So you're looking to get more people reading your Weebly blog?

And don't want to spend a bunch of time learning a ton of new stuff?

You just want to know what you should be doing so you can get more people reading your blog.

You are in the right place!

We purposely left out jargon and kept it high level so you can focus on creating the cool blog posts.

This post guides you through the top 10 tactics you should be doing with every post you publish on your blog. These simple tactics can help get more people reading your blog for free through search engine optimization (SEO). Keep reading to learn how to generate more traffic to your blog by making your posts more friendly to search engines.

The step by step instructions are for Weebly blogs but these tips apply to all blogs. So, non-Weebly users, this post is for you too.

Would you rather just read a quick high-level overview? Click this link below for an infographic:

How to Get More Traffic to Your Blog with 10 Simple Tactics

How to Get More Traffic to Your Weebly Blog with 10 Simple Tactics

The following tips are search engine optimization (SEO) tactics and these are cool because they don't cost anything. SEO is all about getting your posts to show up in search engine results. Here is an example of what this means.

Let's say you have a blog on how to take your cat for walks in the park. When someone searches for 'how to take your cat for a walk' you want your blog post to come up at the top of the search results. If your post shows up at the top, a person is highly likely to click on it and read on your blog. Cool, right? The 10 tactics outlined below will help make search engines love your blog posts and want to show them to the world.

Couple of things to keep in mind:

1. SEO is a long game thing. Meaning after you create SEO'd posts don't expect your post to instantly show up at the top of search results. There are many factors involved and this process takes time. Have faith though! It will pay off. If you want to talk more about this, please reach out. We are happy to talk your ear off about SEO :).
2. Always write with the reader in mind. Meaning avoid language and organization that doesn't feel natural to a human just to please a search engine. The goal is to want people to actually enjoy reading your posts. You can SEO the crap out of your blog posts but if the content isn't there, people aren't going to stick around.

Step 1: Keyword Research

Before you write any blog post you should spend some time identifying a good keyword to base your post on. Say what? Keep reading to learn more about what constitutes a good keyword.

Keywords 101

A keyword (or keyword phrase) is anything that is typed into a search engine (in the above screenshot, the keyword is 'how to take my cat for a walk'). In order to attract folks to your blog through SEO, you will want to base your post on a keyword that is popular and then implement tactics outlined below to help get search engines to show it (in the above screenshot, the websites outlined in the bottom green box are the result from the 'how to take my cat for a walk' search).

So how do you choose a good keyword?

Ideally, you should have the characteristics of your target customer outlined (called a buyer persona). This is a fictional representation of the audience you want to read your blog or buy your product. Your buyer person will help you think like your target audience and figure out the keywords they are likely to type into a search engine.

Jot down some keyword ideas and then for each of these keywords look at the number of monthly search volumes, how much people pay for advertising with that keyword and how competitive it is. We like to use Keywords Everywhere for this. This sweet browser extension will show you how many searches per month, the cost per click and the competition for any keyword that you type into Google. You'll quickly learn which keywords are worth focusing on and which aren't. This will help you avoid selecting a keyword that no one ever enters into a search engine. If the idea is to get people on your blog by optimizing the post for search engines, then it should be a keyword that people are actually using! Jump on over to our keyword research post to learn specifics and for more tips.

Keyword Research Summary:

• Use a keyword that your target customers would also use
• Make sure the keyword has a high number of monthly searches
• Check the competition of the keyword, the lower the competition the better

High monthly search volumes and low competition = a solid keyword choice

Now you have a keyword that will attract your target audience, is searched for frequently and isn't too competitive.  On to step 2!

Step 2: Craft a Beautiful Title Tag (Called SEO Post Title in Weebly)

The title tag refers to the title that shows up on the search engine results page (see screenshot above). After someone searches for a keyword they will then scan over the title tags presented to them in the search results. Include your keyword in the beginning of the title tag, make it 50-60 characters in length (don't make it so long the title cuts off!) and make it catchy. Better yet include a call to action or a really good reason why they should click on your post.

