![\"seo](\"https:\/\/simpleprogrammer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-Simple-SEO-Guide-for-Blogging-Developers-square.png\")
Have you been told that SEO is dying and that the blogging industry is losing its momentum to other mediums?<\/p>\nHave you been told that SEO is dying and that the blogging industry is losing its momentum to other mediums?<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s all the jabber about how hard it is to even start a blog. All the competition. The yeeeeaaaars it can take to get your content to rank on Google\u2019s first page. The toil of building backlinks. And the grind of posting once a day or week or month.<\/p>\n
And all this only to discover that SEO is losing the steam, thrust, and power it once had?<\/p>\n
I find this kind of SEO jabber as exciting as a Tupperware party and as useful as decaffeinated coffee. It might be true for other industries, but we\u2019re software developers. And where do most developers run when they need to find some help?<\/p>\n
GOOGLE!<\/strong> \ud83d\ude0b<\/p>\n \u201cJust Google it\u201d<\/em> – ya know?<\/p>\n Sure, there are other places that some developers run to\u2014YouTube for example. But lots of us prefer reading to watching. We\u2019re used to reading code, so why not read blog articles that explain how to solve coding problems? And that\u2019s why we scurry to Google.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll let others talk about rearranging their chairs on the \u201csinking Titanic of SEO.\u201d They can cry their woes while you and I build our blogs and watch our rankings soar.<\/p>\n So, here\u2019s the story. And here\u2019s how I did it.<\/p>\n Less than a year ago I started my own blog<\/a> about Angular. And discovered that SEO is NOT dead<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can get a surprising amount of organic traffic fast if you\u2019re willing to put in the work. And once you\u2019ve got a place on the internet that people are attracted to, there are gazillions of ways to make some passive income with that attention.<\/p>\n So how can you do it? What are the ways to make sure that your blog starts ranking? And how can you get organic traffic even if you\u2019re only getting started?<\/p>\n I don\u2019t believe in using spammy, scummy, shady SEO to boost your blog\u2019s SEO performance\u2014they\u2019ll only turn around to bite you later. You\u2019ve got to be willing to put in some consistent, hard work. Here are my five best SEO tips that will help your blog start ranking faster.<\/p>\n \u201cGoogle Search Console<\/strong> is a web service by Google<\/a> which allows webmasters<\/a> to check indexing status and optimize visibility<\/a> of their websites.\u201d \u2014 Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n This is the most important SEO tip that could be given. And best of all, it\u2019s not hard to do.<\/p>\n If your website isn\u2019t registered with the Google Search Console, then you won\u2019t really be able to know if your developer blog is ranking and more importantly how well it is ranking. Plus, Google can\u2019t start ranking a website that it doesn\u2019t know about, so if there are no backlinks to your content, then Google won\u2019t find your website.<\/p>\n Plus, you have no excuse when it only takes 15 minutes to do this.<\/p>\n To start the process, you\u2019ll want to go to the Search Console<\/a> and log in with your Google account. After logging in, you\u2019ll find the option to add a domain property in the upper-left hand corner.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve verified ownership of your domain (blog), you\u2019ll be able to track how many clicks your website is receiving. Don\u2019t be discouraged if for the first few months you see no activity. It was that way for me, but then after a few months, I started ranking and within six months from my first blog post, I had received 1,700 organic visits.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also be able to track the keywords you\u2019re ranking for. This information is gold, and we\u2019ll put it to use in a while to make your posts jump to the top of search results once they start ranking.<\/p>\n First, if your blog doesn\u2019t even have a predominant niche, then you need to decide on a niche<\/a> and blog specifically on that topic. My niche is Angular, and the reason I chose Angular is simply because Angular is my passion.<\/p>\n Recent SEO studies revealed that the most common words in a Google search are \u201chow\u201d and \u201cwhat.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s common to find a piece of content with a title like \u201c9 ways to improve the speed of your React app<\/em>.\u201d And although it might be jammed full of good ideas, it won\u2019t get the attention that a similar piece of content with a title like \u201cHow can I improve the speed of my React app?