Every business wishes to reach Page 1 in search engine results so that they can have increased website traffic, which drops off by a very high percentage if your website ranks on Page 2. For climbing the ladder of top ranks, apart from engaging and well- written content, you need to focus on writing SEO-friendly and keyword-focused content that can attract right kind of traffic. Let’s find out some essential tips for creating SEO-friendly blog posts.
Pick Appropriate and Highly-Effective Keywords
There are thousands of search queries made in a second that may be related to your business. Creative your identity through this clutter is difficult, but not impossible. You need to target specific keywords or phrases (long tail keywords) that your customers use during the search. If you think there are certainly other ways through which they can find your website as well as content, list them all so that nothing is left behind while strategizing methods to market your business. But how to find them? You can identify these hot keywords through social platforms. Check the social platforms that are very common among your target audiences and find out what’s trending. Closely monitor trending phrases, topics, and terms related to your business.
You can also get an idea about keywords with Google Trends. Apart from this, your competitors can also be your inspiration. You can find out what keywords are they using for their business promotion. There are certain tools that can help you find out what keywords they are ranking for. If you find them relevant to your business products or services, consider them.
Searchers mostly prefer long tail key phrases and questions when they are looking for something. These long tail keywords can open the doors of successful SEO for your business as they can help you increase your organic traffic. Once you have decided and created a list of final keywords that you think are relevant and valuable, plug them into a keyword research tool. Some such tools are Moz Keyword Explorer, Keyword Planner, Keyword Tool, etc. These tools will give you monthly volume for any given keyword.
Integrate These Keywords Naturally In the Content
Once you are done with keyword research, now it’s time to create content. Start writing blog post focusing on a single keyword from your search list. Don’t include them randomly in any content. It is important that the topic you are choosing should be engaging and enticing. It is necessary that you should discuss blog topics with your team and decide the most suitable one. Don’t forget to keep motivations, interests, and challenges in mind throughout the process of brainstorming. Your topic must deal with the needs and desires of your potential customers. When you write content, make sure your keyword should appear in these important places:
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Title
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Headings and subheadings
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URL (if possible)
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Image alt text (search engines can’t read images)
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Meta description
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Throughout the content
While using keywords in the content, always keep it in mind that you are writing for your customers, not for search engines. So, it is necessary that your content should look natural even after integrating keywords. Use them wisely and nicely so that it doesn’t look as if keywords have been forcefully infused, which may forfeit a reader’s experience, insult their intellect and compromise the blog’s quality. Forcefully stuffing can be penalized by search engines and your website can also be banned in search engine result pages. If you readers hit back button after a few minutes they visit your website, it will not be good for your business from SEO point of view.
Link to Other Articles or Blogs
When you are done with your blog writing, it’s time to link to influencers. Don’t be afraid to link to other articles or blogs. Linking your content to other reputable websites provides readers with additional information and also shows Google that you have performed a great research while writing this content. Also, there is a possibility that the linking website my return the favor or link to your blog site.
There are certain things that strengthen your blog posts like graphics, charts, statistics, etc. all these elements make your content compelling and convincing that will get your readers thinking.
Longer, In-Depth Posts
It is a proven fact that search engines prefer longer, in-depth blog posts. Such longer posts have a greater chance of appearing in the top search engine results. Moreover, longer posts rank easily for targeted keywords as compared to short blog posts. Longer the blog is, more the keywords you can include in your text, which will help crawlers to understand what your blog is all about.
Always write a scannable and readable content that can captivate the online reader. Make sure your sentences are short and paragraphs are not more than 3-4 sentences long. Use subheadings and bulleted lists as it will not make your content appear boring.
Internal Linking
Linking your website pages or other blog posts on your website is important to consider as it will help search engine crawlers to crawl your website and create an appropriate sitemap. These links can help your audiences to know you as a credible and trustworthy information source by letting them discover your content. Links to other’s content can reduce bounce rate and increase your potential.
Conclusion
If you really wish to see your blogs ranking at the top of search engine result pages or page 1, you should focus on creating blogs that make both the users and search engines happy. By optimizing your blogs, you can bring in higher rankings in SERPs, get more genuine web traffic and boost conversion rates.