Blog posts are an excellent way to provide content to your audience and improve your online marketing. They can fulfil their purpose best when you optimise them for search engines. Here’s how to do just that.
Having a blog on your website has become almost a requirement today. Your blog can make your brand more visible and drive traffic to your website, which is the main reason why almost everybody has one.
However, some blogs perform better than others. Although this is the result of many factors, one, in particular, might play a significant role: how optimised the blog posts are for search engines.
The fact is that search engines simply don’t find and index every blog post when it comes out. And if a blog doesn’t appear in search results and people can’t see it, it might as well not exist. All of the content you’ve prepared could be wasted on a blog that remains invisible to your audience.
Luckily, it’s possible to optimise your blog so that it always appears in search engines. And if done properly, optimisation can make the difference between a page that garners a large number of views and one that anyone hardly ever visits.
In this article, you’ll learn about the best practice techniques for blog post optimisation, as well as more details about what goes into an optimised blog.
What is an Optimised Blog Post?
Search engine optimisation is a crucial part of online marketing that can help products and services find their way to new users quickly.
One thing that can boost a website’s SEO quality significantly is the content posted on it. Your content has a purpose in providing value to visitors, but it can also improve how your blog performs in search engines.
This leads to the subject of SEO optimisation.
When a blog post is optimised, it provides benefits both in terms of visitor interaction and search engine optimisation. The optimised content allows search engines to find the blog easily and consequently rank it higher. It’s also more appealing to users.
Optimising blog posts isn’t a new concept – people have been doing it for quite some time. As a result, many different techniques have surfaced. However, not all are equally efficient.
The methods of blog optimisation we’ll explain here are among the most useful, as proven by practice.
The Seven Best Practice Techniques for Optimising Blog Posts
Technique #1. Do Keyword Research (But Avoid Keyword Stuffing)
Researching keywords is a crucial first step in blog optimisation. In fact, it’s best to take care of this task before you create any written content.
Keywords that are relevant to your content are the ones your ideal audience uses when searching online. These should form the foundation of your content, which means you shouldn’t only use particular keywords in your copies but base the topics of your blog around them.
Doing proper keyword research is preferable to guessing or presuming the terms your ideal customers will use. It might seem that you could create a list of suitable keywords off the top of your head, but it’s always better to make an informed decision.
Besides main keywords, it’s useful to use semantic keywords as well.
These represent the search terms related to a particular keyword. However, you shouldn’t find semantic keywords for every one of the primary ones – choose one primary keyword that stands out in search volume.
Finally, make sure not to overuse keywords in your content. Search engines can detect when pages are intentionally stuffed with keywords. Besides, a post with too many keywords will hardly read naturally.
Technique #2. Structure the Post and Use Relevant Paragraphs and Headings
Your blog posts should have a sound structure consisting of an introduction, the main body of text, and a conclusion. Once you have the structure, outline what you’ll write about in each section.
When writing, it’s best to pay attention to how you use headings and paragraphs.
Each paragraph should contain a particular idea and ideally have at least two or three sentences. It would be best to avoid having one-sentence paragraphs too often because the subject might look fragmented and unprofessional.
On the other hand, paragraphs shouldn’t be too long either. Readers can often become discouraged when they see a wall of text. Refine your ideas and try to express them in as few sentences as possible.
Using headings and subheadings is particularly important both in terms of readability and SEO.
The reality is that many people decide whether they’ll read the copy or not based on headings, as readers will use them to skim over the content. Proper heading use also comes in handy in leading your audience from one subject to another.
When it comes to SEO, it’s best to insert some of your keywords in a few headings. You should refrain from putting keywords in each heading to avoid awkward phrasing.
Technique #3. Learn About Featured Snippets (And Optimise For Them)
Featured snippets are an outstanding part of Google search results. They appear at the top of the search results and often provide a straightforward answer to any given question.
Keep in mind that Google Search mostly features snippets from pages that provide detailed answers, commonly in the form of lists. Using your keywords in headings will come into play here, as it will indicate that your blog is particularly relevant to the question asked.
Blogs that abound with actionable verbs fare better when it comes to featured snippets, as do definitions consisting of no longer than 58 words.
Technique #4. Include Keywords in Your Metadata
Meta descriptions can be very effective in increasing the visibility of a post. Google often uses metadata to rank pages, so incorporating your keywords here is helpful.
The vital thing to remember about meta descriptions is that they should be short and compelling. If your audience finds several blog posts on the same subject, the one with the most concise and attractive description might get more views than others.
Keep in mind that Google will display about three sentences of a meta description in search results. This is a good guideline for the length of the text.
Technique #5. Use Internal Linking
After your blog has grown to a certain point, you’ll want to start using new blog posts to direct readers towards the older ones. This is the main point of internal linking.
Besides providing additional exposure to old posts, internal linking can help in putting several of your posts into context. In other words, it could be a tool to make older posts more relevant to new readers.
Internal links also assist search engines when creating your blog’s sitemap. If you use them with good measure and in the appropriate places, these links will be of great help for your SEO as well as for reinforcing the subjects your blog explores.
Technique #6. Compress Images
If you add images to your blog posts, you could significantly increase their search engine rankings. It’s because, generally speaking, search engines prefer content that engages the audience more. And visual content has the advantage over pure text in that regard.
Of course, you’ll want to obtain permissions when using someone else’s images. Alternatively, you can use royalty-free stock images or create your own.
When it comes to SEO optimisation, it’s important to compress images. While visuals are great for making your blog posts more engaging and visible online, images can weigh down your pages and make them slower to load.
This is an aspect worth considering since Google favours faster-loading pages in search results. Pages with good loading speed provide a better experience for website visitors, which is why search engines promote them.
If you’re unsure whether images would slow down your blog page, it’s better to err on the side of caution. Sometimes, it can take only a few 100KB images to severely compromise your page’s load speed.
On the subject of images, you should also pay attention to the feature image on your blog posts. These images can be more effective in catching the attention of the reader than most titles and headers.
Naturally, the design will play an essential role in your feature image. That’s why you should consider some professional help, and Automation Agency can provide just that. Our Design Heroes can produce effective images that will make your blog posts stand out.
Technique #7. Have a Consistent Posting Schedule
Regular content publishing is equally important as a principle on all platforms, and this includes blogs. It’s vital both for your audience and in terms of SEO for the same reason: it shows your blog is active.
To keep your readers engaged in the long run, consistency will be crucial.
By creating constant activity on your blog, you’ll also signal Google and other search engines that the website is fully operational. This will make search engines scan your site more often and boost your ranking.
However, the quality of your content should never suffer because of your posting schedule.
There’s a fine balance between how well you write your content and the frequency with which you post it. Determine your schedule based on how often you can put out informative and engaging posts and consider that this practice will become a part of your long-term strategy.
Make Your Blog Posts Perfect for SEO
If you employ all the mentioned techniques, your blog will become a powerhouse in attracting visitors. Your content will be more visible, increasing your reach and engaging more potential clients.
When properly optimised, your blog can turn into the perfect tool.
Yet, the sheer amount of work that goes into keeping up with blog content can be somewhat daunting. If you don’t have too much experience in this field, don’t worry – Automation Agency can help!
Our Concierge Service can help you with creating your blog webpage, designing your blog graphics, and publishing the content. Simply click on this link to contact us and our experts will be there to help!
