SEO for Blogs

For those that don't truly understand SEO, optimizing the home page of a website is as far as they go. This demonstrates a lack of understanding in how Google indexes pages and how users come across content across the internet. Lesson 1: Google indexes Web-PAGES, not Web-SITES. Each pages is their own island, and each can have its own optimized content and purpose without compromising the overall optimization efforts.

For small website owners, this isn't a huge problem. For large e-commerce websites or elaborate websites, this can be a terrifying endeavor. Optimizing a website from top to bottom, all the way from the title tags to the tweaked javascript can take quite a while (keyword research, content writing, creating meta data, assigning title tags, naming images and alt tags, etc.). Those with a 5 page site (and shame on you) are in the clear. Those websites with 1000+ pages are going to have to implement changes over a longer period of time, but it IS worth the effort.

Here are a few tips to make sure your entire website and all its many pages gets optimized properly.
Check what Google is indexing

In an earlier post on Tricks to Using Google like a Pro - we talked about how to find specific things in the Google search engine that can make your life easier. This is one of them. Google has a nifty 'site operator search' where you can type site:www.yoursite.com and you can see every indexed page of your website. If you want a more accurate results - use your Webmaster tools. Every page Google is indexing needs to be properly optimized for best search results.

Generate a List

Using a sitemap tool, or Google's site search tool, create a list or excel file of all your indexed pages. Write all the information needed to optimized that particular URL/Page so you can efficiently optimize each page. Check off each page as you finish so you know what your progress looks like and so you don't miss any pages.

Identify the most important pages first

When beginning your webpage optimization process - identify the most important pages on your website and optimize them first. Do you have a favored product? Do you have a blog or services page that gets a lot of traffic? Optimize that first before you start the process. These pages will typically have the highest conversion rate and is worth more in the long run. All your pages are important in terms of optimization, but some pages carry more weight in terms of search and ROI. If you're one of those lucky webmasters that is in charge of an e-commerce website, you can identify the most purchased or search products and optimize those first.