Many people think blog posts are just a waste of time. They figure that blogging will never bring them any customers, and they can't see the point in blogging for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes. But this couldn't be further from the truth!
Blogging does wonders for your search engine rankings, and it has many other benefits as well.
Read on to learn more!
Understanding the importance of blogging SEO is one thing, and executing optimized content well is another.
Unfortunately, most people don't understand blogging and how to write SEO-friendly blog posts that get more customers through organic traffic for their business. So, they end up blogging haphazardly and getting nowhere with it.
Blog post writing is not just about getting high rankings on Google. And it's also a great way to generate more leads and referrals for your business as well.
We will discuss how you can use blogging to get all of these benefits out of your search engine marketing strategy in this article today so keep reading!
When you blog regularly, you increase the number of pages indexed by search engines, meaning they find new information about what people want. In addition, they do searches related to the products or services you offer with each additional entry on your blog site.
This means there is more chance that customers looking for what you have available will be able to find it if they're searching online from their desktop computers or mobile devices like smartphones or tablets.
This article will go over what you need to know about blogging so your search marketing strategy can kick into high gear and share some blog SEO tips to help the search engines find your valuable content.
Benefits of SEO friendly blogs on your business website
There are several benefits that an SEO blog has for your business website with search engines. Some of the main advantages to blogging include:
Keywords you can rank for on search engines
The first thing you need to do is Keyword Research - finding relevant keywords for your business.
Once you know the mix of keywords (focus and long-tail keywords) for your business, you have to optimize your blog for the keyword(s) you want to rank for.
Remember, long-tail keywords are easier to rank in comparison to high competition keywords.
Writing a new blog post for your business website gives search engines more material to index and rank.
Consequently, blogging helps with increasing the keyword rankings of all of your pages on the search engine results page so that they show up higher in the organic traffic when people are searching online using Google or other major search engines like Bing, Yahoo!
Blogging is an excellent way to increase traffic via SEO and, of course, by delivering valuable content.
The most important place to include the long tail keyword is in the blog post title of your new post.
Then make sure the long tail keyword or keyword phrase you have identified is included elsewhere, such as in the H2 and body text when you create content for your blog.
Get new leads by sharing knowledge
Blogging has many benefits, including bringing new leads and making existing customers happier because blog posts give businesses opportunities to share their knowledge with prospects via a personal and meaningful conversation.
People may have questions about what's on offer, and relevant content is a way to engage current clients through comments which can help retain them longer and build loyalty from satisfied buyers.
Your blog post title strategy for SEO
Blogging is the foundation of any effective search engine optimization (SEO) and online marketing strategy - it's not just a side benefit that helps with rankings.
Many companies create content that answers exactly what user searches indicate search engines would like to see. The way that you title your blog post is extremely important for SEO. You have to make sure that the search engine crawlers (spiders) can find keywords in your article to include in their indexing of diverse online sources.
The more high quality, targeted content you have, the better chance you have at ranking high in Google and other search engines.
The basic gist of it is this:
The optimal length for a blog post title is 60 characters.
Use the main keywords you are targeting for your content as part of your blog post title, but make sure they are mixed in with other words.
Don't go overboard on keywords, just make them part of the natural flow.
So, if you're still on the fence about whether or not to optimize your blog posts, remember it will help your business website get more organic traffic through organic search.
We hope this article will give you some insight and ideas with our bog SEO tips so you can optimize your blog posts today! Let us know the results you get on your own blogs in the comments below!
Internal linking to build trust
Internal linking refers to any links on a website that link back to other pages within the same site.
External linking is when a website connects with another blog or page outside its domain name location.
Users interested in learning more information like additional resources may learn something new when you add internal links to resources such as an infographic or video tutorial that could answer questions they had while reading through your latest blog post.
Blogging is a great chance to use internal links between web pages and blog posts to bring fresh content to the target audience's attention. This helps build trust with your audience and increase organic traffic by showing visitors answers they might need through question-based keywords and related keywords.
When you add internal links, either to a new post or older posts, pay attention to link to high-quality content.
In addition, since there are so many people using mobile devices, internal linking between web pages gives readers quick access because one tap will take them from one web page to another.
Even though excessive internal links and keyword stuffing are not popular search engine SEO tactics, internal links are good for helping users navigate the site more conveniently, which will ideally drive them towards a conversion or purchase.
External linking for more authority
Blogging also gives websites a chance to build external linking opportunities throughout their valuable content.
This can help with the SEO score, which is the value that Google assigns your site based on how many other sites link back to you about keyword searches about topics related to what you offer as products or services for sale online.
External links can help your site rank higher, so the more links of this type you can add, the better.
Social sharing opportunities
Social media has become very popular among online users because everyone has an opinion!
