Welcome to our 10 Step SEO Process blog post series. In this post, we will be discussing Blog Integration, which is Step 4.

We also have a supporting YouTube video in the event you would rather watch the content!

1. What exactly is Blog Integration?

Blog integration is the task of integrating a blog into your website.

Having a blog integrated into your website helps the site in terms of SEO and overall company branding.

2. How To Install Your Blog And Important Features?

First, we recommend having an experienced developer do this job.

Here are some important point & features:

• The Blog needs to be clearly visible in main navigation menu
• You can install a blog within your website’s platform – such as the WordPress platform and it’s many related plugins
• The Blog should be created with the common style of the Overview Page and Detail Page format.
• Your blog needs to feature related categories (show a B Roll example)
• Blog pages must load fast (within 2/3 seconds)

3. Why Is The Website Blog Important?

Here are four major reasons why:

1. Frequent and timely blog posting ensures your website gets indexed faster by the search engines.
2. Updated content makes users want to visit your website more.
3. Increased brand recognition
4. An active and professionally managed blog helps to build website trust and authority. Active blogging helps you be recognized as a subject matter expert and/or thought leader in your industry.

4. Caution Tip

Now it’s time for one of the most important parts of our video – the Caution Tip.
What I am about to tell you can save you a lot of headache, money and time.

If you are a small or medium business, we recommend NOT using a subdomain structure for your blog. Example: blog.palmettosoft.com whereas you should use folder style such palmettosoft.com/blog.

So…as a rule of thumb, if your business is under 1000 employees in size, use a folder style format to set up your blog.

Subdomains are typically used for larger and more branded companies and are also harder to interlink (very low SEO benefit) your blog post to internal pages in your website structure. Why? Mainly because a subdomain is seen as two separate websites in the eyes of Google.

5. Smart Tip

At the top of each blog post, ensure your Social Engagement Bar is activated.

This should feature at least the shares, # of views, comments and social sharing buttons.

From a psychological standpoint, larger numbers at the top of each post tend to make people more likely to read the post, and the snowball effect kicks in… making the post more successful.

6. Three Key Takeaways

1. Install a blog on your website. While this may sound like a “Captain Obvious” statement, there are many websites who don’t think they need to be bothered with a blog and nothing could be further from the truth!
2. If you are a medium size company or smaller; set up your blog in a folder structure so it can get the maximum SEO benefit.
3. Make sure you put the social engagement bar at the top of each blog post as people tend to “follow the herd.” When they see a lot of people doing something… they tend to follow.

7. Where to Learn More Technical Info – Resources

• How To Embed Blog Into Website To Increase The Reach
• What Is a Blog Category and Why Are They Important for Your Blog?