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SEO 101: Lessons From #BlogPaws Conference

Byrobbi hess

Post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess

Speaking to a full house, Bill Schroeder began his SEO 101 talk by giving an analogy of  “white hat” and “black hat” SEO (search engine optimization) is. “Consider if there were two ways to grow your wealth,” he said, “You could rob a bank and that would be a big risk or you could become a doctor and take time and effort but would lead to a great reward.” That, in essence is white hat versus black hat (taking your time to build wealth aka readership or taking a risk and “buying” followers.)


 20150529_161833There are many things involved with SEO that the blogger simply cannot control and they include:

  1. SEO algorithm and search optimization formulas
  2. What the competition is doing
  3. To predict industry trends

“SEO is an ongoing task that needs to be adjusted,” he said. Adding that just because you came up with “ideal search terms” when you built your website, that doesn’t mean those will remain the ideal search terms in the long run. He urged attendees to remember that “SEO is not a one-size-fits-all” and that bloggers need to “conduct analysis, do real research with real people and talk to their community.” By doing this you can uncover the ways in which your audience searches for you and your blog.

Relevancy and consistency is the key to long-term SEO growth. He said a blogger’s audience:

  1. Trusts you to be predictable
  2. Trusts you to keep them interested
  3. You need to trust your choice of management of your social media and SEO efforts

Bill also said, “You need to give your community a reason to follow you on your social media pages or on your blog. “It’s not enough to say, ‘follow me.’ You need to give them a reason.” His example: “Follow us on Facebook because GanderLonChiswe can help you understand XYZ.”

What bloggers should practice, he shared, is to become a storyteller. “This is the art of connection and the act of helping people understand your brand. Make sure your stories have a structure and themes woven through them.” In other words, your blog posts should not be of the “buy-me, buy-me” variety.

He offered these basic SEO tips:

  1. Know who you are and what your niche is
  2. Never keyword stuff
  3. Only post content you have the right to use
  4. Develop relationships both online and off
  5. Comment on the blogs of others
  6. Be trustworthy
  7. Use title tags in your blog posts as a way to help the search engines rank your content
  8. Use alt tags
  9. Use plug-ins on your site to help amp up your SEO (SEO by Yoast is an example)
  10. Research, evaluate and adjust

Here are five SEO myths:

  1. You can “set it and forget it”
  2. You can concentrate on only one keyword
  3. SEO shoudl be tricks, smoke and mirrors so you can “game” Google
  4. Linkbacks are dead
  5. SEO and your social efforts are not connected

When is the last time you gave your SEO strategy a check-up? If you can’t remember, now might be the perfect time!

(Photos from BlogPaws Conference: Bill Schroeder, seated, talks to an audience member: Lon Hodge and Gander push a stroller full of chihuahuas.

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