If you’ve ever published a blog article, you are aware of the time and commitment involved.
The process typically takes hours, from choosing a topic and doing research to drafting the piece and clicking “Publish.” Therefore, it might be a significant letdown if your piece doesn’t receive the traffic you anticipated.
Fortunately, search engine optimization may be used to fight poor traffic. Writing content that will rank highly on Google is something that all content writers strive to do, and SEO is the link that will bring you there. That raises the question: How to write an effective and SEO-friendly blog post?
Firstly, an SEO-friendly post means that it is also friendly for the users. It seems that writing to engage your audience and writing for SEO purposes appear to conflict with one another. Surprisingly, it is not!
Of course, if you want your blog article to be SEO-friendly, the phrases you want to be searched for should be in your text. However, using too many keywords seriously impairs your text’s readability, which is something you don’t want to do. A high keyword density may even indicate to Google that you may be stuffing your text with keywords, which could hurt your ranks.
Sounds tricky? We’ve got you covered, so don’t worry. In this article, we will provide you with the top 10 +bonus tips for writing SEO-friendly blog posts.
Why Does Your Blog Need to be SEO-Friendly?
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Writing blog posts that are SEO-friendly is one of the most crucial things you can do for your website in terms of raising its search rankings. In addition to helping you rank higher on search engine results pages, well-written blog posts also offer valuable information for your website visitors.
Search engines and users can simply grasp your information thanks to content optimization. High-quality, search engine-friendly information that is simple to use and find are advantages of content optimization. No matter how amazing your content is, there will always be a gap between what you intended to write and what the search engines provide to the user.
Having said that, not every blog article is created equal. Writing content just for the sake of writing doesn’t guarantee that you will appear on page 1 of the search results tomorrow. You need to write blog posts with a purpose and clear strategy for search engine crawlers to get the best chance of ranking.
10 Top Tips For Writing SEO-Friendly Blog Posts
1. Think carefully before writing
You will save time later on in the process by taking the time now to consider what to write in your blog article.
Read several articles about SEO and marketing every day from different digital marketing blogs. Add the URL and title to your notes whenever you come across a title or subject that would make a good blog post.
Consider your piece’s message carefully before you begin. Which main statement or query do you wish to make to your target audience? What does your article want to accomplish? What action do you want your viewers to take after reading this page?
Before you start, write down the answers to these questions and consider possible search intentions. Looking through the search results for the search term you want to rank is a simple approach to gaining insight into this. What could you add that your viewers might not have considered but would want to know when they read your content?
Don’t forget – you are creating content for humans and not only for search engines. The best strategy to rank is to produce content that speaks to people. User experience is what matters.
2. Write down the structure of your blog post
The next step is to outline the format of your blog article in writing. We are referring to the post’s structure.
You have to establish a clear structure to compose a blog article that is both legible and SEO-friendly. This means that each post must include:
- an introduction where you introduce your subject
- a body where you write your main message
- a conclusion in which you summarize the main ideas or draw a conclusion
Write out your thoughts for each of the three sections in a few phrases. This will enable you to write well-organized and understandable blog content.
Write a blog post in sections. Instead of attempting to write longer parts, it is quicker and more effective to write 200 words to cover a single section of the topic. Especially so, if you are not going to finish your blog post in one sitting.
3. Use appropriate keywords
- Do a keyword research
You must target the precise keywords and phrases that your potential clients are using while searching online if you want to stand out from the SERP clutter and outrank your rivals. Otherwise, how will people locate your website and content?
Use a keyword research tool first. You may learn more about what people are searching for and how popular those questions are by visiting websites like Keyword Tool, Google Keyword Planner, or Ubersuggest.
You may also get a sense of the most popular keywords at any given time using Google Trends. You know it’s probably not the term to target for your marketing if you notice that searches for a particular keyword have been continuously falling over time. For emerging trends, the opposite is true.
Use keywords strategically throughout the post and especially in the headings and meta description. Don’t forget to bold the keywords in your text. Bolding keywords and sentences can help a website’s SEO and make its content simpler for Google to interpret.
- Avoid keyword stuffing
To rank higher for a certain goal term on search engines, you might get an urge to stuff a website with your main keywords. This is something you should not be doing.
When you stuff articles with the same term repeatedly, it defeats the objective of content, which is to educate and engage your audience. Unhappy readers will probably abandon your website soon, causing bounce rates to rise and ultimately turning visitors away.
Google search also penalizes sites that are using keyword stuffing and may eliminate your page to help higher quality material rank better.
Use your keywords naturally to make users happy!
4. Check out your competition
Wouldn’t you be curious to know who are your main competitors for your focus keyword? We thought so. Some tools can ease this task for you.
Try SEMRush, Moz, or simply search on the search engine using your top keywords. While evaluating your rivals, pay particular attention to those that are most comparable in terms of size and target market.
Analyze your competitor’s blog posts and take ideas on how to structure your content. Remember, a competitor’s content is a tool to help you to improve yours.
5. Optimize your URL, title, and meta description
- URL
Search engines can learn information about a page’s content, context, and target from its URL.
