Is your Blog sagging in the middle like this couch?

In this blog post we are going to discuss a quick tip from the previous podcast, a quick SEO tip and then we are going to get down to it with a conversation about blogging goals.

Tip from podcast 40: Do you have blogging goals?

Attainable:
Goals must provide a stretch that inspires people to aim higher. Goals must be achievable, or they’re a set-up for failure. Set goals you know you, your company, and employees can realistically reach.
The sprocket department will raise sprocket production by 20% by the end of this year.

Yes, I wish that I had the traffic and success of Pat Flynn and that is a fine and dandy goal for five years from now but for this moment in time, I need an attainable goal for myself. My goal right now is to just keep going. My goal right now is to get to 99 podcasts and not give up. My goal is to start getting interaction from the reader. Once I achieve that goal, I can make another goal. I have the “end” goal in mind but to get there, I had to break it into mini-goals. Create a S.M.A.R.T. goal and then get down to it, getting it done.

SEO Tip for the day: from Seomark.co.uk

Tip 4: Know your competition. Find out what the sites ranking on the 1st page for the keywords that you want to rank for have done, on-site and off-site, to get there.

Tip 6: SEO doesn’t have to be expensive. You can get big results on a small budget if you invest time in creating good content and building online relationships.

These are two wonderful pieces of SEO advice and while they are meant to be two different pieces, I believe that they go together. You need to know your competition and then you need to not just automatically see them as the enemy. A while back I wrote an article called “Why my competitors are really freakin awesome.”

Instead, I think that you should figure out which part of the business that your newly found competitor bestie does better than you. Let’s say that you are a plumber and you are really great a repairing pipes in the yard but you are not so great at drilling through a foundation. Work with your new found friend and refer your perfect niche projects to one another. You will both look like a hero in the industry and you each spend time focusing on what you do next instead of being attempting to be insanely great at everything. When you try and be insanely great at everything then you end up be sucky at everything instead.

So back to SEOMark’s tips though, let’s discuss tip 6: Invest time in creating good content and building relationships. This is the entire point right here. Keep in mind that good content is not just making sure that the grammar is perfect. Good content is making sure that you are providing the answer to people’s questions. Good content is about making sure that you are not holding back the secrets. Good content is about serving your audience. If you always start with the heart of a servant first, you will win in the end.

Now let’s get down to it and discuss Blog sagging

My first couch was a futon and it was a beast. It was also terribly uncomfortable to sit on, much less lay on. However, it was cheap and it served its purpose. The frame was made of some sort of metal and the cushion was about two inches thick. The one thing that I will say about that couch is that it did not sag in the middle.

On other hand my next couch, the real one did eventually start to sag. It had three cushions and the frame was constructed of wood. It was a beautiful couch and I loved sitting smack dab in the middle of the darn thing. The middle is where I could see the tv best. We would lay on that couch and plop down on that couch and then one day it started to sag.

At this point, you are probably wondering what the heck a sagging couch has to do with blogging. Am I right?

If you focus all of your blogging energy on specific keyword, the odds are good that your blog will begin to sag in the middle. Now, I know you are probably thinking that I am crazy because I talk all of the time about making sure that your blog is focused.

It is true that your blog should be focused but it can’t be so rigid that it is uncomfortable like my first futon. Your blog should have a topic theme. Having a theme allows room to roam around the fringes of a topic. Roaming around the fringes of a topic allow you the opportunity to rank your blog on associated keywords and that is a good thing.

It can be a real challenge to get to page one of Google for a single keyword. Instead spend your time talking about your blog topic theme instead of just one single idea. Besides, no one likes a person who only ever talks about one single thing all day every single day. These kind of conversations get old and you also run out of things to say.

For example, if you are blogging about lawn care and you want to rank for the keyword phrase “lawn care” you should blog around the topic. Imagine how boring your blog would be if ever post was “blah blah lawn care blah blah blah.” Instead you could blog about tree care, treating for mosquitos, when to water and countless other outdoor related ideas.

There is also one more problem with only focusing on a single keyword. What if you never rank for that word?

Read this article: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2306839/Why-Obsessing-Over-One-Keyword-Could-Sink-Your-Whole-Site

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Thank you so much for stopping by my show notes for the third podcast in my I Teach Blogging Podcast series.

I would love your comments and feedback. Also, if you have any questions that you would like discussed in future episodes, please either leave them in the comments below or shoot me an email at [email protected].

[su_box title=”What do you think?” box_color=”#81c11d” radius=”6″]Do you have trouble figuring out how to step outside of your main keyword?[/su_box]

You can listen to all of my podcast at:

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Don’t forget to clickety on my PDF download of Tips on Blogging for Business. It covers some tips about the Yoast Plugin and a few others that I install on all of my clients’ blogs.