SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of improving the ranking of a website on search engines. The higher the ranking, the more likely people are to find your website. SEO can be a complex and ever-changing field, but there are some basic principles that remain constant. In this article, we will discuss how to write SEO-friendly blog posts that rank well with Google and also appeal to humans (you know, who you actually want to visit your site!)
Without further ado, let's look into how to write a high engaging seo-friendly blog post!
Does writing blog posts improve my SEO?
When it comes to improving your search rankings, writing SEO-friendly blog posts is one of the most important things you can do on your website. Not only will well-written blog posts help you rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), they also provide great content for your website visitors.
With that said, not all blog posts are created equal. Creating content for content's sake doesn't mean that you're going to rank on page #1's search results tomorrow. You have to be intentional and strategic about writing your posts for search engine crawlers to give them the best chance of ranking in search.
The good news though? Many of the same principles that go into creating good blog posts for a Google search period also mean that you're making your content SEO-friendly. Let's dive into the best ways to ensure that your blog post is optimized for search.
Start by defining your target audience
When you're writing a blog post, it's important to know who your target audience is. Defining your target audience helps you to focus your content and make it more relevant to the people you want to reach.
It also makes it easier to determine which keywords to target. When you know the types of words and phrases that your target audience is searching for, you can use them throughout your post to help improve your SEO.
Examples of choosing keywords based on your target audience
For example, if you're writing blog posts for busy entrepreneurs, you might include: "small business tips", "entrepreneur advice", and "time management tips". These are all phrases that entrepreneurs are likely to be searching for, so including them in your post will help to improve your SEO.
And yes, I'm speaking from my own experience and research here 😉
Determine the purpose of your blog post
Before you can write a blog post that ranks in search engines, you first need to determine its purpose. What is the goal of your post? What do you want readers to take away from it?
Once you know the answer to these questions, it becomes much easier to target the right keywords and optimize your content for SEO. And, as an added bonus, writing with a specific goal in mind will help make your blog posts more engaging for your audience.
How do you go about determining the purpose of your post? Here are a few tips:
- Think about your target audience and what they're looking for. What are their pain points, and what quick wins (bonus points if they involve your product or service!) could you give them?
- Determine what type of information or advice your readers need. Do they need information? Links to resources? A video walkthrough showing them how to do something?
- Think about what you want your readers to do as a result of reading your post. Do you want them to buy a product or service? Sign up for your email list? Leave a comment or question?
Once you have a good idea of the purpose of your blog post, it becomes much easier to target the right keywords and create content that is both SEO-friendly and engaging for your audience.
Perform keyword research
One of the most important aspects of writing an SEO-friendly blog post is using the right keywords. Keyword research is one of the most important aspects of SEO, and it's also one of the most overlooked. Many aspiring bloggers put a lot of effort into writing great content, but they don't do keyword research ahead of time and as a result, their posts don't rank.
How to choose the right keywords for your blog posts
When choosing keywords for your blog post, make sure to target keywords that your audience is searching for. There are many tools that you can use to help you with this, and I've included some of the best keyword planning tools below.
Another thing to keep in mind when choosing keywords is that you don't want to target too many. When you target too many, your post becomes difficult to rank for any of them. Instead, try to focus on 3-5 primary keywords that are most relevant to your post.
Best tools to perform keyword research for your blog post
You can use a variety of tools to help you find the right keywords, including Surfer SEO, Google Adwords Keyword Planner, and Semrush.
Surfer SEO
Surfer SEO is a powerful tool that helps you to create SEO optimized blog posts and articles. With their keyword research tool and content planner, they give you everything you need to create an SEO-friendly blog post.
Google Adwords Keyword Planner
Google Adwords Keyword Planner is a free tool offered by Google that helps you find keywords related to your business and measure the competition for those keywords. You can also use this tool to get traffic estimates and measure the average cost-per-click (CPC) for those keywords.
Semrush
Semrush is a powerful SEO tool that helps you to research your competition, find keywords, and track your SEO progress. With Semrush, you can see what keywords your competition is targeting, as well as see how their website is performing in search engines.
Use your targeted keywords throughout your content
Once you've chosen your target keywords, it's important to use them throughout your content. This helps to tell Google what your post is about, and can help improve your SEO.
There are a few ways to use keywords throughout your post:
- In the title
- In the introduction
- In the body of the post
- In the conclusion
- In the meta description
- In the header tags (h1, h2, etc.)
- In the image alt text (more on that below!)
Including keywords throughout your content not only helps improve your SEO but also helps to make your post more readable and engaging for your audience.
Include your keywords in your post headings and subheadings
In addition to using keywords, you should also consider including them in your post's headings and subheadings. This will help Google to understand the structure of your post and will make it easier for readers to scan your content.
When formatting headings and subheadings, use heading tags (h1, h2, h3, etc). This tells Google that the text between the tags is important and should be given extra weight.