\u201d or \u201cHere\u2019s how to improve the speed of your React app\u201d will get.<\/p>\n The reason people Google things is because they have questions. They never go looking for nine ways to do this or that. They just want to know \u201cHow do I \u2026\u201d or \u201cHow to \u2026\u201d or \u201cWhat is \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Make sure your article has a title that demonstrates that it will answer a specific question.<\/p>\n The more visibility your content gets, the bigger your personal brand becomes. And by publishing your content to other platforms, your content reaches a broader audience.<\/p>\n A few places worth considering are LinkedIn, Medium<\/a>, and Dev Community<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every week, I import my blog post into Medium and post it there. Just last month I got 15,954 views, and my followers almost doubled.<\/p>\n Is this some sort of secret link-building strategy? No, unfortunately not, because these large publication websites add an attribute to the links you publish, telling the Google web crawlers to not follow those links. The advantage is that your content reaches a larger audience and gives your brand more publicity. I highly recommend you include a link to your blog at the bottom of every article you publish so the readers know where this was originally published.<\/p>\n Another cool feature in Medium is that as you grow as a writer, you\u2019ll soon have large publications asking to publish your content. This puts it in front of more eyeballs and gives you even more publicity.<\/p>\n Moreover, an advantage of Medium is that they give you the option to earn money for your content. If you decide to put your content behind the \u201cpaid wall,\u201d then only subscribers will be able to read it, and anytime they give your article a clap, your bank account will hear a \u201cChing! Ching!\u201d as the coins roll in.<\/p>\n The advantage of publishing to LinkedIn is that it proves your capabilities to your professional network. If you write an article about Python, then obviously you\u2019re a Python expert, right? LinkedIn gives the option to link to a post or write a new post inside LinkedIn. The advice floating around on how to do this is controversial, but I recommend that you only link back to your blog instead of copying the content from your blog into a new article within LinkedIn.<\/p>\n There are oodles of SEO experts out there who are constantly testing the SEO industry and discovering what SEO techniques work best and how to apply them. They\u2019re constantly sharing on their blogs what\u2019s working and what isn\u2019t working\u2014free of charge! So why not let them do all the trial-and-error stuff for you? And just grab the best SEO practices straight from the horse\u2019s mouth?<\/p>\n One expert who I\u2019ve learned a lot from is Neil Patel. Here\u2019s got a stash of blog posts worth studying PLUS a FREE SEO course<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brian Dean<\/a> also has an email newsletter worth subscribing to. Every email he sends out is loaded with SEO gold.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the one thing you need to focus on when writing content to rank on the first page of Google?<\/p>\n Focus on high-quality, problem-solving, entertaining content<\/a> that helps people. Seriously, this is the 20% you should focus on that will get you 80% of your results.<\/p>\n Your content must be helpful. It needs to address a problem and offer a solution, tactics, techniques, and anything that will be helpful to your reader. And better yet, add a good shake of humor. Maybe a few funny GIFs? Or a hilarious picture? And make sure it\u2019s good, honest humor\u2014no flaky stuff, making fun of minorities or dirty jokes.<\/p>\n Sprinkle your post with a dose of descriptive adjectives\u2014use a thesaurus<\/a> if you need help\u2014but don\u2019t overdo this because you want it to sound like you. Tell a story. Share your personal experience with the problem you\u2019re trying to help your reader solve. And give it a personal twist.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simpleprogrammer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Google-analytics.png\")
<\/p>\nAdd Your Website to Google Search Console<\/h2>\n
Write Articles That Answer Questions Related to Your Niche<\/h2>\n
Publish Your Content to Other Platforms<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simpleprogrammer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Stats-analytics.png\")
<\/p>\nStudy the SEO Kings<\/h2>\n
Break This SEO Rule and You\u2019ll Be Screwed<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simpleprogrammer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/seo.png\")
And that, my friend, concludes our quick trip into the SEO jungle. I\u2019ve done my absolute best to give you the five top places you should be swinging your SEO ax to get the best organic results quickly.<\/p>\n