Writing the perfect blog post takes time and effort. You feel proud of your work after and want to share the information you’ve written with your followers. Before you hit “publish” you need to know how to optimize your writing, so so that it will be read well by both humans AND search engine crawlers.
You want to reach as many people as possible with your content in order to spread the word about what you’ve written. Get your blog in good shape, to share the awesome things you’ve written with everyone!
There are many benefits to having an optimized blog post. It is a best practice for first-time bloggers and experts alike. Everyone wants what they share to be easy to find, presentable on all platforms, and convenient to share.
Do you want to maximize the SEO awesomeness of your blog post? So let’s get started! It’s easier than you think. Here are 4 quick steps that will boost your blog to the blog-niverse.
Step 1: Do The Awesome Work Before The Awesome Work.
Improve your search traffic! Before you even get starting with the writing portion of blogging, do some planning first. Keyword research is one of the most important things that you can do to optimize your blog post, it gives you an idea of terms people are searching for.
Keyword Research
A great tool to use is Google Keyword Planner. In this tool, it will show you what people are interested in seeing even before you start writing your blog. To get an idea of what people are searching on the internet, input your keyword into the tool, just like I did below.
Google Keyword planner makes gathering data about the words you want to use, really easy. You simply type in a word you are interested in using for your blog post. Google will do the math for you and can show you how frequently that word is being searched online.
You want to use popular key terms in your blog post. When you know what words people are searching, and what phrases they use to search for these terms, you can echo their language in your blog post. This will make your blog more desirable for them to read!
In the example above, you can see that not many people search for “marketing service Vancouver” because the average monthly searches are recorded as “-”, which means that there are not even enough people who have made this search to make an average!
When I found out this information, I scrolled down to look at the suggestions for other keywords that I should be focusing on instead. You can always shift what you are saying, or change your word choice, in order to better connect with your audience are using as their search terms.
As you can see, on a monthly basis “SEO Vancouver” gets searched on average 1,900 times. Since more people search for this keyword, we are going to target this keyword instead to maximize our reach.
Step 2: Utilize That Awesome Keyword In Your Awesome Post
To best exercise the keyword you have chosen, you should have them included in the following locations in your blog post:
1. Title Of Your Post
When people search for content about “SEO Vancouver”, what is the first thing they will be looking at? The title of your article should always include the keyword that you want to rank for. It gives the first indication of what your awesome blog post is about.
When your readers see the term that they were looking for right in your title, they are much more likely to read your work, because it tells them right away that you have information about their interests.
2. Headings And Subheadings
It is easy to write your blog in paragraphs and go right into posting it. To you, it is clear, informative and well thought out.
To your reader, it is a mess of unstructured words! Give your audience a clear idea of what they are reading, and where your writing will lead them right away, with headings. When a viewer scans your page, they want to know what exactly your post is about.
Just like your reader, Google is also scanning your page, and taking note of headings and subheadings. If you use your keyword in these headings, both Google, and your reader will have a clear idea of what you’re talking about
3. First Paragraph Of Your Post
Guide your reader into your writing, use your keyword in the first paragraph. When Google crawls your web page it takes note of how organized your content is. It wants to know if what you are writing about is similar to what you have in your title and headings.
4. Last Paragraph Of Your Post
End your writing with the same keyword that you’ve been using. This helps to reinforce what your readers have just read. It helps you ground your writing and be sure that it stays related and on topic all the way throughout. Using the keyword in your conclusion will also tell Google that you’ve written on this topic throughout the entirety of your post. It shows that you are consistent and that you clearly have a lot of good content on this topic, to sustain a blog post.
5. Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions are often forgotten. They make a dramatic difference for both your reader and Google. They should not be overlooked. The meta description is the short few sentences that a reader can see when they are viewing your post on a search engine results page (SERP).
It is situated directly under your title. Remind your reader that they want to read on, by using the meta description as a short, enticing sample of what reading your blog post can do for them. Peak their interests in the meta description, and give them an idea of why your post stands out.
Use the meta description to make them want to read more. Use your keyword in the meta description to let readers know that your content is the question they have or keywords they’ve searched.
6. In The ‘Alt’ Text For Images
Chances are that your readers can see the awesome pictures that you’ve added to supplement the text in your blog post. Google’s search engines can’t “see” image like people can. The only way that they know you have helpful, related images on your blog post is by reading the alt text that you’ve added to the image.
Step 3: Organizing The Post For SEO Awesomeness
To write a great post, start with a compelling intro. Some ideas that I start with include:
- A Question
- A Story
- A Shocking Statistic
- An Inspirational Quote
- (or even) A Funny Joke
In this case, I started this blog with “Want to maximize the SEO awesomeness of your awesome blog post?”. I chose this question because it is concise and clearly shows the topic for this blog post.
The introduction and conclusion are the most important places in a blog post. The introduction sets up what you are about to discuss. It should give your reader a clear understanding of what you are going to say before you even say it!
Add Your Content!
After your intro, you should organize your content into paragraphs or a list, so the reader of the blog can easily understand your post. This is the heart of your blog post. Fill it with all of the information you want your reader to know about. Keep your paragraphs clear and easy to read with headings and subheadings.
Format your content in a way that is easy for your readers to digest. Add lists and bullet points when necessary. For example, in this post, I broke down this “how-to” into steps, so it’s easy to follow.
Another really good SEO tactic is to start linking your writing to relevant external posts, like this, and previous internal blog posts like this! Hyperlinking is the fastest way to direct your reader to related material or your page or other web pages that may find helpful.
It is a best practice in writing for search engines and it also is a way to have your reader explore more of your blog. Linking them internally can let them know that you have written more content on your own site about what they are looking for. This improves your reputation in their mind and cement in their minds that you know what you are talking about. That’s what you have to say is of value.
Google will also notice external and internal links. If you are linking to higher ranking, reputable blogs, they may share your article or link to one of your posts. This helps you develop important connections in your area of writing, as well as gives you helpful backlinks to your site.
Step 4: Fill In Your Meta Description To Go Along With Your Awesome Post
Now that you have written your blog post, the last thing you should do to make your post SEO awesome is to optimize the meta description for your post. This is the blurb/explanation that goes under the title in Google. The description should be 135-160 characters in length. It should include the keyword you are targeting and a relative call to action just like the example below!
As you can see, the meta description is not long, but it does have to describe a little bit about the link the viewers are about to click on. Use the meta description to reinforce your keywords. It is a helpful hint to what your readers are about to look over!
You’re All Set!
It’s time to get started with your next blog post. I hope that this blog post was helpful and that it effectively demonstrated how to properly optimize your posts. It takes the time to be ranked high for keywords to be profitable, but with these tips, and consistent content, you can be sure that your blog will gain the reception you’re looking for.
With all these steps complete, your blog post is all set for SEO awesomeness. If you have further questions about blogging or are looking for more SEO inspiration and facts, visit our blog, or better yet, drop us a line at search@elementiq.com. And for bonus-bonus points, leave a comment below and let us know what you have learned or if this has helped you in any way!