This is why blogging content can be beneficial because people can share articles that interest them on their own social media channels, which gives the business a chance to reach new audiences while also increasing SEO.
This could be a game-changer link-building strategy as Google highly regards link building for your SERP (Search Engine Results Page) ranking.
Blog SEO content keeps your website fresh and current
Blogging keeps your website fresh and current, which is why blogging regularly will help increase SEO rankings for the google search result.
In addition, this information provides new content for Google search bots who are crawling sites looking for updates that never existed before and indexing pages faster on major search engines because of blogging efforts.
Blog posts can improve user time on the page; hence good for SEO
Another SEO benefit is that blog posts help improve your users' time on a site, improving page ranking.
The more time spent on each web page of your site, the higher search engines rate it as an authority in search results.
Search engines see you as being reputable and providing precisely what readers want when they continue to spend time on your site.
How to write SEO Friendly Blog Posts?
Well, this is the most critical part - to write blog posts with keywords (focus keyword and long-tail keywords) related to your business, while being useful and helpful with valuable content for readers who may be searching online using Google or other major search engines like Bing or Yahoo!
People often think it is good for SEO to throw a few keywords into the blog post here and there (including title tag, meta descriptions, etc.) without considering how it will affect readers.
Unfortunately, this is bad for blog SEO because it annoys your visitors and gives them no reason to continue going back for more when other choices are out there following good SEO practices that keep people coming back for more.
With all the SEO plugins available right now, it is not too hard to make your blog SEO-friendly and more fun because blogging is not the same as writing an article for your website or another type of content that requires research.
One Seo Plugin you are going to want to check out is Semrush! I'll tell you a little more about that later.
Finding the Right Keywords through Keyword Research
The best SEO results happen with search engines when the blog content contains focus keyword(s) directly related to what your website offers. The keyword research will help you find a mix of focus keyword(s) vs. long-tail keywords for better SEO results.
Choosing the right keywords is essential for your site as the competition with a search volume of the keywords will decide the fate of your page to rank high on the SERP.
For example, if you own a business in South Florida and sell boat supplies or offer boating services like boat detailing.
There must be at least one blog post about these subjects, so people looking for this type of information will find it on your site first instead of someone else's.
Semrush is the preferred choice of most bloggers for keyword research and content analysis, and also to help find blogging keywords specific to your niche to help rank in organic search, using any of the other available tools such as Surfer SEO
Planning for the Right Article Structure for Search Engine Optimization
Once you know the focus keyword or keyword phrase, it is time to plan the article structure for blogging.
A well-planned blog post includes title, subheadings throughout the article, and finally, headers within each section where readers will stop scrolling down.
Hence, they know that something new and exciting might be waiting just below before continuing reading all the way through without missing a beat. So, in short, blog SEO articles must have different sections with proper headings between paragraphs.
Writing great copy
Blog articles should not be just about keywords and content structure: the copy must convey information in a way where readers can understand what you're saying.
SEO Plugins are valuable when combined with writing techniques because different users have different preferences online.
The writers' job is not easy, as they have to optimize the blog post with focus keywords and long-tail keywords, and at the same time, it must pique readers' interest to keep them wanting more.
It takes significant time and effort to write articles with SEO plugins that will make search engines rank your business higher than others who may have started blogging years ago but lack the SEO skills or resources needed for a compelling blog post. When you want to 'up' your content creation game, finding the right tools to help you can be the key to your success. There is no better way to find help than reaching out to those around you who use these SEO Plugins and other copywriting tools to get feedback on what is working for them.
If you are looking for tools that make writing great copy more easily, my personal recommendations would be: Jarvis for brainstorming ideas, coming up with outlines, and filling in the blanks. Actually, this AI Copywriting App really does it all. When you want to write fresh content faster, you couldn't ask for a better copywriting assistant than Jarvis! Surfer SEO - which integrates right into the Jarvis editor - for writing optimized content easily and more importantly, fast! Proofreading is often overlooked, but ensuring your article is easy to read and connects with your audience is made easy with apps like Grammarly & ProWritingAid. Both offer free plans that check spelling, grammar, and content structure for readability, with upgrade options for premium features like plagiarism checking. - Amanda Weston, Founder - Blogs by Jarvis
Optimizing the blog post for people, not just SEO
The blogging content needs to be optimized so that people can find your blog in organic search results when they search for specific keywords related to what you have to offer.
Your headline should capture their attention and tease enough to make them want to read more.
Blog posts should also have links inside, pointing to other relevant articles on your website or external resources. These links contribute to your SEO success when they focus on one keyword or keyword phrase relevant to the topic - in other words, providing more value!
