SEO for sports blogs

Before I got paid to blog, I didn't know what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or social networking means. But I quickly learned how important these web promotion strategies are for a sports blog website. Please let me give you three one-time ideas for getting more people to read your blog or website.

In the first place, write for the web. I used to run a blog for a news website. My blog is always visited by a lot more people than anyone else's. This is important because I was up against real sports writers and authors. These sports reporters were often talked about on sports talk radio and in well-known newspapers and magazines. All signs pointed to the fact that a post about the World Series by a Phillies beat writer shouldn't have won over a blog I wrote about WrestleMania. But it has always been that way. When it comes to blogging, it's more important to know how to write for the web than what you write.

Even though these journalists were great writers, they were writing material for websites that would be printed. They would care more about coming up with clever titles than about making sure those titles include important keywords and search questions. Even though it isn't as catchy, an article about a Philadelphia Phillies game with the headline "Philadelphia Phillies Lose To NL Foe" will get a lot more attention than one with the title "Fins Eat Away At Bullpen." The names of my blog posts aren't always clever, but they always have important keywords.

The same SEO rules should apply to both the abstract and the first text. Look at the first sentence I wrote to see how I used my buzzwords well. Many print writers like to add suspense to their books by using one or two long lines. This is a great way to read a book or newspaper. It doesn't change online traffic much, though. There should be a lot of key words in your abstract. Search engines usually only look at the first 160 characters of a paragraph or summary, so make sure that your first line is important. Don't use the same term too often. If you do this, you might get kicked out of a few search engines.

The second thing is social media. Having a good MySpace page or a thousand Facebook or Twitter friends is just the tip of the sea when it comes to social networking. I try to get people to visit my website by interacting with other sports blogs, groups, and websites. Misunderstanding what social networking is all about is one of the most common mistakes I see among my fellow writers.

Know that there are social networking sites besides MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. Look on the Internet for more social networking sites. Find websites where you can post information and link back to your blog. I hate putting my blog posts on websites that want to see the whole thing. I like websites that let you post a title, a short description, and a link. You have to know where to look because there are a lot of them online. Try searching Google and see what you can find.

When it comes to these sites, the most important thing is to keep going. Don't give up if things don't get better right away. Some websites might not read your first 50 stories, but it only takes one for that to change. I posted my stories on one of these sites every day for two months, but I didn't get many responses. All of that changed when one piece got a lot of attention and was featured on the front page for a few weeks. People keep coming to my website because of this story. I would have lost tens of thousands of dollars if I had given up after the first 50 visits.

Find out how to make the most of MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook. Use Facebook's Networked Blogs to connect your blog. You should only post one link every day on Facebook. Make it a habit to tweet links to your stories as well as names that are good for SEO. People you don't know will read your story about Donovan McNabb because McNabb is a popular search term on Twitter. Make sure that your blog and the Myspace.com message boards both have links to your tales.

Frequent Forum Attendance. Since chat boards are used a lot online, you need to know where to find them. There are a lot of them, but only a few get noticed. Join these sports-related message boards and start writing there every day. Reply to posts and make your own in the boards. Spread the word about your blog, but don't make it too clear. If you use a plug in a one-line statement, you'll be kicked off the board right away. I try to find 10 boards and put out 10 good posts every day. Start with 3 and add more as you get more time or confidence in your website.

Use Yahoo Answers to get the word out about your business. Anyone can ask a question about anything on Yahoo Answers. After that, people can leave comments with links to sources, such as your website. Find your area, whether it's in baseball, football, fantasy football, or another sport. Leave concise but informative notes and responses. After doing this every week for a month, I was getting a lot of traffic from Yahoo every day. It's a cute little tool that you can make if you take the time to do so. Again, be careful and watch out for obvious infomercials that promote your site. If you're a writer, you don't want this forum to shut down your account.

They're not right. In addition to these tips, you should look for SEO blogs and message boards to follow. You can get free help with important things on the Internet. I'm happy to say that these and other strategies helped me make a living from my blog. It takes a lot of time to market online. No matter what your site is about, if you can handle your time well and follow the basic SEO rules, you can do anything.