Tried-And-True Strategies for Creating SEO-Friendly Blog Posts
Writing blog posts for SEO is both an art and a science. It’s a combination of creative writing, strategic planning, and technical optimisation. Make your blog stand out by mastering the art of SEO. This guide lists various methods to boost your blog’s visibility and promote branding.
Why Write SEO-Optimised Blog Posts?
You may ask yourself, “Why do I need SEO?” In simple terms, if you create search engine-optimised blogs, they will be seen by more people on Google or any other search engine, thus improving their visibility, which will, in turn, increase traffic. With more traffic comes increased chances of making sales and growing your brand recognition. You want not just eyes on your content but eyes that are interested in it.
Best Practices and Strategies for Creating SEO-Friendly Blog Posts
Plan a content structure or hierarchy
Before starting the writing process, have a draft of your content. A well-structured blog post is easier to write and better to read. Divide your text using headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) so it becomes scannable. A proper content structure helps search engines and your audience understand the flow and highlight main points of your content easier.
Do keyword research for every blog post
One of SEO’s foundations is keyword research. This method entails identifying keywords or key phrases your target audience searches and analysing which ones have the most traffic and are underutilised by competitors. Using this keyword data, you can develop a content plan that uses relevant keywords while inserting them naturally throughout the article. Do not overdo it, though, as stuffing too many keywords in your content may be more harmful than good, so keep a natural flow.
Match search intent (navigational, commercial, informational, and transactional)
To create content that caters to your audience’s needs, first, you need to understand search intent. Are your readers looking for information (informational), trying to navigate to a specific site (navigational), looking to buy something (transactional,) or comparing products (commercial)? Write according to these intents; for instance, if you were writing about the best running shoes, you could include comparisons, reviews, and buying guides to satisfy commercial intent.
Write 500 words or more blogs
Long articles rank higher on Google because it results in increased visitor engagement and more backlinks. Ensure the post has at least 500 words. However, it’s still important to prioritise quality over quantity. Every word should be valuable to your target audience. Comprehensive posts (1,000 words or more) are more likely to go in-depth about a topic, satisfy your reader’s curiosity, and meet their search intent.
Add high-quality visuals or graphics
High-quality visuals can add value to a blog post and make it more interesting and attractive. Images, infographics, as well as, videos improve the shareability of your content while breaking up the text so that your blog is easily digestible. Remember to use visual elements that support your message and add value to your content.
Compress images
Images are important, but if not optimised, they can slow down your site. Compressing images helps reduce file sizes without compromising quality and speeds up website loading times. Increased page load speed improves user experience, and significantly improve your rankings.
Link to high-authority websites and other posts on your site
Internal and external linking is essential for SEO. This is why you need to link to high-authority sites in your content; it shows search engines that your content is reliable and well-researched. Meanwhile, internal links guide your visitors to view other pages on the website, thereby increasing their stay duration, which will result in greater user engagement. In addition, they also spread page authority all over the site, thus helping other pages to have better rankings. A pro tip when using both links is to ensure that your anchor text gives a clear idea of what your readers can expect after clicking the link.
Optimise page title, title tags, meta description, and image alt text
Your page title and title tags are what both search engines and people see first. That being said, create good titles for your posts with appropriately placed keywords. The meta descriptions should be brief summaries that persuade users to click on them. Another reminder would be image alt text – this helps search engines and visually challenged users understand the context of your image.
Create a Backlinking Strategy
A backlinking strategy will help build authority and credibility for your blog. Focus on obtaining links from high-authority websites in your niche. Reach out to industry influencers, reverse engineer competitor backlinks, write guest posts, and create shareable content that naturally attracts backlinks. Like in creating content, aim for quality over quantity; getting a few links from good sites is far better than acquiring many links from bad sites.
Optimise Content for Featured Snippets
Featured snippets are a great opportunity to increase visibility. To do this, make content that answers questions directly and clearly. Use bullet points, numbered lists, and clear headings to increase your chances of being featured in Google’s snippets. You may also want to consider using query-based keywords, as this can help search engines pick up your content for snippets and get you high traffic.
Add a compelling CTA
A CTA is important to get your readers to the next step, be it subscribing to newsletters, downloading resources, or purchasing products. Make sure it is simple, brief, and consistent with your blog post’s tone. Some action words that you could use include “Join Now,” “Get Started,” or “Learn More.” Make sure your CTA stands out using high-contrast colours and strategically placing them within your article. A good CTA not only drives engagement but also converts visitors into customers.