Dynamically inserting the focus keyword throughout the article is essential, and bolding or italicizing it will help draw attention. In addition, this one keyword or phrase helps your article rank better than others.
Things you need to do when publishing the article on your site
Congratulations on writing and finalizing the article already!
The rest is easy, because now it's time to publish the blog post on your website,
Title Tag
You need to develop a great title tag because a title tag will be what shows up in the organic search results once the blog article gets published.
The title tag should also have a compelling tagline (meta description) and include SEO keywords relevant to whatever blog post topic it's about.
Not sure how to generate a title tag or what it should include?
This is where apps like Jarvis (AI Copywriter) can be a life-saver. With over 50 marketing templates, including Blog Title Tags & Meta Descriptions, Jarvis has your back!
Meta Description
The meta description shows up below your title and tagline on the search engines, which means you can use this part to tell people more about what you are offering
Amanda Weston, Founder of Blogs by Jarvis, has a few tips for writing your meta descriptions:
Writing a meta description for your post is important for both SEO and readers. A meta description can be used in two ways:
On search engines as a snippet of text that summarizes your content
On your blog as a call to action when people land on your page through social media or another site.
Writing something that satisfies both of these objectives is challenging, so here's a list of do's and don'ts that will help you write better meta descriptions.
Do:
Make the meta description compelling but keep it short. Nobody has time to read a long, boring summary of your article, so cut to the point and get them excited about what you've written (without giving everything away).
Give readers a reason to click through. You have 150-160 characters - make your reader want more.
Use keywords. We all know that search engines crawl websites for specific text, and those are typically keywords you've already written in your article.
Match the title of your post. This is a no-brainer but still doesn't always happen. If you write about Google Analytics in your post, be sure to mention that word in your meta description.
Check your meta description in the search engine results page to see how it will actually look (e.g., make sure you spell check!). When writing these things up it's easy to forget a word or punctuation mark, so it's best to double-check before publishing.
Don't:
Use too many keywords. You don't want to stuff your meta description with irrelevant keywords, but you also don't want to neglect them. If Google thinks you're keyword stuffing or spamming, they may ignore your meta description altogether.
Make the meta description too vague. Don't just say, "Read this article if you're interested in learning more" (unless that's all you want to say). Give them a little information about what they're going to read. If your post is short enough, describe the entire thing, but if it's long and in-depth, don't give away everything without letting them click through.
Use unnecessary sentences. You already said that this article is interesting - there's no need to say that it's interesting and helpful, too.
Match the meta description to all of your posts . While you don't want to be redundant with your keywords in every meta description, don't use different ones for every post if they're not relevant. This brings us to ...
Use unrelated keywords. Don't try to be clever and trick people into clicking on your post by using unrelated keywords in the meta description. They will see right through it and won't be happy you wasted their time.
Unique URL
Once you have published your new blog post, make sure to set up a unique URL for it. The best practice is to keep the keyword in the URL!
This will be the link people copy and paste when they need to share on social media or other platforms online, so there is no confusion about where the content is being shared.
Image and Videos
To make your blog post more engaging, it's a good idea to include relevant images and videos, too, because people love visuals!
Images are becoming more and more important in search engine results pages (SERPs). There is no way to know whether or not your image will appear in the SERP for any given keyword, but incorporating SEO into your images can help you get an edge on competitors with less attractive images.
Amanda also has some tips for your image optimization:
Optimizing images for SEO can provide benefits such as:
Images appearing in Google image search results
Users being able to find your images through organic searches on sites like Google, Bing, Flickr, and Pinterest
Improved click-through rates on images that appear in the SERP
Increased chance of getting featured on a news site or blog if an image gets picked
Images that are shareable on social media sites are more attractive and likely to get shared.
The first step in optimizing images for SEO is to choose the correct file type when you upload images. File types are a major factor in how fast your website loads, so it's important to choose one that is small in size and allows for a high level of detail.
The appropriate file type for each image depends on what you plan to use it for. For example, JPEG is best used for photographs and images with many colors, whereas PNG works well with images that contain text and graphics.
There are also additional file types that should be considered for certain kinds of images. For instance, GIFs work well with repeating patterns and solid colors. This works exceptionally well if the photo has words in it, as you can maintain readability while still reducing file size.
There are quite a number of free and premium tools available that can help you optimize your images for SEO, such as:
- Compressor.io
- TinyJPG
- Kraken.io
All three of these solutions use lossless compression to reduce the size of an image while keeping as much detail as possible.
The next step is to make your images easily shareable. The most popular way for users to share images online is through social media sites such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. This means that optimizing your images for social media can help you get more mileage out of each image.
This will increase the likelihood that your images will get shared and that people will be able to find them when they search for a related term.
