Everything you do online to optimize your website, social media sites, blogs, press releases and more, revolve around keywords.  It’s all about the keywords people.

If you develop a sound keyword strategy, through keyword research and competitive analysis and then take those keywords to develop a sound internet marketing strategy, you can’t go wrong.

Google and Bing are using Twitter and Facebook to influence the natural search results, which means, now more than ever, everyone needs to think about the keywords they use when they post.

So, what is the easiest way to develop a keyword strategy?  Here is just a quick checklist that may help you.

1. Develop a list of keywords. This is accomplished in a number of ways, such as having a brainstorming session, doing competitive analysis, using Google’s keyword tool and more.
2. Each page on your website should be optimized with unique keyword rich content and tagged appropriately.  These keywords should be directly related to the research you did in step #1. Please note, do not stuff your pages full of keywords just for keyword sake.  This is frowned upon by Google and could get you banned.
3. Take your list of keywords and create an excel spreadsheet.  Simply put the keyword in one column and then the landing page in another.  This will help to keep things streamlined and organized.
4. When posting on facebook and twitter, or when blogging, use those keywords and link where applicable to the appropriate landing page.

Keyword research can be time consuming, however, if you take the time and do things the right way, the reward will be a strong web presence.  Just remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Have a great day everyone and enjoy the sunshine.

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You’re preaching to the choir on that one!

The number one comment I hear from people is…how do I find the time to blog?

The best advice I can give you is simply do the best you can.  I have my own Buffalo SEO Company and as you can see from my blog, I don’t blog every day or even every week.  Sometimes a month or longer will pass in between posts. Is that the ideal situation?  No.  However, posting from time to time is better than not posting at all.

Posting every day or at least once a week is ideal, but in the real world it doesn’t always work that way.  Is that frustrating?  You  bet.  If you are like me, you know what you have to do, but life has a way of spinning out of control.   Between a full time job, your own business, husband, 3 kids…I know you know what I’m talking about.

Here are some blogging tips I recommend:

1.  Post a blog as often as possible, it’s that simple.

2.  Post quality information that the search engines will like and that will compliment your website.

3.  Don’t stress out. Just do the best you can and remember to just have fun with it.

Blogging should be fun.  It shouldn’t be a chore. So when you have time to sit down and write, write.  Whether its once a day or once a month, just enjoy the process.

A blog is a place you can go to share your thoughts, teach others how to do things, and even rant about your latest pet peeve.  The hope is that people will find your blog interesting and bookmark it or pass it on by tweeting it, etc.

Here are the steps I usually take when writing a blog.

1.  Write from your gut.  When you start writing a blog, just write how you feel. Put down what your thinking. Don’t worry about perfection at this point, this is meant to be a rough draft.

2. Review your post.  Once you have your rough draft, go through the blog and clean it up and add keywords where appropriate.  Example… I have a Buffalo SEO Company.  My goal is to capture the attention of people who may be looking for my services. So I want to try to incorporate that keyword into various blog posts I write.

3. Link your keywords. Once you have incorporated the keywords into your blog, you want to link them to the page on your website the deals with your focus.  Example, if I am referring to my Buffalo SEO Company, I will link this to my SEO page, which focuses on how our company can help with SEO services.  My advice, however, is to be consistent.  If you start linking a specific keyword to one page, don’t then start linking that same keyword to a different page.  This could make things confusing for the search engines and could effect your rankings.

4. Tags and Categories. You are going to want to post your tags and select your categories.  Choose the category that reflects the overall feel of the blog post.  Example, this post is not only about learning how to post a blog, but I also reference my Buffalo SEO Company.  So, my categories will be both Buffalo SEO Company and Blogging Tips.  Tags should reflect those keywords that you believe are important.  I will choose buffalo seo company, posting a blog, blogging tips, writing a blog, etc.  These keywords can be found in the content of this blog post.

Finally, once you publish your blog, spread the news.  Share your blog post on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for starters.  I’ll get to bookmarking another time.

Blogging is fun.  It allows you to share your knowledge, emotions, experiences and more with others.  Oh…and did I mention that WordPress is FREE!

Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone.  Be safe and have fun.