If you’re an avid blogger and you’re looking for a way to earn more money from your site, you should consider using visual content, images and video to boost your blog traffic.
Fere are few tips that you will need as you incorporate seo to your arsanal.
Think before you write
Before you put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, give yourself some time to think about what to write in your blog post and jot down your thoughts. This will save you time later in the process.
We recommend reading a number of articles related to SEO and Digital Marketing on a daily basis. When you find a title or topic that is interesting, copy the URL and title and save it to your notes.
At the beginning of each month, look through your notes and decide which topics to cover. Set a publishing date for each topic in your content calendar.
When it is time to write the blog post, do a detailed analysis to answer the following questions:
- What specific topics to cover in the blog post?
- What is the goal of the blog post (to get better rankings for a keyword, to get more subscribers, to promote my SEO Courses, etc.)
- How will the new blog post benefit your readers?
Once you have answered these questions, it will make it easier to move on to the next step.
Create the structure for your blog post
Start your blog post by creating a clear structure. Splitting a blog post into various sections can make writing easier.
Every post should have:
- An introduction (to the topic at hand)
- A body (with the main message)
- A conclusion (a summary of the most important ideas)
Write down what you want to say in all three sections, and you will have a summary of your blog post. This will make the process faster and more efficient. Instead of writing larger sections, you can write 200 words to cover a specific part of the blog post.
Decide on the title of your blog post
Crafting a good and interesting title is a very important step for SEO purposes and user-friendliness. Some bloggers prefer to do this step first and then create the blog structure, others prefer to come up with the title once you have a good concept of what the blog post will cover. Follow what is more efficient for you.
Whatever you prefer, a good title should have the following characteristics:
- It should have a character limit between 55-60 so that it is shown without breaks in the SERPS.
- It should contain your target keyword (but without keyword-stuffing).
- It should provide an accurate description of the content that will live within the blog post.
- It should be intriguing enough to make users click when being displayed in the search engine results pages.
To make it clear to both search engines and users of what to expect in the content, you might add additional information. For example, instead of just creating a title with your keyword, you might add ‘How to’ or ‘A step by step process’ to make the title more interesting and clickable.
Use headings, correctly
The headings within your blog post will structure the whole page, so use them, but correctly. They are important not only for readability but also for SEO purposes. They help Google grasp the main topics of the blog post and can help in your ranking.
Subheadings allow people to find their way through your blog post, by clarifying the structure of your blog post. Make sure you use your keywords in some of the subheadings, but not in every single of them, as it will make the text unnatural.
Keep your paragraphs short
Everybody uses paragraphs but not everybody uses them well. Don’t start each new sentence on a new line, and don’t use large paragraphs on a page and hit the publish button. There is a good possibility that the majority of your readers are on a mobile device, therefore it makes it easy for them to read the content.
We recommend using small paragraphs (2-3 sentences) and take advantage of the various formatting options i.e. bold, italic, underline in order to make the text less boring.
Add links, but only when it makes sense
Add internal links whenever you write a new blog post, but only when it makes sense. If you have an already published blog post that you can associate with your new blog post, it is appropriate to use.
Internal linking can be very effective and is an easy to follow SEO technique that has numerous benefits:
- It can help search engines discover new pages on your website.
- It gives search engines a big hint on what a page is about.
- It is a great way to give users an option to click a link and read more about a topic.
- It is one of the techniques you can use to reduce the bounce rate and keep users on your website for an extended amount of time.
- We added links to other blog posts within this blog post. Take a closer look and check them out!
DO NOT be afraid to use keywords in the anchor text. There is no penalty for doing so.
Make use of keywords, without keyword stuffing
You will not get in trouble to have your target keywords (and variations) in your blog posts. In fact, we recommend it. However, we do not recommend keyword stuffing. In other words, do not add keywords in the text for the sake of doing so. Instead, do it only when it is natural to read.
If you are not sure where to add keywords, this should help:
- Add in the title of the post
- Add in the main headings of your post
- Add within the content of the post
- Add in the conclusion of the post
If you are having trouble avoiding keyword stuffing, or you simply need some direction, you should go to the Google keyword tool or SEMRUSH and search for your main keyword. These specific tools will give you a list of keywords that are closely related to your main keyword. Be sure to use those keywords in your blog post.
Optimize the length of your blog post
Make sure your blog post has a minimum of 300 words. Studies have shown that longer blog posts perform better in search, however, it does not mean that shorter blog posts will not rank well. Keep in mind, if your article is too long and not easy to read, it might scare users away.
