Wordpress.com SEO

[Silverlight]

Having read a lot about how wordpress and blogging with decent content and a link to a company URL can improve SEO I began my blog about a week back.

As to whether the content is decent remains a question, but it seems apparent to me I'm straight back to square one in that there's still the question of how to drive traffic to now the blog instead of the company site?

I've taken a few steps: technorati, digg, stumbleupon. but I'm more or less in the same position as with the site.

Are there any simple SEO steps for blogs? Is a wordpress.com blog worse than a hosted one?

Ta.

[Dawg]

Having read a lot about how wordpress and blogging with decent content and a link to a company URL can improve SEO I began my blog about a week back.

As to whether the content is decent remains a question, but it seems apparent to me I'm straight back to square one in that there's still the question of how to drive traffic to now the blog instead of the company site?

I've taken a few steps: technorati, digg, stumbleupon. but I'm more or less in the same position as with the site.

Are there any simple SEO steps for blogs? Is a wordpress.com blog worse than a hosted one?

Ta.

A hosted blog could be within your website so you wouldn't drive traffic to your blog or your site but both at the same time.

Also SEO plugins for Wordpress.org, (hosted), far outstrip any functionality in Wordpress.com, for instance All in One SEO and Headspace 2.

[fisicx]

Totally agree with Dawg.

Integrate the blog into your own site, write posts that people want to read and use the wordpress plugins to improve the SEO. Don't try to drive people to the blog, write the posts because you enjoy it, if they are interesting then they will get ranked and the visitors will come. The next task is to get them off the the blog and onto the main site...

Spend some time on copyblogger.com, it's got a lot of very useful information.

[Silverlight]

Excellent. cheers.

Also what of google news? I've seen what amounts to basically a blog appearring on google news before, how do they get there?

[awebapart.com]

If you only have a 4 page main HTML site (http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=141052), which you are thinking of moving anyway, then one combining option is to move the main site over to your wordpress.com blog and hosting the domain, website and blog at wordpress.com.

Wordpress isn't just for blogs, you can also add normal content pages, and you can assign your own domain too (paid option).

If the domain name is .co.uk, then this might help with the blog search engine rankings and traffic, since having a blogname . wordpress . com can fool google into thinking your site is US based, and as such downrank you for google searches made in the UK.

Wordpress.com SEO isn't that bad. I currently have a 1 page information site hosted there, www.webdesignnorthampton.org.uk (http://www.webdesignnorthampton.org.uk) , using the content page feature of Wordpress rather than the blog features ('Pages' rather than 'Posts'), and it isn't doing too bad for its target term, currently page 1 position 2 for the competitive term web design northampton (although exact match domain name and domain age helps too).

I sometimes cannot help feeling that some people rush into creating separate blogs for the wrong reasons though. Wrong reasons such as:

1. thinking that the blog will magically bring SEO benefits alone (without considering any SEO principles in their own right), or

2. using a blog because they cannot update or add to their own main site, when the new content is more applicable to the main site rather than blog, like news, articles, events, faqs, new testimonials, etc, sometimes having content management control of your main site is more important.

[fisicx]

RSS feeds, having a blog google likes, regular posts and so on. Google news is just part of Google, if you post a newsworthy article (health reform in the USA, Haiti, bombs in Bhagdad etc) then you may get picked up in a news search for those topics.

[G. Lasagne]

Try www.socialmarker.com

[Silverlight]

RSS feeds, having a blog google likes, regular posts and so on. Google news is just part of Google, if you post a newsworthy article (health reform in the USA, Haiti, bombs in Bhagdad etc) then you may get picked up in a news search for those topics.Basically what I'm writing on is relevant to my industry and hopefully would be informative, as being my industry I take an interest in events within it.

I sometimes cannot help feeling that some people rush into creating separate blogs for the wrong reasons though. Wrong reasons such as:

1. thinking that the blog will magically bring SEO benefits alone (without considering any SEO principles in their own right)Obviously it's done primarily to drive traffic, and I know a blog requires some SEO as does any site, which is why I'm asking, innit! :D

[jododds]

Don't forget to use Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to share your content with interested parties. You can set up automatic posting and embed your blog onto Facebook and LinkedIn (not sure if you can do that with wordpress.com but you can certainly do it with a self-hosted WP blog) and use something like Hootsuite to manage your short posts with links to the content. Do you have a Facebook Fan Page? Depending on your niche it could be really helpful.

[fisicx]

Basically what I'm writing on is relevant to my industry and hopefully would be informative, as being my industry I take an interest in events within it.
But is anyone outside your industry interested?

Try a different tack. Write about how your industry can help improve the lives and businesses of others. Tell me about the new widget but call the blog post:

"How to keep your thrunger cleaner for longer"

The actual post will then tell of the misery of a dirty thunger and way to keep it clean. Don't say 'buy my widget' but you can include a reference/link.

But most importantly, integrate the blog into your site. It take the grand total of 5 minutes form download to writing your first post. Even better you can copy your current pages into the blog and have a seamless editable package.

[awebapart.com]

Basically what I'm writing on is relevant to my industry and hopefully would be informative, as being my industry I take an interest in events within it.
http://bit.ly/5FWmDb

Obviously it's done primarily to drive traffic, and I know a blog requires some SEO as does any site, which is why I'm asking, innit! :D
Here's an SEO tip, don't use url shortener services like bitly when you can provide direct links to your sites instead.

I would also think carefully before taking forward a domain name with another supplier's obvious brand name in it, i.e. sky, for a website which focuses on that supplier's products, since if it does start to get noticed, you could end up with the Sky corporation domain disputing (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=%22sky+broadcasting%22+%22domain+dispute%22&meta=&rlz=1W1SUNA_en-GB&aq=f&oq=) your right for ownership of the domain.

[Snippa]

Wow... I feel like I know a little about this stuff, but you are all so knowledgeable! I feel like a complete beginner compared to you. I'm going to be implementing some of these ideas, I can tell you that. Thanks EVERYONE!

[Snippa]

Try www.socialmarker.com (http://www.socialmarker.com)

I had never heard of this site, but it looks like it could really save some time and do some quick promoting. Thanks for sharing!