If you’ve ever created blog posts intending to increase traffic to your site, you know that ranking for keywords can be a difficult task. When writing blog content to improve traffic, you should consider many variables, including your keyword’s search intent, assets to pair with your content, quality of writing, and so much more. The good thing is, there are some rules you can follow to create a stable flow of quality, SEO-friendly content. Here are four tips you can start following today to help improve your blog content’s organic visibility.
Tip #1: Provide Value
When you ask a question on search engines, like how to get your dog in the bathtub (and keep it there), you’re probably looking for an answer you don’t have. As such, this answer now holds value to you, and any video or blog you run across that can’t provide this value effectively, or, in some cases, doesn’t have it at all, will eventually drop in ranking. That’s why it’s so important to provide value in every blog post you write.
However, you can’t just go handing out information that your audience isn’t interested in. Instead, find out what kinds of questions your audience is asking, then go ahead and write posts that answer their questions. It sounds simple but failing to follow this process can lead to a blog that goes nowhere.
Tip #2: Create a Competitive Landscape Analysis
Once you’ve found your blog’s audience and started creating valuable posts, you’ll likely find that you’re not the only blogger out there. In any subject area, there will likely be many blogs competing for your audience, but this is no reason to get angry or panic. Instead, it is a great opportunity to identify your blog’s main competitors and analyze their content production style.
Find out what you like about their writing style, their design, and how they structure their content. If you can, find ways to incorporate their biggest strengths into your posts. Doing so can improve your content, especially as competitors enter and exit your space, leaving behind valuable techniques you can build upon. If you have a tool like SEMRush, you can take this process a step further by creating a keyword universe.
A keyword universe gives you an overview of how well each of your competitors are ranking for the keywords your audience is interested in. You can create a keyword universe by gathering all the keywords your competitors are ranking for and then seeing if your content is ranking for them. If you’re not doing as well, or not ranking at all, you can then search for those keywords. If you find that you can make better content associated with any keywords you’ve searched for, then you have an opportunity to introduce your competitor’s audience to you. Repeating this process with each editorial calendar will ensure you are competing effectively for your audience’s attention and give you many content ideas.
Tip #3: Create Content You Would Enjoy
When writing blog content, always keep in mind whether you personally would enjoy reading your blog. Yes, providing value is important, but if you’re not enthusiastic about your content, it’s going to show and not in a good way. Instead of creating one big blob of text, you can do fun things like creating infographics and videos. You can even inject your own personality into your writing by including jokes, interesting quotes, personal anecdotes, and other human elements that will make your content memorable.
Tip #4: Stay Tuned into Current News and Trends and Provide Your Expert Opinion
It’s important to create and stick to an editorial calendar when producing blog content but remember that you don’t have to follow it so rigidly. When interesting events in your industry happen, give yourself room to break the calendar for a moment and report on it. Give your audience the best and most concise version of events, then, if possible, provide your own opinion on the matter. Doing so shows that your brand is aware of the world around them, can respond to updates quickly, and is an expert in its field.
Now these are only a couple of tips and there is much more to creating a successful blog than what is outlined, but what is important here are the core fundamentals. By providing enjoyable and valuable content, keeping track of industry news, and analyzing your competitors, you can create an adaptable and SEO friendly blog that readers will not want to miss out on.