To add your title tag in Weebly, go to the blog editor and click on 'Advanced.' Enter your optimized title tag in the 'SEO Post Title' field:

Title Tag Summary:

• Include keyword in the beginning
• Make it 50-60 characters in length
• Include a call to action or good reason to click on your post

Well crafted title tags can help make people want to read your post

Step 3: Write a Catchy Meta Description (Called SEO Post Description in Weebly)

After someone has searched for something, they will then scan the results on the search page and read the title tags and the meta descriptions (see screenshot above to see where meta descriptions show up in search results). The meta description is so important! After reading this, a person will decide to click on your post or not, so you better make this something they want to click on. It should be 150-160 characters long, informative and include a call to action (think phrases like 'click to read more,' 'learn more about,' 'get $50 off,' etc). Don't mess around on this. Take some time to write something that people actually want to click on.

In the Weebly blog editor click on the 'Advanced' tab to show the SEO options. Enter your awesome meta description in the 'SEO Post Description' box:

Meta Description Summary:

• Make this 150-160 characters long
• Write an informative description that makes people want to click
• Include a strong call to action

Meta descriptions can make or break your blog post. Spend time on this!

Step 4: Nice Short URLs with Your Keyword (Also Called Permalink)

This is step is about the link to your blog post. Wow, this one is important for SEO and humans. It is the address for your blog post. If it is jibberish both the search engine and humans will not be able to understand what your post is about. This is your chance to add some clarity about your post and get people to click! Be sure to include your keyword and be short. It's recommended to use dashes and not underscores because Google treats dashes as word separators and does not treat underscores this way.

In the Weebly blog editor, your post needs to be published to show the 'Permalink' field in the 'Advanced' tab. Once published you can update the URL:

URL Summary

• Include your keyword
• Keep it short and concise
• Use dashes, no underscores

This is a good opportunity to tell people (and search engines) what your post is about and entice them to click

Step 5: Use Header (H1-H6) Tags to Structure Your Post

These tags (especially the H1) help search engines understand what your post is about. Not only that, well-structured posts are much more pleasant to read. It's easier to read something that is broken into intuitive parts than big blocks of solid text. For each post, include only one H1 tag and be sure to include your keyword in this tag. Then use H2-H6 to structure your post so it's fun and easy to read. Feel free to include your keyword in these other tags, but don't go crazy. Ensure the wording in the tags make sense in the context of the article.

In Weebly, when you use the 'Title' element this inserts an H2 tag. To get access to the H1-H6 tags in Weebly, you will need to install an app. Here are instructions on how to install the H+ Tag app and how to use it to add H1-H6 tags in your post. In the 'Build' tab, scroll to the bottom and click on the 'Add App' button:

Search for 'header' in the search bar of the App Center:

Click on the tab for the H+ Tag app:

Click the install button:

Now the H+ Tag app will show up in your list of installed apps:

There are other header apps available. Feel free to use the one you like best. H+ Tag is free and does the job. Here is the rundown on how to use the H+ Tag app:

Choose the type of tag and formatting in the settings tab that pops up:

H1-H6 Tag Summary:

• Use one, single H1 tag in your post
• Include your keyword in the H1 tag
• Use H2-H6 tags to give your post structure and make it easy to read

Only use one H1 tag (with your keyword) per post to help search engines understand what your post is about

Read more about the importance of header tags for SEO here.

Step 6: Lightly Sprinkle Your Keyword Throughout the Post

You want to use your keyword periodically throughout your post. Definitely put it in the first paragraph (ideally the first sentence) and again at the end. Don't go crazy here. When someone uses their keyword too frequently this is called 'keyword stuffing' and it can make search engines grumpy. Make it natural! The post is about the keyword so it won't be hard to find good places for it throughout your post.

