murlo! I agree with you that optimizing your both via seo to attract readers is a great way to get the ball rolling for your blog. Thanks for commenting!
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 1 trackback }