If you’re setting up your blog on WordPress, one resource you need in your toolkit is the blog Lorelle at WordPress. Lorelle VanFossen, the author, is a WordPress maven. She knows how to make running WordPress understandable and goes beyond the code to discussing great blogging. She also offers several sections of targeted articles. One particular classic resource is the Do-It-Yourself Search Engine Optimization Guide
Lorelle’s guide starts with the question, Why Pay For Search Engine Optimization? Because of the nature of blog technology, blogs don’t need the sophisticated SEO support from high-paid firms that hard-wired websites do. Search engines love blogs’ constantly changing content.
Lorelle’s article, however, takes you through the basics, so that you know the words that are commonly used in reference to getting your blog and your pages ranked highly in searches.
Here are just a few of the articles and topics that her guide includes.
How to Google Ranks Websites
Website/Blog Optimization
Blog Promotion
Track SEO Efforts and Results
Compare the Competitors
Website Health and Fitness
WordPress and SEO
Throughout each article is priceless information that you can go miles without ever encountering, such as this tidbit.
Now, there is something you need to know about WordPress and using site search tags on your blog. Google follows all the links on your posts, and many WordPress Themes feature date, archive, and site search links which generate specific pages when clicked. Google “thinks” these are all individual web pages and follows them, adding them to their database. As of January 1, 2006, this blog has 360 posts but more than 18,000 pages are stored in Google’s database. I didn’t do anything special, that’s just WordPress doing awesome SEO right out the box. Thought you should know.
Even better, Lorelle is a fine writer and teacher. Go on over and get started. You won’t be sorry that you met her.
Liz Strauss
