Are you interested in blogging? While it might seem simple to register a website and start posting things for an audience, it’s anything but. If you aren’t careful, you could be shouting into the void.
How SEO Training Classes Can Help
How can you prevent this from happening? One thing you can do is take some SEO training classes, and we’ll list some ways that they can help you avoid making some critical mistakes.
Here are 10 that you should be aware of.
1. Going with Quantity Over Quality
You might be tempted to post as many things as possible. The more your potential readers can see to gauge your writing ability, the better, right? Not necessarily.
If you post low-quality content, the search engine algorithms will pick up on that. As a result, they may decide that it’s not helpful (your goal should ALWAYS be to make your posts helpful) and rank it lower.
SEO classes can help you weed out the bad topics and hone your writing, too.
2. Writing For Yourself Not Your Readers
This one can be tricky. You want to write about things that you enjoy, naturally. While you might be excited to do that, you need to make sure that it’s something that can attract a large audience.
Yes, it can be a balancing act and you might feel like you’re trading some personal enjoyment. Someone in an SEO class can look at what you’re writing and make suggestions.
3. Being Inconsistent With Your Schedule
People like knowing that they can rely on a post schedule. If they expect you to post once a week every Tuesday, then you should do that. They might forgive you if something happens in your life one week, but if you don’t resume, they might just move on.
SEO instructors can help you come up with a posting schedule and give you ideas on how to stick with it. You’ll be able to get into a groove and stay with it. Then both you and your readers will be happy.
4. Just Winging It Without Keyword Research
There was a time when someone could just write about what they wanted. That’s in the past. If you try to just write without keeping certain keywords or phrases in mind, then you’re creating an uphill climb.
This is where SEO instructors can be helpful. They can pinpoint what words or phrases you should be using while also keeping it natural. You can merge good writing with keywords — it just takes some work and practice.
5. Forgetting to Optimize Your Blog With Keywords
Don’t worry, we’re not repeating ourselves here. While it might sound similar to the above mistake, there are ways to strategically place certain keywords or phrases in the blog. This will help you get more attention from the search engine algorithm.
Need an example? Put an important keyword in your title — it’s going to show up in the URL. Also, put it in the first paragraph and image header. SEO training classes can be invaluable.
6. Using Too Many Keywords
On the other hand, you don’t want to go crazy with keywords. That’s known as “keyword stuffing” and search engines won’t promote sites that they think are doing that. Be judicious with your use of keywords.
If you’re not sure if you’re using too many keywords, you can ask an instructor at an SEO training class. They can help you narrow down the important ones. Then you can post with confidence.
7. Ignoring H Tags
You just need to worry about your copy, right? No. There’s another important aspect of blogging — your H tags, which are things you don’t want to ignore.
There are three that you need to focus on – H1, which is your title, H2, which are subheadings, and H3, which can be used as subheads within the subhead. You can learn more about these in an SEO training course.
8. Using Too Many Tags
This is like the keyword-stuffing situation. You need to have a balance with how many tags you use. Otherwise, you could be penalized by the algorithm.
Not sure about that? Ask your instructor at an SEO training class. They can show you examples of proper use.
9. Having No Linking Structure
You shouldn’t just think of any post you write as being a separate entity. You want to have other posts pointing to it. Otherwise, it’s going to be known as an “orphaned post” and the algorithm will ignore it.
Your SEO instructor can help you figure out the best linking structure for your blog. Otherwise, you risk having a blog that the search engines will think is irrelevant.
10. Paying For Backlinks or Selling Them
Backlinking can be a sound strategy when done correctly. Just like social media, you don’t want to buy or sell them like you would followers. You’re risking getting low-quality returns and getting penalized by the algorithm.
Instead, talk to your SEO instructor. They can give you a solid backlink strategy and help you decide which ones are worth pursuing. That’s a better use of your time.
Wrapping Up
These are just 10 mistakes that you could make with your blog. They are far from the only ones, though. Do some research and you’ll be in good shape to have an excellent blog.