Another way to make your image more attractive and likely to be shared on social media sites is by adding a relevant quote below it. You can add the quote yourself or have one automatically generated using an online tool like Good-Tutorials.
Overall, there are various simple ways you can optimize your images for SEO and social media. Not all these methods will work for every business or even every type of image, but by taking advantage of what works best for your website, you will get more out of the images on your site.
The Featured Snippet
Featured Snippets lead to more than 30% of the traffic. So, look for the best practice for creating a featured snippet. Unfortunately, Google does not provide any specific guidelines.
However, you can follow some industry best practices for creating Featured Snippets! The key is to be the best match to the search query a visitor provides.
One shortcut for featured snippet could be to look for the existing featured snippet for the same keyword, look into the blog post, and check on the SEO factors that lead Google to pick them up for the featured snippet try to optimize your blog accordingly.
External and Internal Links
External and internal links are important because they let people know where to go next, whether it's another blog post on your site or an article about a related topic.
These can be used throughout the blog content, so readers have something else to explore if they wish.
They must also be written with effective SEO keywords in mind, so you rank better for them as well as use natural language instead of stuffing too much information into links which is spammy-looking.
A few helpful SEO Tips
Here are some SEO tips from my (Mobarok Hossian) hands-on experience of more than 11 years:
It is important to write blog posts that appeal to your readers so they leave happy and eager for more. On the other hand, don't write just to please Search Engines.
Keep an eye out for keywords and use them without overdoing them.
Remember to provide the best user experience in design, site speed, content quality, etc. This will not only help with your user experience but also will lower the bounce rate.
Focus on the relevant link building, both internal and external.
Format content for Featured Snippets.
Be careful with anything that negatively hits the site speed (ranking factor); it can be media files, plug-ins. Page speed not only annoys the visitors but also downgrades your blog to Search Engines.
Keep your content improving all the time.
For images, use your focus keyword as the alt text at least once.
Remember, though meta description is not an SEO ranking factor, it matters.
Target the long-tail keywords first as the long-tail ones are easy to rank.
Don't forget on-page SEO.
Final words on blogging SEO practices
Businesses need to attract new customers every day. A properly planned and efficiently executed blog can help them achieve that goal.
Blogging is an excellent tool for SEO because it allows businesses to provide information and engage with their target audience effectively. It also helps in building trust, improving brand awareness, and increasing profits!
With several applications to assist, writing a blog post is infinitely easier nowadays.
SEO Tools that would help you rank higher in Google search
There are many tools in the market to guide and help you through the SEO blog content process. Some of them have already been mentioned in the article above.
Semrush is an all-in-one tool suite that can help business owners to improve their online visibility and find marketing insights. Their services cover all the aspects of SEO, from keyword research to content marketing to SMM, etc.
Frase is a content creation tool powered by artificial intelligence. SEO-friendly blog posts will take you from idea to search results faster and more efficiently than ever before.
The Surfer tool is designed to help you optimize your written blog post content. This tool helps your business to get more customers by analyzing the content of a page. It also has a cool built-in keyword research tool.
LinkWhisper suggests internal links that are related to the content on your website. It finds relevant information between two pieces of content, which can help businesses gain more customers through internal linking.
SEOBUDDY is a tool that can improve your blog's searchability and provide you with everything you'll need to boost your viewership, outrank competitors and take control of all SEO-related tasks.
Grammarly is an excellent tool for proofreading and editing your content. It has an easy-to-use interface, built-in spell checker, grammar checker, and plagiarism detector to ensure that you are using the correct words in the right way.
A similar tool to Grammarly, ProWritingAid is better for creative writing, thanks to better handling of fragmented sentences and dialogue.
Outranking is a website writing, research, and optimization tool that allows you to increase your organic traffic in less time. The platform helps clients create SEO content and carry out research to understand their target audience.
Mangools bundles five SEO tools that help you increase your blog's SEO workflow and bring more customers to your business into one app. >>> Try Mangools free for 10 days with this exclusive Blogs by Jarvis link!
RankMath provides accurate keyword rankings, website optimization tips, backlink analysis reports, etc. This tool is top-rated among small companies looking forward to increasing their online presence through effective content marketing strategies using blog posts.
Jarvis, an AI copywriting tool that uses artificial intelligence to produce highly engaging copy and compelling content - like this article! >>> Try Jarvis free for 5 days and get 10,000 Bonus Credits!
About the Author:
Mobarok Hossain is a Jarvis Certified writer from Dhaka, Bangladesh, who currently works with an article writing company.
When not writing SEO articles for clients across various industries, he likes to play Cricket & watch movies online during his free time!
Mobarok is available to hire to write an SEO-friendly article for your blog, find him on FIVERR ($50 per 1000 word article).
