Blog Website Project

Blog Project with SEO Optimization

Introduction

This project is a dynamic web application for creating and managing a personal blog. It provides an intuitive interface for users to write, edit, and publish their blog posts. Additionally, the website allows users to interact through comments and offers a search functionality to easily find specific articles. This is a full-stack blog project built with Node.js, Express, and MongoDB. The project includes SEO optimization features such as slug-based URLs, an XML sitemap, Gzip compression, structured data, and caching.

Table of Contents

1. Features
2. Technologies Used
3. Setup Instructions
4. Usage
5. Contributing

Features

• Create: Authenticated users can create new blog posts.
• Publish and Unpublish Posts: Users can choose to publish or unpublish their posts.
• SEO-friendly URLs using slugs.
• Auto-generated XML sitemap for better search engine indexing.
• Gzip compression enabled for performance improvement.
• HTTP caching implemented to optimize page load speed.
• Structured data added for better visibility in search results.
• Helmet.js added for improved security.

Technologies Used

• Frontend:

  • HTML5
  • CSS3
  • JavaScript (ES6)

• Backend:

  • Backend Technologies: Node JS, EJS, Express, lodash
  • Database : Mongoose

• Version Control:

  • Version Control System : Git

Setup Instructions

1. Clone the repository of this project.
2. Install the necessary dependencies by running the cammand npm i.
3. Run the Mongod server : Make sure you run the following command in your terminal sudo mongod --dbpath=/Users/yourUserName/data/db
4. Configure the database : Open your mongoDB and create a new Database named 'BlogDB'.
5. Start the development server by running the command node app.js.
6. Access the application in your web browser by typing 'http://localhost:3000/'.
7. SEO Optimizations
   • Slug-based URLs: Blog posts use slugs instead of IDs for better readability and SEO.
   • XML Sitemap: A sitemap is dynamically generated at /sitemap.xml to improve indexing.
   • Gzip Compression: Reduces file sizes to speed up page load time.
   • Caching: Static files are cached for better performance.
   • Structured Data: Google-friendly JSON-LD added for rich search results.
   • Helmet.js: Improves security by setting appropriate HTTP headers.
8. And you are all done.

Usage

1. Writing a Blog Post:

   • Click on the "Create Post" button.
   • Use the rich text editor to write your blog post.
   • Add categories, tags, and choose whether to publish it.

2. Editing a Blog Post:

   • Navigate to the post you want to edit.
   • Click on the "Edit" button and make the necessary changes.

3. Get All Published Blogs:

   • See All published Blogs on Home Page.
   • Click on read more... to get to the published blog.

Contributing

If you'd like to contribute to this project, please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature or bug fix.
3. Make your changes and test thoroughly.
4. Submit a pull request, describing the changes you've made.