What is more important is the quality of the content and not the quantity. Only attempt to write a long blog post when you know you are a skilled writer. Promoting an in-depth blog post that covers both sides of a story, with nice images, has references to studies and provides useful information is much more likely to get links compared to a post that is short and not so interesting.
The best way to find out how long to make your blog post is to open Google, search for your target keywords and examine the results. Aim to publish a piece that is better compared to those previously published blog posts. Do not expect to get results immediately, as it takes time to rank in Google.
Optimize your meta description
The description tag is a summary of the blog post that is less than 200 characters. It is important to optimize your meta description length, because Google may choose to show your description in the results. The description should be informative and interesting in order to encourage users to click your link and visit your blog.
Nail your keyword research
The most fundamental element of all SEO strategies starts with learning how to do keyword research—and finding great keyword opportunities to rank for.
If you use too many of them, at best, your content sounds like it was written by R2-D2. At worst, Google thinks you’re keyword stuffing and penalizes your site’s ranking. Not good.
New blogs also have lower domain authority (when you first make a website) and thus don’t carry the same weight as older, more reputable websites. As a result, ranking for more competitive keywords can be challenging, and your efforts in promoting your blog will take more time to pay off.
If you’re a new blogger, the best type of keywords to try and rank for are:
- Low difficulty
- High volume
- High click-through rate
The goal is to find three to five head keywords (one-to-three word phrases) and one to two long-tail keywords (whole phrases people are searching for). Long-tail keywords have lower traffic and competition but are equally valuable.
And how do you find them?
Twinword Ideas is a (currently) free tool you can use. Type in a head keyword phrase you want to rank for. Then, see what the search volume is and how competitive it’ll be to rank for that term. Best of all, these blogging tools will give you additional keyword research ideas.
Because Keywords Everywhere is a browser plugin, it has the advantage of giving you related keywords and sentences people are searching for right from Google’s search engine results page (SERP).
If you’re looking to really level-up your keyword game, Ahrefs and SEMrush will take your SEO game out of this world. These are two ultra-popular SEO analysis tools, and you’ll be in good hands with either one.
The most significant difference between the two is while both are excellent keyword researchers, Ahrefs has the edge if you’re looking to analyze what backlinks your competitors have. This will come in come in handy when finding where your competitors are getting mentioned, so you can do the same!
Focus on user intent (not search engines)
Gone are the days when mentioning your keyword as many times as humanly possible is what got you ranked.
Google’s algorithms have wisened up, and today, it’s all about quality content and addressing user intent—what people are looking to find when they type a word or phrase into a search engine bar.
Thankfully, we don’t need Spock’s mind-melding abilities to discover what people might really be looking for when they search for something. Google has already figured it out.
Type your keyword into the search box and look at the “People also ask” and “Searches related to” sections. Clicking on a website and then pressing your browser’s back button sometimes also reveals a “People also search for” box beneath the clicked site. These are all questions and problems people are asking, and you can address in your post.
While you’re on the SERP, take time to look at how your competitors answered the user’s intent.
Aim to address the reader’s challenges better and make your post an even more useful guide for them.
Consider:
- How long is your competitor’s post? Your blog post should be at least the same length.
- What resources can you add? Think videos, helpful websites, downloadable templates (like my blog post templates).
- What concepts can you explain better or expand on?
- If you were the reader, what would make the post more useful to you?
Writing a 10,000-word rambling blog post just because you think that’s what you should do won’t improve your SEO. But creating a targeted article that is a one-stop guide for the exact answers your target audience needs, definitely will.
Answer reader’s questions right, and you might even get a coveted spot as position #0 on Google’s featured snippet section.
Here are two of my featured snippets to give you an idea of how they appear and what Google likes to see.
First up, is my guide to starting a freelance business:
And next, we’ve got my ultimate list of side business ideas:
You’ll notice that while featured snippets answer the user’s question right away, more often than not, it’s too small to provide a complete answer directly within the box.
So, people click on your link to get the full story, and your article can get a major boost from this placement—making it a major blog SEO win.
Take your time writing blog SEO-friendly headlines
You can write the best blog post ever to grace the Internet, but if you can’t get your audience to click on your blog headline and read the article, then it doesn’t exist.
You also need people to click on your post because the more reads, shares, and likes it has, the more Google sees it’s what people want when they search for your keyword. Google rewards high click-through rates with better search rankings.
When it comes to learning how to write a headline, first and foremost, you’ll need to tell your reader how they’re going to benefit from your blog post.
