A business can attract organic traffic to its website through blog posts and increase brand visibility, thus leading to a higher conversion rate.
However, this is possible only if the blog posts published on the website are SEO-optimized to rank well on search engines like Google.
SEO blog writing ensures that the written content adheres to SEO practices apart from being of high quality. The process involves strategic planning and the integration of keywords.
Moreover, a solid understanding of search engines’ algorithms is also required for writing SEO blog posts.
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SEO Blog Writing Tips
If you are willing to fine-tune your SEO writing skills, the 11 tips mentioned below in this article will help you master the art of crafting blog posts that possess the potential to rank on top.
1. Start With Keyword Research
The terms or phrases people type in search engines when searching for information are called keywords. So an ideal process of SEO blog writing begins with keyword research.
Once you find the proper keywords your target audience is using, you can tailor your content accordingly.
Here are some tips for finding the right keywords:
- Put into use keyword research tools like Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs, etc to find the most used search queries in your niche.
- Make a list including long-tail (specific) and short-tail (broad) keywords to target. Long-tail keywords have less competition, and the conversion rate is higher with them.
- Also, make sure to analyze the search intent behind your keywords. (Are the searchers looking for a product, a service, or just information?)
Pro Tip: SEO blog writing best practices involve focusing on keywords with low competition (easy to rank) and high search volumes. However, the chosen keywords must be relevant to the topic.
2. Craft Engaging and Keyword-Rich Titles
The title of your blog post plays a major role in determining whether users will click through your post link in search results. Moreover, it also helps search engines figure out what your post is all about.
That means your post title is one of the most crucial ranking factors in search engine optimization.
Here are some tips for writing SEO-friendly meta titles:
- Include your main keyword at the beginning of the title. If not possible in the very beginning, include the keyword as close to the beginning as possible (within the first 60 characters). That’s because, beyond the limit of 60 characters, no text of your title will be displayed in search results.
- The post title should be clear and concise. Try to keep it within 50-70 character limits.
- Make the title engaging by using emotional triggers, numbers, questions, etc. Here is an example: The title “10 Proven Ways to Boost Your SEO Ranking” is more compelling than “SEO Tips.”
Pro Tip: Never use unnecessary filler words in the title and keep it sharp. Also, use title-case capitalization.
3. Write Meta Descriptions That Encourage Clicks
The brief snippet that is displayed under a blog post’s title in search results is referred to as the meta description of the post. These snippets significantly impact CTR (click-through rates), eventually affecting SEO rankings.
Here are some tips for writing compelling meta descriptions:
- The meta description of your post should summarize the post’s content. Include your main keyword (primary keyword) in the description without disturbing the natural flow.
- You should keep the length of the meta description within the character limit of 155-160 characters. Characters beyond this limit will not be displayed in the search results.
- Create a value proposition. Take the example of the meta description for the post you are reading right now: Learn how to write SEO-friendly blog posts with these 11 expert tips to boost your rankings and traffic.
Pro Tip: Encourage readers to click through to your blog post by using action-oriented language like “explore”, ”discover”, ”learn”, etc.
4. Focus on Content Quality
Popular search engines like Google always prioritize high-quality content or content that provides value to the user. So your content needs to provide in-depth knowledge and a solution to the user’s query.
Here are some tips for creating valuable content:
- Make sure to include clear headings and subheadings in the content to structure it logically. A proper structure will increase readability.
- Before you start writing, conduct thorough research on the topic so that you can include relevant examples, statistics, and case studies in the content to support your claims.
- Use a conversational tone and anecdotes in your content to make it engaging.
- Also, include visual elements like images, infographics, videos, etc in the blog post.
Pro Tip: A longer piece of content usually performs better than a shorter one. So it’s better to write and publish blog posts of at least 1500 words each for better SEO ranking. But always prefer quality over quantity.
5. Optimize Headings and Subheadings
As highlighted even above, using headings and subheadings in the content improves readability and works as crucial SEO signals to search engines. It helps Google understand your content’s structure and hierarchy.
Hence, break up your blog post by the use of header tags like H1, H2, H3, etc.
Here are some tips for using headings for SEO:
- Include your primary keyword in the title (H1 tag) of the blog post.
- In your subheading (H2, H3, etc), you should incorporate secondary keywords but naturally.
- Make the headers of your blog post descriptive, but never try to forcefully stuff keywords.
Pro Tip: You can improve the user experience by structuring your blog post well with proper headings and subheadings. It will not only reduce the bounce rate but also keep visitors longer on the post.
6. Use Internal and External Links
Internal links in a blog post or page of a website are the links to other pages on the same website. On the other hand, external links direct visitors to external websites if they click on them.
Both kinds of links in a blog post add to the post’s credibility and enhance the site’s authority.
