A Blogger blog is a fairly simple thing. It’s easy to get up and going and it’s quick to post articles. However, there are a few simple things you can do if you want to make it easier to find your blog in the Interwebs.
The first two things you can do are really simple and require no knowledge of HTML or the back end of Blogger. These instructions work for whichever blogging platform you use.
Descriptive titles
Yep, you’d thing this one should be easy, but many people (including myself) forget this really simple step. Make your titles really descriptive and they’ll be more likely to be indexed by Google and the other search engines. For example, Special Report: CHOICE clothing sizes is a good title but Great vest is really pretty boring. What I should have used as a title was something like Dramatically tailored vest (in-fact, I might just rename it).
Descriptive links
This is another one where people (including me) get lazy. A link that points here is far less likely to be indexed than a link that points to a post on Icy’s shoe rules.
The next three things require you to start playing around a little bit with HTML, don’t be afraid though, you can do it ^_^.
Use headings within your posts
Now this is one I use rarely (except perhaps the headings within this post) but it is just as effective as the first two. In-fact, any text within any HTML tag is treated with higher priority in a search engine, than the normal text in a post, so this goes for bolded text, numbered and un-numbered lists as well. Here’s how to use a heading in Blogger.
- Write your new witty, informative and interesting post
- Click on the Edit Html tab at the top of the post
- Find the text you want to format as a heading
- At the start of the text type <h1> and at the end type </h1>. All HTML tags use the left and right angle brackets and the closing tag always uses the / symbol (that way you know it is the closing pair of the tab.
- Switch back to the Compose tab and check the result. If the text is too big, switch back and try using the <h2> </h2> tags, or even h3 or less until you get a look that works for you.
- Save or publish your post!
Alt tags for pictures
Alt tags for pictures are more likely to be indexed by a search engine, just the same as links and headings. IFB has talked about this before. Here is how to do it specifically in Blogger.
- Write another witty, informative and interesting post.
- Upload your photos into your post and position them to your liking.
- Click on the Edit Html tab at the top of new post.
- Look for the images in the text, they start with the code <img…
- Scroll along each <img> tag looking for the text alt=”” (use the search function in your browser if this makes it easier.
- Add your descriptive text within the quotes, including your site name. I might have something like alt=”Fabulous fashion @ Individual Chic”.
- Save or publish your post.
Meta tags
Way back in 2007 Jeannine went into what Meta tags are and how to use them. They’re pretty simple, just a way to add keywords and descriptions to your blog. For instructions on how to add the tags to Blogger, see below.
- Go to your Blogger Dashboard
- Click on the Layout tab and then Edit HTML
- Click on the link that says Download Full Template. Save the template somewhere on your hard drive with a nice descriptive name. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. If you screw things up, you want to be able to go back to a working copy
- Look for the <head> tag. It should be right at the top of the Edit Template window. Put a couple of blank lines below it
- Type in the tag below, substituting your name of course ^_^
<meta content=’Icy’ name=’author’/> - Add another line and type in
<meta content=’Your blog description here.’ name=’description’/> - Add a last line and type in
<meta content=’all of the keywords you can think of, separated by commas’ name=’keywords’/> - Click the Save Template button
- Load up your page and check it all works.
I hope you’ve found these tips helpful. Let me know in the comments.
Thanks, Icy.
image by ClickFlashPhotos
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Yes, once I started using alt tags in my pics I started getting SO much more traffic! I work in SEO and another good tip is linking back to your old posts!
Thanks so much for the tips!! All things I need to start doing!!
I tried the meta tags, but it keeps say that my tags aren’t closed. is there a way you could post an example of what it’s supposed to look like. like an example of one that;s already been done?
Sydney’s last blog post..Internship
never mind i figured it out.
Sydney’s last blog post..Internship
Great tips! I should step up the HTML tagging and not be so lazy about it.
lisa’s last blog post..Ooh La La RUCHE
Keywords in your images are key. Most of my traffic comes from my images because of using key words. I also use the All in One SEO Pack plugin for WordPress. It allows you to use what ever title you want on your blog, but then make a more SEO friendly title for search engines, plus highlight keywords as well, pretty awesome. I’ve heard from multiple people that meta tags are a thing of the past, but then again I’m not an expert
Kate’s last blog post..Huge Karma Loop Sale
Meta tags sound great. I always wonder how people keep finding my images though, certain ones pop up more than others in my stats. Informative post.
KB’s last blog post..Time on my hands…
Hi, thanks so much for posting this. I didn’t know about the alt tag thing. I’ve always noticed that alt=”" part and wondered what it was for though!
could you explain more about the descriptive links? I’ve seen that blank space for it under the title, but don’t know how to use it.
Also, is it possible to log into the new IFB yet?
Yvonne’s last blog post..The Apartment
thanks for the advice. i was waiting for someone to do a post on blogger blogs.
thefatandskinny’s last blog post..Glass House
Fasshonaburu – great tip, thanks for that.
Maria – you’re welcome ^_^
Sydney – glad you worked it out
Lisa – I do think it’s worth the extra effort, I just have to remember to do it myself ^_^
Kate – ooh, great tip for WordPress users!
