What Food Bloggers Must Know About SEO

Help those who desperately need what you offer find you faster and easier.

jenniferbourn.com • @jenniferbourn

A solution needed, a challenge to overcome, an answer wanted, a curiosity to satisfy, a desire to satiate... they alldrive people to search

No one can...

• Hire you• Buy from you• Learn from you• Partner with you

...if they don’t know you exist and can’t find you

You have three jobs...

• Publish content• Optimize content• Market content

Do these three things consistently to gain new, exciting opportunities

Understanding Search Engine Optimization

SEO is not a magical solution that brings riches, it’s a critical marketing tactic

Basic SEO tactics are often ignored because they don’t seem like a big deal, but when combined, they...boost rankings and increase traffic

For each SEO tactic, you’ll learn...

• What it is• How it works• Biggest mistakes• Best practices

SEO is not difficult, it just takes time and knowledge

Optimization for humans and search engines...

• Easy to find and discover• Clear and well-written content• Simple to move through website• Fast to load, no waiting

Humans (audience and visitors) want the same thing search engines do

Help Search Engines By Prioritizing Audience Experince

A valuable experience for visitors makes your site more valuable to search engines

SEO Tactic 1: Select a focus keyword

• USE longtail key phrases

• All content on the page or post centers around this word or phrase

• Helps stay on topic, eliminate tangents

• Used at minimum, in first and last paragraphs, a headline, and in bold

SEO Tactic 2: Optimize The Content

• 400 word minimum

• Large body copy — at least 16pt

• Short paragraphs

• Leverage bullet and number lists

• Use bold and italic styles for emphasis

SEO Tactic 2: Optimize The Content

• One H1 per page or post

• Break up content with sub headlines

• Use H2 for tier 2 headlines

• Use H3 for Tier 3 headlines

• Usually no need for H4-H6 headlines

SEO Tactic 3: Optimize The Images

An unoptimized Image An optimized Image

Make images big and small J

• Use big full-width images — measurements

• Upload small images — exact size, low data

• Compress images for faster load • Tool: ImageOptim (before upload) • Tool: EWWW.io (during upload)

Use descriptive image names

BAD NAMES

IMG_4353.jpg

logo.png

screenshot.jpg

chicken-recipe.jpg

GOOD NAMES

cajun-chicken-pasta-recipe.jpg

inspired-imperfection-logo.png

stuffed-cheeseburger-waffles.jpg

jennifer-bourn-speaking.jpg

Add descriptive ALT text

BASIC IMAGE HTML

<img src=”stuffed-cheeseburger-waffles.jpg”/>

IMAGE HTML WITH ALT TEXT

<img src=”stuffed-cheeseburger-waffles.jpg”

alt=”Cheeseburger Stuffed Crescent Roll Dough Waffles”/>

Include captions

Links are like digital roads... People and search engines use links to travel from page to page and site to site...make sure your links are valuable

SEO Tactic 4: Optimize The Links

Links help everyone...

• Add internal links to relevant, evergreen onsite content

• Add external links to relevant, evergreen offsite content on authority sites

• Build a variety of inbound links naturally and ethically

Use keyword-rich anchor text

BASIC LINK: inspiredimperfection.com

<a href=”https://inspiredimperfection.com”> inspiredimperfection.com</a>

ANCHOR TEXT LINK: easy workweek recipes

<a href=”https://inspiredimperfection.com”> easy workweek recipes</a>

Use smart URLs

• Include focus keyword or key phrase

• Keep it short

• Use dashes to separate words

• If a URL changes, redirect the old one

WordPress Tool: Safe Redirect ManagerEasily redirect old/deleted URLs to new URLs

https://wordpress.org/plugins/ safe-redirect-manager/

SEO Tactic 5: Organize The Content

Help visitors find what they are looking for as fast and easy as possible

A blog’s job...