Here are some tips for using internal and external links:
- For internal links, link to relevant pages or posts on your website to guide your readers to more relevant information.
- Also, make sure to use keyword-rich anchor text (clickable text) for internal links in a blog post. The keywords used in the anchor text should be relevant to the linked page.
- For external links, link to authoritative sources such as industry websites, research papers, government publications, etc to support your claims.
- Before linking out to any external site, make sure the site is trustworthy and relevant to the context.
Pro Tip: Check your internal and external links regularly to ensure that they still exist, and are relevant. Broken links should be removed as soon as possible because they negatively affect the site’s SEO performance.
7. Use Images and Alt Text for Optimization
Visual elements like images in a blog post help keep readers engaged. They also boost the SEO of the content, if well-optimized.
Here are some tips for optimizing images for SEO:
- Descriptively name image files with relevant keywords in names. For example, the name “SEO-blog-writing-tips.jpg” should be preferred over “image123.jpg”.
- You should also compress your images to reduce their file sizes as lower size leads to higher loading speed. The higher the loading speed, the better it will be for SEO performance.
- Another important step while optimizing images for a blog post is to add alt text to the images. It not only helps Google understand the content of your images but also makes it more accessible for visually impaired users. So make sure to describe your images properly through alt text, and also include your keyword if found relevant.
Pro Tip: Wherever possible, use infographics or custom visuals. Such visual elements engage and perform better than general stock photos.
8. Improve the Readability of The Blog Post
If your content is difficult to understand, it’s likely to drive away your readers. So it’s crucial to improve the readability of your blog post so that it can engage readers for longer.
Moreover, search engines also prefer content with higher readability over those with lower readability.
Here are some tips for improving readability:
- Incorporate short sentences and short paragraphs in your blog post. That’s because longer ones overwhelm readers.
- Break up the content with the use of bullet points and numbered lists. Also, highlight key parts.
- As far as possible, explain concepts in simple and easy-to-understand language instead of using industry jargon.
Pro Tip: Tools like Yoast SEO and the Hemingway app come in handy for the assessment of the readability level of the content. Leverage these tools.
9. Pay Attention to Mobile Optimization
With Google using mobile-first indexing, mobile optimization becomes crucial. Google prefers using the mobile version of a website for ranking purposes. That’s because more than 50% of the global traffic comes from mobile devices.
Here are some tips for optimizing content for mobile:
- Install a responsive design on your website. Such designs adjust to fit well with the screens of all types of devices.
- Use an appropriate font size, clear headings, and adequate spacing to make content easy to read on every device.
- Also, conduct optimization for loading speed to ensure your content loads fast on mobile devices.
Pro Tip: You should put to use an online mobile-friendly test tool for checking the mobile-friendliness of your blog post.
10. Optimize for Featured Snippets
Short text excerpts that Google displays at the top of its search results are referred to as featured snippets.
As a featured snippet is the top Google result in response to a user’s query and is displayed even before the result that ranks at the number one position for the query, it’s a spot that can offer prime visibility to your content.
So optimize your post for featured snippets to boost traffic significantly.
Here are some tips for optimizing content for featured snippets:
- In your blog post, try to include as many specific questions (related to your topic) and their straightforward answers as possible. Because Google tends to provide straightforward answers to users’ queries in its featured snippet.
- Google also prefers showcasing lists in its featured snippets, which makes it helpful to include bulleted or numbered lists in the blog post if you intend your post to be featured.
Pro Tip: Consider including question-style subheadings in your blog post, such as those that start with “How to” or “What is,” etc.
11. Regularly Update Your Blog Posts
Updating old blog posts can lead to quicker impacts on SEO rankings as compared to writing and publishing a brand-new post. And, if it’s about the posts that are already performing well, this technique can work even more impactfully.
Here are some tips for keeping your blog posts fresh:
- Make it a rule to regularly update all existing blog posts with new information, trends, and statistics.
- Monitor the performance of every post with the aid of tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, etc. Whenever you notice that the rankings of an old post have dropped, refresh it with relevant updates and re-optimize it for SEO.
- You should reshare on social media every blog post you update. Also, promote them again through newsletters.
Pro Tip: Search engines also keep updating their algorithms from time to time, so you should keep an eye on their algorithmic update releases to keep up with their new standards. It will guide you in updating your content strategy whenever needed.
Conclusion
SEO is a long-term game that also includes SEO blog writing best practices. Writing SEO blog posts calls for a combination of technical expertise and creativity.
From keyword research to crafting meta descriptions and optimizing for mobile devices, every element of the SEO writing best practices plays a crucial role in determining how your blog posts will perform in search engines.
The 11 tips provided above will lay a solid foundation to drive you ahead in your endeavor to learn SEO writing.
Incorporate these tips in your content strategy and you will end up with blog posts that can not only rank well but also engage your readers.
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