Here's an example of how you might format your headings and subheadings:
- H1: How to Write SEO-Friendly Blog Posts
- H2: The Importance of Keyword Research
- H2: How to Use Keywords Throughout Your Content
- H2: Include Your Keywords in Headings and Subheadings
Hey, wait a second... that headings structure sure sounds familiar 🤔
Show your authenticity to make your blog posts SEO-friendly
While optimizing your content for search engines is important, you should also write for humans, not robots! At the end of the day, all the search traffic in the world won't mean much if your content is hollow and doesn't provide value to the person reading it.
One of the best ways to demonstrate authenticity in your content is by being transparent and open with your audience. Share your story, be candid about your experiences, and let your personality shine through.
Another way to demonstrate authenticity is by offering genuine advice and insights. Don't just regurgitate what you've read on other blogs — provide your own unique perspective and share your own experiences.
When you're authentic and honest with your readers, they'll appreciate it and be more likely to come back for more. They're also more likely to link to your content (which helps boost your page authority) by sharing it on social media or linking to your post in their own blogs.
Add internal and external links to your blog post
Internal and external linking is the process of linking to other pages on your website (internal linking) and other websites (external linking). This is an often-missed opportunity to improve your search engine rankings and position in search results!
Internal links
Internal links help to improve your SEO by giving Google a better understanding of your website's structure, and it also helps to keep people on your website longer.
When you add internal links to another page on your website, make sure to use descriptive anchor text (more on that below). This is the text that appears as the hyperlink in your content.
External links
External linking helps SEO by providing links to high-quality websites, which can help to improve your website's SEO ranking.
Including both internal and external links in your content is a great way to improve your SEO and provide value to your audience.
Add links to anchor text that targets your keywords and phrases
When adding internal and external links to your post, it's important that the link itself is placed on relevant anchor text.
Anchor text is the text you use to hyperlink to other pages on your website or external websites. When you include related keywords in your anchor text, it can help to improve your search engine optimization.
For example, if I want to rank for having an SEO expert agency, I would make sure to include the link to my company's service page on the keyword "SEO expert agency."
Not only does including related keywords in your internal links and external links ensure that you have a well-optimized blog post, but it also provides valuable information to your readers.
Blog SEO tips for choosing the right anchor text for your links
- When linking to other pages on your website, make sure to use the anchor text that's most relevant to the destination page.
- When linking to external websites, make sure to use a variety of anchor text phrases that include your target keywords.
Embed social media posts directly into your blog post
One SEO trend that you should be aware of is embedding social media posts directly in your blog post. What does this mean? It means that instead of linking to an external source (like Twitter or Facebook), you copy and paste the content from these platforms into your content itself.
Embedding social media posts directly in your post gives you an opportunity to plug your own social media channels and gives readers the chance to follow you on social media.
Include images and videos in your blog post
Images and videos are a great way to break up the text in your content and add visual interest. They're also a great way to provide additional information and insights about your topic.
Add alt text to your images
Adding alt text to your images is a great way to make SEO-friendly blog posts. Alt text is the text that's displayed when an image can't be loaded, and it's also a great way to add additional information about your image.
When you add alt text to your images, it also increases the accessibility of your content, because visitors who are using a screen-reader or may otherwise be visually impaired will be able to read a description of the images in your blog post.
When adding alt text to your images, make sure to include your target keywords and phrases. This will help improve your SEO ranking and help people find your content in search engines.
Optimize your meta titles and meta descriptions for search engines
When you optimize your meta titles and meta descriptions, you make sure that they include your target keywords and phrases and are enticing to people who discover them in search, which can help improve your SEO ranking.
What are meta titles and meta descriptions?
The Meta title and meta description of your blog post are the titles and descriptions that appear in Google. They're also a great way to entice people to click on your link because they provide additional information about the content of your blog post.
How to optimize your meta titles and meta descriptions for SEO:
- Include your target keywords and phrases in your titles and descriptions.
- Make sure that your titles and descriptions are catchy and intriguing.
- Make sure that your titles and descriptions are accurate and reflect the content of your blog post.
Avoid keyword stuffing your title and meta description
Don't you dare to ruin your content with keyword stuffing! Keyword stuffing is the act of filling your meta title and meta description with so many keywords that it becomes difficult to read. Not only does this not look appealing to someone who discovers you in a Google Search, but it can also get your website penalized and you're less likely to rank for any individual target keyword.
Instead, focus on including a couple of your target keywords in each title and description. This will help improve your blog SEO and improve the odds that your post will rank in search engine results pages.
Choose the Right URL for Your SEO-Friendly Blog Post
There are several things you should consider when it comes to choosing a URL for search engine optimization, but in particular consider URL length, target keyword placement, and URL structure.
