Search engine optimisation (SEO) continues to be one of the most important digital marketing tools today. After all, search engines are among the primary ways consumers discover businesses or resources. As such, you should take the time to ensure your blog is effectively leveraging the content you produce.
This isn't always a simple matter, though. The digital landscape is changing and effective practices that may work today may not stay that way. In general, though, there are several key aspects of SEO that aren't likely to change any time soon. As a result, we’ve put together 10 tips to make your blog more SEO-friendly.
"As a result, we’ve put together 10 tips to make your blog more SEO-friendly."
You can't simply improvise good SEO content for your blog. Thorough planning tends to affect your ability to achieve your goals sustainably.
Take the time to establish specific aims. Assign a budget to the project. This helps you to both remain within your allocated resources and utilise the most effective tools for your intended outcomes. Most importantly, create a timeline for your campaign that includes periods of assessment so you can adjust your approach if necessary.
"You can't simply improvise good SEO content for your blog."
One of the primary influencers of SEO success right now is the quality of content. Google has repeatedly expressed that rankings will favor content that provides value. As such, you should prioritise creating the best possible content from a reader's perspective.
Often, this means that your content should actively provide answers to questions your target demographics are asking. This can be everything from explanations of technical terms to offering tutorials. It's also important to note that your commitment to quality must include solid grammar and spelling standards.
"Google has repeatedly expressed that rankings will favor content that provides value."
One of the clear challenges in making your blog more SEO-friendly is the development of search engines. Over the last several years there have been significant changes to how search engines have adjusted their algorithms. The rise of spammy use of keywords prompted the prioritisation of other elements, such as quality and local relevance. While it is likely that SEO development will continue, these can be difficult to predict.
"...you must take a flexible approach to your SEO efforts."
As such, you must take a flexible approach to your SEO efforts. Maintain the basic building blocks, such as high quality, as this is unlikely to fall out of favor. However, on top of this, you need to keep up with trends in SEO standards. Make surface adjustments in these areas while keeping your foundations solid.
Keyword density is less likely to influence your ability to achieve high rankings and with good reason. You won't see any rise in traffic or conversions if your readers can't even comprehend your content since it's stuffed with keywords.
That's not to say keywords are useless, however. They can act as useful tags for search engines to identify your blog posts as containing relevant content. Take the time to regularly research what terms are searched by your target audience. You should then apply them in your content in ways that make genuine contextual sense.
"They can act as useful tags for search engines to identify your blog posts as containing relevant content."
It's important to remember your posts are consumed by humans. The more meaning your users will find within your content, the more SEO impact it is likely to have.
You should, therefore, maintain clarity in all your posts. Keep your content readable. Use accessible language rather than complex terminology. Sentences and paragraphs should be relatively short, following Yoast standards.
"Keep your content readable."
Credibility is key in any SEO content. Both your readers and search engines want evidence that your claims are backed by expertise. This is especially relevant when it comes to financial and health posts, or what Google terms as "Your Money or Your Life (YMYL)" content — industries that can heavily affect a reader's life if they take advice to heart.
Wherever possible, find links to recent and credible sources that support your statements or ideas. Look for research papers created by respected figures in the field. Content created by authoritative trade professionals can also be effective. Place links to these in your own content as this helps search engines and readers confirm the genuine value of your posts.
"Wherever possible, find links to recent and credible sources that support your statements or ideas."
External linking to credible sources is vital. However, your SEO efforts can also benefit from internal linking. This involves choosing relevant pages from your own blog to link to within your posts.
In essence, this is an effective strategy because it provides additional context surrounding your expertise. Search engines scanning the content can see that the content it recommends is relevant as you've created posts in similar areas in the past. The higher authority your blog becomes, the more powerful this can be.
"...your SEO efforts can also benefit from internal linking."
You need to keep a consistent schedule of fresh content that is relevant to your field. This not only keeps feeding into search engine algorithms for your relevance and expertise, but it also helps you to build a solid audience that will keep visiting your site and sharing your content.
"...keep a consistent schedule of fresh content that is relevant to your field."
Indeed, one of the reasons to prioritise evergreen posts is so you can focus on new content rather than always having to update older pieces.
Human readers should be the priority for your content creation approach. However, you must also remain aware that search engine computers are automatically scanning your content. Google's web crawlers skim through content to assess relevance and value. Your headings can help here.
"Use H1 for titles, H2 for subheadings, and so forth."
Use H1 for titles, H2 for subheadings, and so forth. Make sure each heading concisely reflects the intention of the section and its relevance to the piece. Also use a keyword if at all possible.
As a content creator, you have an ethical duty to ensure your content is accessible to all readers. However, your efforts to ensure all those who want to engage with your content can also overlap with SEO success.
Firstly, it means wider audiences can interact with your posts. But many of the steps you take for web accessibility also connect with search engine algorithms. Readable content supports the need for quality.
Alt text on images can simultaneously include contextually relevant keywords while helping readers who rely on screen-readers to enjoy your content. Easily navigable websites are more accessible to web crawlers.
"But many of the steps you take for web accessibility also connect with search engine algorithms."
Making your blog more SEO-friendly is key to gaining the attention of global and local audiences alike. Many of the steps you need to take are focused on bolstering quality, credibility, and clarity.
However, it's also important to adopt tactics such as internal linking and keyword research. Remember that while the marketing landscape is changing, solid SEO fundamentals can help you make an impact.
PS: Are you receiving FREE publicity opportunities, straight into your inbox?
No?!! (Wha?)