When you want your blog to rank in search engines, you’ve got a decision to make…
You can either think about keywords you want to rank for, and then try to rank for them. Or you can see what you’re already ranking for, and try to rank higher.
Both WordPress SEO strategies are vital for growing a popular blog, but when you’re pressed for time, the latter—find what you’re ranking for and rank higher—is much easier to pull off.
Question is how?
Discover the Keywords That Already Send You Traffic
If you’re running a blog for any length of time, you’re likely already getting some search engine traffic.
And if you’re using a stat-tracking program like Google Analytics, you’re able to see what keywords send you traffic.
Some keywords send a few hits, others might send hundreds. Either way, it doesn’t matter. What matters is this:
Take a look at the keywords that you send you traffic, and see where you rank in search engines for them.
If you’re not ranking #1, that’s your chance to improve the ranking for that one keyword.
(I know I don’t need to tell you the benefit of that, but just in case… a slight move up in the rankings can be the difference between 10 hits and 100 hits!)
Question is how do you raise those rankings?
Here’s How You Can Start Ranking Higher In Search Engines For One Keyword
It’s much easier than you think…
When you find keywords that already send you traffic, and you want to improve the rankings of those keywords, often times, you can raise your ranking a spot or two by improving your internal linking.
For example, let’s say that you discover you’re ranking for Facebook Share Button. When you write new articles, make sure you internally link the older article with the proper anchor text… where it makes sense.
(Note, don’t just spam your archives with keywords because you want to game search engines. Link these articles when your new article is related to your older article)
Why is this so powerful?
Well, doing this will breathe life into your older articles, and alert Google that the article is still relevant on your site. You’re linking it after all!
Now Here’s the 3-Step Strategy For Making This A Whole Lot Easier
You like easy, right?
Right.
I do too.
Here’s a simple 3-step strategy that will make this simple WordPress SEO tip extremely easy.
Step 1: Find between 10 and 15 keywords that send you traffic, and have the opportunity for improvement (aka you’re not ranking #1 yet).
Step 2: Write those keywords on a piece of scratch paper, and leave it next to your keyboard.
Step 3: When you write new posts, refer to that list and see what you internal links you can add into your article before you press publish.
And one more bonus step…
If you’re already a Thesis user, don’t worry, you’re covered.
But if you’re not, did you know that improving the HTML on your site can help you rank higher in search engines?
Well, it’s true. Switching from a poorly optimized WordPress theme to a professionally optimized WordPress theme can often help you rank higher in search engines.
