How to do SEO for your website blog?
Blogging is a great way to boost your exposure online, and publishing the right SEO-optimized content can really help you stand out. According to EarthWeb, there are more than 600 million blogs on the internet. Add to that the fact that 7.5 million blog posts are published every day this year, so you do want to perform search engine optimization for your blog. It’s what will help your blog push the boundaries and ensure you bring in the right experience. Here are some ideas to help your blog rank higher on Google.
Perform keyword research
If you want to ensure that you reach the most people you can, perform keyword research.
There are many tools you can use, like:
- Semrush
- Google Keyword Planner
- Keyword Tool
- Google Trends
- QuestionDB
The idea is to find keywords people are actively looking for in search engines. These words found in search results are the keywords you want to include in your blog content. Make sure that you perform keyword research often, so you can always stay up to date with the latest words people are looking for.
Spread keywords throughout your content
You need to avoid keyword stuffing, as that can become an issue. Instead, what you do want to focus on is inserting your keywords in specific places within the content. We recommend using your keyword in the title and headings/sub-headings, but also in the meta descriptions, anchor text, intro, and ending. Then you can spread the main keyword within the rest of the content if you can. Again, use the keywords where it makes sense, don’t force them as it will become a problem.
Try to find long tail and semantic keywords
Long tail keywords are those longer, more specific keywords that people look for online. Over the years, Google users started being more specific and that’s why long tail keywords are very valuable. They are niche-specific, and they will bring in more traffic.
You can also start with the main keyword and then build from it to create related, semantic keywords. For example, if your main keyword is “rank higher”, you can build from there and use things like “rank higher on Google”, “how to rank higher with beauty content” and anything similar.
Start focusing on internal linking
Internal linking is important for search engine optimization. Not only does it boost your SEO and helps rank higher on Google, but it breathes new life to your older content. It also makes your content feel more organized and professional. So it’s always a good idea to use internal linking if you can. AIOSEO is a great tool for that because it helps optimize your linking while offering some SEO advice.
Of course, you also want to add external links if you can. Their role is to support your content and provide additional value to your advice. It’s always a good idea to have yet another source to reference. It’s a great blogging etiquette since you’re helping your users, while also helping others with a backlink.
Promote your blog posts on social media
Social media sharing is a great off-page SEO solution and it can help rank higher on Google. It’s a very good idea to give it a try, and the best part is that it can boost your growth. If you want to be found in search results with great ease, then you have to make the most out of every tool. And search engine optimization can really help with that.
Include videos and images in your blog posts
You always want to strive and make content more exciting and engaging. The most successful blogs always have content that’s engaging and interactive. Adding images and videos is a great way to make your content more appealing. And generally, content people love will rank higher on Google and other search engines. So it’s certainly worth taking into consideration.
You need to optimize images and also host your videos separately to prevent situations when your website is barely loading due to image or video size. Once you do that, you get to have a fast-loading speed, a high-ranking website, and an extraordinary experience for every visitor.
Add a meta description to every blog post
The meta description is pretty much an HTML meta tag. The role is to offer a short description for crawlers and search engines. It’s usually around 160 characters, so this is not long. But you have to make the most out of it and include your keyword at least once. Make sure that you add it naturally and not force it in.
Your blog posts need to be detailed and comprehensive
Nowadays comprehensive, high quality and detailed content is the one that boosts your SEO and ranks very high. What you want is to have a lot of detailed information, long tail keywords, images, links to other websites, internal links, and anything suitable. The main focus must be on helping your audience while also optimizing your content for Search Engine visibility. Think about formatting and presentation too, because that’s also very important.
Try to answer questions so you can (eventually) be a featured snippet
Featured snippets are answers to questions people have. Google will generate custom snippets from articles whenever users ask a specific question. So it’s a good idea to have short paragraphs in your content that answer a particular question. For example, Google will create a featured snippet when a user searches “How to start a business in 5 steps?”. If you have this question and quick answers in your content, Google might choose you as a featured snippet.
Why is it important? You get to boost your search engine optimization and rank well above other websites, thus getting the most traffic. It’s a great way to surpass competitors, while also showing Google values your content. Needless to say, that makes people trust you more, and in the end, it’s going to bring in more sales too.
Always focus on readability
Another way to make your blog content easier to find in search results is by making it easier to read and high quality. Check the content multiple times and make sure that there are no grammar or style issues with your content. We also recommend sticking to smaller paragraphs, so the content is easier to read even on a mobile phone.
The way you boost readability is via using smaller paragraphs, shorter sentences, bullet points, and headings. It helps you better optimize the content, while also improving the experience for users too. Using some images and texts can also come in handy here.
Check and ensure that you don’t plagiarize content
Plagiarism is terrible for search engine optimization since Google and other search engines will derank you if you use content similar to what others already have. So it never hurts to use plagiarism tools like Copyscape to see if your content is similar to others. Your aim is to always create content that’s unique and engaging. Needless to say, Google punishes duplicate content, and you want to avoid that.
Conclusion
These tips and tricks will help you perform search engine optimization on your blogs and help them rank higher on Google. It’s a good idea to optimize every post, even the older ones. In fact, updating the older blog posts with new, relevant data can also boost their SEO and ranking too. Perform all these tips and tricks, and don’t hesitate and contact us if you have any other questions!