A blog can be a great way to build your online reputation. You can easily use blog writing as part of your for search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. The important thing is to know the topic you are writing about very well. The effectiveness of your blog is directly related to the credibility of the content you are posting. In this blog post we provide you with useful insights on how to use a blog to leverage your online credibility and SEO (Google rankings).
Content is King
This is almost cliché but it’s still rule #1. So, let’s start off with the core principle of blog writing for SEO; the writing itself. Always keep the people you’re writing for in mind and ensure that your content is well researched, engaging and helpful i.e. fills an information void. Google measures how long web visitors remain on your website once they arrive. When visitors spend a longer period of time on your blog, it’s a sign for Google that you provide relevant and quality content. In return, Google will rank you higher in the organic search results. Additionally, keep your blog up to date and post frequently. Google bots will index your site every time you post a new blog page so they can add the new content to their search database. Basically, you’re giving Google a heads-up; sort of ‘Hey Google, I’m still up to date and relevant’. This way, you are using your blog to build trust and credibility which makes Google tag you as an expert in your industry.
Write In-depth and Easy to Skim Content
There is no official ideal length for a blog post to be effective for SEO. However, aim for a blog post that’s around 650-750 words long. When your blog post has plenty of in-depth content it will be easy to reach this type of word count and to let Google clearly assess what the most important points of your blog post is about. This makes it easier for Google to index your web page, which in turn is great for your SEO. So yes, search engines prefer longer blog posts, but what about your readers? On average humans have an attention span of around 8 seconds. This means that, regardless of the length of your blog post, you should use clear titles and subheadings throughout the body of your post so readers can easily skim through your blog post.
It is also very effective to use captivating and relevant images within the body of the blog post to help the readers remain engaged till the end of their read.
They don’t call them KEYwords for Nothing
Finding the right keywords for your blog writing is an art in itself. Don’t underestimate the process of choosing the right keywords. If you don’t it’s like playing soccer (or any sport) without a net. What you want to do is use tools to find out which keywords are being used by your target group when they search the web. One of these tools is called ’Google Keyword Planner’. This tool provides insights on the monthly search volume and the competition for those keywords. It also provides numerous suggested keywords based on root keywords you can provide.
When choosing relevant keywords for your SEO content strategy, avoid shorter and more general keywords. There’s a lot of competition for these general keywords and they’re usually targeted by top brands. Instead, use long-tail keywords to benefit your SEO. Chances are there will be less competition for these which makes it more likely to rank in the top results of Google.
So now that you’ve decided which keywords to use in your blog post, how many times should you include them? Logic would dictate as many times as possible, right? Absolutely not! When it comes to the frequency of your keywords keep this in mind: Less is more and the quality of the content is the key. Google will penalize you for keyword stuffing. Having said this, it’s still considered important to have a keyword density that is greater than 5.5%.
Edit the Meta Description on your Blog Post
If you want to increase the click through rate to leverage your SEO, make sure you create a custom meta description for your web page. The meta description is a little snippet that gives an idea on what content can be found on your web page. If you do not manually edit the meta description, Google will make one up for you by simply extracting information from your web page. To fully benefit search engine optimization, the meta description should be no longer than 160 characters and contain the focus keyword. But why is the meta description so important? There have been rumours that this meta description can now be increased to 320 characters but the research on this is still being gathered to confirm the point. If you write an appealing meta tag you can improve the click-through rate of your blog post, which ultimately improves your SEO.
Practice Makes Perfect
You’ve read the insights provided on this blog post so perhaps you pre-emptively feel you are now a blog writing professional, right? Think again. No one becomes a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist after publishing his or her first article. The same goes for blog writing. Practice makes perfect and so there’s only one thing left for you to do: Pick up your pen and start writing for your blog! The insights you’ve gained from this post will definitely help you on your way to effective blog writing and positive SEO results. But the only way to get there is by putting these tips into practice and being persistent.
iRISEmedia | Social Media Marketing Agency | Toronto
iRISEmedia.com is a Toronto based social media marketing agency, specializing in social media management, digital marketing, online reputation management and online branding. Our team helps clients manage and grow their online presence and branding to increase qualified web traffic and online leads. We service clients in Toronto and throughout Canada and the U.S. If you would like to have a discussion about any of your digital marketing needs, please feel free to contact us today. We would be delighted to hear from you.
