Optimize Your Blog Content for Search Engines

You are aware of how important it is to write good content. But do you know that in order to rank better — it takes more than just writing good content and dotting your i's and crossing your t's? 

In this article, we'll talk about how to optimize your blog posts for SEO. We know the secrets and now we're sharing them with you. See you on the first page of the SERPs. 

Plan Content With Keyword Search in Mind 

When it comes to publishing SEO-focused content, do not rely on your guesses. SEO isn't a guessing game - you can't just write about things you think your audience will be interested in. While it's true that writing about your passion helps you succeed, make sure that you find out what like-minded people search for. 

For example: If you are a travel enthusiast writing about travel-related content, use a Keyword Research Tool to find out what travel enthusiasts are interested in. Are they interested in traveling on a budget or visiting just luxurious places? Plan your content on what your audience really want.

Content marketers and SEO experts rely heavily on Keyword Research Tool to help them publish SEO-focused content, posts that actually get clicked on, posts that people are interested in. It will help you discover what people search for on Google. 

Use the keywords you find in planning your monthly content strategy. Note: it's essential that you have adequate content inventory (about a month or two months in advance). 

SEMRush Keyword Research is a very helpful tool. You can check for the competition analysis, keyword position tracking, and loads of other helpful features. 

Stop searching for the one and search for those helpful keywords instead. Trust us - we know what we're talking about. You're welcome. 

Find Your Focus Keyword

Do you already have a list of keywords that your audience are searching for in Google? Pick one keyword with the highest search volume and low competition. This keyword will be your focus keyword — and this could either be one keyword or keyword phrases. 

While you can manually check how many times you use a focus keyword in a blog post, it's best to use a helpful plugin for assistance. ALL in One SEO plugin from WordPress can help. This tool helps you how effectively you are using the focus keyword in your blog post. 

The next step is to look for LSI keywords or Latent Semantic Indexing. These are related keywords your target audience are searching for. Think of this as a backup for your focus keyword. You rank better in search engine results when you use a focus keyword as well as related keywords. 

How to find these keywords? Simply key in the focus keyword in the Google search bar and scroll down to the bottom. Items listed as "related searches" are your LSI keywords. As much as possible, incorporate them into your content. You do not need to use them all - or if you can manage to naturally use them in your content then, by all means, do that. 

One thing to keep in mind though: Never stuff these LSI keywords in the content. Keyword stuffing is when you unnaturally load keywords in your meta tags or content. Avoid this like the plague if you don't want to see all your efforts down the drain. Keyword stuffing can kill your SEO and it might be extremely difficult to redeem yourself. 

The Article's Title as the Real Head Turner

Don't let your target audience look past you on search engine results! An effective blog post title is a surefire way into convincing a user to click on your article. A well-crafted title can entice a reader to read your article and visit your website. Most importantly, it highly matters in SEO. 

A good title will make your article relevant in search queries. What does this mean? It will better improve your rankings. It's like hitting two birds with one stone: it improves SEO rankings and increases web traffic. 

Write a good title by using catchy and click-worthy words. As much as possible, incorporate the focus keyword in the title but make sure it sounds natural. Power words that trigger an emotional reaction also works. 

Link Your Old Posts

There are a lot of reasons why you need to publish articles consistently. It increases web traffic, helps you gain credibility as an expert in the field, attracts more audience, helps with SEO rankings. Another reason is you can use these articles for internally linking them in new posts. 

With internal linking, you can send readers to also check other relevant articles. This can significantly improve your SEO ranking. Also, it's a great way to develop the contextual relationship between old posts and newer posts. 

Don't Forget the Images or Videos

High-quality images and videos never fail to attract users. Search engines also use great images and videos as a ranking factor for SEO. They are as engaging as the content that you publish on your website. In fact, they may be more engaging especially when you know how to use good captions. 

Make it a habit to add images between paragraphs. However, also do make sure that you do not add large image files as that will affect website speed. The latter is also a ranking factor in SEO. 

The key is to use it in moderation. Also, be careful with the copyrights. If you do not own the photo, make sure they are non-copyrighted. Don't worry, there are free images that you can use online. Unsplash is one of them. 

Work on your Readability

Today, most users only read what catches their attention. If you write long paragraphs without bullets or headings, chances are your readers will not read your article. 

Readability is important in SEO and in keeping readers on your website. User shorter sentences and lots of paragraphs. If possible, add a table of content to your post. Use headings and bulleted lists. Make your article scannable as much as possible. 

Most importantly, write a topic in great detail. Talk about it like it's the only thing that matters to you. This can incredibly help you position yourself as an expert in your niche. It can also immensely help you rank better in search engine results. 

What's the Next Step

After publishing your posts, always promote them on all your social media channels and then track your search rankings. 

You see, it's not difficult to rank in search engines so long as you do them right. Take these tips to heart and you will be rewarded with good rankings. 

Talk to us if you need help!