How to Get a Blog Listed in Search Engines

It’s a common misconception that the only way to get listed in the search engines is to give the main ones your blog address—and wait. That’s not entirely true. By producing a quality blog, you can get listed on highly trafficked blogs that are already listed in the search engines. Then, when the search engines crawl those blogs, they’ll naturally find your blog and begin to crawl it, too. Here are a few more ways you can get listed.

Instructions

Produce A Quality Blog

1. Write quality posts. It’s not enough to write content for the sake of writing content; you must write something worth reading, worth being linked to, and worth coming back for. Once you pick a niche for your blog, study the industry. Take the time to get to know what’s already being written about your industry and then write something that hasn’t already been covered. There’s no reason to rehash something that’s been talked to death about.

2. Write for human beings. You need to write as though you’re talking to a friend or colleague in the industry; as though you are holding a conversation. You need to write to entertain, not impress. People don’t care who you are, how much you know, or who you know for that matter. People care about “what’s in it for them”. So when you write, always think in terms of what your readers are going to get out of the post; what they will walk away with.

3. Write for search engines. Even though your blog is read by human beings, they must have a way of finding you. They find you by typing words into a search engine tool bar and clicking “submit”. Therefore, it’s important for you to include words your readers will be looking for in your posts and that there is enough content for the search engines to determine what the post is about—300 to 500 words is usually enough.

4. Use keywords effectively. Keywords are a list, or group of words, used to help the search engines find your post, blog, or website. They’re often found hidden in the code of your post as well as inserted into the visible text and they should not take up the bulk of your content. In fact, they should be used strategically and sparingly. The right amount of keywords, inserted into your content, will allow your content to flow from beginning to end. The wrong amount of keywords will cause your readers to pause, scratch their heads, and click away from your post.

5. Use keywords in your post title. Instead of providing a vague title that reads, “I scrapped a lifetime of photos and you can, too.” Try something more direct and explicit, like: “10 Easy Steps for Scrapbooking a Lifetime of Photos.”

6. Use keywords throughout your content, but do so sparingly. You don’t want to drown your post with keywords; that would be considered spamming. You want to include your keywords sparingly and definitely include them in the first and last paragraphs of your post.

7. Use keywords in your meta tags. Meta tags are part of the html coding of your blog. They are used to help search engines understand what your blog is all about. There are three parts to your meta tags: page title, page description, and keywords tag. While you want to use your keywords in all three places, you want to diversify the terms used.

Let Others Know You Exist

1. Set up the pinger page on your blog. Pinging services allow you to automatically notify the search engines that you have new content available.

2. Submit your blog to major search engines like Google, Yahooo, MSN, and even Ask Jeeves. Each search engine has its own rules, so follow the guidelines carefully. (See the list of search engines in the Resources section.)

3. Submit your blog to search engines specifically designed for the blogging community. (See Resources.)

4. Write and distribute a press release online. In your press release, give reporters five reasons why they should use your story: who, what, when, where and why. Don’t forget to include your contact information, especially your blog address.

5. Become a guest blogger. Find highly trafficked blogs that are relevant to your blog’s audience and offer a free post in exchange for a small blurb and a link back to your blog.

Tips & Warnings

• Stick to one topic per post, as this makes it easier for the search engines to determine what the page is about.

• When referring to another post on your blog, link internally to that post.

• If you’re quoting another blogger, place the blogger’s words in quotation marks, then link the blogger’s name to his/her blog address.

• If you’re not quoting another blogger verbatim, you can still give that blogger credit by linking back to his blog through a relevant term or phrase.

• Don’t spam the search engines with your blog’s address, as it can take days—even weeks—before they get around to crawling your blog. Use that time to write posts or distribute content to other blogs.

• Don’t be afraid to leave your blog’s address during your online visits. Just do it without spamming. In other words, only comment on blogs and in forums when you have something relevant to say, and only then leave your URL in the tag line.

Resources

• How To Write Effective Meta Tags
• List of Search Engines
• Big List of Blog Search Engines
• Pingomatic
• Free Online PR Distribution Service