How do I improve SEO on my blog? {Figuring Out How to Even Start}

Have you ever sat back, looked at your site, and wondered, "How do I improve SEO on my blog?" Let me tell you - SEO is a crazy beast. But it's not quite as intimidating as you may believe once you understand the basics and have a plan in place.

I firmly believe the #1 thing you need to do when you start focusing on SEO for your site is to create a plan. Without one you're going to get overwhelmed and quit.

Let me share my story and explain a bit more...

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I started blogging back in November 2011. Some of those posts were ugly. Hideous even. Looking back - I really had no idea what I was doing.

Then in 2015 I became a virtual assistant and started learning a bit about search engine optimization (or SEO).

I knew I had to change something on my blog, but I really had no idea where to start. I had the basics of SEO figured out - but I had over 600 blog posts to go through. The thought of that alone was enough to make me want to curl up in a corner and never blog again.

But I kept hearing how people who focus on SEO show up in searches and have their pins show up more. I wanted in on that action!

So I created a plan...

Step 1 - Work on your top 10 overall posts.

Hopefully you have Google Analytics installed. But - in case you don't - look at your blog stats to determine your top ten all time blog posts. (Hand raised - I was one of those people who hadn't yet installed GA. EEK!)

Once you have those blog posts determined, work through them one at a time and complete SEO on each one. These first posts may take you awhile, but that's ok! These posts are already doing well for you, so you want to get that SEO "juice" going big time!

Step 2 - Work on your next 10 blog posts.

Hopefully you're now in a bit of a groove. Each of those first ten posts probably took me close to an hour to do, but by this second round of posts I was doing most of them in the 30-45 minute time range.

Step 3 - Decide which path to take next. 

My third step was to start looking at seasonal blog posts, but I've worked with enough bloggers to know this is not always the next most logical case. I had a LOT of seasonal content, so I wanted to make sure those posts were showing up for me in search engines and on Pinterest. 

BUT I know other bloggers have chosen to focus on their main material. For example, one blogger I worked with sold a lot of problem based learning material. She made those blog posts her next focus because she wanted to have them seen more. Another blogger worked on her classroom management line because she had created one massive bundle on TpT and she wanted to drive each of those posts to that new resource. 

Regardless of your third step - decide what it is, continue with your plan, and go.

The best part about this step is that you're going to be getting quicker at completing each blog post. The more you do - the easier it gets! (I can complete most blog posts in 15-25 minutes, depending on length.)

Step 4 - Keep going.

This is probably the hardest step. You've got some great momentum going. But now you have to keep going. If you've written 50 or less blog posts, you'll probably finish in a reasonable time frame. But - if you're like me - you're going to have over 400 blog posts to clean up. (I deleted over 200 of them when I made the switch from Blogger to Wordpress. Yes, they were that bad!)

Yet here it is - May 2018 - and of those 400 blog posts I have to clean up, I've only done about 200. (Over the course of 2+ years. Oops!) My plan is to do two a week, so I have a long road ahead of me. And some weeks I forget to actually do the clean up. BUT I have a plan in place and I keep moving along at a snail's pace. 

The next time you're wondering, "How do I improve SEO on my blog?" - keep these four steps in mind. If you want to save time, grab a copy of SEO basics. I spent hours researching and learning how to do SEO, but my friend Shelly and I have created one great course to ensure everything you need to know to get started with Search Engine Optimization is in one convenient place. 

The SEO Basics course includes:

  • a PDF guide
  • an SEO checklist so you know exactly what to do for each blog post
  • and five videos walking you through everything you need to do 

Here are the actual videos:

  • Video 1 = the basics
  • Video 2 = Pinterest keyword rich descriptions
  • Video 3 = Ensuring your Blogger blog post is ready to go
  • Video 4 = Ensuring your self-hosted Wordpress blog is fully optimized
  • Video 5 = wrapping it up
With this SEO Basics course and the four steps outlined above, you're going to be well on your way to showing up in more search engine inquiries and Pinterest searches. This will lead to more pageviews and ultimately to more sales in your Teachers Pay Teachers store. 

What are you waiting for? You can improve SEO on your blog! Grab your SEO Basics course, create a plan, and start today! You'll be glad you did! 

Click here to purchase your own copy of "SEO Basics" so you can get started on improving your blog posts.

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