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Why SEO Is Important For a New Blogger
November 17th, 2024
I Started a Blog!
Blogs are a great way to spread information about a topic and showcase your own brand within that information. Whether it’s about lifestyle, food, or fashion, blogs are a great way for online communities to connect. There are so many different ways to build your blog, but arguably, the most important part of that process will be growing your audience so your blog can reach more viewers. We can do this best through practicing Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.
What Is SEO?
As I mentioned, growing an audience is the most important part of building a blog. A great way to do this is through SEO. It helps search engines pick up and understand your blog’s information. It’s designed to help improve the content of your website so that the information in your blog appears more frequently in search results. If people are finding your blog through search hits, eventually, your blog will also get more shares, therefore organically growing. There are multiple ways we can apply SEO to grow our blogs-
1. Long tail keywords
2. High-quality landing pages
3. Strong text
SEO In Action
Long tail keywords, high-quality landing pages, and strong text are all ways we can combine the aspects of our blog to increase viewership.
- Long tail keywords are specific phrases that you can repeat through your blog. They have a high conversion value because they are specific. Though this means that phrase might get searched less, when it does, viewers are more likely to continue interacting with your blog.
- When someone finds your page through their search, you want to have a high-quality landing page. Blogs hold a lot of content, so the user will need to be able to find exactly what they searched for easily. This means making your blog’s navigation user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing.
- When the user goes to read the content they have now found, the text must be strong and without error.
A great place to start for success in these areas is to see how and what people are searching for. Websites like this one show current online trends.
Building The Blog
At first, it can be hard to figure out how to structure your blog. To get started, keep in mind that blogs speak to the entity writing them. Most of the time, when someone is reading a blog, it’s because they like the author’s perception of their topics. Blogs can engage readers through personal connection—opinion, style, and personal narrative are all aspects to consider when creating a blog structure.
As you build your blog, lean into the personality you want to convey to readers and find out what styles of writing suit you. Another thing to consider is the structure of the blog. The layout of your content must be easy and accessible for users to navigate through. It should also have a stylistic strategy- the look of your blog will give users a sense of what they’re reading and the personality of the writer. Check out this website for information on building your blog and getting readers to stay on it. After gathering those details, you can start to use SEO to help your audience grow.
Let’s Become Bloggers!
Now that we’ve gone over the basics, let’s get to blogging! Check out articles and tutorials to help you on your journey (like this one). Once you start consistently implementing the strategies of SEO into the fundamentals of your blog, your audience will grow, and so will your ideas. That being said- sit down, start writing, and build that blog!
Written by: Mary-Paige McDonald
My Favorite Newly Learned Design Skill
October 31st, 2024
Good Content: Why Do We Need It?
Today, with content creation being a key point in capturing an audience’s attention, it’s important to know how to craft deliverables that stand out. We are swept through a sea of social media posts and information daily, only looking at the ones that manage to catch our eye. After using many different platforms to craft fun, engaging content, I only really use one to ensure my designs are original, and it’s Adobe Illustrator.
What Is Adobe Illustrator?
Adobe Illustrator offers creativity with control. It is an Adobe software that allows the user to create designs, either from a blank canvas or from a preexisting document. It offers tools that can form shapes colors, and text, all to create a document that can-
1. Speak to your brand or organization.
2. Speak to you as a designer.
3. Allow for a completely unique set of branding elements.
It’s my preferred design platform because it gives me a limitless creative playground with possibilities to explore. With its tools, Illustrator lets me bring any idea to life with precision and control, whether I’m designing logos, crafting intricate illustrations, or creating infographics. There’s something incredibly satisfying about seeing a blank canvas transform into a polished design with the help of vector graphics that can be resized without losing quality. This flexibility is so rewarding, especially when working on projects that require multiple formats, like digital ads, print designs, or logos.
How Do I Use It?
At first, looking at everything Illustrator has to offer can be overwhelming, and that’s okay! There are multiple tools and ways you can format a document, and different ways to export your final work. My first piece of advice for this platform is to play around and get creative. Because there are so many aspects of this software, there is going to be a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it (using tutorials like the one below), you get the best of both worlds- creativity with control.
One of my personal favorite tools to start using is the shape tool- it’s an unsung hero. With a click, you can start with something as simple as a rectangle or a circle and transform it into anything your mind can imagine. I love how this feature supports both precision and creativity, letting me quickly block out an idea, align everything perfectly, and add layers to more complex designs.
I also love using the pen tool, which is like wielding a magic wand that gives me control over the curves and shapes I have created. Once you get the hang of it, the Pen tool becomes an extension of your creativity, allowing you to refine details with absolute precision.
Getting Started: Let’s Put Adobe Illustrator To Work!
We’ve covered what Illustrator is and why you should use it, but how do you integrate it into your daily design routine? Luckily, there are many online beginner platforms (like this one) that offer tutorials on how to take your designs with Illustrator to the next step. Some great tutorials on Adobe’s Website (like this one) can get you started on the app.
Whether I’m starting a project from scratch or adding finishing touches, Illustrator is the ideal companion to bring my ideas to life, and I highly suggest seeing how it can help out your designs as well. So, get out there (virtually) and get creative on Illustrator!
Written by: Mary-Paige McDonald