Looking for tips on how to improve your blog SEO and on becoming an SEO expert? Optimising your blog to maximise its visibility on search engines such as Google is a great way of boosting your internet marketing effectiveness. We’ve previously discussed the general importance of SEO and how blogging is effective for positioning oneself as an authority, while engaging with a target audience. But it can be a frustrating experience to find no one is reading your lovingly crafted content! Get your blog the audience it deserves and rocket-launch your digital content's performance with these 9 tips for blog SEO.
1.Keyword research
Google now processes over 40,000 search queries every second. People are constantly searching for solutions to problems, which means that experienced companies can take advantage and seek to make their blog a resource for such queries. Make your blog findable by identifying and adopting the keywords which your target audience uses in their searches. Free resources like Google’s Keyword Planner can help for targeting what terms are popular and specific to your business.
2.Position SEO keywords strategically
After generating a list of suitable SEO keywords, position these carefully throughout your blog. Search engine algorithms punish ‘keyword stuffing’, so use them only where the terms fit naturally. Prioritise the most important keywords by including them in the title, opening sentences, first paragraph, and headings of your blog posts. Consider alternative phrases elsewhere to avoid repetition and, most importantly, to make your blog flow naturally.
3.SEO tools
There are tons of great SEO tools to help ensure your blog is optimised. Google Analytics is a must use resource to review the overall performance of your content and website, but other tools are more specifically focused on SEO analysis. Use an SEO checker to see how closely your content reflects your targeted keywords.
4.Identify your target audience
Creating a buyer persona for your product or service is an essential part of any smart marketing campaign. Thinking deeply about what your buyer persona is interested in and will search for online, is a great guide in identifying keywords. This process should also steer the content of your blog. Focusing on the topics your target audience is engaging with will, in turn, lead to more interaction with your blog.
5.Publish regularly
Stay on top of the search engine bots radar by frequently publishing content. Consistent and high-quality content will ensure that your website builds credibility and is looked on more favourably in searches. Try to set and maintain content publishing targets, such as posting one blog every fortnight. A consistent and achievable target will reduce sporadic content or bursts of posts, and will help to position your blog as the go-to site for fresh advice and opinion.
6.Make the links
Linking throughout your blog makes sense for a variety of reasons. Internal links which draw the reader’s attention to relevant and genuinely interesting content related to the given topic can help reduce the bounce rate of your website and keep users on your site for longer. Links to external resources can, for instance, be used to provide authority to a given statistic, or put you in the good books of other sites, who may in turn link to your content and boost overall SEO performance.
7.Optimise performance
Ensure that all is running smoothly with your blog. The aforementioned bounce rate is an important element of your Google SEO ranking. If Google sees people leaving your site quickly, it will assume that your content isn’t what people are looking for. Make sure your blog looks and runs well on mobile, don’t use overly large pictures which slow load times, fix any broken links, and in general create a good user experience.
8.Social media marketing
No matter what kind of company you are, there are umpteen reasons you should have some form of social media presence. If you’re already on these channels, be sure to utilize them to promote your content. Encourage employees to engage and share blogs via their own accounts. Google recognises that highly shared and liked stories on social media are likely to be sought after in search results too.
9.Produce great content
Distilling all this down, the simple rule when it comes to improving the SEO of your blog is to frequently publish and promote high-quality content made specifically for your target audience. Don’t be overly reliant on keywords to the detriment of quality. Base your blogs on topics that your target audience frequently searches for and is interested in, and use keywords in strategic areas. Once these considerations are put into practice, focus on creating well-written, thought-provoking and relevant content.
For more articles on effective content marketing and SEO, keep up to date with the Comit blog. If you think we can provide further help with your blog and overall SEO strategy, be sure to get in touch. Contact us today and ask how our SEO agency and blogging services can help.
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