We’ve been breaking down the process of how to get the most SEO from your blog. Our last entry focused on the planning aspect of writing a blog – making sure that you are supplying useful content. The next step is to focus on the aspects that help you rank organically, such as writing a strong blog title. Step 3 involves creating a meta description and meta title.

A meta description is the snippet of text that appears under the headline of your site as it appears in search results or in social media posts like Facebook. It is a short caption that describes the content within the link. The area is used by surfers to determine if the link is relevant to them. It can also be a load of gobblety gook if it hasn’t been properly optimized. In 2009, Google stated meta descriptions are not used to determine search ranking, however…

…you are still writing meta descriptions and titles for both humans and bots. A meta description should be written to cause a human to click on the link out of curiosity. It can also be written by search engine bots…

This happens when the meta description is left blank. Search engines or social platforms will scrape content from your site to fill it in (often it’s simply the first paragraph of the article). Those bots do not have the same level of editorial skills as you do. The result is a mixed bag of phrases that a human might interpret as a broken site not able to solve their problem. The key is to take the time to create a clear message for your audience.

Here are some examples of problem sites:

1) Didn’t even try.

This is an example of a writer who has not optimized his page with a specific term, as well as his meta description field. Anyone can check if a page has an active meta description field by opening up the Developer Tools section of their browser and clicking “View Source.” This will open up the code behind the page. Use the “Find” tool under the Edit menu to look for “meta description.” If there is nothing is written in that area, the meta description was written by search engine bots.

This hurts you in two ways: strategically and cosmetically. This is an area of opportunity to further solidify the SEO juice of your page by placing your targeted terms. From a human eye, you’re less likely to click on something that looks like a broken English, for fear of getting spammed or hacked. So take the time to create this properly.

2) Nice try. Still Not right.

This is an example of someone who has optimized his PAGE title with his targeted terms, but didn’t bother to create a meta description. The bots will continue to scrape content from the page to fill this area, and since they do not give a hoot and holler about editorial choices, they will go over the recommended 150 character limit. This is represented by the elipsis after “with an…” This is another strategic loss for your page, because of the lack of specificity and professionalism.

3) Better!

This is a strong example of a meta description. It’s clear, concise and focuses on the key term for which they wish to rank. It is well within editorial recommendations for characters. Notice also that the author has activated their Google Authorship option, which helps to increase their SEO standings across any posting they upload.

The essential considerations when building a meta description:

1) Focus on a highly trafficked, specific term around which to build your meta description.

Your targeted audience wants an answer to their problem ASAP. Use the same keyword terms you’ve used for the content, title and URL – words used to locate their need and craft your message to focus on how your site will fulfill it.

2) Use keyword terms at or near the start of your meta description.

Humans AND bots read left to right, and seeing that term in the beginning of your meta description helps in two ways: a) humans are more likely to click upon it as it more relevant amongst others in search results, and b) the page is more easily indexed by bots because they identify the entry more quickly.

3) Write for humans.

Meta descriptions should be enticing and contain enough information that a viewer cannot resist clicking on the link. The example above is a decent example of laying out what a reader should expect and the value in the content. Express that in your description.

4) Keep it under 150 characters.

Become a brilliant writer, and then take all of your amazing ideas and boil it down to a pair of sentences. It happens more often than you think. The rationale for keeping the limit to 150 is that after 150, search engines will cut off the remainder of your description and replace it with an elipsis (like the example above). Remember, you have only a few seconds to attract a click, so it’s best to put your best ad copy forward.

Use these tips to help make your meta description an advantage and not an obstacle.

Thoughts on Meta-Titles:

Meta titles serve a similar function as meta descriptions. They are spidered by search engine bots for relevancy and indexing, and increase the SEO strength of your page. They do not appear in search results, or on your web page. They exist purely on the back end, or developer side of your web page. That does not mean they are any less important.

Meta Titles should reflect the title (and thus the keyword phrase) you have chosen for your blog, as a way to increase the relevancy of your page.

A word on spamming: do not try to get cute by stuffing as many keywords into these areas as possible. The search engines have seen it all before and they will ding you for it, removing you from listings altogether, and making it hard for you to rank after you have been allowed to return.

These guidelines should help you to improve your search engine rankings and thusly, your amounts of traffic. Try it for yourself. If you’re using a Chrome browser, after posting a blog, wait for around three hours.  Open an “incognito” browser window. It has no history of your searches. This might affect how a search engine returns your personal results. By blocking that history, you have a truer reflection of actual search results. Next, perform a search using the terms you are targeting. You’ll then see where you appear to others! Note that as more people link to your post or your domain, your ranking will likely increase.

I hope this helps. You can learn more about blogging and related issues at our next #ChiThinkDrink on June 4th. Over vino and homemade cookies, we’ll chat about a wide range of topics from SEO to integrating a blog into your current marketing strategy. We hope you can make it!

It seems you’re on your way to a great blog post. You thought of a topic that your audience cares about – you’re inspired. You’ve chosen a keyword phrase that is popular yet has less competition. You’ve chosen a title that can be searched by bots and interesting to humans. Your questions about how to SEO a blog might be answered. Now you’re asking:

“Can I finally write something?”

Yes, but this SEO class isn’t over, son. Content needs to be duct-tape useful. That means very. It shouldn’t be written willy-nilly like a bad haiku:

Think about how you are going to write the post.

