Top Tips for Killer SEO Blog Posts

Study details below…

1. Catchy Title / Informative Subtitle with the same keywords

•  Create a catchy title that is concise and memorable.
•  Include keywords that have 10 million+ web results (with Google in Firefox)
•  Keep title on one line, so featured image will align on pages that show the post titles.
•  Craft a subtitle at the top of your post, at the top of your post content.
•  Subtitles should tell What & How or Where. Set subtitles to H2 or H3 heading.
•  Use same key words in the title and subtitle.
Example:
Title:  How to Shoot Macro Still Life Photos
H2 or H3 Subtitle:  Unlock the secrets of macro still life photography

Study:  8 tips on how to craft a blog post title – People will come back to your site if you provide helpful, interesting, even instructional information. Show your knowledge and skills.

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2. Well written content about your process

•  At least 8+ sentences of well written, informative content
•  Repeat the same keywords (from title & subtitle) at least twice.
•  Explain your process to sell your skills to potential clients. This will set you apart!
•  List location, models, conditions, lighting and camera equipment, edits.
•  List a few camera settings, but not all metadata for each image.
•  Explain who influenced or critiqued your work and how it affected your outcome.
•  Be a name dropper! In each post, add a linkback to a website you admire that ranks high with your keywords.  (see below)

Case Study:  Name dropping and linkbacks pay off! 
It helps to drop a few names in your content and link to websites that get a lot of hits for a given topic. For example, if you link back to Dave Black and Caryn Esplin’s websites about light painting, it will build your own SEO. Since the spiders go to our sites a lot for this genre, linking to our sites will help get your posts and pages noticed too. of the images are from my website or my students’ websites! Dave wondered why I had so many images on his Google search. It is because we mention his name and link to him in our blog posts. Many students have told me on other subjects they also get a lot of traffic coming from people who originated on my site. So linking back and forth to each other, definitely helps build your audience and will improve your Google Analytics.

Check out:  Anatomy of an Effective Blog Post

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3. Quality, Sized, Copyrighted Images

•  Jpeg filenames: Your name first, then keywords:  CarynEsplin-Sunrise-Tetons-Scwabacher.jpg
•  Watermark all images to help protect your copyright
•  3 – 12 quality images per post. Include originals as thumbnails only with composites
•  Change default Media Settings so Large images are 625 x 625 pixels.
•  Size the short side of all images to 1080 px.
•  Clickable images for grading purposes    (Don’t use “no-right-click” until after this class)
•  Alt Tags: Your name, main and secondary key words

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4. Metadata Keywords

•  Be sure you have the “All-in-one-SEO-Pack” plugin installed and activated
•  Scroll down below the post and find three fields to add more keywords
•  Follow the tips to fill all three fields:

1. Copy and paste the title
2. Copy and paste the subtitle for description
3. Copy and paste the alt tag keywords, and add more if desired. This is a good place to add a longer list of main and secondary keywords

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5. Total Keyword Repetitions

Repeat keywords at least 13 times in a blog post!
A blog post with only 3 images should have 13 keyword repetitions

• 3x = each jpeg filename
• 3x = each jpeg Alt tag
• 7x = in Post Content:  title – subtitle – 2x in content – 3X in Meta lines:  “All-in-One SEO Pack”