Introduction to search engine optimization for blogs
Learn how to optimize blog posts and make the most of the effort you spend writing. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a complicated, intricate, and ever-changing beast, but you don’t have to be an SEO expert to improve your search ranking.
Identify your target audience before you begin writing
There are many ways that someone who is looking to buy what you are selling could find your website. If they already know that your company exists, they may type the name of your business into a search engine. Bingo! But what if they aren’t familiar with your business? What if they’re already your customer but they don’t know that you offer this product or service?
One of the first things our company does when hired to build a new website is talk to the client about their customers. What words would someone use when looking for their particular product or service? What phrases would they Google? Begin by identifying 10-20 words commonly used to find a business like yours.
The two main purposes of writing a blog
The first purpose of adding a blog to your website is that it gives you a place to show your personality. For the purpose of this article, let’s pretend that you have a flower shop. Your flower shop probably has some typical pages: Home | About Us | Arrangements | Bouquets | FAQs | Contact.
With a blog you can add content to your website that doesn’t necessarily fit onto the main pages. On your blog you can post photos of new floral designs. You can tell your customers about new trade shows or classes you’ve attended. Announce new services or products. You can even discuss particularly interesting floral projects you’ve been working on.
The second purpose of writing a blog is to address keywords that aren’t covered within the main pages of your website. Having a blog gives you the opportunity to address a specific key word in a direct way.
Using the florist website example, during the holidays you may carry unusual hand-blown tree ornaments. Write a post specifically about those items and the artist who makes them. If someone in your area is looking for hand-blown ornaments, they may find your blog post. Likewise, someone Googling the specific artist may find your blog post and be inspired to visit your shop.
Why it’s important to optimize blog posts
In order for someone to find your website based on a key phrase, those specific words must appear on your site. That means that if you want to rank high for “hand-blown ornaments” then you need to have “hand-blown ornaments” in your post. For best results, your post should be at least 300 words and key phrase density should be 1-2%. Be sure to use the key phrase in a heading, too.
Tips for creating new blog posts
Build a library of 3-5 blog posts before you set the page live. Having more than one article from the start means that when someone comes to your blog there’s more to see. Having multiple articles supports the sense of authority that you are trying to build. Set the remaining articles to post automatically, maybe one each week. Then you’ll have some time to start working on new blog posts.
Not every single blog post must be based on a keyword. You may periodically want to write something just because you feel like it – and that’s fine, too. But assuming that the primary reason you want to start a blog is to drive new traffic, then it makes sense for most of the articles to be written for that purpose. Learn to optimize blog posts and you will likely see more traffic to your website.
Learn about the Search Engine Optimization services that we provide.