Firstly, I’m not even going to suggest for a second that I’m an SEO expert and I won’t try to pretend… BUT, I have been in the game long enough to have made my fair share of mistakes and realise what works and what doesn’t (especially after the Panda and Penguin updates last year).

I have identified 4 key areas, which both new and experienced bloggers need to focus on, to ensure they make the most of their SEO campaign. While these are not technical points, I’m sure you will appreciate the simplicity of these tips which will help you now and in the future.

SEO Is Not A “Set & Forget” Strategy

If you’re after 2,000 visitors per day starting from tomorrow, you’re not in the right place. SEO is a long term strategy which needs a foundation to be built before the benefits can be reaped. The reality is, what you do now and over the coming weeks might not have any obvious impact on your blog, but I assure you, you will see the benefits down the line.

For example, as part of any efficient SEO strategy, you need to have fresh content posted on a regular basis. A good friend of mine had been writing for his blog consistently for over 18 months and he got a bit of traction via social media here and there. Just last week, one of his articles was cited by TechCrunch, now that’s link juice for you! If he stuck to a short term strategy wanting immediate results, I guarantee his work would not have been picked up by TechCrunch.

I understand newbie bloggers want immediate results with their SEO campaigns but the days of cheating Google are over! If you want to last, you have to do it right and this requires consistent effort just like any offline business would.

Perform SEO For Your Visitors, Not The Search Engines

I still see so many bloggers position their content for Google as you can easily pick up that the article is targeting a keyword. There is nothing wrong with keyword targeting as long as your content is natural and provides your visitors with a pleasant experience.

You need to produce content which is informative to your readers and provides value – the ranking will take care of itself. By producing engaging content, you will attract targeted readers as opposed to working hard for a single backlink which is great for your backlink portfolio, but what else have you achieved?

If you place more emphasis on the search engine algorithms, you can run yourself to the ground as Google and other search engines will keep releasing new updates..do you really want to be playing catch up? Stay focussed on doing the basics right and produce content which your readers will enjoy!

There Are No Shortcuts To SEO Success

Psst…do you want to know the ultimate secret to SEO which will guarantee you top spot in Google within 2 months? Sorry…there is none! There is no underground secret which allows you to bump your site to the top of Google and remain there, and if you ever come across an advertisement such as the one below, RUN (or close the email).

 

Firstly, does this person even know what niche you’re in? What if you were targeting the term ‘weight loss’ – do you really think they will get you to page 1 and keep you there? Of course not! Many new site owners fall into the trap of these sales pitches and end up forking out a lot of $ with little or no results.

Building Links Is Not Seasonal

When Summer comes, it’s time to bring out the shorts and bikinis and Winter signals the start of sweaters, scarfs and gloves… but building links is not something you do for a set period of time. Link building needs to be performed consistently throughout the life of a website.  You might reach a point where you’re satisfied with your position, but believe me,  if you take your foot off the pedal, you will regret it.

Each day that passes where you avoid any link building, one of your competitors is gaining a step on you. Depending on your niche and keyword, there may be thousands of blogs trying to unsettle you from the top spot and if you stop, you’ll find yourself on page 4 or 6 before you know it.

So keep up the guest posting, blog commenting, link baiting and if you’re interested in learning more about link building, read my post on what I believe will be the key link building strategies this year.

As mentioned from the top, most of these tips should not be foreign to you, but I believe these 4 strategies help to best summarise what any newbie blogger needs to follow in order to sustain their online success.

Would you agree? I’d love to hear your thoughts on whether there are any other points which need to be included.  Please feel free to leave a comment below.