When it comes to WordPress blogging and getting natural search engine traffic there are a few important factors; the way the blog is setup, the plugins used and most importantly the content.
First are the permalinks or the URL of the actual blog post. Using the category and the post title (or at least one) in the URL adds keywords to the URL.
Second is an SEO plugin that automatically adds your META title, keywords (or tags) and description to the post, and also rewrites the title of the post to add your post title BEFORE the site title. Having the site title first is important for the Google bots to see so each post looks different. If the title of the blog or site was first the Google bots think each post is very similar. The title is in the browser title bar on the very top of your browser above the address. Look at your Blogger blog individual posts to see the wrong way to do it!
Adding a good list of sites to ping in a plugin like Smart Update Pinger is also another aspect of creating backlinks that the search engines like to see. Just pinging these site doesn’t necessarily create the backlinks but it does get your posts noticed on these sites and if someone is looking for content (or blog posts) tagged as yours is tagged they may like your post enough to do a trackback of it or link to it on their blog.
OK, so now what is a “tag” right? A tag is like a keyword for your blog post. Adding two or three good, short but descriptive tags to your blog posts is important so the sites that your blog pings know what your last post was about. These tags are attached to the post automatically now in WordPress but using a WordPress tagging plugin called Simple Tags makes it easier to do when creating a new post.
And you probably want to know what a trackback is too right? Man, you people want it all!!! A trackback is a link to a post on your on another blog. With WordPress, these links or trackbacks automatically show up on your post as a comment. The trackback can be a made by the other blogger by placing a link to your blog post directly into the post he/she writes or in a special trackback area when creating the post.
Lastly and probably most importantly are your blog post titles. Make them short, descriptive and to the point. Think of how someone will be using Google to search for what they want and title your posts accordingly. Here is an example of a recent post I made on WordPressMax.com: Let’s say Joe Blogger wants to learn how to Create A Custom WordPress Static Front Page and types that phrase into Google. Well, about a week ago I did a post titled that and guess what? That blog post is currently second only to the main WordPress.org website. Even a little more broad search for just Create A Custom WordPress Page has that post above the fold on the first page of results.
There are other factors to consider like social bookmarking, becoming an “Authority Site”, and creating interactivity for repeat traffic and more…But the whole point is that if there is only one thing you want to concentrate on for traffic it is blogging and blogging the right way can bring quick results, but you must post good content on a regular basis to keep your posts near the top of the search engines.
Noor Mustafa Raza
Editorial Staff
