Solid Blogging Practices

There are many ways by which a reader might land on a blog. The most common source is the Search Engine. Other sources include Social Networking Sites, Blog Directories, Direct Bookmarks and Links from other pages. No matter how the reader comes in, the blog has to be optimized for the web. The whole of the Internet is mainly managed by the Search Engines, so optimizing for the web means Search Engine Optimization.

Search Engine Optimization or SEO means optimizing a blog or website such that it is easily read and understood by a Search Engine. A Search Engine uses Web Crawlers to download information from the pages of the Internet. Such a Web Crawler understands a post from its Title and First few words of the post (usually 160 characters). Since Search Engines Bring the major share of the readers of any site, SEO is very important.

The following Practices will definitely help your Blog to come to the spot light and should make it better Search Engine optimized.

1. Use a Descriptive Title. The title of a post should tell the reader whats inside the post. A longer and clear title is always better than a short, vague title. Avoid special Characters like * and @ in the title.
   
2. The first paragraph of the post must give a brief description of the post. Web Crawlers use this space to categorize the post. Make sure that the first paragraph generates interest in the readers for further reading.
   
3. Use simple, yet stylish language. A reader will be irritated if he has to check the dictionary after each word.
   
4. Arrange the contents such that the most important ones come at the top and the importance drops gradually. It’s ok to give some important reminders at the end too.
   
5. Format the post well. Take time to arrange the images and text. Use proper indentation and Numbering when needed. A well formatted article pleases the eyes and gives a good first impression. Preferably keep the images to the right, if you have just one image. If there are multiple images, use left-right combination.
   
6. Illustrate your article with images and Videos. Images always catch the eye and a descriptive image might lure a reader into the article. But make sure that the post is not image only or Video only. Search Engines can’t read Images or Videos and your post might go uncategorized.
   
7. Add alternate text for images. The HTML of an image contains a field which reads alt=” “. The text between the quotes is the alternate text that Browsers will display, if the image cannot be displayed. Search Engines use this information to identify the image. So take time to include this field.
   
8. Cross link to your own articles. Link relevant keywords to other articles of your own blog. Also include a list of related articles at the end. This will provide additional reference for the reader and also will take him to more articles in your blog.