"Not another SEO blog 😫"

I know, I know but what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't include one? Plus this one isn't like the others you may have come across. It all from my POV and experiences so grab a snack and let's go!

When I first started this online adventure, I knew absolutely NOTHING about SEO (search engine optimization) and all the things that came with it. I was just going with the flow of it all. When I first saw a blog about it, I was immediately overwhelmed.

SEO sounded complicated.

Keywords. Backlinks. Meta descriptions. URL tag. Alt text. Domain authority. Page speed. Core Web Vitals. The lists goes on.

I was like no thank you

and continued on my digital journey not knowing I was sabotaging my own reach by not implementing just a few simple things.

You see, once I stripped away all the fancy jargon, SEO is actually pretty simple. We just make it sound way harder than it needs to be.

To me it's about making it easy for Google to understand what your content is about so it can recommend it to the right people.

That's it. Literally.

Since I love the library and love to read, I broke it down like this to help me understand and remember it.

My blog is the library, my posts are the books, and Google is the librarian.

When someone walks into the library (my blog) and asks, "Do you have anything about understanding digital marketing?" the librarian (Google) needs to know:

• Which books (posts) are about digital marketing
• Which ones provide the best value
• Which shelf they're on

My job as the library owner? Organize my books so the librarian can do their job.

Let's dive a bit deeper to cover the basics of SEO. (yes it can get even more complicated than this)

Google is the librarian and your blog is the library

Imagine a librarian managing the world's biggest library.

Every day, millions of people walk in asking questions:

• "Do you have any books on self growth?"
• "Where can I find the Marvel comic books?"
• "Did [insert author here] drop any new releases?"

The librarian's job: Find the best books that answer those questions.

But here's the problem

There are BILLIONS of books in this library. The librarian can't possibly read or know every single one there is to know about, so the librarian relies on the author to organize their books clearly.

If the books are:

• ✅ Clearly labeled (good titles)
• ✅ Well-organized (headings, structure)
• ✅ Filed in the right section (keywords)
• ✅ Referenced to other books (internal links)
• ✅ Easy to read (good formatting, readable text)

Then the librarian knows:

• What your book is about
• Who would benefit from reading it
• When to recommend it

That's SEO.

You're just organizing your content so the librarian can do their job.

Good Titles (Book Spines)

So you're walking down a library aisle and you're looking for a book about starting crochet.

You see two book spines:

Book A: "The history of crochet"
(Could be beneficial, but it's not quite what you are wanting.)

Book B: "How to Start Crocheting: A Beginner's Guide"
(Plain and simple. You know exactly what's inside.)

The librarian thinks the same way for your blog.

Your post title = the book spine.

Bad title (vague):

• "Some Thoughts on Email"
• "Marketing Tips"
• "Email Things I Learned This Month"

Good title (clear):

• "How to Write Email Subject Lines That Gets Opened Every Single Time "
• "5 Email Marketing Mistakes That Killed My Open Rates"
• "A Simple Guide to ConvertKit for Email Marketing Beginners"

Why this matters:

Google reads your title first. If your title clearly says what the post is about, Google knows when to recommend it. When they see your post in search results, they know exactly what they're clicking on. If they have to guess, they will keep scrolling.

How to write SEO-friendly titles:

✅ Include your main keyword (the thing people are searching for)
✅ Be specific (not vague or clever)
✅ Front-load the important words (put keywords near the beginning)
✅ Keep it under 60 characters (so it doesn't get cut off in search results)

Examples:

Topic: Gardening

❌ Bad: "Growing Things in My Backyard"
✅ Good: "How to Maintain a Vegetable Garden for Beginners In Small Spaces"

❌ Bad: "My Garden Journey"
✅ Good: "5 Vegetables That Are Nearly Impossible to Kill (Perfect for First-Time Gardeners)"

Topic: Baking

❌ Bad: "Let's Talk About Bread"
✅ Good: "How to Bake Sourdough Bread Without a Starter (Beginner-Friendly Recipe)"

❌ Bad: "Baking Adventures in My Kitchen"
✅ Good: "Why Your Cookies Come Out Flat (And How to Fix It)"

See the difference? The good titles tell Google (and readers) EXACTLY what's inside.

Now onto headers.

