The skill of writing optimized blog posts for search engines and users can be enhanced through practice, similar to any other skill.
Contrary to widespread belief, the process is not complex. By following a few straightforward steps, you can ensure that all the content you publish on your website or blog is SEO friendly.
Titles of posts, structure of a blog, text formatting, headings, and paragraphs are all important for rankings and can be easily fixed.
In this post, you will discover the 10-step process I utilize for SEO optimizing all my blog posts.
To begin with, before delving into the specifics, it is essential to clarify two aspects that often cause confusion among many individuals.
A blog post that is SEO friendly is also user-friendly.
There is a misconception that optimizing a blog post for search engines makes it less user-friendly, but this is incorrect.
The primary goal of SEO is to create content that is comprehensible to both search engines and users.
If you fail to meet both of these conditions, your chances of achieving high rankings are limited and your post is more likely to be ignored by your readers.
If you are able to meet both criteria, your blog posts will rank higher on Google and users will spend more time reading and engaging with your content, which includes adding comments, sharing to social media, or converting.
Furthermore, great content does not always imply that a post is SEO optimized.
Although it may appear contradictory, this statement is actually not contradictory. Allow me to clarify.
When evaluating a blog post, the quality of the content is considered one of the most important factors; however, it is not the sole factor to consider.
A blog post that is well-optimized and has high-quality content is more likely to have a higher ranking in search results. Conversely, a blog post that is well-optimized but lacks good content has fewer chances of achieving top positions in Google rankings.
Simply following the steps to make a blog post SEO-friendly does not guarantee a high ranking.
To push a blog post to the first pages of Google, it requires a combination of good content and good SEO, including Off-Page SEO.
Now that you have gained a clearer comprehension of what constitutes an optimized blog post and what does not, let us explore the methods to guarantee (prior to clicking the publish button) that your blog will possess SEO-friendly qualities.
8 Tips for Writing SEO Friendly Blog Posts
1. Think before you start writing
If you take the time to think about what you will write in your blog post from the beginning, you will save time later in the process.
This is the action that I take:
Every day, I engage in reading multiple articles about SEO and marketing that come from different digital marketing blogs.
I copy the URL and title of interesting titles or topics for my future blogs to my notes when I come across them.
I start at the beginning of each month by creating my publishing schedule. In addition to various sources, I also examine my notes and review all the articles I have saved.
Once I have determined the topics to be covered, I proceed to assign a publishing date for each topic within a Google calendar.
When it comes to writing the post, I conduct a thorough analysis of the topic, including keyword research, in order to address the following questions:
- What specific topics to cover in the blog post?
- What is the goal of the post (to get better rankings for a keyword, to get more subscribers, to promote my SEO Courses, etc.)
- How will the new post benefit my readers?
Answering these questions in advance simplifies the process of advancing to the following steps.
2. Create the structure of the blog post
Next, you should outline the composition of your blog post. By outlining, I am referring to mapping out the various components of the post.
Breaking down a blog post into different sections can simplify the writing process. It is more time-saving and effective to compose 200 words addressing a specific aspect of the post, rather than attempting to write lengthier portions.
3. Craft the title and URL
Afterward, you should make a decision regarding the title and URL for your blog post.
Although some bloggers prefer to generate the title before constructing the blog, I have found it simpler to develop the title after gaining a solid understanding of the content that the post will encompass.
If you believe that it is more efficient for your case, feel free to work on the title first and then organize the structure of the blog.
Writing an effective and captivating title is a crucial step in achieving both search engine optimization goals and ensuring a positive user experience.
Having an optimized title is crucial for SEO since it provides a significant indication to Search Engines regarding the content of the page.
The following characteristics should be present in a good title:
- It has a character length between 55-60 so that it is shown without breaks in the SERPS.
- It includes your target keyword (but not keyword-stuffed)
- It accurately describes the content of the blog post
- It is interesting to make users click your entry when displayed in the search engine results pages.
For instance, consider the title of this post as an example: “My Step by Step Process for Writing SEO Friendly Blog Posts”.
In order to clearly communicate the content of my blog posts to both search engines and users, I incorporated additional phrases like ‘How to’ and ‘My step by step process’ alongside my targeted keyword “SEO friendly blog posts”. This approach ensured that both the search engines and the readers understood what the content would entail.
When dealing with the URL, the instructions are straightforward:
- Use “-“ to separate the words that make up a URL. If this is not the case for your blog and you are on WordPress, you need to change your permalink structure.
