Are you one who looks forward to the changing seasons to see what new styles and trends in clothing will be popular, or are you a person with your own unique style who pays no attention to popular trends? When it comes to clothing, you can get away with ignoring current trends and still look great, but when it comes to all things Internet, ignoring current trends is risky business.
People who enjoy writing of all types like to put their hands on the keyboard (or the pen – do people still do that?) and let their words and ideas flow in their own distinctive style. Those who enjoy blogging feel the same way, but there are key elements to blogging and publishing work on the Internet that simply cannot be ignored.
We know that we have to keep the search engines happy with strategically placed keywords, for instance, while not overusing those keywords or using them in unnatural ways. And there are many other elements of optimization we must consider in blog writing, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have good writing and good SEO practices that will please both blog readers and search engines.
Rand Fishkin, CEO of SEOmoz whose techniques and strategies have proven successful and have earned the respect of many – including myself says , “SEO, done right, should never interfere with great writing,” and his article SEO 101 for Travel Bloggers, offers sound advice that applies to everyone who wants to have a successful blog on any topic, not just travel.
Since both elements - good writing and good SEO practices - are vital to successful blogging, I highly recommend that you take a few minutes to read the entire article. His illustration below provides all the necessary ingredients for blogging success and he explains very simply how to accomplish each step.