Blogging Tips

Anyone can target keywords, but there is a lot more to it than that. If you write a blog on laptops, do you want people visiting who are seeking information on parenting? Probably not. Sure, it’s a page view. But it isn’t a quality page view, and it could result in a bad bounce rate (or the percentage of people who visit your site, only to bounce right back out).

Follow these steps to ensure you are targeting the right keywords for your blog.

List Your Blog’s Appropriate Keywords

First off, you need to decide what keywords do fit. This can be a nice master list to consult when you’re writing a blog post. Do a little keyword research, either through a keyword research program or Web sites.

I like the Google Adwords Keyword Tool, which includes the ability to scan your blog and suggest keywords. You can also see which terms on your site have the most Adwords competition and search volume.

Examine Current Inappropriate Keywords

You should look at your site’s statistics to examine the keyword phrases people are using to get there.

If you see phrases that have nothing to do with your site’s topics, figure out which article is pulling people and revise the title and the targeted keyword phrase. If you find keywords that are a good fit, look for alternative keyword phrases or similar subjects that fit for future posts.

If you see a particular keyword phrase is driving a lot of traffic to your site or a particular post, edit that post to include more internal links. If this is a popular landing page, you want to give people a reason to stay.

Look for Indirect Keyword Phrases

This can be a little trickier, but it isn’t always bad to get traffic from a keyword phrase that isn’t the precise topic you cover. You may want to leave it alone if it’s working.

What you should consider first is whether the people seeking that information would also be interested in your information. If you run a blog that appeals to teens but is about MTV, you could be introducing readers to your blog even if they found you while searching for information on MySpace.

Why Keywords are Important

You want your blog read by people who are interested. You want people who will visit again, and who will comment and link to it. You might get a quick hit out of a popular phrase that isn’t related, but those won’t be quality visits.