Here’s a quick guide on how to optimize your permalinks to get the best possible search engine results:

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Post Unique Content On Each Page

This is a simple practice to follow. The key is to make sure you create unique content that is not found anywhere else on the internet. A poor example of unique content would be copying someone else’s content and pasting it on your own site.

The reason this is important is because the search engines, such as Google, like to penalize for duplicate content. They do not like it when websites copy content from one another because it fills the search engines up with the same content.

Have Links To Each Page

Another basic practice is linking to your own content within your page. In order for your blogs content to get indexed, the search engines have to be able to find it. By default, a normal blog shows the most recent posts. This automatically creates links on your home page pointing to the various posts. Therefore your recent posts should now have any problems getting indexed.

However, it is also important to link back to older posts so that the search engines can find them. The best approach to this is linking to older posts within your new posts. Whenever I create a new post that is related to a previous post I wrote, I always make sure to mention it and link back to it. This will make it much easier for your older posts to get indexed and encourage readers to read your archives.

Use SEO Friendly URLs

This technique can vary depending on the type of blogging platform you are using. I prefer WordPress, which makes this step very important. By default, WordPress makes your URLs look very goofy and does not place any keywords in them.

Having keywords in your URLs is a great benefit to SEO and should be utilized on all your blogs. It only takes a few minutes to set it up correctly and you no longer have to worry about it. For more details on how to set up your URLs in WordPress, check out my post on WordPress permalinks.

Optimize For Keyword Density

It is important to use keywords within your content. Therefore, the first step is deciding what it is you hope to rank for. For example, if your blog is about walking dogs for a living, then you will no doubt want to optimize for “walking dogs for a living.”

The key is using your keywords throughout your pages, without going overboard. Most people recommend a keyword density between 3-7%. In other words, 3-7% of your words should be your keywords. By using your keywords correctly, you have a much better chance of getting indexed by the search engines and getting some quality rankings.

Use Optimized Meta Tags

Last but not least is the meta tags. Although many search engines no longer use these as a way of ranking sites, it can still be a useful technique to follow. There are many plugins available to help with this, my favorite being the All In One SEO Pack for WordPress.

Follow These Techniques For Better Results

By following the techniques I just mentioned, you will already be ahead of the game since a lot of bloggers neglect to use them. It is important to implement the on page SEO early on because it helps get ranked much faster, and also forms a good habit to continue to follow for all your blogs.

The next step is Off Page SEO For Blogs.

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Search Engine Submission

This one is simple, but can really help get your site indexed quicker. Submit your blog to various search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN. It’s free of charge and only takes a few minutes to finish.

Directory Submission

Just like search engine submission, submitting your blog to various blog directories is simple yet effective. It can help create backlinks to your blog, while also giving you a little extra traffic. There are hundreds of free blog directories to choose from including BlogCatalog, Technorati, and Best of the Web.

Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking is great way to promote your blog, build backlinks, and generate more traffic. It is especially useful when launching a new blog because it can send traffic to your blog immediately. However, be careful to follow the rules and do not become a spammer. Sign up for networks such as Digg and StumbleUpon and start making friends and interacting with the users.

Link Exchange

Many people will argue that link exchanges do not work like they used to, but I still recommend doing it. Find a handful of blogs related to your blogs content and offer them a link exchange. By linking to them, they will link back to your blog creating a backlink. This can help increase your Google Pagerank, along with your search engine rankings.

Article Submission

This is a little time consuming, but can really help your blogs traffic and search engine optimization. Write articles relevent to your blog and submit them to popular article directories such as Ezine and Go Articles. These directories allow you to link back to your blog within the article, which will create more backlinks as well as promote your blog.

Forum Posting

Forums can be a great tool for promoting your blog. Many forums such as Digital Point allow you to place links within your signature. Every time you leave a post in the forum, your link is left within your signature. This is very useful for building backlinks and generating traffic. The key is to find forums directly related to your blogs niche.

While all these strategies can all help your blog, they can also hurt it. Make sure to not overdo these techniques and never spam your blog around the web. Done correctly, you will not only create more backlinks to your blog, but also drive a lot more traffic. Just create a plan and follow it.

In case you missed it, you can also check out my post about On Page SEO For Blogs.

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