URL length
When it comes to length, you want to make sure that your URL is as short as possible without sacrificing important information. Shorter URLs are easier to remember and type in, which can help improve your SEO ranking.
If your URL is too long or complicated, you may have a more difficult time ranking for your target keyword.
Target keyword placement
When it comes to keyword placement, you want to include your target keyword at the beginning of your URL. This will help Google understand what the content of your content is about and improve your ranking for that target keyword.
URL Structure
The structure of your URL is also important for SEO purposes. You want to make sure that the structure of your URL is easy for Google to crawl and understand.
This will help Google understand how your content fits into your site structure.
A good example of a well-structured and SEO-friendly URL is: https://www.collinbelt.com/blog/how-to-write-seo-friendly-blog-posts since it is short, easy to parse, and includes the target keywords for the post.
Choose the right blog post title and include your keywords
When it comes to SEO, one of the most important things you can do is write a good blog post title. The title of your blog post is one of the first things that people see when they search for information online, and it's also one of the first things that Google looks at when ranking your blog content.
Here are a few SEO tips for choosing a good blog post title:
- Make sure your title is relevant to the topic of your blog post
- Make sure your title is catchy and interesting
- Make sure your title includes your target keywords and phrases
- Make sure your title is less than 70 characters long
- Make sure your title accurately reflects the content of your blog post
Proofread your blog post for spelling and grammar mistakes
Before you hit publish, always proofread your blog post for spelling and grammar mistakes. Proofreading is an essential step in the writing process, and it's especially important when it comes to SEO. Poor spelling and grammar can ruin the credibility of your post, and it can also hurt your SEO ranking.
That's why it's important to proofread your blog content for spelling and grammar mistakes before you hit publish. Make sure to read your post carefully, and if you notice any errors, take the time to fix them.
Proofreading is an important step in the writing process, and it's one of the best ways to ensure that your blog post looks polished and professional. So make sure to take the time to proofread your work before you share it with the world!
Share your blog posts on social media
When you publish a new blog post, be sure to share it on your social media channels. This helps to get the word out about your blog content and attracts more readers.
It's also a great way to connect with your audience and build relationships. When you share your blog content on social media, be sure to use relevant hashtags and mention people who you think would be interested in reading it.
By sharing your blog articles on social media, you'll help to attract more readers and boost your SEO ranking.
Frequently asked questions about writing SEO-friendly blog posts
How do I optimize my existing blog posts?
Follow the steps outlined in this guide and apply them to the articles you already have! A good SEO optimization pass is a great way to get more juice out of your other blog posts.
Why isn't my blog post generating search traffic?
SEO takes time and patience. It can take months to see the results of all the work you put into SEO, so be patient and keep at it. The more effort you put in, the more results you'll see.
How do I write SEO-friendly content?
By consistently writing articles that are helpful, engaging, and informative for your audience and by following SEO best practices, you are creating SEO-friendly content.
Does writing blogs help SEO?
By consistently publishing SEO-friendly content, the likelihood of internet users landing on your site increases. That's why it's important to write blog posts that are helpful, informative, and engaging for your audience. If you focus on creating quality content, you won't need to use SEO tricks to rank in Google's search engines.
What is SEO blog writing?
SEO blog writing is the process of creating engaging blog content with the additional intention of ranking in search engines and increasing organic traffic to your website.
What website platform is best for SEO blog writing?
Any website platform with blog functionality can be used for SEO blog writing, but Webflow and Squarespace are two of my favorites. Both platforms are SEO-friendly right out of the box. Plus, both are easy to use and there are tons of educational resources online to help you get started.
How do I add SEO Keywords in Blogger?
Adding SEO keywords to your blogger posts is a great way to improve your blog's visibility and search engine ranking, and the same method for how to add SEO keywords in blogger applies for all blogging platforms.
There are a few different ways to do this, but the most effective method is to use the keywords in the title and in the tags for each post. You can also use keywords in the body of your post, but be sure to use them sparingly and only when they actually appear in the content. Overusing keywords will actually hurt your ranking, so it's important to find a balance. In general, two or three keywords per post should be sufficient. By taking these simple steps, you can ensure that your blog is optimized for search engines and that your posts are more likely to be found by readers who are searching for answers that you can provide.
Final thoughts on how to write an SEO-friendly blog post
When it comes to SEO, there are a lot of things to consider. But if you follow the tips outlined in this guide, you'll be well on your way to writing SEO-friendly blog posts that rank in Google's search engines and attract more traffic to your website.
With that said, it's important to remember that SEO is an ever-evolving field and what works today may not work tomorrow. So be sure to stay up-to-date on the latest SEO trends and practices, and continue experimenting with different techniques until you find what works best for you.
Remember, the most important thing is to always produce high-quality blog content that is relevant to your audience. SEO is just one way to help you get more traffic to your blog, so make sure to place your primary focus on creating valuable content that people will love reading.
