LexTalk

What are your strategies for SEO?

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  If you had asked me a couple of years ago what my “SEO strategy” was, there’s a very good chance I would have stared at you blankly.

SEO?

Keywords?

Search intent?

I was just trying to write something I liked and hoping someone, somewhere on the internet might stumble across it.

And honestly? Some days, I still feel like I’m figuring it all out.

But somewhere along the way, I stopped simply hitting publish and hoping for the best.

I started paying attention.

I started experimenting.

And slowly, I’ve begun creating an actual strategy.

I Write for People First

One thing I never want to lose while learning SEO is my voice.

I could probably cram a blog post full of keywords and phrases that people are searching for, but if it suddenly sounds like it was written by a robot instead of me, what’s the point?

I want someone to land on my blog and feel like they’re sitting across from me with a cup of coffee while I tell them a story.

So I write the story first.

Then I think about SEO.

What would someone type into Google if they were looking for this?

What words naturally describe what I’m writing about?

How can I make the post easier to find without making it miserable to read?

That balance has become incredibly important to me.

My Titles Have Changed—a Lot

This is probably one of the biggest things I’ve learned.

I used to think a cute title was enough.

Now I ask myself two questions:

Would I click this?

And…

Would anyone actually search for this?

I try to combine the two.

I still want my titles to have personality and curiosity because there are thousands of things competing for our attention online. But I also want the title to give search engines—and actual humans—an idea of what the post is about.

Basically, I want the title to whisper, “You need to read this,” while still giving Google a clue about what I’m talking about.

I’m Much More Intentional About Keywords

Keywords used to sound incredibly intimidating to me.

Now I think about them much more simply.

If I were searching for this exact information, what would I type?

Those are the words and phrases I try to naturally work into my title, headings, tags, descriptions and throughout the post.

The important word there is naturally.

I don’t want to repeat the same phrase seventeen times just because I think Google might like it.

I want my writing to still sound like me.

Pinterest Has Become Part of My SEO Strategy

This has probably been one of my biggest mindset changes.

I used to think of Pinterest as another social media platform.

Now I look at it much more like a search engine.

When I publish a blog post, I can create a Pinterest image specifically designed for that story, give it a searchable title, write a keyword-rich description and link it directly back to my blog.

Suddenly, one blog post isn’t just sitting quietly on my website waiting to be discovered.

It has another little doorway leading people toward it.

And I love thinking about it that way.

Every pin is another tiny trail of breadcrumbs leading someone back to something I’ve created.

I’m Creating More Roads Back to My Blog

That has become a big part of my strategy in general.

I don’t necessarily want to publish a blog post and never mention it again.

If the story works on Pinterest, I create a pin.

If there’s a photo or video that works for Instagram or Facebook, I might turn it into a Reel.

Sometimes one little idea can become several pieces of content—all pointing back toward the bigger story.

I’m learning that creating the blog post is only part of the work.

Helping people find it matters too.

I Organize My Content So People Can Actually Find Things

I’ve also started paying more attention to categories and the overall organization of my blog.

For example, with my October Writing Challenge, I didn’t want those posts floating around individually with no connection to one another.

I wanted readers to be able to find the challenge and easily discover the other posts that belong with it.

It sounds simple, but I’m realizing SEO isn’t always about finding the perfect keyword.

Sometimes it’s about making your website easier for an actual person to navigate.

I Use Tags With Intention

I’m also much more thoughtful about the tags I add to my posts.

Instead of throwing random words onto the end of a blog post, I think about phrases connected to the actual subject.

What is this story really about?

Who might be searching for it?

What larger topics does it belong to?

I’m still experimenting with this—and probably will be for a long time—but I’m becoming much more intentional about every little piece surrounding the post itself.

And Then There’s Consistency…

This may be the least glamorous SEO strategy of all.

Keep showing up.

Keep writing.

Keep publishing.

Keep learning.

Not every post is going to explode with views.

Not every Pinterest pin is going to take off.

Sometimes I spend way too much time creating something I absolutely love…and practically nobody sees it.

That’s frustrating.

But I’m learning not to judge the entire journey by one post.

Every article gives my blog another opportunity to be discovered. Every pin creates another path back to my site. Every experiment teaches me something I can use on the next one.

And little by little, those pieces begin stacking on top of each other.

I Definitely Haven’t Cracked the SEO Code

That’s probably the most important part of my strategy.

I’m still learning.

I’m still experimenting.

I’m still looking at something I’ve published and thinking, Okay…why did THAT one work when this other one didn’t?

But that’s also what makes this part of blogging kind of exciting.

I’m no longer throwing stories into the giant internet void and simply crossing my fingers.

I’m thinking about how people might discover them.

I’m learning how search works.

I’m creating multiple paths back to my content.

And I’m paying attention to what happens afterward.

My SEO strategy isn’t perfect.

It probably never will be.

But my blog is growing.

And every new reader, every click, every subscriber and every person who somehow finds one of my little stories reminds me that those tiny changes are starting to add up.

Maybe that’s my biggest SEO strategy after all:

Create something worth finding—and then make it a little easier for people to find it.