Tips for Writing SEO-Friendly Blog Posts
In addition to writing for their human readers, web writers and
bloggers have to consider the digital web crawlers employed by search
engines like Google. Your business can't skip the task.
Since most would-be readers use search engines to find blog posts,
you need to make sure that Google ranks your site highly when those
readers search for terms related to your business and the content you're
writing.
You could spend thousands of dollars to have a search marketing firm
optimize your business's blog for search engines, but chances are that
you can learn a lot of the fundamentals yourself, saving yourself a lot
of money as long as you have the interest and the time. Here's a basic
primer on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your company's blog.
1. Always Include Search Terms in Your Post's Title
When Google reads a website to index it, it reads the code directly,
not the snazzy presentation that humans see. The way most blogging
platforms are built, the headline or title of your blog post is among
the first things Google sees, and Google generally assumes the words
that appear earliest are the most important. That's why the title is the
most important part of your blog post when it comes to SEO.
Think about who you want to reach with this blog post, and what that
person might be searching for when looking for your business's goods or
services, then include critical words from that hypothetical search in
the title. The most important terms should appear as quickly as you can
reasonably fit them in. Just be careful not to make the title unreadable
or awkward to human readers — that SEO effort will have been for naught
if the reader is immediately turned off by the content once he or she
finds it.
Here's a pro tip: You're not likely to win strong ranking for more
than one or two search terms at once, so minimalism is a virtue here.
Don't get over-ambitious. Focus on one potential search term, then if
you want to rank for a second term, write a separate and unique post
specifically with it in mind.
2. Link Important Words to Earlier Blog Posts
Search engines generally assume that a blog post that has been linked
to has more authority than one that has not. They also consider exactly
what word or phrase linked to the post; a blog post about the iPhone is going to be more likely to show up in Google searches on the subject if another page links the word "iPhone" to the post.
You'll get the most value from external links from sites that Google
or other search engines already consider to be an authority of the
subject (if the top blog about iPhones links the word to your post,
you'll get a huge boost), but all incoming links will still pass rank to
your page, even those from elsewhere on your site.
So be sure and link important keywords to other pages or previous
posts on your blog to gain some credibility and search rank. It will
make a big difference. Just don't overdo it; not only do human readers
hate reading blogs so filled with links that they might accidentally
click on something, Google may penalize you if you go overboard, too.
3. Hit the Tagging Sweet Spot
Most blogging platforms let you apply tags to your posts. Tags help
organize your blog so both humans and search engines can find what
they're looking for. They're terms like "consulting," "local" or
"technology" that reflect the topics and content of the post.
Google tries to recognize tags and use them to prioritize your site
in its search ranking for those terms. The tags are usually links to
other pages on your blog (usually a backlog of other posts with the same
tag), and like we said earlier, linking search terms to other pages on
your site helps too.
So by all means, add pertinent tags to your blog post, but be warned
that Google and other search engines are wary of sites that try to game
this system. They will penalize you in the search rankings if you use so
many tags that the web indexing bots suspect you might be attempting to
associate your content with unrelated topics just to score extra
traffic.
The method for determining this is arcane, but a good rule of thumb
from a pro blogger is that five to 10 appropriate tags are usually right
in the sweet spot.
4. Use Google Insights to Find the Best Search Terms
You don't have to play a guessing game about the best tags or search
terms to link or put in your post's title. Since Google is the most
popular search engine, it makes sense to focus your efforts there.
Whenever you're not sure which terms to go with, hit up Google Insights, a web-based tool that compares the popularity of any search terms you want to know about.
For example, if your business is a coffee shop but you're not sure
whether would-be customers are more likely to search for "café" or
"coffee shop," Insights can tell you which one is more popular.
These four tips should get you on your way to having a more
SEO-friendly corporate blog. Add your tips for search engine
optimization in the comments below.
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Image courtesy of iStockphoto, MacXever