I am a novice when it comes to Search Engine Optimization, as I have already declared in my beginner's perspective on SEO. SEO doesn't have to be difficult, although you can easily delve deeply into many levels of arcana and mystery in the quest to make sure your site performs well in the SERPs. In my studies into basic SEO, I have come across 4 simple actions and ideas that you can implement today with little to no trouble at all.

1. Develop a keyword theme

Keywords are the search terms a designer wants a site to feature highly in. Overuse of keywords can lead to accusations of ‘keyword stuffing’ and leave a site open to being penalised within search engine algorithms. On the other hand, if insufficient keywords are used, the site may not feature very highly in SERPs, if at all. One solution is to develop a keyword theme. A keyword theme is an overarching approach to incorporating appropriate keywords as widely as possible, from the main content and exact locations on the page (for example, as early as possible on the page) to tailoring meta data to be keyword rich and creating URLs with keywords in them. The obvious question is "how do I find a good keyword to develop a keyword theme?". There are many good keyword research resources. Try How to make your blog more comprehensive through keyword research for starters.

2. Have valid HTML

Compliance with current HTML standards is crucial for good SEO. Spiders are little more than automated text-based browsers. If a site’s HTML is not valid, it is possible that the spider will not be able to correctly read and cache the site’s contents. At best, the site contents will be analysed incorrectly by the search engine’s algorithm. The worst case scenario is that the site will not be indexed and cached by the spider at all, leaving it out of the SERPs altogether.

3. Logical URL format and structure

Simple and descriptive URLs, particularly those that follow a logical folder pathway within the website page infrastructure, have several benefits including:

• being human friendly
• providing a natural path for the spiders to follow
• when descriptive and form a part of the keyword theme above, they generate keyword-rich hyperlink anchor text when pasted into forums and webpages as a basic link

Simple URLs also are easier for spiders to follow and index.

If you have a pre-existing site with a long history and a number of pages with some Googlejuice, you should consider whether changing the URL is in your best interest. If you do decide to change your URL structure but want to preserve all the good things your old URL brings you, check out moving a static HTML site to WordPress for some good ideas on redirecting traffic from your old URLs to your new ones.

4. Avoid excessive use of Flash, images or forms

Spiders can only read text and therefore cannot index content on a page if the content depends on Flash or images. It is also unwise to isolate content behind JavaScript forms or password controlled areas if a designer wants the page to be indexed by the spider and feature in SERPs. There are ways around this restriction, of course (see How do Flash sites rank well? on SEOBook as one example), but if you don't actually need the bells and whistles, avoiding them is a very easy option.

As you can see, basic SEO really is quite simple. Beginner's SEO - it's not rocket science.

So, what great SEO tips have I missed? Add your own hot SEO tips in the comments below.

As most of you reading this will know, search engine optimisation, or SEO, is the art of promoting websites in order to achieve high levels of traffic and visibility from ‘organic’ web searches. The ideal outcome of good SEO is to appear as high as possible in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for key words and phrases.

I am not an expert on SEO. Until two weeks ago I couldn’t have told you the importance of good SERPS (or even what that meant!), how simple SEO changes can make a difference or even who Matt Cuts or Rand Fishkin or Aaron Walls are. I am most definitely not a substitute for top quality SEO training. What I can offer is a fresh pair of eyes and a beginners perspective on SEO and some of the most important things to take away in the early days when faced with massive treasure trove of information that is available.

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Starting a blog is an exciting event with new ideas, new material and new audiences waiting to be discovered. It does not take long however for that first flush of excitement to begin to fade as you start to settle down into the serious business of creating content. It can be difficult to remain motivated as the full complexity of your chosen task begins to unfold in front of you, but it does not necessarily need to be this way. Below are the 3 most effective methods I have experienced to maintain the rage when you begin to wonder if it is going to be all worthwhile.

