Report: BlogPaws Panel on SEO

While Paris was attending the morning BlogPaws session on product reviews, I decided to check out the panel on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). I’m glad I did as I scooped up loads of valuable information presented by some very SEO-savvy speakers. Over the years as Paris and I have developed our website and blogs, we’ve always been aware of the “elephant (or Great Dane?) in the room”: the effect that search engines have on the eventual success of our efforts.

So, we are always eager to hear how others deal with SEO. First up on the program was Ellen Burgan of Drs. Foster and Smith, a leading supplier of pet products (www.dfs-pet-blog.com/author/ellen-burgan/). She stressed:

• the importance of selecting productive keywords and analyzing search statistics to measure keyword performance (both yours and your competition’s)
• using Goggle’s Keyword Tool can help generate keyword ideas

The next speaker was Mary Archer, SEO consultant with Strategic Ranking, who also blogs at www.RichmondPetLovers.com. She tossed out so much good advice, I was hard-pressed to scribble it all down. Her presentation focused on five concepts to create positive SEO ranking:

• make sure your site has an SEO-friendly design by  having clean, valid code, keeping HTML files separate from CSS, PHP, and JavaScript
• have a “killer keyword strategy” by defining target keywords for each blog post as well as the overall site
• have a “killer ranking strategy” by organizing your blog around keyword-rich categories and tags and avoiding a “date-based hierarchy”
• remember that often-updated, quality content is the ultimate tool for reaching your SEO goals;  optimize your RSS feeds by using keyword-rich titles and descriptions and having separate feeds for different categories within your site, and by using social media apps to increase traffic
• analyze your blog using Google Analytics to monitor your visitors, page views, and keywords used; use WordPress plugins such as their All in One SEO Pack to increase SEO visibility.

Jane Kelley of PawsandEffect.com followed up with a host of other good advice:

• build your site on a solid foundation by organizing categories and tags using a logical arrangement
• have a written policy for link exchanges posted on your site to make sure any exchanged links are totally relevant to your content
• analyze your site to determine which subjects attract the most readers by using free resources such as www.SEOmoz.org/blog/the-web-developers-seo-cheat-sheet and www.SEOmoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors, and www.1stwebdesigner.com/wordpress/23-extremely-helpful-wordpress-help-sheets-and-resources/.

Finally, Stephen Spencer of Covario, a consulting firm specializing in Interactive Marketing Analytics (IMA) software, advised bloggers to use reliable techniques such as 301 redirects, and to employ tools such as Yahoo Site Explorer and seo-browser.com to analyze the effectiveness of inbound links. He also encouraged the practice of creating individual metadata for each blog/site page.

So many good ideas to consider; I could hardly wait to get back to my laptop and try them out! Toiling away at my keyboard, I always wonder what the search engines will “think” about my efforts. Armed with the strategies and techniques from this BlogPaws session, I’ll feel more confident about maximizing the SEO potential of our sites. -John

About Paris Permenter and John Bigley

DogTipper publishers Paris Permenter and John Bigley are a husband-wife team of full-time writers. The couple has authored over two dozen books and 2,500+ magazine articles.

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