Keyword Density Summary:

• Use your keyword in the first sentence of the first paragraph
• Include your keyword at the end of the post
• Sprinkle your keyword throughout post without going crazy

Use keyword throughout post in a way that flows and sounds natural

Step 7: Link to Other Pages on Your Website (Called Internal Linking in the SEO Biz)

Linking to other pages on your site helps search engines find your other pages and understand what your page is about. More importantly, links to other pages are big opportunities for you to sell a product, get people to other parts of your site or specific pages, etc! Let's say you have an e-commerce store selling jewelry and have a fashion blog (content marketing) to get people onto your site to buy jewelry. In your blog posts give them the links to your products! Make it easy for them to land on that product page and buy. Do this naturally in your post. You will see that it isn't hard to write in a way that promotes your page without coming across as overly self-promotional. Pro tip: use the keyword of the page you are linking to in the link text. See example above.

In Weebly, select the text in your post that you want to add a link to and then click the chain link icon:

Next, you will need to select the type of internal page you want to link to:

For example, if linking to a standard page, choose 'Standard Page' and search for the name of the page or scroll through the list provided:

Internal Links Summary:

• Include links to other pages on your website
• Try to use the keyword of the page you are linking to in the link text

Use links to other pages on your site to give people somewhere to go next and keep them engaged on your website

Read more about internal linking and why it is important in this article.

Step 8: Include Links to Other Credible Websites

It's good practice to link to other websites that have authority in the area you are blogging. This helps give your post more credibility. Think top blogs in your industry, Wikipedia and other educational sites. Don't forget to have this link open in a new window. You don't want folks leaving your website.

In Weebly, you add links to other websites like you add internal links. Instead of selecting 'Standard page' or 'Blog page' you will select 'Website' and type in the URL to the page you want to link to:

External Links Summary:

• Include some links to other authority sites in your post
• Make sure they are related to the topic of your post
• Utilize the 'open in a new window' option to avoid people leaving your site

Include links to high authority websites to help increase the credibility of your post

Step 9: Assign Relevant Categories to Your Post

Categories allow you to sort and organize posts that have similar topics. Your blog should have about 8-10 categories that you regularly write about. Assigning categories gives your readers an easy way to find more of your related posts and stay engaged on your website. Search engines use categories as a way to understand how authoritative your blog is on a particular topic. If a search engine thinks you are a boss on a certain topic then it will want to show your pages in search results.

Here is a screenshot showing where you assign categories in Weebly blog editor:

Assigning Categories Summary:

• Have 6-8 categories for your blog that you regularly write about
• Assign 1-3 relevant categories to your post

Assign categories that are relevant to the topic of the post and match the theme of your blog

Want to learn more about how to choose categories for your blog? Check out this great post from Do You Even Blog.

Step 10: Include Keyword in the Title of Images

Use your keyword in image titles and the image alt text. Search engines look at the title of the images in posts to understand what a post is about. Additionally, they also look at the image alt text (what gets displayed when your image can't load). You want your keyword here and should upload your image with the title containing the keyword. Avoid titles like IMG_4553. Humans and search engines alike don't get any information on what is in the image from this title.

Here are directions on how to add image alt text in Weebly. Click on the image and in the 'Image' window that pops up, scroll to the bottom and click 'Advanced':

In the 'Picture' field write a short description of the image and include your keyword:

Image Title Summary:

• Include your keyword in the image title
• Be concise

Be sure to include your keyword in the title of your images

Conclusion

There you have it, 10 simple steps to help get more traffic to your Weebly blog through simple SEO tactics. Start incorporating these tactics into all your blog posts to help make them more search engine friendly. When your blog is search engine friendly, they will be more likely to show your target audience your blog posts. Then it's more likely that your target audience will land on your page and fall in love with your blog. Happy blogging!

Have questions or want to chat about your blog specifically? Get in touch! We offer completely free consultations :).