Steps to Creating SEO-Friendly Content for Your Blog
Time to read: 4 mins 16 sec
What makes SEO-friendly content? By now, you’ve probably heard that it’s all about keywords and keyword density, tags and backlinks, meta descriptions and page rank… which is true, but there’s more to making your posts rank in Google than simply stuffing them with keywords and links to your other pages. Whether you own an e-commerce business or run a non-profit organization, the following steps will help you create posts that will bring more traffic to your site and convert visitors into customers.
What is SEO and how does it help your blog?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s the process of creating content to help your website or blog post rank higher on Google, but what does this really mean? Simply put – SEO is the process of using keywords and writing quality content that website crawlers understand. Applying a little SEO to your posts will give you more visibility online through increased traffic from qualified visitors!
When someone types “healthy hair” into Google, they’re likely looking for products, at-home instructions, and services to help their dry or damaged hair. If you wrote an article about “how to keep hair healthy in the summer”, it’s likely you are wanting people to find your products, services, and expert advice. For anyone to find it, you need to rank above all the other websites with the same products and services. It’s not easy, but that’s what SEO marketing is all about.
What are Keywords and how to research them.
Keywords are search terms that your potential customers would use when looking for a product or service you offer. Keywords are what Google and other search engines use to match searchers with relevant results. It’s essential that you find out which keywords your target market uses, so you can optimize your content around those terms. Here’s how:
Brainstorm
Think about your services and product and think about when you want to show up online to people who are searching for something related to your business. For example, if you are selling beauty products that help reduce acne, a keyword could be something like “adult acne”. Use a pen & paper, or an excel doc and start writing down these keywords. You will need them in the next step.
Keyword Discovery
I typically use two tools for my client’s websites: Ubersuggest & SEMRush
To get started, enter your keyword or phrase into one of these tools. Next, you will see search volume, SEO difficulty, Paid difficulty, and cost per click. For newer businesses, experts suggest looking at keywords that have low competition but a higher search volume.
Now that you have your list of keywords, you want to sprinkle these into your blog post.
How your blog should be structured
One thing to remember is that search engines are just that, engines. They are computers. So you have to tell them how to read your content. This comes with strategically using your headings (h1, h2, h3, etc). Headings tell google what your content is all about. H1 is typically the most important or the “head-honcho”, then h2, then h3 and so on.
Think of it in terms of a book. H1 would be the book title, h2 would be the chapters within the book and h3 would be sections within a chapter.
To break it down, remember:
H1 = Main keywords and subject matter, what the overall post is about
H2 = Sections to break up content, using similar keywords to the H1 tag
H3 = Subcategories to further break up the content, making it easily scannable
PRO TIPS:
Use only ONE h1 per page
Make sure your headings are straight to the point.
Follow up each heading with related information in a paragraph
Do not over-pack your post with your keywords
Make sure your content is interesting and engaging to read
Write for humans first and search engines second. Research suggests that people read web pages differently from how they read other types of text (like books). Users are more likely to skim web pages, and often don’t read a page from top to bottom.
You’ll want to make sure your content is interesting and engaging because, if not, Google will push your content lower in its rankings. If a page gets low traffic, it will also get less exposure on Google. And these are important factors because they help improve your conversion rate.
Promote your blog post on social media and other online platforms
Social media is a great place to promote your website and content. Make sure you don’t just post your link, though—make sure you provide value. If you create a useful piece of content, sharing it on social media will do wonders for your business. Remember, people are more likely to buy from someone they know, like, and trust. Posting valuable content on social media will help build these qualities in potential customers so that when they’re ready to make a purchase, your business is top of mind.
Monitor your blog's analytics to track its success
If you want your posts to rank in Google and convert browsers into customers, you’ll need fresh, high-quality content. Monitoring analytics can help you determine whether people are actually reading and sharing your content. It may be tempting to churn out as much content as possible, but if no one’s reading it, it doesn’t matter how many times you post or how clever your titles are.
One of the many reasons I use Squarespace for my clients is how easy it is to use their analytics and track content engagement. It clearly shows where your traffic is coming from, what content is getting the most views, how long they spend on each page, and more!
Wrapping up
So there you have it, our top tips for creating SEO-friendly content for your blog. Of course, this is just a starting point and we encourage you to do further research on your own to find the keywords that best reflect your business and target audience. Remember, when it comes to SEO, quality always trumps quantity so make sure every post is well written, informative, and engaging.
And lastly, don't forget to promote your content like crazy! Share links to your latest blog post on social media, submit them to online directories and use all of those other creative strategies we talked about earlier. By following these simple steps and putting in a little effort each month, you'll be able to watch your blog traffic skyrocket!
If you want to chat more about your website, SEO, or anything web-related; schedule a free 30-minute consultation with me! I love talking about this stuff!