Do you want to know how to write an SEO-friendly blog post? For a blog post to have any traction, it needs to be interesting and fun for the reader. You want them to share it with their circles, which will raise your rankings. An SEO-friendly blog post with the right content always takes the crown.
Bringing these two aspects together isn’t always easy, but you can learn how in this article. You aim to please both your readers and Google. Find a good balance between the two, watch your content rank higher, and rake in more website visits.
There’s a sort of formula used to achieve this. A cheat sheet if you will. Let’s dive in and examine how to get the most out of your writing.
Important Pointer: Keyword Research
Keywords are the reason for your writing. Okay, your audience is, but you must adapt your content to what your audience looks for online. That’s the first way to ensure someone will read your blog posts.
Keyword research will tell you what topics to focus on and the keywords to include in your writing. Choose wisely what you focus on! It will guide where the meat of your text goes and should be as extensive as possible.
So now you know what to write about and should get to the actual writing. Let’s see. What should it look like?
Here are 9 steps to an SEO-friendly blog post.
9 Tips on How to Write an SEO-Friendly Blog Post
Here you’ll learn how to churn out great content.
1. Think It Through
Stop! Don’t just dive in without direction!
What do you want to say? What angle would you like your post to take? Maybe there’s a question you would like to answer? Is there something specific you would like your readers to have achieved after reading your post?
Some writers want their audience to complete a certain action at the end, so the writing must be compelling and convincing.
Use your search terms or keywords to find the best possible direction for this. You can look at it as letting your readers guide you.
2. Structure Your Post
Order is essential in a blog post. A basic structure comprises:
- the introduction, where you introduce your topic and give a little teaser to your readers
- the body, where the main story goes
- The conclusion, where you draw a conclusion or give a short post recap.
Figure out what you want to say in every part and write it down briefly. It’ll help guide your train of thought along the way. You want your ideas to flow naturally into each other so your audience can easily follow.
3. Break It Down
Have you ever looked at prose that has no breaks? Or the opposite: content that is in single sentences like a kindergarten storybook. It can be annoying and tiring to read.
Paragraphs help to organize content neatly. Use a different paragraph for every idea, and always summarize your point. Lengthy paragraphs are quite the eyesore and could make your reader skim over your work instead of properly reading it.
Headings add to the structure of an article and will guide readers on what to expect next. Subheadings also add to your SEO ranking. Throw in a keyword in one or two, and it gets even better.
4. Utilize Related Keywords
Utilizing semantic keywords is the best tip on how to write an SEO-friendly blog post. Keywords are great, but using them too many times in a single post makes your work look unnatural. It’s known as keyword stuffing and could make your rankings tank.
Instead, use synonyms and alternative related words. Google will analyze your content for these, thus understanding your subject matter better. It’s getting smarter and wants readers to enjoy their reading.
5. Use Transitional Words and Phrases
These show a relationship between different sentences and paragraphs. Phrases like ‘read on’ tell them there’s more to expect. ‘In short’ or ‘in a nutshell’ tells the reader a conclusion is coming.
Transitional words will help your audience scan through your content since they add structure.
6. Add Links To Existing Content
Have you written on the subject on your website before? Let people know by linking to those other posts.
You want your audience to focus on you and your work. It makes you look like an authority on the subject and improves rankings. Link to other authority sites, but be sure not to link to your competition.
7. Mind the Length
Google prefers you do lengthy articles, but what do your readers think? Depending on your subject of choice, writing skills, and audience, try to make your posts at least 300 words.
Whether long or short, remember to ensure it’s an SEO-friendly blog post.
8. Utilize SEO Tools
SEO analysis can be tricky but is necessary for this domain. You want your content to have a high chance of ranking well for your chosen keywords.
This is where SEO tools and plugins come in. What difference will they make?
- SEO tools suggest related key phrases.
- These tools tell you how many times you should add your keywords and where to add them.
- They check your text for readability.
- You can check for both internal and external links in your content.
- They tell you whether you’ve used the keyword on another page so that you don’t compete with yourself for ranking.
All these aspects improve the quality of content you’re putting out. Isn’t that what you’re ultimately aiming for?
9. Put Fresh Eyes on It
Sometimes we write and some mistakes make it past. If you have someone who can look at your work before publishing it, that’s a great asset. They may notice something you missed and improve the whole article. Getting an expert on the subject matter is a plus since they can help refine the content.
Communicating your message to your audience is a necessity in this business. Otherwise, why would you write? Look for opinions on readability and whether the message hits home.
Conclusion
Now you have what you need to create amazing articles for your website. Go ahead and publish as often as possible so that Google knows your website is alive and should rank you higher. Take it a notch higher and use it for business!
