Optimizing your blogs for search engines is key to taking your content to the next level, and proper blog SEO will drive more visibility and traffic to your website. Here are some suggested best-practices to optimize your web content.
Optimize Blog Content with Targeted Keywords
You need a strategic approach to writing about your business’ products and services in each blog post. This involves identifying keywords through:
- Having a digital marketing partner research appropriate keywords
- Review competitor web content to determine popular terms/topics
- Using language you believe prospective customers will use to search for your business
Once you’ve identified a list of keywords, choose topics and content that relate to each keyword. Each post should focus on a single keyword or group of related keywords. If you try to focus on too many keywords in a single blog entry, you’ll dilute the topic of the post.
Writing Your Blog Post
When you write a blog post, remember to use common language that is easy to read. Limit the use of highly technical terms and write clearly for your target audience.
As you write, use keywords naturally as they fit into the content. Don’t overstuff with keywords or contrive the content to fit the keywords. Keywords that don’t fit can turn off readers and hurt your rankings.
Regarding length, search engines want to provide the best and most thorough results for their users. This often translates to 300-600 words per blog post, but it could mean lengthier blog content at 1,000+ words (such posts provide search engines with more information to grasp the topic at hand). However, it’s not always an efficient use of time to reach that magnitude.
Organizing Your Blog Content
Organize your blog content to make it easier to read and scan by search engines. Here are some tips:
- Use headings to help readers scan the material
- Use H1, H2, and H3 headings to help search engines scan the structure of your content
- Use keywords in headings whenever possible
- Use bulleted lists to structure content in a scannable form
- Structure your content to encourage scanning
Using Links in Your Blog Post
Linking to related content from each blog post is a great way to share more detail. Use links that are:
- Internal – linking to a separate page/post of your own website, or
- External – linking to another website that is relevant to your topic
Link using anchor text containing keywords whenever possible. A link including a descriptive phrase is more powerful than a link that says “click here.”
If your CMS allows an Advisory Title or a name for the link, use this field to include the keyword and provide more information about the link.
Engage Blog Readers with Interesting Visuals or Other Media
Whether you choose to use video, audio, or photos, you want to support the text of your blog with engaging visuals.
Ideally, your graphics make your content more interesting and shareable. For this reason, make sure each blog is easy to share using various methods such as a social media tray.
Create SEO Page Titles and Meta Descriptions
An SEO title and meta description let you control the display of your blog in search results.
Your meta description should be no more than 155 characters and should include your keyword and a short summary. The meta title is no more than 55 characters and includes the keyword. Check out our effortless guide to creating SEO page titles and descriptions for more tips.
Don’t Forget About Your Blog Title and URL
Before you publish your blog post, make sure the blog title and URL are optimized. Make sure your blog title is catchy, descriptive, and around 6 words or so. If possible, include a targeted keyword. And remember, even if your blog is perfectly optimized for SEO, if your title isn’t catchy, no one may read it.
For your URL, readability is key. Properly outline the topic and include the keyword when possible. Something like www.abcpublisher.com/blog/20-books-to-ease-career-transitions is preferred over www.abcpublisher.com/blog/85456_id40/index.htm.
It’s Important to Optimize Each Blog Post For SEO!
Now that you’ve got some blog SEO tips, you’ll want to reference these each time you write a new post. In time, these steps will become easier and faster to accomplish! And, you’ll feel good knowing your SEO optimized blog is helping boost your rankings.
