Not only should a blog optimize its home page for search engines, but the individual posts as well. This will enable it to keep receiving traffic to each entry long after they are added. Here are some tips on how to optimize individual blog posts.

1. Put one or more keywords in the title which people are likely to query. Give each of the posts their own description and title tags; don’t just use the name of the blog for this. Each of the individual entries should have its own page as well, rather than appearing on a single long page.

2. Use these keywords regularly throughout the blog entries, but not excessively. A keyword density analysis tool can be useful for determining if the density is excessive (over four percent) or too low. Try to optimize the density without including awkward-sounding sentences.

3. Keep the content of each  individual entry on a single topic; create separate posts if you want to write about two or more distinct subjects. For example, if you post recipes on your blog, don’t put two individual recipes in the same entry, even if they are both breakfasts or types of soup.

4. If you allow comments at the end of your blog posts, be sure to check them and delete messages which are irrelevant to the topic. These comments could harm the keyword density or link to sites which cause the page to be penalized by search engines. While comments make individual blog posts harder to optimize, they do help attract repeat visitors.

5. Try to gain links on other blogs and web sites which point to your individual posts. In addition to the direct traffic they provide, these links will help optimize the search engine ranking of the blog. It is best if the links use words related to the individual entries in their anchor text.

6. If posts are about a current pre-arranged, date-specific event (such as a holiday or anniversary), attempt to enter them as early in the day as possible, or late the previous night. This will give the search engines a better chance of indexing these entries before they are no longer relevant.

Following the above-listed tips should help you more effectively optimize each of your individual blog posts, so that they will show up higher in search results and appear there more quickly.