Author: Nate Moller

UPDATED: March 8th, 2022

Moller Marketing (DBA WEB801) provides small business consulting to help clients learn how to best optimize their websites for search.

Through our experience, we’ve realized that there are a few principles that, if practiced, will dramatically increase the likelihood of your business website getting found in search engines for targeted keyword phrases.

Since we’re a big fan of lists in blogging, here’s the simple list of things you SHOULD do in every business blog post:

10 Basic Blogging Tips for On-Site SEO

1. Make the article at least 250 1,500 – 1,800 words

This has changed a LOT since I last wrote this article. 250 to 500 words used to be the homerun when it came to blogging and content creation: it showed Google and other search engines that your site was “active” and updated.

But now, comprehensive articles are what get the traction. Brian Dean from Backlinko has researched it:

Comprehensive content with a high “Content Grade” (via Clearscope), significantly outperformed content that didn’t cover a topic in-depth.

Longer, more comprehensive content WORKS!

2. Give the article a keyword rich title tag

More than just a “keyword rich title tag,” I’d say that today you want to use questions or solve specific problems people are already looking for.

In Chapter one of this video, you’ll see a list of titles that really work:

3. Adjust the permalink to include a variation of the same keyword phrase as your title

Yes, this may still be helpful at some level. But it doesn’t carry the weight it once did.

Make your permalink structure short.

Use a keyword phrase.

Here’s a great example:

4. Keyword repetition and density

Repeat the keyword phrase you’re targeting at least 1% of the time within the content of your blog post (ie. starting an online business would be used 3 times if the article I’m writing is 250-300 words long).

Sure, this can be helpful. But like #3, it’s not something I’d lose tons of sleep over at this point.

We’re creating content MORE for end users than for search engines. If they read the content and the keyword phrase keeps showing up all over the place, it can get annoying.

SOLVE PROBLEMS = GET RESULTS

5. Use the keyword phrase to link to another related article on your website

This is still valid. Internal linking can do two things: 1. help search engines find other content on your site easily. 2. increase curiosity clicks from readers.

When I think about this today, it applies even more to the visitor path – where do you want the visitor to END UP and what does success (or conversion) really look like for your website?

6. Give credit where credit is due

Reference another legitimate source with a “target=”_blank” hyper link (that means the link opens in a new window)

I still like and agree with this concept.

Sometimes a mention of another leader in your industry (and a link to their content) is all it takes to gain more validity in your space.

Other business owners recognize these links and as the saying says, “What goes around comes around.”

The more you give to others, the better chance you have of that carma coming back around.

7. Use images

Use at least one image in your blog post and include a title tag and alt text with the keyword phrase you’re targeting (make sure the image is somewhat relevant to the keyword phrase you’re using)

Still applicable today.

8. Share, share, share! & Ask for shares

Send the new blog post link to friends and ask them to share in social networks and comment.

Still applicable.

One of my favorite “sales” tips for websites is “You’ll never get what you don’t ask for.”

If I want traffic to come to my site, sometimes the best way to start that trend is to ask those closest to me to read it, comment, and share.

9. Be consistent in your blogging

I recommend at least 1 time per week to clients who are using blogging as an online marketing strategy (which you all SHOULD BE). Scheduling blog posts is a “secret” that makes blogging consistently a LOT easier.

Still valid.

The quantity, though, isn’t as important to me as the quality of the content.

Mark Rober, one of the YouTuber’s I really look up to, only posts videos once per month, sometimes even less than that. But the content is QUALITY and he gets millions of views every time:

10. Review this article from time to time

For some reason many of these tips are often overlooked in business blogging.

And, as you can see by the update today, things change with time.

Many of the concepts are still applicable, but some have taken different directions.

Conclusion

There you have it.

Nothing really too “under the table” or “crazy unique”.

But, if all business bloggers implemented these strategies, their websites and blogs would get a LOT more natural search engine traffic – and I can GUARANTEE THAT because I’ve tested it with brand new sites and old sites alike, and I’ve seen over-night results (and that’s a phrase I really HATE so it must be true).

What results have you seen/are you seeing as you practice these business blogging tips?

Have you ever received an email that you’re not sure about?

RECOMMENDATION: Don’t click on it.

I thought I’d share some information today, since the last time something like this happened to me, I shared it and that post, Beware of Craiglist Scams, has brought a lot of traffic to our site.

Therefore, I wanted to warn you of another SCAM that I just saw today.

The Wells Fargo & Zelle Email Scam

I opened my email and saw this:

I was really close to clicking on the “APPROVE PAYMENT” but then looked a little closer:

If the email isn’t from Wells Fargo (or whoever the email says it’s from within the content) DON’T CLICK ON IT!

This email was from “specialupdate@security.usmail.com”

If you’ve seen fraudulent emails like this, share them below in the comments so we can all be made aware.

I did a bit more research and found these good suggestions on what to do with fraudulent emails and phishing scams:

How Do I Recognize a Fraudulent Email?

Scammers & phishers have lots of different tactics, but there are some pretty easy signs which will help you recognize a phishing email or text message.

Hazard #1: The scam email or text message looks like it’s from a company you know and trust.

Like the example above, the email had the Wells Fargo logo and look fairly normal.

A bank, a credit card company, a social networking site, an online payment website or app, or an online store: these are some of the common businesses scammers will use.

Hazard #2: The fraudulent email or text message will tell a story to bate you to click on something or “sign in.”

Notice the details of this email:

Approve Payment.

It also shows this:

And then this:

And finally this:

All of these are subtle calls to action to get me to click through and either get a code on my computer or “log in” with my banking information.

Hazard #3: The scam email isn’t even addressed to me directly.

While, at a glance, this email might look real, it’s not.

The scammers who send these emails obviously don’t have anything to do with the companies they pretend to be.

Phishing emails can have real consequences for people who give scammers their information.

They can also hurt the reputation of the companies they’re spoofing.

Beware of them!

Conclusion

If you’ve received an email like this one, report it. The information you give can help fight the scammers.

Here are the steps.

Step 1. If you got a phishing email, forward it to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at reportphishing@apwg.org. If you got a phishing text message, forward it to SPAM (7726).

Step 2. Report the phishing attack to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.

Hope this helps.

Let us know about scams you’ve seen in the comments below.