- Consider making your URLs shorter by removing unnecessary words – Usually what happens is that the URL is auto-generated by your CMS based on the title. What you can do (before publishing a blog post the first time) is to manually change the permalink (URL) and remove some of the words.
4. SEO blogs need killer titles
When coming up with a title for an SEO blog, it is crucial to have a captivating and descriptive heading. It should effectively convey the post’s content while also generating interest. Incorporate relevant keywords in headings and avoid uninteresting or predictable titles. To prevent important words from being truncated in search results, blog post titles should be within 55-70 characters. Positioning keywords at the beginning of the title will prevent any SEO benefits from being lost.
There are numerous headline formulas available to use, therefore there is no justification for creating dull headlines. Starting with “How to” or a “Top X” list is a good idea, but it is advisable to vary your blog post headlines. Otherwise, your content will resemble that of BuzzFeed.
5. The power of SEO for headings
The importance of using heading tags (H1, H2, etc.) in back-end web design relates to SEO and enhancing the visual appeal of articles. If blog posts consist solely of text, the bounce rate tends to increase significantly. Aim to incorporate target keywords into headings where appropriate, while avoiding a spammy or overt appearance.
Using heading tags in your blog posts is a helpful way for readers to quickly understand the main points. It also helps to organize your blog structure before you begin writing. After selecting a title, choose four or five main points to expand upon in a few paragraphs. This approach can make blog writing feel less intimidating and is a valuable tip for content marketers.
6. Write an SEO-friendly call to action
At the conclusion of each SEO blog post, include pertinent guidance and then strongly encourage the reader to take a specific action. Specify what action you want the reader to take after they have completed reading, whether it is navigating to a particular product page, accessing a free trial of your service, or any other suitable option.
Make sure to include a target keyword and a link to a relevant page on your website in your CTA. It is crucial for every content marketing campaign to prioritize having a powerful call to action. Your customers should find it irresistible.
Suppose you operate an online retail enterprise specializing in musical instruments, and one of your desired keywords is “acoustic guitar”. By offering a complimentary set of guitar strings for any acoustic guitar purchase exceeding £100, we have effectively enticed potential customers to make a purchase while simultaneously incorporating the targeted keyword.
If your post is lengthy, consider including multiple calls to action. However, remember to maintain the same information and refrain from adding or removing any details. Please refer to the example provided below: Of course, if your post is very long, you may want to include more than one call to action. Additionally, it might be beneficial to incorporate one in the middle as well. Kindly refer to the example provided below for further clarification.
“If you’re struggling with SEO content writing, or you think you could use a hand with the rest of your SEO efforts, claim your free website and marketing review here”
7. SEO blogs need internal and external links
Every one of your SEO blog posts should be well-researched, with high-authority sources to back up your claims. Linking to these sources will make your blog appear more credible, as well as bring you an SEO benefit.
To assess if a website is worthy of your backlinks, utilize Moz’s Domain Authority checker. If the score is below 20, it’s important to question the reliability of their information. Google holds high regard for sources like The Guardian, which has a domain authority of 98. Thus, associating your website with such reputable sources can only bring benefits.
SEO content writing involves including internal links in your blog posts to guide visitors to other helpful pages on your website. By redirecting readers to related content or product pages associated with your blog topic, you can enhance their engagement and increase the likelihood of generating sales. Moreover, internal links contribute to improved on-site SEO and enable the navigation of readers towards other significant web pages.
8. Optimize your photos
Even though the human brain does not process images 60,000 times faster than text, the reason why this misleading statistic is persuasive, even for reputable sources like Fast Company, is because we understand the immense impact of images. As the popular saying suggests, a picture is worth a thousand words.
For eCommerce businesses, imagery holds significant importance. Alongside having outstanding visuals, there are a few uncomplicated measures to utilize photos for enhancing your SEO.
To begin with, when uploading your photos, ensure they have suitable titles. It is even more advantageous if you can incorporate your target keywords into the title, as Google highly appreciates this practice as it facilitates their robots in displaying suitable web pages in search results.
In addition, it is important to consistently generate alt text that incorporates your keywords. Alt text is the text that appears when an image fails to load. It is also what visually-impaired individuals will hear when using text-to-speech technology, so it should be pertinent and organic. Alt text not only enhances website accessibility but also attracts attention from Google’s crawlers, making it a crucial aspect of SEO.
To ensure optimal website ranking, it is advisable to reduce the file size of the photos you upload. Google considers loading speed as a factor when determining rankings, and having numerous high-resolution images can impact your rankings negatively. Additionally, it is inconvenient for visitors to endure lengthy loading times, with 40% of consumers leaving a webpage after only three seconds of waiting.
