John Chow dot Com

3 SEO Strategies You Need To Drive More Traffic

Posted: 05 Sep 2013 08:40 PM PDT

Let me share with you some of the SEO strategies you need to drive more traffic to your blog.
You and I know that before you can build a successful blog, you need people.
Truly, a community is not composed of Trees and Animals – it has to be real people with taste, otherwise it's no longer a community.
Search engine optimization has become one of the delicate marketing practices – as a result of Google Panda, Penguin 1.0 and now the Penguin 2.0.
If you had listened to your inner voice, you'll hear Google telling you something that no one else knows.
Matt Cutts is a cute guy who tends to reveal everything that Google is up to. But there is one thing that you should be focused on. I'll reveal that one thing in the 2nd strategy.
So without much ado, take these 3 SEO Strategies, apply them to your blog and drive quality traffic. Shall we?

1. Make your old content relevant

This is a no-brainer. But if you truly want to start driving organic traffic from Google, then don't neglect your old content.
I know you must have written hundreds if not thousands of blog posts in 2011, '12 and this year too. Are they still valuable?
Did you know that Wikipedia does not advertise anywhere? Maybe I've been blind to this, but I've never seen wikipedia's Ad campaign in Google, Yahoo or Bing Search Engines.
All the articles they've written years ago are still relevant because the editors and writers interlink them.
Wikipedia has covered 99% of the topics you've in mind and Google loves them because they interlink a lot. Sure, relevance is what you must earn for. Also, Mashable, Techcrunch and other authority content websites interlink a lot.
The posts of 2002 till 2012 are still referenced. In the eyes of Google, such articles and videos are still valuable and that's the key point of effective on-page SEO.
When you write blog posts, make sure you interlink your relevant pages. It can send positive signals to Google and get you some traffic love?

2. Link out to authority sites

Don't be selfish. Search engine optimization has gone beyond your own blog and grandma's pet naughty free blogger blog. You've to link out because you don't know it all.
Experts have strong networks and when you link to other relevant content pages outside your blog, you're telling Google that you know who is who on the internet. It's about building a community of influencers who know their onions. Hmm, I mean Carrot!
If your niche is internet related, then you've a lot of authority sites to link to.
And the good news is that health related niches are seen as authority – Google therefore rewards health sites more. Answer me, Medical Doctors and Bloggers, who should you trust?
If you answered Medical Doctors, then you can understand why Google is driving angrily towards authority.

3. Focus on relevant content

After Google released their first Panda update, there is a call for relevant content.
You've to identify your niche and stick to it. Forget all the hype about quality content, the only quality content is one that's helpful and relates to a group of people.
Don't cast your net too wide and expect miracles to happen. If your niche is internet marketing, why not narrow it down and be more specific.
I mean, you can write about email marketing 95% of the time? Or what about social media, SEO, brand marketing, business start up, monetization, traffic generation et al? When your content is relevant, you're telling Google where your expertise lies.
Because if you claim to be an expert, then you can't be jack-of-all-trade and master-of-none. Write epic content that can help your target audience. Don't try to impress everyone.
Google tracks the keywords you mention and use on your content consistently. Search engine spider doesn't have eyes or intellect, but it can tell what keywords you're trying to optimize for if used on a regular basis.
When you write guest posts, make sure it's relevant to your domain and niche, then link back to your most-relevant post. Continue doing this and gradually, you'll build authority and drive traffic beyond your wildest imaginations.

SEO is still alive…

Yes, web 2.0 websites have become stronger after Penguin 2.0 update. When you build branded anchor texts from the content, it can bump your rankings almost overnight.
An example of a branded anchor text is http://contentmarketingup.com, instead of content marketing. You can then link the anchor to a relevant content page on your blog.
SEO isn't dead. Yes, a lot of changes on the algorithm have been recorded way back, but the foundation is still the same – build authority links with your relevant content.
What do you say? Did Penguin 2.0 update affect your website? Share your opinion right below and go see a movie…will ya?