How to Optimize a Blog Post for SEO
Many of us who pay attention to the world of marketing have heard the phrase “SEO” before. You might know SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, as something that you should be paying attention to if you have any kind of presence online– whether you’re a business owner, Internet enthusiast, or are thinking about creating a website for your side hustle.
But what you might not know is that blogging is an incredible strategy for building SEO. While your web copy can (and should!) include keywords that help build SEO specific to your business, service, or industry, you only have a limited amount of space on your site to feature said keywords without distracting site visitors from why they’re there in the first place: whatever your product or services is.
Blog posts, on the other hand, serve as unlimited real estate for keywords. They can focus on a niche topic or question (targeting keywords specific) rather than needing to stay broad to inform general site visitors. Additionally, you can create as many blog posts as you want, meaning that you can utilize as many keywords as you want. Think blogging was an early-2000s trend? Think again.
The TL;DR: a higher number of indexed pages on a website, new content, and keywords help a site build SEO. Blog posts cover all of the above, meaning that when used effectively, they can be a great addition to your content marketing strategy.
However, there is one caveat: while we all know how to write a blog post (you just type, right?), creating a blog post that actually helps build SEO requires that you include specific, google-friendly elements.
What are these elements? Great question. Below, I break down blog post best practices to help you create content that’s as SEO-friendly as possible.
Keyword Research
The foundation of SEO optimization lies in thorough keyword research. To research keywords helpful to your business, use tools like Google Keyword Planner (a free tool), SEMrush (my personal favorite), or Ahrefs to discover high-ranking keywords with a decent search volume and low competition. Incorporate these keywords naturally into your blog post to increase its visibility to search engines.
Heading Structure
Have you noticed the “heading 1, heading 2, heading 3,” and beyond feature on your google doc, and wondered if there was a point to it besides different sized text? Well, I’m about to blow your mind.
Google’s goal in ranking websites is to provide the people searching with the highest quality content at the top. Therefore, when you’re creating a blog post, you want to create high-quality content that will be ranked by Google as such– driving traffic to your site. Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to structure your content and make it easy to read, indicating to Google that your blog post is high quality.
Optimize Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title tags and meta descriptions are HTML elements that provide concise summaries of your blog post. Craft a compelling title tag (up to 60 characters) that includes your primary keyword and accurately reflects the content of your post. Meta descriptions (up to 155 characters) should be enticing and descriptive, encouraging users to click through to your blog post. Title tags and meta descriptions can be found when you’re posting your blog post on the backend. Don’t leave these slots blank like you might have in the past!
URL Structure
Your blog post's URL (also called its “slug”) should be concise, descriptive, and easy to read. Including your primary keyword in the URL can help search engines understand the content better. Avoid using long, confusing URLs with unnecessary parameters or numbers, like the ones automatically generated by your website provider. Instead, aim for short and meaningful URLs that reflect the topic of your blog post. Many opt to just use the blog post’s title as its URL. For example, this blog post, “How to optimize a blog post for SEO,” would simply be “how-to-optimize-a-blog-post-for-seo.” It’s easy!
Internal and External Linking:
Incorporating internal and external links within your blog post is key when it comes to SEO optimization. Internal links direct users to other relevant pages on your website, improving user experience and helping search engines navigate your site better. External links direct users to sources outside your site and can enhance your content's credibility and authority, increasing your chances of ranking higher.
Include images, and optimize them!
While images enhance the visual appeal of your blog post, and, you guessed it, also require optimization. Compress your images to reduce their file size without compromising quality, use descriptive filenames and alt tags that include relevant keywords, and ensure that your images are responsive and properly formatted to enhance page loading speed.
Social Media Integration
When you promote your blog post on social media platforms, you significantly boost its visibility, traffic to the post, and increase your chances of generating organic backlinks. If you’re looking for a sign to post your blog to LinkedIn, this is it!
