Blogs have the potential to attract abundant search engine traffic by virtue of their social nature. While search engine optimization for blogs is not very different from SEO for regular websites, a search engine marketing campaign for blogs focuses on getting peoples’ attention. 

That said, there are SEO strategies for blogs, just like other websites because, all said and done blogs are websites too. We can broadly categorize these strategies into off site and onsite strategies where off site would relate to the actions of your blog readers in terms of linking back to your blog, and on site strategies relate to the action you take on your blog, tweaking it to rank high. 

Offsite SEO Strategies 

Any search optimization specialist will tell you that backlinks or inbound links are powerful factors that raise search engine rankings. This is because the search engines see backlinks as a third party endorsement for your blog.  So it is important to focus on links that are from sites that have a higher page ranking than your blog, links that relate to the content on your site and links that point to your chosen keywords. So what are the ways in which you can generate these high-quality inbound links? Here are a few pointers:

·        Great content – quality content is the most cost effective and best way to generate natural backlinks as people will want to link to content they enjoy reading and want to share with everyone else.

·        Submitting the links to key pages on your blog, with the relevant keywords, to directories. Many blog directories out there are free.

·        Joining a blog network. Blog networks link to each other via multiple domains.

·        Swapping text links with other bloggers can be a natural way to get backlinks. Often, there is reciprocal linking among bloggers. But it is possible to make an arrangement with other bloggers. Link exchange programs and link buying are something that must be done cautiously.

Now let us look at some on site SEO strategies. Here are some quick tips recommended by search engine optimisation blogs: 

• Give your blog an interesting title, relevant to the content so that the reader is motivated to read on
• Do keyword research and include these in the blog title and content and H1 tags, image alt tags and meta tags.
• Create your blog pages around a theme, as niche blogs rank higher with search engines.
• Design your site well by making it easy to navigate and viewable on all the popular browsers. This means no overdose of flash, frames or java script.  
• A site map is a great idea as it makes it easier for search engines to index your blog. Every page must link back to your home page.
• Write often, since regularly updated blogs are indexed within hours of adding a new post.
• Work on relevant outbound links to reputable sites relevant to your blog. 

You can use RSS and other feed readers that allow your readers to be updated about new posts. If your blog is very popular, the comment posted by users qualifies as unique content, inviting higher search engine rankings. Therefore, a search engine optimization blog strategy is all about attention grabbing content for readers.