Useful beginner SEO tips to help maximise your blog 

Starting off as a first time blogger can be a bit of a minefield. Firstly you have to select the platform you want to create your blog on, choose a domain and then link the URL to your site; which isn’t particularly easy if you’re a beginner or don’t have anyone at hand to help. Once your blog is ready to go, all the hard work begins and you can start sharing content with your readers and complete the more complex tasks behind the scenes. Being a blogger can be very rewarding as it opens up a new door into the industry and allows you to create an online profile which can attract collaborations from some big name brands.  

I’ve been blogging for a long time now, so many of the more complex tasks which need carrying out are second nature to me; but this hasn’t always been a case. Like every other blogger I was a beginner once and the thought of SEO was pretty daunting. I wouldn’t like to think that someone would be put off the thought of creating a blog, because the SEO side of blogging overwhelms them. I know what it feels like to be a first time blogger and over the years I have picked up some useful SEO knowledge which has come in very handy and the methods aren’t difficult to carry out.  

If you’re thinking of starting up your own blog or you’re not very confident with the processes, then I’ve teamed up with SEO agency Click Consult, to share some useful tips I feel can help maximise a new website. 

Don’t just sit there, pitch your work to brands

Another smart way to maximize your blog is by pitching to different clients. There are various strategies a blogger can use to pitch and land a successful deal. Foremost, it would help if you began by evaluating yourself to know whether you are ready. Start by researching to identify the right marketing contact and go for it. You should also pitch to brands that fit your blog naturally if you want to sustain the contract. This is particularly relevant for businesses too; whether you are a local bakery or even a roofing digital marketing agency looking to boost your online presence, this strategy can help.

Another smart approach is highlighting what you can offer rather than listing what you want to various brands. Brands wish to work with bloggers that bring value to their business. And in case you fail to deliver quality work, it would be great to buy professional liability coverage from one sure insurance. You should always do your best to pitch to the right brand and ensure that you stand out from other bloggers. It can help you to get selected for a long term collaboration.

Look out for guest posting opportunities 

If you’re not aware of what guest posting is, it’s simply where another site hosts content you’ve written and links back to your blog as credit. Many bloggers get swept away in day to day life and their blog gets left in the background, so many bloggers are often on the lookout for people to guest post. By sharing content on other websites and having a link back to your blog, not only are people reading your post, but you’re also gaining authority from the site through your backlink. It’s a great way to attract readers to your site and increase its domain authority; so keep looking out for guest posting opportunities and share as much of your content as possible. 

Use internal links within your content 

Once you’ve created a reasonable amount of posts, it’s time to start using internal links. Quite often we include external links within our content to take our readers to a place or product we’re talking about, but it’s important to link to older posts you’ve created as well. If you’re sharing a new piece of content then try and include around 2 internal links to older posts as well. By doing this your readers will hopefully click through them and enjoy some of your previous content. This also means instead of just having a post view, you’ve now got a site visitor as the readers are exploring your blog in more depth. 

Check regularly for broken links 

Whether you’re using internal or external links within your content, it’s more than likely at some point they’ll become broken. A broken link is where the landing page you’ve selected is no longer available or there’s an issue with it. The best way to avoid this is by completing regular searches for broken links, via one of the many free broken link tools. Once your site has been scanned for broken links, any which are detected can easily be fixed by changing the landing page. For example, if your content mentions an article which has appeared on a news website, simply find the article on another site which is live. Fixing broken links will only benefit you when Google crawls your blog and it recognises it’s trustworthy.  

Don’t let SEO put you off 

It’s inevitable that the thought of blogging may seem pretty daunting and that’s before you even start learning about SEO. If there’s one piece of advice I could give you. It’s to not be put off by the thought of using SEO for your blog. From the most well-known bloggers right the way down to beginners, we’ve all been in the same boat and it becomes second nature. 

I really hope this post has helped anyone who isn’t confident using SEO and it would be great to hear if it has in the comments below.