• A blog is a digital filing cabinet

• Categories are the large drawers

• Tags are the file folders inside the drawers

Category and tag best practices:

• Categories and tags do not replace keywords and do not act as keywords

• Use the minimum number

• Use custom labels or taxonomies when content requires it

Surpass The Competition With Technical SEO

Technical SEO leverages behind the scenes tools to do the complex work for you

SEO Tactic 6: Unique Titles And Descriptions

Every page and post needs a unique HTML title

HTML TITLE

HTML TITLE

HTML Title — 55 characters or less:

• Not the same as the headline (h1)

• Unique to page or post

• Make it keyword-rich and persuasive

CODE: <title>Instant Pot Smoky Taqueria-Style Salsa

Chicken Recipe (Whole30)</title>

Every page and post needs a unique meta description

META DESCRIPTION

META DESCRIPTION

Meta Description — 160 characters or less:

• Unique to page or post

• Make it keyword-rich and persuasive

CODE: <meta name=”description” content=”Recipe and

instructions to make juicy and delicious Instant Pot Smoky

Taqueria-Style Salsa Chicken (Whole30), plus what to change

if using frozen chicken”/>

SEO Tactic 7: Noindex and Nofollow

Noindex (by URL):

• Search engines can crawl the page or post, but it not appear in search results

• Helps prevent duplicate content issues

• Ranking authority is passed

CODE: <META NAME=”robots” CONTENT=”noindex”>

Nofollow (by URL or individual link):

• Disallows search engines from crawling all links on a page or post or just one specific link

• Ranking authority is not passed

PAGE: <META NAME=”robots” CONTENT=”nofollow”>

LINK: <a href=”https://link.com” rel=”nofollow” >link</a>

Follow the rules...

• Noindex Search bots can crawl a page or post but not index it

• Nofollow A page or post can be indexed but links are ignored

SEO Tactic 8: Use An XML Sitemap

An XML sitemap lists all site URLs with data about each URL to help search bots crawl the site more efficiently

Using an XML sitemap:

• Configure XML sitemap settings

• Verify site with Google Search Console

• Submit XML sitemap URL

• XML sitemap rebuilds/resubmits itself when new content is published

WordPress Tool: Yoast SEOManage page/post keyword, HTML title, meta description, noindex/nofollow, and XML sitemap... without any HTML or code

SEO Tactic 9: Use Proper Schema Markup

Schema is markup that allows site owners to specify the context of content

• Schema is an interpreter, telling search engines what you are writing about

• Schema is universal, which means all search engines understand it

Schema labels specific types of contentFor food blogs:

• Name (name)

• Image (image)

• Prep Time (prepTime)

• Cook Time (cookTime)

• Servings (recipeYield)

• Description (description)

• Nutrition facts (nutrition)

• Ingredients (ingredients)

• Directions (recipeInstructions)

NAME itemprop=”name”

DESCRIPTION itemprop=”description”

IMAGE itemprop=”image”

PREP TIME itemprop=”prepTime”

COOK TIME itemprop=”cookTime”

INGREDIENTS itemprop=”ingredients”

INSTRUCTIONS itemprop=”recipeInstructions”

Increase the chances of additional data displaying in search results listings

COOK TIME

RECIPE IMAGE

Why Use Schema?

• Sites like Pinterest use schema data to display Rich Pins

Schema resources

Complete list of schema data available for recipes: http://schema.org/Recipe

Schema testing tool: https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool

WordPress Tool: CookbookA recipe plugin that is crafted and supported with care (and gets schema right)

https://cookbookplugin.com

SEO encompasses the technical and creative elements required to improve rankings, drive traffic, and increase brand awareness in search engines

SEO isn’t just about building search engine-friendly websites

It’s about making your blog or website better for the people who use it

—Moz

Thank You! Let’s Connect

Jennifer Bournjenniferbourn.combourncreative.cominspiredimperfection.com

jenniferbourn.com • @jenniferbourn