548: Create For Your Audience Instead of Google (+ Why Social Media is More Important than You Think) with Luay Ghafari

In episode 548, Luay Ghafari teaches us strategies for growing a food blog through SEO and social media and why your audience should be your main focus. Luay is a published author, social media content creator, blogger, photographer and gardening educator. Like many other bloggers, he wears multiple hats. Luay is based in Toronto Canada and his gardening/cookbook, Seed to Table, was released July 2023. He also teaches a garden-to-table Master Class. In this episode, you’ll learn about how Luay grew his blog sessions quickly over the last 2 years, including his unique approach to SEO, building a strong social media presence and his emphasis on E-A-T.  Key points discussed - Create for your reader while following Google’s guidelines: Focus on building a loyal following through consistent content creation aimed to serve your audience instead of creating for Google. - Streamline recipes for readability and internal linking: Write recipes concisely without unnecessary photos or fluff and link related recipes to boost older posts and improve user experience. - Consider seasonality and content clusters when planning topics: Focus content by season or topic area to provide more value to readers.  - Invest in tools and services to help your blog business grow: If you treat your blog as a business, you would  invest in audits, keyword research and other paid services to help it grow. - Diversify revenue streams and platforms to weather industry changes: Do not rely solely on one platform or monetization method. - Create unique, shareable content for social media growth: Novel, interesting content is more likely to drive engagement and new followers on social media - what unique twist can you put on your content? - Leverage redirect tools like ManyChat for social traffic: Use automation tools to easily share blog content in response to social media comments. - Continually increase your E-A-T: Promote your qualifications and achievements on your About Page and keep it up to date. Connect with Luay Ghafari Website | Instagram