This is a good time to think about media or other unique content. How you tell your story will affect what you say and how people will react. Maybe it’s an interview, a selection of quotes, a Google+ hangout recording – or simply a top 10 list. Will it be part of a larger series? Is it designed to also go into another medium? Whatever content you choose, it needs to deliver on…

Value and Interest.

Obviously, I was only shooting for interest with the Vine above.

Takeaways:

1. Choose a content strategy (bullet points, narrative, images, interviews, videos, photo gallery, etc).
2. Verify that strategy best informs or entertains the reader about your topic.
3. Being unique is important to driving traffic, creating back-links (links to your site) and creating loyal readers.

Choose a channel or structure that can make it more effective.

Your blog doesn’t have to be just words. It should never be just words. Although one could argue just words can be very, very interesting and informative, it can always be better – and better usually means something visual or interactive. Many in your audience are visual learners, and if your blog is to be truly unique and definitive about the topic at hand, inevitably, there are constructive uses for images, charts, photos, graphics or video.

Takeaways:

1. Strongly consider using engaging media.
2. Be diverse in content structure for interest and value.
3. Think about integrating articles with social media to add more interest and value.

Start writing.

A common question we get about blogging is about how long is has to be. The philosophical answer is “However long it takes to get a valuable point across.” A quanitative answer might be “around 300 words.” The SEO answer is “the more relevant and substantial you are about your topic, the better.” The following study from SEOmoz suggests that more words generally receive more back-links (and thus much better SEO). Notice how the number of words in 500 randomly selected posts correlates directly with the number of links?

500 posts placed in order of wordcount

Same 500 posts with # of backlinks to the article

However, it might more understandable to reframe the data this way: Longer articles are generally more researched, more substantive and have a great deal of value to a reader or even an industry. For this reason, people are likely to link to it as a reference for their readers. This gets back to the point of value. While your post might be a long read, it could become a place people go for definitive information. If it can answer more search queries, it’s more useful – and that’s better SEO.

Note that not all posts can have 5,000 words in it. No bother. It takes a LOT of work to create articles that people will read for 10 minutes. However one tactic is to create an epic article about a topic, post and promote it, and break it up into smaller sections for blogs in the future. You’ve then created a reference for value, (not to mention a strong statement as a leader on your topic) and more accessible bits that act to promote and link to that reference.

Takeaways:

1. More words usually mean better SEO because it’s more valuable.
2. Long articles are not a necessity (or even consistently possible).
3. Consider a content strategy to create many posts (or a series) from one substantial article defining the topic.

Put keywords in content.

While in longer posts, you’ll probably use your article’s chosen keyword phrase naturally. In shorter posts, you’ll have to think about this a little more. I’ve created a bit of a dilemma in using the keyword phrase “How to SEO a Blog” because it’s not naturally occurring as I type. Or maybe it just did! Search engines like to know that you’re writing about what people searched for, and keywords in the content helps this. However, don’t sacrifice the reading experience. Anymore mentions of “How to SEO a Blog” might become ridiculous.

Takeaways:

1. Write naturally. Don’t let tactics ruin the reader experience.
2. Ignore keyword density percentages like “One keyword phrase every 150 words.” Many people try too hard to meet that goal when their post structure doesn’t naturally allow it. See point #1 or find a better structure.
3. Google (for now) likes when the keyword phrase is near the top of the page. They read like humans, and can get bored and leave if the page begins to look irrelevant.

I know. There’s a lot here. Moreover, there’s no guarantee that it’s going to get you a top search ranking. SEO is a fundamental process that involves everything from website architecture to social media promotion. However, these tactics should at least help you understand how the actual content will affect the larger goal of getting your blog found.

Want even more info – and free wine? Check out our #chiThinkDrink about Blogging on June 4th. Over vino and homemade cookies, we’ll chat about a wide range of topics from SEO to integrating a blog into your current marketing strategy. We hope you can make it!

I came to Astek a month and a half ago with only a basic knowledge of social media and technology. In a word, I was a n00b. Now at the midpoint of my internship, the new intern smell is gone and I have an expanding knowledge base, as well as a familiarity with a wide array of platforms and tech trends. Sometimes I sound like I know what I’m talking about. On rare occasions I actually do!

So far during my social media internship I’ve learned:

• Basic functions and posting practices of Facebook Twitter, Instagram. LinkedIn and Google+.

• A plethora of new technical terms and definitions. I am embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know the difference between a Twitter handle and hashtag.

• Search Engine Optimization 101

• Working knowledge of Argyle, Astek’s community management platform

I’ve also been able to create multiple research documents for the Company, including:

• Marketing plan for Astek Academy’s monthly Think-n-Drink

• Research on competitors’ social media and web presences and practices.

Before my social media internship ends, I would like to:

• Continue to refine social media proficiency and knowledge of developing trends.

• Learn how to use WordPress and Google Analytics

• Carry out a final project.

   

For my “final project” I would like to do a case study with Clinard Dance Theatre, the contemporary flamenco dance company which employs me part-time. Clinard is in the midst of preparing for a summer intensive of dance classes. With Astek’s help, I’m going to develop and implement a marketing plan for the summer intensive, including a campaign with Google AdWords. I will then compare the number of students with the spring session and last summer’s session.

Astek has a history of working with local performance groups, including the Chicago Dancing Festival, so this project may inform their future work as well.

I think it’s officially time to retire the moniker “N00b.”