Headers (Table of Contents)

You pick up the book "How to Start Crocheting: A Beginner's Guide". You flip to the table of contents:

• Chapter 1: What You Need to Get Started (Yarn, Hooks, and Basic Supplies)
• Chapter 2: Understanding Basic Stitches (Chain, Single Crochet, Double Crochet)
• Chapter 3: Your First Project: A Simple Scarf
• Chapter 4: Reading Crochet Patterns (Abbreviations and Instructions Decoded)

Instantly, you know:

• What topics the book covers
• Where to find specific information
• If this book has what you need

What this means for your blog:

Your headings (H1, H2, H3) helps Google understand the structure and scope of your blog.

• What topics you're covering
• How your content is organized
• What the main points are

Example structure:

• H1: How to Create Your First Digital Product (Your main title - use once)
• H2: Why Digital Products Are Worth Creating
• H2: Choosing the Right Product Type

• H3: Best for Beginners: Templates or Checklists
  

• H3: Best for Expertise: Guides or Mini-Courses
  

• H2: Creating Your Product (Step-by-Step)
• H2: Pricing and Selling Your Digital Product

How to use headings for SEO:

✅ Use only ONE H1 per post (your main title)
✅ Use H2s for main sections (big topics)
✅ Use H3s for subsections (supporting points under H2s)
✅ Include keywords naturally in some headings (not all, just where it makes sense)
✅ Make them descriptive (tell people what's in that section)

Now for keywords.

Keywords (sections)

Every book gets filed in a section:

• Self-Help
• Business
• Fiction
• History
• Cooking

Keyword tells the librarian where the book belongs.

When someone asks, "Do you have any books on cooking roast beef?" the librarian knows to check the cooking section. If a cookbook was accidentally filed in the History section, no one would find it.

What this means for your blog:

Your keywords are the words and phrases people type into Google when they're searching for something.

Examples:

• "how to start a blog"
• "digital marketing tips"
• "best CRM systems"
• "SEO for beginners"

Your job is to use these keywords naturally in your content so Google knows what "section" your post belongs in.

How keywords work:

Let's say someone searches: "how to start a podcast"

Google scans its library (the internet) looking for posts that:

• Have "how to start a podcast" in the title
• Have "podcast" and "start" in the headings
• Talk about starting a podcast throughout the content

If your post includes these keywords naturally, Google thinks:

"This post is about starting a podcast. I'll recommend it to people searching for that."

If your post is about starting a podcast but never uses those words (you only say "beginning an audio show" or "launching a voice series"), Google might not make the connection.

How to use keywords without being weird:

❌ Bad (keyword stuffing): "If you want to grow your Instagram followers, you need Instagram followers growth strategies. Instagram follower growth is important for Instagram follower building. Here are 5 Instagram follower growth tips."

(If you say it one more time, I know something)

✅ Good (natural use): "If you want to grow your Instagram followers, you need a strategy that actually works. Here are 5 tactics I've tested that brought in real engagement."

(Keyword appears once naturally, synonyms and related terms are used, readable.)

Where to include keywords:

✅ In your title (most important)
✅ In at least one H2 heading 
✅ In the first paragraph (intro)
✅ Throughout the post naturally (don't force it)
✅ In your meta description (the summary that shows in search results)

How to find keywords:

You don't need expensive tools. Here's what I find that works:

✅ Google autocomplete - Start typing in Google, see what it suggests. What populates, are the things people are searching for the most.
✅ "People also ask" boxes - Google shows related questions. This is a tool most people often look over. This is similar to the main search bar except it already tailors phrases people are typing in.
✅ Free tools: Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic, Google Keyword Planner, any social media platform. All resources available now just by typing in a words related to your industry, and you can see what is being searched right on the platform your audience uses.

Pick one that matches your post topic and use it naturally.

Now for internal linking.

Internal Links (recommendations)

You finish the book on starting crochet and at the back, there's a section:

"If you enjoyed this book, you might also like:

• Reading Crochet Patterns Without Confusion
• Choosing the Right Yarn for Your First Projects
• Common Beginner Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)"

The reader sees this and thinks:

"This author has multiple books on related topics. They're creditable on crochet. I should read their other books too."

What this means for your blog:

Your internal links = post recommendations.

They're links from one of your posts to another post on your blog. Don't get it confuse with backlinks which is links from other websites to your blog. Google does values these highly (signals your content is trustworthy), but we'll cover that another time.

