If you blog, you’re probably interested in getting more readers. Ever wonder what search terms are most commonly used to find more info about your area of expertise? I read an interesting article about tweaking blog posts to get higher Google search result placement on ProBlogger. Basically, you can use Google’s Keyword Search Tool to find you which words are being used to find websites and blogs like yours. By tweaking your posts slightly to use most-used search terms, you can increase traffic because your website will come up higher in the list of search results in Google.
Using my own blog as an example, I searched for “crochet” and got these results:
So I learned people are searching for crochet patterns, versus crochet tutorials or crochet directions. I could tweak a tutorial title or content, for example, to include “pattern” to get higher search result placement. Looking further down the list, “free” patterns and “baby” patterns and “how to crochet” are also common search terms for crochet. Do I have something to offer in these areas that would attract new readers? I’m reminded looking at this list that I never wrote a post about my new nephew’s teddy bear hat project.
You can also use the Google Analytics tool to see what keywords brought people to your blog. (If you’re not using Google Analytics, visit this link if you’d like to learn more.
Also, in the Blogger dashboard under Stats>Traffic Sources, you can view the keywords used to find your site:
There is a fine line between using keywords to dictate your content versus to focus and refine it. If I only followed a keyword strategy to create content, whether I was interested in a certain subject or not, it would backfire. But if I use Google Keyword Search and other tools available, to discover which topics my audience is interested in and choose the words that get them to my blog, I can increase readership.
Thank you Marti! This is extremely helpful. I appreciate you sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou can also go deeper with Google ... If you find a keyword that you like then you can re-enter it into the tool to find other related keywords. For example, you can enter "baby crochet" and then get related keywords and intersperse them appropriately throughout your article and / or titles.
ReplyDeleteYou can also do something similar in a simpler click-through format using Google's "wonder wheel".
Thanks CrochetBlogger! I will check out the wonder wheel, too!
ReplyDeleteMartha, I've come across a few crocheters (is that the right term?) in the last few weeks, both offline and online - strange eh? And stranger that I came to this post while searching for advice on tweaking posts to use the most popular terms. You're right that you don't have to compromise your content in order to improve your search rankings - a little gentle tweaking is all it needs. I've been doing this for the last few weeks and I'm seeing a steady increase in traffic - nothing amazing but a definite improvement. Good luck with your needles!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! I've often glanced at the keywords and Google search section of my blog, but really haven't paid much attention to it. I'm going to go have a look right now!
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