One day I was attempting to locate a user's manual for one of my air conditioners online. I figured there had to be one site out of the billions that could help me with this issue. My husband is rather handy when it comes to fixing things, but he needed just a little more information to guide him.
So I jumped online visiting site after site trying to find the right manual - each new site I visited claimed to have a PDF of the book I needed, but every time I thought I found what I needed, I discovered that it was something different. The crazy part is that I only figured that out after I'd given my email address and a DNA sample.
Soon my inbox was flooded with spam trying to sell me new air conditioners. What good was that?
Rather than providing the solution I was looking for, the sites I visited only created more problems and in the end was nothing more than a huge waste of time.
A lot of blogs are like these - they show up in the search results as having one set of information when what they really have is much different. It's confusing and it's annoying. These sites tailor their SEO to fit with the popular searches to drag in that extra traffic, when in fact, their content is about something else entirely.
People are looking for answers, if you've got them, then hand them over! There's nothing wrong with saving the prime information for a paid ebook, but don't dangle a carrot when what you've really got is a funky old brussel sprout!
Don't give your post titles that don't really relate to what you're writing. Yeah, you'll pull in a few people, but when they find out they've been duped, they're only going to leave - NEVER TO RETURN. If you're unsure about how optimize your post, take a moment to read, Complete Guide to Easy Seo for Busy Bloggers or 5 SEO Tips for Bloggers.
Gear your posts so that they're helpful. If there's a gap in your knowledge about something, there's nothing wrong with providing a link to another useful resource. You don't have to be an expert on a subject to refer someone to the place where they can find what they need. Even something as simple as that can be considered a solution.
So, ask yourself, when people leave your blog, are they leaving with the information that they came there for, or are they being disappointed?
Does your blog provide solutions or more problems? is a post from: We Blog Better. © 2010. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.