Blogging SEO & Content Tips
Any blogger will tell you that content is king… and that’s so true! