SEO Gods
Do the SEO Gods look down upon you favourably?
You may have heard of SEO which stands for Search Engine Optimization.
There is a whole sector of people whose sole job is to boost website SEO so that the owner’s site gets boosted towards the top of a search – like you would do on Google.
For the most part I do not take part in this activity – Except…
…Except when I’m working on a blog post.
SEO Plugin
I rely heavily on a WordPress Plugin named “Yoast SEO“.
One knows the SEO Gods look down on you favourably when you get the Green Smiley Face – like I did for my last post – The Process.
The SEO analysis section usually sits right below your blog while you are working on it in the admin area.
SEO Analysis
In 2023 I published almost a couple dozen blog posts – which you can check out here:
Soapbox Bob – It’s a Wonderful Life
Therefore I have a good general idea of what it takes to get the SEO Gods looking down on your post favourably.
Once I think I have it all in place, THEN I will check the SEO analysis to see if I need to add more.
The analysis results will identify if there are any problems.
SEO Checklist
See this barebones list for a general idea of what I do to make the SEO Gods look down on me favourably.
- Create Sections for my blog post.
– I start with my title in a “Heading 1” size font, bolded and in the colour of red.
– All of the sections that follow have headings in a “Heading 4” size font and bolded.
– Ensure my post title appears in every section of my post.
– Include a section for concluding content that sums up what I just posted. - Use my blog post title for the Key Phrase – which also becomes what is called the slug.
- Create a short Meta description that uses the Key Phrase (no more than 156 characters).
- Put an image in my post.
- Ensure an image has the key phrase in the Alternative Text of the image.
- Include a link to prior blog post.
- Include a link to an external website.
Conclusion
The Yoast SEO plugin for a WordPress blog will guide you to make changes and additions to your post so that it ranks higher in the search engines like Google.
I’ve provided you with just a barebones checklist to get you started with having the SEO Gods looking down on you favorably.
Use this checklist to get started; then you can review the SEO analysis to see if there are more suggested changes to make.
Personally – I consider my efforts complete when I get that Green SEO Smiley Face.
“The format of the Medium” is the Message.
I thank you for reading.
Let me know in the comments if you have any experience with the SEO Gods.
Robert,
Thanks for your advise on SEO plug-in. I will defiantly look into it and refer back to this post.
Thanks again for sharing.
CJ
Robert, Thank You for sharing your knowledge. I will definitely use your points as I want the “green smiley face”! I want the SEO gods to look on my posts favorably!
Sherri
Sherri S Pulcino recently posted…Do You Make New Year Resolutions?
Well, I have experienced both the good and bad in the past.
Many years ago, I have a niche website that get 1000 visitors per day from the search engine.
That was great because search traffic are considered very high quality and tend to be buyers if you’re targeting the right keyword.
Then Google changed the algorithm and overnight, my site went from 1000 visitors to less than 100 visitors a day.
That experience taught me to use SEO when it makes sense but don’t rely on it as your only source of traffic.
Hi Robert,
Great post; it does make sense to work with apps that will help you achieve your goals – but we have to make sure that we don’t only rely on these to get there!
All the best in 2024!
Not sure what to say ,way above my head at this point but this gives me something to research this week. Thanks, maybe by the end of the week I can reread your blog and have an understanding.
Hi Robert
Great insight for a newbie to blogging like me. Thanks for the pointers on SEO. Now to see if i can use it to help my blog.
Robert, thanks so much for this information on SEO. I didn’t know much about it before. Many thanks and I will give it a try including the plugin. All the best and I look forward to reading your next post. Thanks. Atif
Atif Perwiz recently posted…Affiliate what? Planting my flag (or is it a seedling)