KB – you’re welcome also.
Another way to boost targeted searchability is to have a keyword in the first sentence of your blog post.
Google also picks up on words that are bolded or in italics.
And Kate is right, the All In One SEO Pack for wordpress is awesome.
Another good plugin for wordpress is Google XML Sitemaps which automatically builds you a sitemap that’s compatible with major search engines like Google or Yahoo.
As for descriptive links, you can have wordpress set so that it automatically will use your post title as the link instead of random numbers or dates.
If you have the money for it you can use a service like SubmitYourArticle.com which would essentially send your original content (has to be good content) to thousands of publishers. It’s a win-win situation, the publishers get good content and you get links back. My company is testing out how well this actually works and if it’s worth paying the monthly fee.
Thanks for the post! Will definitely start using alt tags for my pictures.
Gabrielle’s last blog post..Cats Are The New Black
I’m bookmarking this article- thanks for the great information!
najeema’s last blog post..Blog Awards!
Thanks so much for these great tips! I never thought about alt tags for photos making a difference like that, but it totally makes sense. I know meta tags work, too, but I didn’t think you could use them on Blogger. Thanks again!
Leigh’s last blog post..Means of First Resort: Yigal Azrouel R10
this is a great post – i think I’ll get that wordpress plug-in gabrielle mentions..I guess it’s worth the little extra effort when writing a post .. Thanks Icy! Oh and has someone a good traffic report suggestion, I use the one provided byt the host service but it’s not very detailed.. Thak you
sar.’s last blog post..flower. is power.
I second All in One SEO and Google XML Sitemap plugins for WordPress. Regarding meta-tags: Google is finicky about duplicate meta-tags. To them, it makes it hard to distinguish between what may or may not be duplicate content. Ideally, you want different meta title, description and keywords for EACH of your posts (particularly title and description tags, as Google no longer uses keyword tags…although other search engines do). It sounds like a lot of work, but if you get something like All in One SEO (for WordPress only), you can easily edit meta-tags within each post. Also, If you sign up for a Google Webmaster account, Google will warn you what pages have duplicate meta-tags.
Note: while Google doesnt seem to penalize you for duplicate meta-tags (it’s more of a warning/nudge), any bit helps in terms of SEO.
Anna’s last blog post..Hottest Summer Sandals for 2009: Gladiators Flats & High Heel Shoes
Gabrielle – great tips, thanks!
Najeema – you’re welcome
Leigh – you’re also welcome
Sar. – you’re also welcome too. I use Google Analytics and find it very effective.
Anna – good ad vice about the meta tags, but when I check out my blog in Google Webmaster it doesn’t report the problem you described, so I assume Blogger takes care of it.
Thanks for all the great comments!
Heeeeelp I cant figure out why my meta tag is not working?? I keep getting what Sydney was gettin, except I can’t figure mine out please help??? This is what I put in my htm mods.
I can’t seem to figure out where I went wrong :< Thanks Michelle
Hey Michelle, the html doesn’t seem to come through, but for the closing to the meta tag make sure there is a space between the closing quote and the final slash. The other thing you can try is to look at the source of a blogger page and just cut and paste the tag from there. Right click on a page (like my one) and then choose “veiw source” from the menu. The meta tag should be at the top of the page.
Let me know how it goes.
Thanks
Icy.
.-= Icy´s last blog ..An Individual Chic – Emma Herring (Mrs Bruce Willis) =-.
This is awesome and so informative! Thank you!!
I immediately did the photo tagging! Will up the courage for the meta tags 2mro
Recessionista, you’re welcome ^_^
Miss Wan, go for it!
.-= Icy´s last blog ..In other news… =-.
Aha…found an answer to one of my questions about tagging images and now I know how to do it…wonderful!
.-= Butterfly´s last blog ..Glastonbury Fashion =-.
Hey Butterfly, glad I could help.
.-= Icy´s last blog ..An individual dude – Michael Jackson =-.
Wow.. Is it magic or is because im slow in technology…
Within minutes my traffic raised !!!
Thank you for the post.. Love it
FC
.-= FC´s last blog ..My Car !!!! =-.
Hey FC, I’m impressed it worked so fast! Gald I could help.
.-= Icy´s last blog ..Today I’m wearing… =-.
Thanks so much for the tips Icy!! So helpful- I just set up the meta-tags and it wasnt as intimidating as I thought! Also I was having the same problem as Michelle at first. My issue was that I used ‘ instead of ” Hope that helps!
.-= Danielle – The Culturistas´s last blog ..Tory Burch Private Sale =-.
Can I use those tips for my WordPress.com blog?
.-= Mademoiselle Le K´s last blog ..Ann Demeulemesteer: Men Collection Spring-Summer 2010 =-.
Thanks for the info! Very helpful!!
.-= Danielle – The Culturistas´s last blog ..Update Your Closet for Midseason! =-.
Great tips, thanks Icy
I immediately tried the meta tags and photo tags, so easy to do.
