Editor’s Note: On this week’s tech Tuesday, we have a guest post by freelance writer Marcela De Vivo on the basics of Search Engine Optimization. She is from Los Angeles, and writes articles about technology, gaming, and travel. -M.P.
The Endless Business Opportunities of SEO
by Marcela De Vivo
Search engine optimization is a lucrative opportunity for today’s young entrepreneur. Men and women are turning their average, personal blogs into money-making machines. Special education and training is not necessary in this arena — everything you need to know about improving your website through SEO can be discovered and studied online. Plus, all work can be done from your home.
The 7 Basics of SEO
1. Guest blog
If you are a new blog owner, the best way to gain more followers and traffic is by writing a guest post for a blog that is already running. You want to focus on blogs that are relevant to your business.
For instance, if you have a female lifestyle blog, you could guest post on blogs that cover skin care, health, female psychology, dating and the like. Most websites have a “Contact Us” page where you can inquire about whether or not they are looking for writers. Others even have pages already set up to let guest posters know all the information they need on how to have an article published on their site.
Via guest blogs on other sites you’ll be able to leave a link in the body, or author bio, that leads back to your blog, thereby creating a new avenue for traffic from a targeted demographic. Increased traffic to your site just means your site’s visibility will improve, making your blog more valuable. This is a form of link building.
2. Link building
Link building is an essential component of improving your site’s rankings in Google, and subsequently your traffic. This strategy consists of the aforementioned guest blogging, but also takes into account comments left on blogs with a link back to your site, or posts on forums. Other options include adding a link to a Wikipedia page; however the link and the information you add to the page must be relevant or they will be deleted. Another option is purchasing ad space on blogs with a similar demographic to yours. Many blogs will often have a “Suggested” section where they can place your blog.
3. Incorporate social media.
Today everyone uses some form of social media whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram. Social media marketing is a great way to attract non-targeted visitors and gain exposure to new audiences. Creating social media profiles for your content will draw more traffic to your blog but only if the content you post is appealing. Take a look at what your competitors are posting and get a feel for what people are reacting to. Also make sure to use scheduling tools like Hootsuite and Pingraphy so that you have a constant flow of updates being posted, even if you aren’t able to actively participate all the time. Do some research to figure out optimal times to post on the various social media outlets. The most activity on Pinterest, for example, occurs Monday thru Friday between the hours of 8pm and 11pm.
4. Gather a following.
Start by adding your friends and family. Then branch out and find other businesses and blogs similar to your own. A certain percentage of the people you follow will follow you back as a thank you or just because they really are interested in following you.
If you don’t have time to do this, automated programs like Tweet Adder and Ninja Pinner will automatically add followers for you based on the parameters you have set for it. The more you engage and connect with people, the more followers you will gain. Participating in conversations and creating amazing content that gains exposure will also help increase your followers. 
These are some great basic SEO tips! Thanks for sharing! I think that the social media is one of the most important parts of business promotion.
I like that you have separated guest posting out from link building. Too many people simply view this as a way to obtain links without seeing the bigger picture. It’s a way to get in front of your target market and build your authority by leveraging the traffic base of related popular sites.
This blog is very helpful for SEO purpose ……
Great article on SEO. Incorporating social media is a great way to gather new followers and loyal customers. Without putting some effort or thought into SEO and increasing traffic then your business will slowly fail. You must create a following to help create awareness.