Ian M Rountree

Copywriter, Project Manager, Digital Marketing

  • Copywriting
    • Content Marketing
    • SEO
  • About
  • Contact

Just Write – SEO for Bloggers, Part 1

July 19, 2010 by Ian 7 Comments

Whether you’re just starting out as a blogger, or have been publishing for years, one thing matters to the success of your blog. It’s not a content strategy, it’s not an editorial calendar, and it’s not information architecture. It’s not your ads, your ebooks, your Work With Me page.

It’s not your blog’s design, or the witty pictures you include for visual interest. It’s not infographics. It’s not even, to a certain extent, your snappy title.

It’s your writing. Fail your writing, and you fail your blog.

This isn’t a secret sauce post. When I started writing, years ago, I had no idea what Voice was. There was no concept of SEO – I was journalling on paper. Even when LiveJournal happened in the late nineties, I wasn’t writing to get found, or to grow a business. I was writing to share information. That this sharing turned into a blog, which eventually became more professional in tone, and now moves towards a proper, considered content platform is completely incidental.

The evolution of your writing happens by itself, if you let it, as you write.

One thing I can tell you for certain, as a Search Optimization professional – your content is independent from your strategy the same way a battle is independent from the battle plan. What happens in the text – in the struggle for rankings – is what matters more than how well you plan your deployments, organize your silos, or define your verticals. What you write is what matters. All other benefits are incidental.

I’m not telling you to ignore SEO – not if you want to get found.

I’m asking you to take a long, hard look at what you’re writing, and consider – beyond the mechanical “add a title tag, this needs an alt tag” aspects of search optimization – the benefits of the words you’re using to publish your thoughts. To publish your business. To publish your life.

Why are you writing this post? Why does that page need more links? What benefit are you providing your clients? What possible purpose does that eBook have, if your blog is poorly written?

What have I missed that I should have added to this post?

Image by the Wandering Angel.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: bloggers block, Blogging, blogs, seo, writing

Categories

  • Announcements
    • Event Notices
  • Blog
  • Communication
  • Content Strategy
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Personal
  • Reviews
  • Social Media
  • Technology

Archive

  • January 2016
  • June 2015
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • July 2008
  • February 2004
  • Copywriting
  • Blog
  • Reading Lists
  • Colophon

© Copyright 2023 Ian M Rountree · All Rights Reserved