We all want the search engines to send more people to our websites. In order to make that happen, we need to be high up in the rankings when people search for certain keywords. Search Engine Optimization (also known as SEO) is when you make sure your content is optimized for the search engines. It means that you make sure that you include keywords and other SEO elements to make sure your articles rank high in search engine results.
Search engines are getting smarter ever day, and therefore writers have to make sure they use best practices to rank high in the search engines. The good news is that there are things you can do to make this happen.
Here are six tips on writing SEO blog posts to increase visits to your website:
1. Learn about Long Tail Keywords
If you want more traffic from the search engines, you need to know what keywords people are typing in. If your article is using the same keywords that people are searching for, you’ll be higher up in the search engines.
The problem is that if it’s a common keyword, there will be many blog posts using them. So even though your article is what they’re searching for, there could be many results ahead of you.
That’s why it’s a good idea to write articles using long tail keywords. That means instead of using keywords that are only a few words, you use keywords that have three, four, or even more keywords in them. Then, when people are searching for these longer keywords, you are more likely to be higher up in the results.
On top of that, because they used more keywords to get to your article, there is a higher chance that your article has the content that they’re looking for. So once they get to your site, they will read your article and take action on it.
If you’re not sure what long tail keywords to use, try using different tools. One easy (and free) way to find a long tail keyword is to go to Google. Type in the first few words of some of your keywords, and see what pops up to finish the phrase. Whatever shows up there is what many people are searching for, so you can use those. If you write articles with these long tail keywords, you should get more traffic from the search engines.
2. Write Long but Valuable and Unique Blog Posts
You may have heard that your blog posts should be a certain length, but that isn’t the case. There is no set length that is optimal for a blog post.
The length of the post should depend on the content, and how long it takes you to say what you’re trying to say. However, the general rule for blog posts that you’re trying to rank is they should be 1,000 or more words. Google ranks longer content higher in search engine results than shorter content.
Therefore, a blog post that is over a thousand words long might have more keywords and be more engaging than a 400 word blog post. So it will likely be higher up in the search engine results than the 400 word blog post.
It’s not worth trying to “drag” out a 400 word post to make it a 1,000 word post though. If you’ve clearly run out of things to say, it will show in the blog post. It will be less readable, and won’t be helpful to your intended audience. You’re better off having some shorter articles that are more helpful.
3. Be Aware of Readability
The readability of a blog post is a significant factor for SEO. It has a massive impact on how many people will read your content and what they will think about it. Readability is the ease with which the average person can understand the text. Many factors affect readability . This takes into account the vocabulary, but also sentence structure and paragraph organization.
This is also why even though you’ve heard that the more times you use your keywords the better, that it’s wrong. If you use your keyword too many times, the blog post won’t be readable anymore. Yes, the search engines might like it, but even they’re getting smart enough to discount that. You will find that not only will people who come to your website not like an article that is stuffed with keywords, but the search engines won’t appreciate it either.
4. Use Supporting Visuals
To put it simply, people like to look at images. Search engines appreciate this as well, and therefore prioritize websites that have images. This can also include videos and infographics as well.
This makes blog posts more attractive, and can also be used to break up content. It grabs attention, as well as helps tell a story. Any images you use should be relevant, and appropriate for the post topic. You don’t want to distract from the content. Make sure you use alt tags so that if someone can’t see the image, they know what it was about. This helps your SEO as well.
5. End with a Call to Action
The CTA or call to action is essential for everything you send out to your readers. It is what tells readers what to do next: read another article, subscribe to your newsletter, or buy a product. While it may not necessarily help with SEO, your blog post will not be as effective without a call to action.
6. Optimize Your Content and Fill in Your Meta Descriptions
Content writers need to optimize their content for SEO by filling out meta descriptions. These descriptions help the search engine see your content more efficiently, and therefore you’ll be found more easily by potential customers. Meta descriptions are displayed under a link in a search engine’s search result page, and marketers often use them to entice searchers to click on their website.
Using SEO in your business can help you find your target audience by being at the top of many search engines. Using these tips can help you become higher in the search engines, and therefore get more people to your website and articles. Just remember that you are writing for people, not for search engines. Write like it while remembering the tips above, and you’ll have people coming to your site, and staying because they like the content.
Enjoy,
