Do you ever wonder how exactly Google decides which blog to show its users? Or, perhaps, you’ve been wondering how your blog fits into Google’s algorithm and what kind of effects this has on your SEO (search engine optimization) efforts? If you’re like most bloggers, you probably have answers for both. But, in all actuality, there isn’t that much that can be done once Google hands out the results. It is what it is. You just have to make the most of it as best as possible. So, without further ado, here are some tips on how to optimize your blog for the search engine:

Out with the Old

There are a few things that will always stay the same on every blog, no matter how much research you do. Even if you do a close study of the way that people search for topics on the internet, there are bound to be a few things that stay the same on every blog. We’re all unique and our paths to the internet are just as varied as our readers, so it makes sense that our blog experiences will be different as well. So, you’ll want to keep your out-of-date information to a minimum. There are a few reasons for this: Keeping your out-of-date content will raise questions among your readers. If you have new information on your blog that your audience has yet to discover, they might become frustrated when they can’t find the information they’re looking for. This can make readers less likely to continue to your blog as it is less user-friendly because unclear content is a common theme among out-of-date blog posts. Keeping your out-of-date content will make it harder for your readers to trust you as an expert. When readers see that you only recently updated your blog post with new information, they will likely question your understanding of the topic at hand.

Make Exhaustive Research a Priority

Unfortunately, there’s no way to avoid running into research problems on a regular basis, especially if you’re just starting out as a blogger. As you grow in fame and success, you’re likely to come across countless new challenging situations that you never would have encountered as a first-time blogger. As such, it’s important to get as much research as possible under your belt early on. To start out with, you can always ask a few friends and family members for help. But, as you get more serious about your business, you may want to turn to paid experts. Fortunately, there are services such as Backlinko that will help you find reliable, unbiased domain name research, keyword research, and much more for cheap.

Use Data to Drive Decisions

No matter how hard you try, it’s hard to know everything that’s out there. There’s no way to know if there are any certain topics or keywords that you’re completely clueless about. You can’t possibly know everything that people are looking for, and it’s really hard to keep up with the ever-changing internet landscape. That’s where data can help. By using a tool such as Google’s Searchbar, you can quickly plug in your keywords or topics and get a list of up to date search terms related to your topic. From there, you can start to make informed decisions about how your blog’s content fits into the overall search engine optimization strategy.

Get to Know Your Audience Better

Just as you want to get to know your blog’s readers, you should get to know your audience. By taking the time to get to know your own readers, you’ll be able to better serve them and increase your readership. There are a few ways to go about this. The first is to include a blog comment form at the bottom of each blog page. When someone leaves a comment on your blog, you want to respond to them as soon as possible. Most importantly, you want to get to know your reader’s interests. You can do this by taking the reader’s name, email, and any relevant information you can find out about them. Then, put that information in the comments section of their post. By doing this, you’ll be able to build long-term relationships with your readers and get their feedback on how you’re doing as a blogger.

Optimize for Mobile Readers

It’s almost a given that readers will be reading your blog on their phone or laptop rather than a traditional computer monitor. That’s why it’s important to make your blog mobile-friendly. By making your blog mobile-friendly, you’ll be able to save a lot of time for your readers because they won’t have to navigate to your blog’s homepage and back multiple times when they want to find out what’s up. There are a few things you can do to make your blog mobile-friendly. Some of these things are: Use alt tags whenever possible. Place your images and paragraphs inside of hyperlink text so they load faster. Use images that are small and can be easily stored on a mobile device. Use small fonts when writing blog posts—so they are easier to understand on an iPhone or Android device.

Conclusion

A blog is just a collection of content, but it can be so much more than that. It can be your personal journal and a place where you can candidly share what’s on your mind. It can be a source of information for your family and friends. And, most importantly, it can be a vehicle for your expertise. Your blog is a tool to help you reach more people with your content. Therefore, you need to use it in the right way in order to get the most out of it. By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to optimizing your blog for the search engine