SEO and Detroit Food Squidoo

When I sat down to do this assignment, I was very confused. I came to it a few different times hoping I would be able to understand it more clearly with a clear head. With that being said, I did a lot of Googling and researching on my own about SEO. I did use the assigned readings and videos as a reference, but I learned a lot on my own.

The first thing I did was sign up for Google Analytics and linked it to my nmdl wordpress blog using the UID code. I have never used Google Analytics, but now understand how useful it can be to online markets. I think the ability to track traffic and keywords people are using to reach your site is so powerful. The more information you know like that, the more traffic you can generate on your own.

My blog talks about different Detroit foods and restaurants. I want it to be a place where people can go to discover more about what the city has to offer and the best and worst places to go (in my opinion). When I started thinking about specific keywords and tags that would be effective and appropriate, I soon learned that what I thought would be considered strong, were actually weak search words. There is a fine line between too short and too specific. For example, just “food” would not be a wise tag. Since that is such a broad topic, food from all around the world could pop up. Therefore, I used ‘Detroit’ in every key word search I listed. I used this website, created by Google Adwords, to create my own list for my own blog. I also found the 'SEO Resource 11-1:Search Engine Basics' very helpful. It helped me understand exactly what I was doing and why it is important.

For my external blog post, I created a Squidoo lense that of course linked to my blog page and vice-versa. Squidoo was very good at guiding me through the process of creating a lense and included a video with step by step instructions. I made sure I included ten related tags that fit the guidelines I reviewed. I think this is a good way to optimize my blog because it is exposing it to a different outlet that has allowed me to tag it in a variety of ways. Creating this kind of exposure is one of the best ways to generate more traffic. I will then eventually be able to reference my Google Analytics page to see what’s working and what isn’t.

Above is a picture of Greektown. It is an area I highlighted on my Squidoo lense.