And then you need to deliver on that promise.
For example, this post promises these SEO tips for blogs can get you hundreds of thousands of readers per month if diligently followed. And it can because it’s how I got my 584,958 readers per month.
But, if your title makes over-exaggerated claims and doesn’t live up to it with your content, it’s clickbait.
Avoid at all costs.
When you fail to keep your promise to the reader, it breaks the reader’s trust and hurts you more than it helps. Clickbait titles also cause higher bounce rates, which leads to lower site rankings for you.
The second step is to make your title irresistible to click on. The best titles are a mixture of proven formulas and a balance of common, uncommon, emotional, and power words.
Thankfully, the kind people at Co-Schedule created a headline-analyzing tool that factors all of this for you, tells you how likely your title is to get shares, and breaks down your score result.
Here’s how my own SEO headline for my ultimate guide to start a blog scores:
Scores above 70 are considered good and are great titles for social media sharing. Anything in the 80s is excellent and definitely winning headline when it comes to blog SEO.
From a blog SEO standpoint, your main keyword needs to be in your headline.
“SEO for bloggers: If your target keyword phrase isn’t early on in your headline, it’s time to rewrite your headline.”CLICK TO TWEET
Titles get cut off in SERPs after 60 characters. There’s not really a compelling reason to have a title longer than that many characters, but if you do go over the limit—just be sure your target keyword is at the front of your title.
Yoast is an extremely popular (free) WordPress plugin that’ll help with SEO for bloggers who want to make sure your title and the content of your articles check all the right fundamental SEO boxes.
If understandably, you’re having trouble writing a catchy title that tells the reader the benefit AND is SEO-friendly, you can also create a separate SEO title to show up in search results using Yoast.
Click “edit snippet” on the Yoast section of the WP editor, then delete the automatic title tags there and write in your own SEO-friendly title that’ll do better in search results.
While your SEO title should still be compelling, you can play around with the structure.
For example, here’s my SEO title from a Google featured snippet:
And here is the title you’ll see when you click the post:
I use a different SEO title because my research suggests that in search results, it’s better to connect starting a blog with making money from blogging relatively early on in the headline—to clearly show what benefits readers will get from clicking my link.
ADDITIONAL INFO
Improve your Google Business Info
To get your listing to appear in local search on Google Maps and Google Search, you need to create a Google My Business listing with up-to-date information.
Be sure to:
- Enter complete data
- Verify your business location(s)
- Keep your working hours accurate
- Add photos
- Manage and respond to reviews
Embed Google Maps in Your Website
With the help of Google Maps Embed API, you can place a street view panorama or interactive map on your website.
The entire process can be done with a simple HTTP request. Here’s how:
Set the Google Maps Embed API URL as the src attribute of an iframe.
Get On-page SEO Right
To dominate local search results, you need to get on-page SEO right.
There are two main factors that affect your on-page SEO:
- Product/service you offer
- Location you serve.
In other words, you need to tell Google clearly what products/services you offer and where you offer them.
Here are the key on-page SEO elements you should focus on:
- Title tags
- Meta tags
- Header tags
- Page content
- Images
- Name, address and phone (NAP) on every page (with schema markup). You should make sure that NAP is consistent all over the web.
Ask for Reviews
Reviews matter a lot in local ranking. Google itself said,
“Google review count and score are factored into local search ranking: more reviews and positive ratings will probably improve a business’s local ranking.”
What’s more, good reviews can help your business stand out to potential customers looking for help making a decision.
How can you entice your visitors to submit reviews for your business?
Here are some proven ways:
- Create links to reviews sites on your website
- Include links to review sites in your email signature
- Have a business card with review site information
- Ask your happy clients to write reviews
Of course, you may get negative reviews as well. You should never leave any negative review unaddressed. Instead, address them in a courteous, yet honest manner in accordance with Google’s Guidelines for reviews.
Build Local Citations
Local citations are online mentions of your business’s name, phone number, address and website (NAP+W).
Here is the example of full citation:
Ranking By SEO, A-45, Sector 63, Noida, India {+91 (995) 353-2683)} http://www.rankingbyseo.com/
Google considers local citations to evaluate the authority and relevancy of a business.
In other words, local citations help your business build prominence and relevance on Google.
Top local citation sites include facebook.com, Apple Maps, Google My Business, yahoo.com, bbb.org, yelp.com, mapquest.com, opentable.com, angieslist.com, here.com, yellowpages.com etc.
Local citations not only help in local SEO but also spread awareness about your business through sites most people already deem reliable.
