A strong search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is the key to attracting new customers to your business. While there are many components to SEO, an onsite blog is an often overlooked tool. You can create shareable content, improve keyword rankings, and reduce your site’s bounce rate by keeping up with a blog.
However, you first need to optimize your posts. This guide breaks down some of the main ways that successful bloggers optimize their content for better search rankings. By following these three tips, you can see results and reap the benefits of more site visits.
Choose the right keywords
Selecting the best keywords for your blog can be tricky. This is why some beginner bloggers stuff their blog posts with as many keywords as possible. However, this strategy looks spammy, and if Google’s search algorithm flags it, it might drop you in the rankings.
As a rule, select one or two keywords to use a few times throughout your blog posts. You want to make sure that you’re choosing keywords that make sense for your business. Do some basic keyword research to see what phrases your competitors are ranking for and what your target customers are searching for. Keyword phrases like “sushi restaurant in Los Angeles” and “how to fix a leaky pipe” generally perform well and target a specific audience, so try to make your keywords as specific as possible.
Make sure to continuously monitor keyword performance, as these trends change quickly. If you notice that you aren’t performing well on certain posts and pages, tweak words and phrases to make the content more search-friendly.
Optimize your meta tag and description
Optimization doesn’t stop after you finish the blog post. Before you hit “publish”, it’s essential to write a quality meta tag and description. You want the meta tag to clearly describe what the post is about in the space provided while including your main target keyword. This title should catch users’ eyes while they’re browsing Google looking for a solution, so give them a reason to click on the link.
You can help make the link more clickable by optimizing the meta description as well. Use as much of the space provided as possible, and clearly outline the post. Including the main keyword, a supporting keyword, and a clear call to action can also be helpful. Once you find a meta tag and description format that works, stick with it.
Create a link building strategy
High quality blog posts are the start of a stellar link building strategy. Creating quality inbound links around the web can improve your search rankings. However, finding places to link is not always easy. Online services like LinkGraph can help with link building, so it’s often worth the investment to hire a team to create a custom approach for you.
Other ways to create links is to write guest posts on other blogs, link to your blog internally, and keep up with social outreach. Remember that the more useful your content is, the more users and blogs are going to link back to your posts. So, be sure to keep all of your posts well-researched and planned.
While these three SEO strategies can increase your blog rankings, remember that growth will not happen overnight. Consistency is key. Write blog posts regular, optimize the content, and keep up with outreach to earn quality backlinks. And if your strategies aren’t working, consider what changes you can make. By staying diligent and learning industry best practices, you’ll eventually see the results you’ve been striving for.