1. Set yourself achievable and realistic goals on posting frequency. In the early days, when you are brimming with new ideas, it can be tempting to go all out and commit all your ideas to the screen. You may well benefit from a more scaled down approach that helps you provide content on a consistent basis. Your main sources of information will help inform you as to what is realistic and achievable. News-of-the-day can easily support (if not demand) daily and multiple-per-day postings. Flagship style content that is more considered and analytical, or tutorial style content can support weekly posting.

2. Ignore the stats (at least for a little while). It can be hard to get an audience in the early days (in fact, I continue to struggle). Watching that stat counter climb painfully slow one visitor at a time can be demoralising. While it is tempting to regularly check the stats several times a day "just to see who stopped by", you may be better off checking every couple of days or even once a week. The chances are that on a weekly basis, your stats will continue to rise. This way you can enjoy the motivation of increasing traffic while maintaining a sense of perspective on the scale of your stats.

3. Take time out to reassess your goals and achievements. There is nothing wrong with pausing to reflect on where you are going and where you have come from. It is a valuable exercise to see if the direction your blog is heading is the one you originally envisaged. If it is, great! If it isn't, it's not the end of the world. Maybe this is an opportunity to move off into a different, more exciting direction, or perhaps it is the right time to refocus on what it is you hoped to achieve in the first place. This is a position I find myself in with one of my own blogs and this process has had the unexpected benefit of reinvigorating my desire to keep on posting.

What techniques did you use when you first started blogging to keep you motivated through those early days?

Father Braun originally uploaded to Flickr by katievision. Used under a Creative Commons licence.

It is possible that there has never been a better time to be alive when it comes to the proliferation of platforms out there that can be used to blog: Wordpress, Movable Type, Typo, Livejournal, Myspace, tumblelogs like Tumblr and Content Management System platforms like Drupal and Joomla. Firmly nestled in amongst these platforms is the much maligned yet often adopted Blogger.

What I hope to provide here is a simple balanced argument as to the merits and otherwise of what is still one of the most popular ways to publish a blog - Google's Blogger.

I am not going to attempt to answer the question: "With so much choice available, why do people still use Blogger?" As someone who maintains and contributes to several Blogger blogs, I do have my own opinion on that which I will save for another time. I am also not going to enter into a Wordpress vs Blogger or any other [insert platform of choice] flame war. I simply do not have enough experience in the wide range of options to make an informed choice.

With the formalities out of the way, I present to you the pros and cons of using Blogger as newbie blog writer.

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A well placed image can make or break your latest blog post. I'm sure it has been mentioned on Performancing many times in the past but I feel this is worth mentioning again as a reader, I continue to be confronted with screen after screen of unrelenting text.

Although many of us read for leisure, reading is not necessarily an easy thing to do, particularly if it is screen based reading. Screeds of text can be exhausting, both physically and mentally. Images within a blog post help to break up the flow of the text which, strange as it might sound, actually helps to improve the flow of your blog.

That's enough of the why you should use images. Now it's on to where you can find them.

It is preferable you don't just yank photos from any old site, just because you like the image. Apart from the copyright issues, it is also tad rude. Having said that, it can sometimes be surprisingly difficult to get images from a corporate source. It is amazing how many places release press releases without an image or do not have have some images available for reporting purposes. Apple's PR is a good example of how to do this well. Use PR images where you can. The quality is almost always excellent and formatted with online use in mind.

Another good source of cheap, good quality images are stock photo places like iStockPhoto. This gives you easy and quick access to a wide range of photos at an accessible price. Just be sure to check the licensing agreements as these change from service to service.

If you are like me and either too cheap or can't afford to pay for blog fodder, Flickr is your friend. The default license for Flickr photos is a Creative Commons one. Remember that this is only the default license and many uploaders choose to reserve their rights so check the status before you use any pictures. The best option (and my own little secret weapon) is the Flickr advanced search. The advanced search lets you select only Creative Commons pictures. As an advanced tip, sort by "interesting" rather than "relevant" for some images you might not have ever thought to use but once you've seen them, you can't imagine ever not using them.

