How to Create a Blog That People and Google Will Love in 4 Clear Steps
When it comes to developing an SEO friendly blog, the priority is always people first, Google second.
You need to drive traffic to your website and showcase your expertise. One of the most powerful ways to do this is to create new content via your blog. Your blog is a key element in your Content Marketing strategy. You need to make sure that both your audience and Google can find your blog posts. That's why you need to consider SEO when you are creating your blog posts.
Companies that blog have 97% more inbound links.
(source Hubspot)
Two key factors in Search Engine Optimisation for your blog
Effective Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Search Marketing works on two levels: your websites (blogs) code and your blog content. Done well, these two aspects create clarity for Google and your audience, ensuring your blog posts and articles are seen by the right people, at the right time.
Factor One.
The first is 'on page' - your content. Effective Search Engine Optimised content is the practice of weaving relevant keywords and phrases throughout your writing so that it forms the content of your blog. Optimising your blog posts for your chosen search terms in this way means that your content will, in time, rank more highly on Google.
Factor Two.
The second is your blog post code and 'User Experience' (UX). Clean, compliant code is the addition of specific elements to the online language that your website and blog are built from. That's why WordPress is so popular with both bloggers and businesses because the code and structure is search friendly out-of-the-box. See my post here about why WordPress is our CMS of choice. Then User Experience; can your visitors navigate easily around your blog. Is your content pleasant and easy to read? Can I easily find other, associated content that I might also find useful? Are you encouraging (and making it easy) for your reader to share and 'pass on' your insight and value?
A great rule of thumb to remember is that while Google likes clean code and will reward you for it (in search results), your prospective and existing customers like clear, easy to read content.
4 Steps to superb search engine optimisation for your blog
Follow these 4 clear steps to ensure that your blog is full of content that’s relevant, that engages your customers – and that starts to establish you as an authority in your field. Done correctly and over time as you add more blog content, Google will reward your posts with higher rankings, meaning it will appear higher up on the search pages.
Step 1.
Define the words or phrases that sum up your business
Use a sheet of paper or spread sheet and write down of all the services you offer and all the products you provide. Can you condense these into a list that, when added together, describe your business?
This is a powerful way to distill your messages and make sure you can clearly define why you and your business is different.
Step 2.
Define the words or phrases that sum up your goals
What do you do that brings you the biggest profit? What do you enjoy and want to be known for? What sets you apart from your competition?
Can you convey these elements of your business to your customers in the words you use?
Create blog posts that really let your expertise shine and showcase your authority and expertise. Make sure you target 'one' topic (or keyword) per blog post so it has very a clear focus.
Step 3.
Always put your customer first – think about what a typical customer would type into a search engine to try and find you.
Are you making sure that what they search for matches what’s on your site? The writing or ‘copy’ on your blog contains your chosen key words and phrases, which enables customers to find out what your business offers and your blog topic with ease.
Step 4.
Think about how your is blog designed. Is it easy for your customers to navigate their way around and find what they need?
Ask a group of friends to give you honest feedback on what works and doesn’t when they look for a particular service you offer.
Are there ways that finding your services could be made clearer and easier for them?
If you're not sure of your answers to the above then; a) ask your visitors, b) take a look at your Google Analytics, are your bounce rates high, is your dwell time low. These are good indicators that content needs revising.
Make sure you effectively use Categories for your blog posts, this will help visitors to quickly find additional content around the specific category they are wanting to read about.
The Takeaway
Get your visitors to easily find and then 'love' your blog and want to return again and again by making sure your content has the value and insight they are looking for. Consider in depth both the type of content you are creating for your blog and its SEO. Search engine optimisation isn’t a quick fix and it typically takes a few months for your efforts to be effective. If you need results more quickly than this, it may be worth investing in a Google AdWords campaign to speed up the process.
At Arttia Creative we specialise in developing websites and blogs for our clients that are built on clean code and designed to give great User Experience and feature engaging on-page SEO. These elements mean that Google can understand what your business does and then present your website and blog as a potential result when customers search for the products and services you offer.
We’ll help you develop a search term strategy document for your business, giving you a ready-to-use reference for all your online marketing activities across the company.
We also offer monthly SEO support packages, so once we’ve developed your search term strategy, we’ll continually optimise your content and work to increase your Google ranking. Simple.