There’s a blog for just about everything you can imagine, so how are certain bloggers getting all the top spots on the search engine and how can you make your blog get up there, too? With SEO best practices specific for bloggers, of course.
SEO isn’t an easy or quick phenomenon. Think long-game when you’re strategizing to get your blog post out there. Be patient, but it will come with these tips and tricks for best SEO practices for the blogger.
What’s the Goal?
Probably obvious, but the goal can get away from you, so make sure you know exactly what you’re hoping to say/get/offer and stay on point. Feel free to write it down so you don’t get sidetracked.
Are you looking to discuss a topic and get engagement? Or share an important/silly story or news? Promote a business or product or service?
Figure out what the ultimate goal is and within that, know what matters most to you as far as the metrics go. Meaning, are you looking to get more subscribers? Or shares? Backlinks? Traffic?
Once you have this information, you’ll know how to write because you’ll know who you’re writing to and what you’re writing for.
Who’s Your Audience?
Do you want to reach loyal readers, new readers, an influencer or three, a very targeted reading audience?
This is really part of your goal, but we wanted to make sure it stood out because it will help in creating your voice and persona.
What Are Your Keywords?
Now that you have your goal and audience in mind, figure out three to five keyword phrases to target. These are phrases that have high volume (lots of users searching them) and high click-through rate opportunity. They should be easy to rank, too.
Your keyword phrases should be helpful to users who are all searching with the same goal in mind. So if one user is searching “high-end dining in Denver” and another is searching “expensive restaurants in Denver” each searcher’s intent is the same (or similar).
When you research your keywords, see how other bloggers are handling their content. You may be interested in using images or videos which need to be optimized for SEO also.
Have You Researched the Competition?
Look at Google and see who’s ranking, what words are they using? Check out the social media channels and find out what’s being shared or retweeted or liked within your topic. After you know this, what are you going to offer that’s extra?
Maybe your views are different, your opinion will create a stir, maybe you have a firsthand account. Or perhaps you want to provide a video or stats and no one else is doing that. Whatever is it, make yourself noticeable.
Now Post Away
And here’s where you bring together all your research and start the creative juices flowing. Your content should be interesting and dynamic, so what works best in this sphere? How are you providing the best-of-the-best when it comes to your topic?
You can generate buzz through links, quotes, interviews, stats, data, images… Giving your readers reasons to get their info through you, is what you’re hoping to achieve.
Working Your On-Page SEO
On-page SEO sounds techy, and maybe it is just a bit, but it’s here that you can really drive your SEO efforts home.
You want to figure out what your main keyword phrase is and use it in your title, headline, and URL—exactly. The rest of those researched keywords and keyword phrases should be found in your body copy, meta description, and images.
You should also be linking to yourself. Other, older blog posts may come up and it may make sense to link to it, so do it. This is a great way to improve reader loyalty and get seen on the search engines.
Getting It Out There
Okay, so you’ve created the post and you’ve posted to all your social media, your website, your followers/family/friends, etc. How do you get even more views?
This is where influencers may come in. Or leaders in whatever topic you’re speaking about may be able to help get your information to the masses.
Figure out who you want to help you, how you’re going to bring it to that person’s attention (email, social media, a friend in common, etc.), when you should reach out to him/her (before or after post is posted), and why they’d want to help you. When you know all of this, you can be persuasive and confident with your ask.
Do It and Learn from It
If you start to use these steps to help create your blog, you’ll be on your way to generating new readers/followers, while helping you move up the search engine ladder. Don’t get frustrated when you don’t see results overnight. You know that’s not how SEO works.
After you’ve worked these steps in, keep track of your analytics to get a full understanding of how it’s working and what’s working. And don’t forget to optimize for best results!
With help on anything SEO, give us a call.