Keep your URL user-friendly, simple, and to the point. Complicated URLs may be problematic for both users and search engines. In addition, include your target keyword and use hyphens to separate it.
- Title tag
The first thing a reader sees when they come across your article is the title of your blog post, which has a significant impact on whether they click or scroll down.
Make sure your title’s length is between 55-60 characters and it includes your target keyword. It should also describe what the post is about and be interesting enough for the readers to click on it (you can also add numbers, which works surprisingly well).
- Meta description
Google analyzes meta descriptions to determine search results. The summaries that appear beneath a result’s title are known as meta descriptions.
Keep your meta description up to 155 characters, use your focus keyword, and include a clear call-to-action for the best result.
6. Use your headings correctly
Proper headings help readers in understanding the subject matter of each section of your work. Subheadings make your website easier to skim for users and make the structure of your articles clear.
Not only are they crucial for readability, but also SEO. Because of this, we also suggest including your keyword in a few of the subheadings.
First off, you can only use one H1 heading per page. The title or name of the page or post should appear as the H1 heading. However, if you are editing your blog on WordPress, the H1 tag is applied automatically, so no need to add it.
Apply H2 tags when exploring a sub-topic of your main topic. Do not overuse it, our rule would be 5 to 10 H2s per blog post.
H3s expand on your H2 tags and they are the sub-topics of your sub-topic. H3s mainly should reflect and elaborate on your H2 tag.
Except when writing extremely extensive or highly technical information, most content rarely becomes “deep” enough to require the usage of H4 tags and beyond.
Here is how it works:
7. Keep paragraphs short
Don’t just throw a bunch of lengthy paragraphs on a page and press publish.
To make the content less dull, use short paragraphs (2–3 sentences long) and make use of the many formatting options, such as bold, italic, and underline.
Why is it so important?
Short paragraphs are just much easier to read and it is even more true for mobile device users.
8. Create a link-building strategy
- Internal linking
Try to “connect” each new item you write with previously published blog pieces on your website by including internal links.
Internal linking is a powerful and simple SEO tactic that offers users the choice to click a link and read more about a subject.
It’s one of the methods you may use to increase user engagement and lower your website’s bounce rate.
- External linking
Linking to reputable, high-authority websites can help you build connections and broaden your audience. For example, include a link whenever you reference a study or quote an expert.
Make sure you naturally use your links and aim for 2-5 external links for a longer blog post.
9. Optimize the length of your post
Longer postings tend to do better in search and get more likes and mentions on social media, according to studies.
Even though this is the case, shorter content might still do well in search engine results. The quality of the blog post is more significant than the quantity.
Our suggestion would be between 700-2800 words per content piece. If your word count is higher, consider splitting it into several articles.
10. Add alt text to your images
You should use relevant and compelling images in your post. Also, include alt text with every image you include in your post, whether they are featured or body images.
The photo’s alt text explains what is going on in the image and helps search engines understand the use of the image. Don’t leave the ALT TEXT field empty, instead, use a few words that briefly describe the image. Important tip – when putting the link under the image make sure it opens in a new window.
For instance, rename the image img001.jpg to something more significant, such as seo-data-2022.jpg, if you are posting an image that displays SEO data for 2022.
Bonus Tips To Write a Blog Post Like a Pro
- Create content that will be valuable for a long time. This type of content will ultimately rank in Google and may drive traffic for years.
- Add FAQ to the content where possible
- Use active voice
- Use easy and simple language
- Check for grammatical mistakes and plagiarism
- Let others read your post before publishing
FAQs
1. How long will it take for your blog post to rank on Google?
First and foremost, keep in mind that blogging is a long-term game. Instant results are quite uncommon. In most circumstances, it will take several months before your blog starts to receive a considerable amount of traffic. Therefore, it can take three to six months, while others estimate twelve to eighteen months.
2. What is evergreen content?
The term “evergreen content” refers to search-optimized content that is continuously relevant and keeps being “fresh” for readers over an extended period of time.
You might believe that all internet content is “evergreen”, because a blog post doesn’t simply vanish when it is published. However, evergreen material is different. Long after its initial publication, it is still relevant, and over time, together with an increasing traffic.
3. How often should you update your blog posts?
Here’s the list you can follow:
1) Start by determining which blog content needs to be updated and which doesn’t matter
2) Decide how frequently you would like to update the content
3) Create notifications to serve as a reminder to regularly update the content
4) Pay attention to industry trends and noteworthy shifts. Is the older post beginning to draw interest? Refresh it! Is there a new trend on a subject you have already written about? Refresh it as well!
5) Review the old content every now and then and see if it needs to be removed or updated
4. What can you learn from your competitor’s content?
1) Reflection of brand’s personality
2) Content type and frequency
3) Quality level
4) Unique or regular content
5) Engagement with the audience
Conclusion
The days of using a few simple SEO techniques to improve your website’s Google ranking are long gone. Content is king!
Spend some time conducting your research before beginning a new post, and be sure you know exactly what you want to write about and accomplish.
As you’ve seen in this comprehensive post, creating SEO-friendly blog posts is possible! You’ll soon observe an improvement in your rankings if you use these helpful suggestions for each new blog post.
We are rooting here for you!