Distribute Locally-focused Content to Build Links
Backlinks, or links back to your website on other sites, play an important role in local ranking.
Google consider backlinks to be trust votes, so high-quality backlinks will help your business build prominence on Google.
The best way to build/earn backlinks is content marketing.
Create locally focused, useful content (blog posts, podcasts, videos etc.) and distribute it on diversified channels that cater to a local audience.
Here are five proven ways to create authentic, local content:
- Pitch local media to be featured in stories
- Partner with local influencers
- Guest posts on locally-focused blogs
- Capitalize on local events
Integrate Social Media
Social media and search engine optimization are two important marketing tactics. If you combine them, you will get awesome results.
Social media has billions of active users, which means you can meet existing customers and new prospects there.
Social media is a great tool to grow fans who can work as your brand advocates and spread the news about your products/services far and wide, offering you many chances to earn local citations and backlinks.
In addition to supporting local SEO efforts, integrating social media also helps you build trust.
As rightly said by Trond Lyngbø in his article on Search Engine Land,
“When you synchronize your social marketing campaigns with your most important keywords, your audience will use those words to research your business, find you on the top of Google, see other social signals (like PR articles, news stories, social media profiles, ratings and more)… and begin to trust you.”
TOOLS NEEDED FOR LOCAL SET UP
Bright Local
The all-in-one local marketing platform, Bright Local, makes local marketing simple with its excellent features and solutions. You can get the full picture of your digital marketing and social media performance as well as understanding which marketing channels are working best.
Bright Local also enables you to compare rankings against your competitors on major search engines. If you want to try this experience, you can get a 14-day free trial before making payment.
Serpstat
Serpstat is one of the free local SEO tools providing various services, especially for small businesses. Serpstat’s data is offered for free, and you can subscribe to any plan based on your needs if you need more limits.
You can find keyword research, search analytics, competitor research, on-page audit and much more in Serpstat. Among many local SEO tools, Serpstat is one of the best in tracking competitors and improving your content.
Ecommerce Marketing Checklist for Successful Data-Driven Businesses
Here’s a checklist to identify the most important features that your eCommerce marketing intelligence solution should include to ease your daily struggles with data, help increase sales and lower your customer acquisition.Find Out More
Neil Patel
Learn how you can outrank your competitors! Neil Patel claims that it outperforms other local SEO tools by getting more traffic with a handful of tactics.
You just write your competitor to outrank, and their experts analyze and show you why your competitors rank so high and how you can outperform them. As to pricing, they have a plan with $89 a month besides 7-day free trial.
Ahrefs
With its intuitive design, reliable data, and innovative features, Ahrefs helps businesses or startups analyze the competitors’ search traffic and uncover the keywords they rank for. It also offers a detailed backlink profile for any website. It enhances your local SEO strategy by allowing you to see who is linking to your site and how powerful your backlinks are.
Main features provided by Ahrefs are keyword, backlink, and content research as well as competitive analysis and rank tracking. By being powered by170 million root domains, they emphasize that they provide the best and the complete data.
Yext
Yext is another excellent local SEO ranking tool if you are a local business that needs to boost brand awareness, drive traffic, and increase sales. Trusted by leading companies around the world, Yext helps you increase digital performance, improve operational efficiency, and enhance the consumer experience.
Apart from other local SEO tools in the marketplace, Yext offers an automated local listing management tool allowing you to get your listing data populated.
Advicelocal
Through data-driven local search technologies and solutions, Advicelocal helps businesses to accelerate visibility of your business’ location information on top search engines, apps, and social networks.
If you want to experience Advicelocal as a data aggregator or data accelerator, you can contact their team. They do not have any pricing information on their website, but they claim that they ask for a small price for incredible results.
Whitespark
Whitespark is one of the best local SEO tools for small businesses through several services, including building citations, earning reviews, building high-quality backlinks, and tracking rankings. It helps businesses and agencies improve their rankings and also get new customers by managing their local search.
Whitespark’s Local Citation Finder is the most famous tool used by lots of businesses and agencies. It helps you quickly find the key citations your competitors have that you need and improve your local ranking factors.
Another popular tool offered by Whitespark is Reputation Builder that makes it easy for your customers to review your business on popular platforms. In this way, you have an opportunity to reach more customers and get more business through the door.
Conclusion
When SEO is new to your blog, it’s easy to overlook the impact your content has on your rankings. I used to be like that (and still do sometimes!) but you should always focus on increasing the quality of your content. It takes time, but it’s something that everyone can do.