Hello Lovely

Write Smart Titles.

Here's a great article on writing great titles
for your blog posts. 

If you have taken the time to post something you believe
is quality content worth sharing, then think about what
the person who could benefit from seeing your post is
likely to type into her browser in a search...those
are your longtail keywords.

If you are not sure which longtail keywords to use,
hop over to Pinterest and type in a keyword to watch
what other suggestions pop up!

HOW TO... or 6 WAYS TO...

are often successful titles, though they lack originality.

You may want to use the headline analyzer

Coschedule which rates it and offers tips for improvement.

Keep in mind short titles are easier for sharing

to a platform like Twitter (because the URL is shorter),
though you can always shorten the URL with bitly.

A controversial title may draw more

readers to your post, and so will a title

posing a provocative question.

For one of my personal reflection posts, shock value felt right.
SECRETS, MIGRAINES, and I'M SUDDENLY FAT
may not get searched, but as titles go, it
attracts more readers than a post titled
"Personal stuff" (plus, it can later be recycled into
HOW TO STRUGGLE and STILL BE HAPPY.)

And I have a history of
playing around with the oldest secret EVER:

Sex, Drugs, and Rocknroll.

Roll one or all into a title,

and BOOM...eyeballs.

14.

Give Your Blog Parameters.

Think about two friends out for lunch

where one of them turns to the other and asks 

"Hey, have you seen the blog ____?"

And the other says,

"Oh, yeah, it's the one about ____  and ____, right?"

Your job is to figure out what goes

in the blanks since it is what you are known for.

The same is true for your brand.
Your brand is not about what you say it's about.
It's what others say it is about.

15.

Promote Your Post.

The more social media platforms
you call upon to promote your site,

the better.

I have readers who solely
read my blog posts from
my FB page so don't assume
all your fans will subscribe
to your feed (people are too OVER spam
to quickly fork over an email address)
or save you as a browser favorite.

But I really really wish all of my readers
would subscribe right here since I never spam,
and it's such a little thing I ask,
given the time blogging demands.

So you have written a killer blog post and now want
it to get the attention it deserves...where do you share it?
Facbook, Pinterest, Twitter, of course.
But do not underestimate the power of
Google+ and StumbleUpon.
Even if these channels seem old school,
it's very little effort to share the link to
your post there...one caution:
Hang out on these platforms for a minute
rather than dumping your link and running.
There's an algorithim involved, so stumble
to not seem spammy so your post will get reach.

Abstract seascape by Hello Lovely Studoi

16.
Make it Easy for Your Post to be Shared.

Make it easy for readers

to share your posts with prominent share

buttons they can clearly see, and don't
be shy about ASKING followers
to share your post if they found it helpful.

If you share your posts on a personal or business
Facebook page, remember to tweak the privacy
setting to "public" since I cannot tell you how
many times I have tried to share a post to
my FB page and not been allowed to
because of this setting!

Smart Tips to Drive Traffic to Your Blog - (real quote from Channing, btw)

17.

Pinterest Secrets.

 I create simple banners to promote

posts to Pinterest, and I gladly pay for the premium
feature on Picmonkey to do it because it's awesome.

You can even find pre-made Pinterest-y templates

on Picmonkey to quickly create a stunning graphic to include

in your post, pin to Pinterest, and post on

your FB page or sidebar with a link.
I have no qualms about paying to play on Picmonkey
considering the fonts, ease, and photoshop
layering they have added to the mix.

If you have not yet switched to a business account

on Pinterest, do it!!! It takes seconds, and you

will be rewarded with mucho analytics to

learn which pins are performing well, how

much traffic is being generated by Pinterest,

and what your audience enjoys on your site.

This article may be helpful, and if interested

in getting Rich Pins on Pinterest, find instructions here.

18.

Be Wordy...Probably.

It still seems that a higher word count in a post
is better for SEO and higher ranking.

The thing is, a bunch of words is simply
not always relevant so you really need to
weigh this one by considering your writing skills
and whether it's worth the gamble
since you may bore your readers to tears.

Hello Lovely Studoi

19.
Understand Keywords

So very much to learn!
Start here.

Smart Tips to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

20.
Search Descriptions Matter.

If you want the search engines to find your posts,
make sure to fill in the "search description" box
or option to summarize each post, including the
keywords you anticipate your audience
will type when they search the topic.

Smart Tips to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

 21.
Alt Text Helps SEO.

The description you type for alt text for photos
should describe the image--it tells Google
what's in the image.
Use the alt text feature to attach
a description of your image with keywords
(for Blogger, click on your image,
select "Properties" and type
a description of the image in the alt text box).
Years ago, I recall that all the big time bloggers used
an underscore format: _al_text, but I have had
success with a hypen format: use-alt-text.
Length of alt text for photos?
Google doesn't seem to pay attention after 16 words.

Hello Lovely Studio

22.
URL Should Relate to Content.
I didn't know a thing about blogging when I birthed
Hello Lovely, and I knew I wanted to curate pretty
pictures so the name choice made sense.
However, if I had named my blog with keywords
relevant to my content, I may have retired
comfortably years ago.

If you have been blogging for years, this may
not be easy to remedy, but if you are just starting out,
try to name your blog (and make your URL match)
using keywords related to your content.
Are such URLs often boring?
Yes.
Are they effective for search engines?
Oui.

Smart Tips to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

 23.
Save Images with Keywords!

I wish I had known how important this is since
I have been posting a bazillion images forever!
Since search engines can't "read" images,
use words, not numbers, to save the image
to your hard drive.
If you can include your blog's relevant
keywords in that image...SCORE!