ATTENTION BLOGGERS: This isn’t new info.
In fact, it was actually filmed in 2009; but the content is STILL applicable today.
I’ve worked with way too many clients lately who are determined to keep their blogspot blog even though they want me to build them a custom WordPress Website. In addition to that, they want to make sure their site gets to the top of Google right away.
Without being brutally honest with them and telling them they’re idiots, I decided to research out logical answers from others (and not just my own opinion).
Matt Cutts gives some great tips to help your website get crawled by Google.
What Matt Cutts said about WordPress Blogs
Most people want something from their blog…
The number one request I hear is ‘I want to do better in Google…’
WordPress automatically solves a ton of SEO issues. Instead of doing it yourself, you selected WordPress.
You’d be amazed at how many sites throw up a big blob of flash…
The beauty of WordPress is you don’t need to do a lot of stuff.
I use WordPress rather than Blogger, so I’m not going to say Google is the top, always use Google…
Are you interested in what Matt has to say about Google Page Rank? Here’s some of the key points:
What is Page Rank?
Page Rank: The number of people that link to you and how important those links are.
Page Rank is not just about getting as many links as you can; it’s about how important your links are – quality links.
Think about Page Rank at a very high level.
Matt also talks about content creation and keyword usage:
What Should You Write About?
If you don’t love something, don’t write about it…
Try to write often: if you write every day, if it’s something you really care about, you’re going to get a lot of practice writing, and you’re going to write good stuff…
Keywords & Keyword Research
I’m holding in my hand something that I’ve used all over the world. If you were going to Google and type in what these things are, what would YOU type?
Turn to the person next to you and compare notes.
What did you type into Google to find this?
Think about natural ways to use these keywords when you write. There’s no need to “stuff” keywords in blog posts to make them SEO friendly.
You don’t need to bold text – readers actually hate this.
My Conclusion
If you took the time to watch the entire video with Matt, you realized that he reveals a lot of good content that is still applicable today when it comes to SEO and Google metrics.
Matt spells things out very clearly – if you’re blogging about family experiences, your favorite things to do on the weekends, or CATS – using a free hosted platform like Blogger is FINE.
However, if you want to be found and ranked for specific keyword phrases, if you’re a business that wants to have credibility – a HOSTED WORDPRESS account is the way to go – PERIOD.
What are your thoughts on Blogger.com, WordPress.com, Typepad.com, and other free blogging platforms?
Nate Moller works with businesses who want to improve their online business. For over five years, hes worked with thousands of companies who are looking for answers in their online marketing journey. Follow Nate on Twitter and become a fan of Moller Marketing on Facebook!
I say let them keep doing what they want, where they want & I’ll keep out ranking them 🙂
I have experience using Blogger and WordPress.com to promote my music. I feel that WordPress.com, even if not fully functional, could still provide some value and set up a natural link-circle from a trusted domain (though weak page) to your domain and back. On the other hand, there’s the UI loss from changing domains and the limited on-page SEO that you can do.
WordPress.com seems to be stronger for categorization and the like. It even features custom urls and other baseline optimizations. However, I’m not very happy with WordPress’s theming as opposed to Blogger’s more complicated, but blank slate, and Blogger’s ability to run Analytics and comfortably include javascript in general is almost worth switching back.
I’d agree though, that for focused and sales-centric businesses, that a self-hosted option is best, as it combines a simple and powerful CMS with a domain fully in your control.
@Mat Siltala
Good point, good point. I love the ones that say (this happened today), “We’re not really worried about search engine placement – we pay for other advertising…”
I was like, REALLY? And I’m going to create a competitive site in your niche and out-rank you for FREE then (no, I won’t do that but it goes right along with what you’re saying).
Some people and their marketing “strategies”…
@Douglas Thomas
Thanks for the comment Doug.
The best thing about WordPress (the hosted version) is there’s an awesome plugin for everything. And when it comes to themes, I recommend PAID themes 10 to 1. Here’s why:
– ongoing professional support
– better core functionality
– clean code
– unlimited potential if you know a bit of coding
– updates when needed to conform with latest version of wordpress
– again, lots of support and tutorials to help you get things going
These are the themes I use most: http://bit.ly/mVDQtf
Thanks again for the comment and your feedback.
I have dowmloaded the Video.It’s very useful.thanks for sharing.
This video is fantastic. I love hearing anything Cutts has to say on ranking better. After all, he oughta know. I am using XSitePro right now and think it works pretty well, but I’m learning WordPress too.
As an owner of blogger blog, but will be migrating my blog to WordPress soon.
Blogger blog is actually a great way to start a blog, a very good platform for beginners. Thanks for sharing the views of Matt Cutts. 🙂