When I first heard of SEO, my non-technical side goes into panic mode! But with a lot of tips out there, including this, it helps us (not-so-much-techi-people) understand and make use of it to help us promote our blog.
.-= Elle´s last blog ..9 Reasons why we need to over dress =-.
nice Info!!! it helped me alot!
Hey Icy,
Thanks for the tips. Sydney and michelle didn’t bother to revert with their findings. The tag not closed error is coming coz of the single quotes used by you in the example. It should be double quotes not single. i.e.
instead of , it should be . Please make the necessary changes above to avoid any inconvenience to the other readers.
The tips are really helpful. Thanks again.
.-= Tarun Sardana´s last blog ..Realization =-.
Thanks for the tips! Very helpful
For some reason my blog still won’t come up when I search for it though
.-= Sonia´s last blog ..Time to get out the Ol’ Tights… =-.
haven’t tried it yet, but they are truly great tips! thanxxx a bunch!
.-= kiki hiller´s last blog ..cropped pants & friends – fall/winter 2009/2010 =-.
I started blogging less than a year ago and I feel like there is so much to learn and do, it could definitely be a full time job. Thanks for the great tips!
.-= Brandy Bell´s last blog ..This week’s addictions . . . =-.
Hi, thanks for this! I was having the same problem as sydney and michelle, but after copying the code from your page it worked. Slightly weird since it was exactly the same as what it said before, but it works, so I’m not complaining!
.-= Franca´s last blog ..Outfit 26 September 2009: handsewn 1960s tunic =-.
great article! Seems more complicated than it actually is. The code works perfectly. I wish we never had to deal with code ever!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! This is amazing
Uh oh… I did everything as written above and when I finished, I went to my blog to double-check that everything went well.
I right-clicked my blog page, hit “View Source” and my html had this imbedded in it:
“Notify Blogger about Objectionable Content on this page” – what? they flagged my blog?!?!
How do I fix? Do I just have too many keywords?
Danielle – thanks for the tip!
Mademoiselle Le K – Err, I think so, but I don’t how you would get to the place to enter the information
Elle – glad I could help
Tarun – thanks for the clarification
Sonia - it takes a few days, or even weeks, for your blog to be searched by Google. Try now, and if it still doesn’t work, look for something called “Google Webmaster Tools” and investigate that.
Kiki Hiller - You’re welcome.
Brandy Bell - I’d love to make blogging a full time job too, but there are too many other things I “have” to do first (like working ^_^)
Franca - Glad it worked for you.
Brent - They hide a lot of code, which is good, but to make it really individual you have to get in there and mess around.
TheShoeGirl - You’re also welcome.
Katy - No need to worry. The “Notify Blogger about Objectionable Content on this page” actually comes from the “source” of the Blogger tool bar across the top of the page. If you look at the source of any other Blogger page with the tool bar you’ll see the same thing. It’s not anything in your code or your page.
Sorry everyone it’s taken so long to get back to you all, and I’m so pleased you’ve been finding these instructions helpful.
Thanks
Icy.
.-= Icy @ Individual Chic´s last blog ..Vintage Icy – Details are everything =-.
Wow, this was very informative. I’m pretty much clueless on these things, but now Im inspired to get more into it! Thanks:)
.-= HEK´s last blog ..From Russia with love =-.
I was wondering about something:
I use photobucket for my images, and in the html text there is no such thing as alt=””..
Can I just add it myself? And in that case where?
Thanks:)
.-= HEK´s last blog ..My style: Darker for colder =-.
how cool! i never knew any of this!!!! you are a genius =D
This is great! thanx for the help
http://kobalia-fashion.blogspot.com/
CHECK OUT MY FASHION BLOG ” NONCHALANT”
.-= Nina´s last blog ..Comfortably Numb =-.
Thanks for the helpul tips. I just started my blogger site. Michael of Apartment Guide Marketing.
Hey thanks for the tips. I was not using the tags for pictures in my blog.
I will try it now.
Thanks once more.
.-= Chinthu´s last blog ..Pune Spider : Information portal for Pune city. =-.
hey great post! this is so inspiring. want to try the meta content but i’m too afraid of template failure eventhough that seems like the coolest idea here.
thank you anyway
.-= vinda´s last blog ..red actually. =-.
Please help
I keep getting this error
Your template could not be parsed as it is not well-formed. Please make sure all XML elements are closed properly.
Thanks. I have added the header, added metatags and added tags to my images. My blog is a week old and am still not linked on any of the search indexes. I did submit my URL to google, but find it impossible to get submission through on yahoo. Did anyone else experience issue?
Typically how long has it taken for your blog to become searchable. I use blogger.
.-= Vegetarian Traveller´s last blog ..Breakfast at the French Quarter: Brennan’s =-.
Thank you so much for these helpful posts. I never thought I could make my own blog not being computer savvy, but you’ve broken down the complex mysteries of a successful blog into plain simple english!
Again I thank you.
.-= Graham Thomas´s last blog ..Women’s Wear Silhouettes =-.
Thanks for a description of how to make a blog searchable
hmmmmmm…..this message keep coming out!! how come??? where did I go wrong???
I did this:
how come??please help!!