Example:

In a post about starting a YouTube channel, you might write:

"Once you've filmed your first video, the next step is editing. I wrote a full guide on that here: [How to Edit Videos for YouTube (Beginner-Friendly)]"

Why this matters to Google:

✅ Shows your content is connected - you're covering topics in depth
✅ Keeps people on your site longer - good signal to Google
✅ Helps Google understand your site structure - what topics you cover
✅ Passes "credibility" from one post to another. If one post ranks well, it helps your other posts rank well too.

How to use internal links:

✅ Link to 2-3 related posts in every new post
✅ Use descriptive anchor text (the clickable words)
✅ Link naturally 

Examples:

❌ Bad anchor text:
"Click here to read more."
(Vague. Google doesn't know what "here" is about.)

✅ Good anchor text:
"Check out my guide on choosing the right camera for vlogging."
(Clear. Google knows the linked post is about vlogging cameras.)

Last but not least. Meta descriptions.

Meta Description(The Back Cover Summary)

Remember earlier how we were browsing for a book on 'How to Start Crocheting' and we saw two options that peaked out interest? Well, in order for us to get a basic understanding on what the book is about, you flip it over and read the back cover. (Sometimes found inside the book as well like within the first or last page)

"In this book, I show beginners how to start a crochet pattern from scratch, choose the right supples, and understand the basics of stitching."

Now you know:

• What the book is about
• Who it's for
• What you'll learn

What this means for your blog:

The meta description is the short text (150-160 characters) that shows up under your title in Google search results.

Example search result:

How to Start Crocheting: A Beginner's Guide
yourblog.com/start-crocheting

Learn how to start crocheting from scratch. This guide covers
choosing yarn, understanding basic stitches, and creating your
first project. Perfect for complete beginners.
↑
Meta description

That text below the URL? That's the meta description.

If it's compelling, people click. If it's missing, Google makes one up (often poorly).

A good meta description:

• Tells people what the post is about
• Includes your main keyword
• Gives them a reason to click

How to write a good meta description:

✅ Keep it 150 characters or it gets cut off)
✅ Include your main keyword 
✅ Make it compelling (why should they click?)
✅ Be specific (what will they learn?)

Examples:

Topic: Email subject lines

❌ Bad: "This post is about email subject lines and how to write them." (Boring, vague.)

✅ Good: "Learn how to write email subject lines that gets opened every time plus 5 proven formulas + real examples you can use today. Perfect for those just starting out." (Specific, includes keyword, compelling.)

Topic: Blogging consistency

❌ Bad: "Read this post about consistency in blogging." (Vague, no value prop.)

✅ Good: "Consistency is more than just posting daily. Learn the 4 types of consistency that actually matter." (Clear, specific, intriguing.)

How to add a meta description:

Most platforms (Ghost, WordPress, etc.) have a field for this:

• Ghost: Settings (gear icon) → Meta data → Meta description
• WordPress: Under the post editor, look for "SEO" or "Yoast SEO" section

If you don't add one, Google will pull random text from your post (usually the first few sentences, which might not be compelling).

So make sure to always write your own.

SEO takes time and that's okay

SEO is not instant. You won't publish a post today and rank #1 on Google tomorrow. Your job as the library (blog) owner is to continue writing books (posts) that your target audience is looking for so the librarian (Google) can show it to them.

Some posts can rank faster than others (especially if there's low competition), but once a post does rank, it keeps bringing in traffic. Month after month. Year after year.

That's the compounding effect of SEO.

You could publish a post in January about "how to start a newsletter."

• January: 10 views (maybe mostly from your followers or email list)
• March: 50 views (starting to rank)
• June: 200 views (ranking on page 1)
• December: 300 views/month (steady traffic)
• Next year: Ranking in 500-1k+ views/month (evergreen traffic)

That post STILL works for you a year later.

Compare that to social media:

• Post on Instagram → gets 100 likes in 24 hours → disappears
• Post on Twitter → gets 50 retweets in 2 hours → gone

That's why it's worth the wait.

So take away all the corporate talk and just start with the basics of SEO as a way to help organize your library (blog) clearly with:

• Clear titles
• Proper headings
• Keywords used naturally
• Internal links between related posts
• Meta descriptions that summarize your content

Do that, and you're doing SEO.

Till next time!
Gina 🥰