As always with images, please be sure to attribute appropriately (and in the case of Flickr, please also respect the Community Guidelines).

With those tips above, there is no reason not to regularly use images to spice up your valuable written content on your blogs. Remaining easy on your readers' eyes improves the chances that they will come back for more.

b&w tired eye originally uploaded to Flickr by izzie whizzie. Used under a Creative Commons By Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 license.

As I reassess my own blog designs, I have come to the conclusion that clutter is a state of mind that doesn't just stop at your desk. It is virtual too, and it has a big impact on how I as reader perceive other writers' blogs. I have begun studying other people's blogs for design ideas and I have come to the conclusion that there are 3 main culprits for blog clutter. I'm probably not sharing anything new, but the following often detract from my reading experience:

1. widgets
2. long posts
3. too many ads, or ads in the wrong places

Keep in mind that I'm not perfect and I've often been guilty of the first two. It is by making these mistakes that I am learning to be a better blogger.

1. Widgets

I don't have a problem with widgets as an idea. Some of them are quite useful and I understand that Wordpress, for example, is so strong partly because of its range of useful add-ins. However, it's all about the context. If the widgets don't help the story your blog is trying to tell, should it really be taking up valuable real estate? For example, if you have a tech blog, do you really need a widget keeping everyone up to date with your latest Jaiku or Twitter micro-post?

2. Long, long, posts

Use expandable post summaries. Please. I know not all platforms use them (Blogger for one doesn't, unless you are prepared to have a half-useful XML hack-around), but if your chosen platform permits it, use them. Large chunks of text make it very difficult to scan the front page looking for relevant material. Post summaries allow the casual reader access to a wider range of your content, which can only be a good thing.

3. Too many ads, or ads in the wrong places

Ads are fine, but place them nicely. If you want them in the sidebar, that's fine. If you want them between each post, okay. If you want them in the header or footer, go for it (although if your page goes off the screen, I may not see any in the footer), sure, why not. What clutters the screen is when all of the above options are exercised. I understand why you have put the ads there, but I'm here to see your content, not to have third parties try to sell me something.

While I'm on the topic of ads, if the ads are too large and intrude on the reading, I'm just going to switch off. If you look like you're trying to sell me something I didn't come to buy from you, I'm switching off. If every post is divided with ads, splitting up the content inside a post, ruining my reading flow, I'm probably going to surf away. Keep the ads simple and relevant and I'm much more likely to click through on a couple. Flashy, intrusive and all over the place is likely to just push me away.

What pieces of virtual clutter distract you?

Ryan's Note: This is an important post, loaded with important, deep-level questions. We all need to take gut checks from time to time. And I for one have found myself asking the same questions and dealing with the same issues.

The question should be an obvious one. If I am to continue with my blog, it would need to be significantly reworked with a proportionate investment of my time and effort.

I pondered if this should be a question for the forum but I couldn't think of an appropriate place. It also appeals to my sense of humour that my first post on my Performancing blog is one that questions whether I should be bothering at all.

I have been a casual reader of Performancing for well over a year now, largely via the main feed. I'm not a pro-blogger (actual or aspiring) but I have found many interesting tips here that have, at various times, improved my blog (to my eyes at least).

My problem is that my free time is becoming more and more of a rare commodity between working, being a father and husband and studying part-time. Researching subjects and writing used to be fun but it is now less so. Sometimes it even seems like a chore.

It started off as fun. I never aspired for greatness or huge traffic, which is a good thing because I've got neither. In just over a year I have a blog that only has 150+ posts, traffic that struggles to maintain double-digit visitors, no community (so few comments I wonder if having comments turned on makes a negative impression) and, according to feedburner, I have between 5 and 10 subscribers (although sometimes that spikes up to 30 for a day or two for no reason I can see).

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