Blog post writing for search engine optimization is a very specific science, as well as an important one for any business. Occasionally, it can be tricky and time-consuming. As Long Island’s SEO expert, the delicate science of writing blog posts is a daily practice. Many writers find generating content for SEO purposes to be a counterintuitive process. But like any skill set, you can get a lot better with practice.
Writing for SEO is very much a balancing act. You want to include the relevant keywords, but inserting too many of them will backfire. You want it to be well written and compelling, but simple enough to be readable.
Below we’ve gathered some helpful tips on writing the very best SEO content.
1. Plan Your Blog Post
When it comes to writing of any kind, planning it out is essential. Whether you’re writing a blog post for SEO, an article, a novel or even a tweet, having a plan is always a big help.
First, identify your topic and what you want to discuss. Make sure it’s broad enough that you won’t hit a wall when you’re writing it and wind up staring at your computer screen in blank confusion. Ask yourself what you’re trying to say and what you want your readers to take from the article.
Next, come up with a structure. Your post should have an introduction to establish your topic. Then, compose a body with the main message of the piece, and a conclusion to wrap it up. If you identify what you want to say in each section prior to writing it, the process will be smoother and swifter.
Having a blueprint prior to writing your article is always advisable. And the product of your preparation will ultimately be better for it.
2. Identify Your Keywords
For SEO content, this is a big one. Keywords are incredibly important factors when it comes to SEO. Before you begin writing, you should have a coherent list of keywords that will optimize your post.
During the writing process, your keywords should populate themselves naturally. One of the most common SEO misconceptions is that as long as your post is stuffed with as many keywords as possible, you’re optimizing your content. Basically, if your plan is solid enough and you know which keywords you want to target, the keyword density should happen organically.
In many cases, SEO content writers will “force” their keywords. Basically, they concentrate too many of them in one section. Google can detect misplaced keywords and it can damage your chances of being discovered in search results.
Locate your relevant keywords and make sure they’re naturally embedded in your text.
3. Monitor the Length
This is another big one for SEO. Your content has to be clear, coherent and readable. Readable text is very much dependent on the length of your paragraphs and sentences.
A lot of writers want their content to be as eloquent and poetic as possible. And that’s great. But sadly, that kind of instinct conflicts with SEO. You want your writing to have as broad an appeal as possible. What that means is: everyone should be able to read it.
Overly complex words and long sentences make your text harder to read by default. And the harder it is to read, the more it’ll hurt your SEO. Keep both your paragraphs and sentences concise. And limit your use of ten-dollar words.
While it’s wonderful to have a top-shelf vocabulary, for SEO, you’ll have to suppress it to get ahead.
4. Add Links it Other Content
Once you’ve reached the point where you have a ready catalogue of content to reference, it’s great to insert links to other relevant posts. There are a whole host of reasons why links are important for SEO, so you should prioritize their use.
Identify other posts that relate to the topic you’re writing about. If you can find sensible places to insert those links, go for it. Your link placement is relevant to your Google ranking. Google prefers to prioritize sites that are seen as a beneficial resource for its users. Remember: Google’s success is because of their focus on their user’s experience. They’re selecting sites that will best serve their users’ needs. So if your blog post is focused on a specific topic, linking it to supportive topics shows that your site is a good resource for their query. And that will ultimately benefit the user.
A lot like keywords, you need to be strategic about your link placement. Make sure you’re placing a link in a relevant sentence. “Forcing” links will damage your Google ranking.
5. Keep it Fresh
That might be a bit of a confusing subheading, but it’s the truth. What does “keep it fresh” mean? It means: keep adding content to your site.
If you’re regularly contributing new material to your site, that’s a way for Google to detect that your website is alive and well. If it’s been a long time since any content has been posted on your site, this could have a negative effect on your ranking.
However, it’s important not to simply post for the sake of posting. Blindly adding poor quality material that doesn’t fit your site’s search intent won’t help you. Make sure your content is quality, well planned, and relevant.
Conclusion
Nowadays, the art of SEO is a fairly complicated practice. In the early days of the Internet, a few quick tricks can get a site to the top of the search rankings. However, these tricks were not useful to users and Google’s technology caught on.
Now, these methods are seen as Black Hat tactics. Google can identify Black Hat tactics, and the websites employing them will often be penalized.
When it comes to SEO blog posts, your focus should be on quality. Quality is what will help boost your Google ranking, and is one of the most important SEO ranking factors. Quality is what will serve the user, and inspire them to return to your site.
All of these tips, when practiced regularly, will help improve your content’s quality. Do your best to write the finest posts you can, keep practicing these techniques, and your SEO blog writing will improve with your rankings.
