Previously, the SEO Tips series for Steem authors (and to some degree for DApp devs), included:
https://steempeak.com/seo-tips/@gadrian/seo-tips-steemians-optimize-content
https://steempeak.com/@gadrian/13-on-page-optimizations-authors-can-use-on-steem-seo-tips-2

I followed my own advice, and instead of creating a new post, I updated my previous post to elaborate on some tips. Briefly, here they are:
1. thanks to a comment by @steemchiller [here](https://steempeak.com/steemexclusive/@theycallmedan/i-am-searching-for-steem-exclusive-content), I realized a better explanation on the use of the title and sections/subsections is necessary, and I included it in [subsection 4.2](/steem-seo/@gadrian/13-on-page-optimizations-authors-can-use-on-steem-seo-tips-2)<br/><sub>(<u>*__note to devs:__*</u> looks like the *name* parameter of the <code>&lt;a&gt;</code> tag is stripped. I know most likely all *name* parameters are stripped within the editor, but couldn't we make an exception for the <code>&lt;a&gt;</code> tag? <u>Internal links</u> can be very useful -- as you can see above -- and not harmful to the integrity of the interface, as far as I'm aware of).</sub>
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2. I described an easier way to add the *alt* parameter to images in [subsection 4.4](/steem-seo/@gadrian/13-on-page-optimizations-authors-can-use-on-steem-seo-tips-2) and expanded a bit on that.

<img src="https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/gadrian/H7CR2Nfl-post-it-notes-1284667_1280.jpg" alt="How to Improve SEO on Your Steem Posts? - https://steempeak.com/@gadrian/howto-improve-steem-seo" />

Today I'd like to talk more at large about three more elements with impact on SEO.

## 1. Engagement Improves Ranking

Let's say you write a 1000 words post. Do you think 100 comments to it helps with your search engine ranking or not? How about zero?

Short answer: **yes**.

Now the longer answer.

Have you heard about some comments and replies that they *add value to the post?* That's perfectly true. Sometimes the comments can be more interesting than the post itself.

I don't know if search engine content scrapers literally count comments (I highly doubt it's that simple), but they can find keywords and key phrases to index on in the comments and replies, which add more strength to the article or post itself.

That's why, yes, comments or better yet discussions on posts increase their value to the reader and the ranking score of the page.

## 2. Using Steem to Leverage Your Own Website's Ranking

I know some prefer that steemians write Steem-exclusive content.

I also don't want the platform that I'm so fond of to be second tier to others.

So yes, we need to appreciate original and exclusive content on Steem.

At the same time, we need not live in a bubble. There are other places out there.

People have their own blogs. Wordpress blogs. We can't force them to become Steem-only content producers. Nor should we.

Or they have a strong audience on other centralized social media platforms.

That is normal in my eyes. As long as Steem is one of them and ranks high in their priorities. Or if it ranks low, we need to know why it does, so we can improve.

If you have a Wordpress blog, I'm pretty sure you use the well-known already "sharing is caring" buttons to add your posts to social media channels.

The same thing and much more you can do with Steem.

[Steemit.com](https://steemit.com) and a few other Steem interfaces have better *domain authority* than many personal websites. As a Wordpress blog owner, you benefit of an excellent plugin called [Steempress](https://wordpress.org/plugins/steempress/), which can help publish your post on the Steem blockchain, with a *backlink* to your website and after enough (changeable) time to allow your Wordpress post to be *indexed by search engines* first.

You can also have a one or two-ways widget activated on your blog, which allows both your existing and Steem audiences to interact and to receive Steem monetary rewards. You can learn more about it [here](https://steempress.io/signup?ref=gadrian).

## 3. Is Duplicate Content a Problem on Steem, In Google's Eyes?

That's a good question. Google doesn't "see" Steem, which is the backbone on which our interfaces and tools are built.

It only "sees" interfaces. More exactly, domain names, subdomains, pages...

The problem is that when Google crawls the website of any interface on Steem, <u>unless given clear instructions</u>, it considers the same post found through **all** the different interfaces as *duplicate content*.

The "clear instructions" come under the form of *canonical links*. The website / page with the canonical links is considered the root content, and everything else is duplicate.

There is one **big caveat** to this: having <u>two or more conflicting canonical links</u> will make Google ignore them altogether and consider all pages duplicates.

@andrarchy mentioned [this a while ago](https://steemit.com/smt/@steemitblog/steemit-retro-smts-communities-pisfs-canonical-urls)
> Settled on a canonical URL standard, got it deployed, and worked with other DAPPS to also support the same standard

This is really helpful in resolving the issue. I hope they considered all the aspects.

For example, if a post is created with interface *X* and edited with interface *Y*, which one has the canonical link to the post? The dapp on which the post was created? Or the dapp on which the edits were made?

SteemPress posts seem to have received a pass regarding canonical links, with good reason, since setting the canonical links to steemit.com or any other Steem interface had an adverse effect on the ranking of the source blog.
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In our last post from the SEO Tips series, we'll have a look at the influence of trending status on Google rankings.

https://steempeak.com/trending-seo-benefits/@gadrian/google-loves-trending-posts