I always enjoy discussing summer camp marketing with camp directors. Even though I get lots of different questions and comments about various topics, a pattern has emerged. Most of the questions from camp folks revolves around internet marketing in general, and social media and website optimization in particular. Most people usually want to know the best way to get your website to the top of the search engine results…and how stay there.
Well, you can use all kinds of different strategies, but in my opinion the absolute best way to rise in Google is though your blog.
Why Google Loves Blogs
Blogs that are updated frequently are favored by Google versus static websites. Google figures, hey, if your blog is being updated all the time, people must be interested in seeing it. But if it’s old, static content, Google might be thinking you’ve got nothing new to offer. As I always say, try to update your blog at least three times a week because, in general, Google typically indexes its own database to find new content first, then old content later, to show users.
Keep this in mind though: It doesn’t matter if your content is old or new if it’s not relevant to a user’s search. The more specific your blog content is to a user’s query, the more likely Google will display it. Here’s what I mean.
How to Make Your Blog’s Content Relevant to Users
Google’s primary objective is to display search results most relevant to a users query. That means your blog should contain text and keywords that specifically mirror what a user would type into Google. This way you have a good chance of coming up first in Google’s search results.
Let’s say you run an overnight camp in Missouri. Users looking for such a camp might type into Google any of the following keyword phrases:
- Missouri sleepaway camp
- Missouri sleepaway camps
- Missouri overnight camp
- Missouri overnight camps
- Sleepaway camps Missouri
- Missouri overnight camps for kids
(Or any variations of these.)
So here’s what you do. You populate your blog with those exact phrases so Google realizes you’ve got the EXACT information the user is looking for. Let me take this one step further for a better example.
User # 1 types the following phrase into Google: “Missouri sleepaway camps”
User # 2 types into Google: “Missouri overnight camps for kids”
Your blog post contains the phrase, “Missouri overnight camps for kids” and sprinkles those same words here and there throughout the post.
My blog post contains the phrase “Summer camps in Missouri”
Even though we’re both selling Missouri summer camp opportunities, guess who’s gonna get the Google love…YOU are! Why? Because your blog content is IDENTICAL to what the user typed into Google. It makes Google look good to show you exactly what you’re looking for.
Your Blog Doesn’t Need to Be Text Only
Even though putting out fresh content on a regular basis is your goal, don’t get so caught in up line after line of pure text you forget important visual enhancements. (I read a blog called blogmaverick.com, and while it’s very informative, its pure-text format is flat-out ugly and hard to read.) Remember, pictures tell a thousand words, so be sure to share them with your readers. You can also break up your blog text with video, graphs, charts, and other interactive stuff. Your readers will appreciate anything you can do to make your blog more visually appealing and be more likely to return often as a result
(On my Aloha Beach Camp blog, I have a regular routine where several times a week I post the “Picture of the Day.” And that’s the entire blog post – just a picture. Well, guess what? People keep coming to my blog just to see today’s photo. No reason why you can’t do this too! : )
One last thing (which I think I’ve mentioned before) but seems worth repeating: Please make sure Google knows about your blog in the first place. Tell them about it here, then start writing post after post and watch your blog ranking rise.
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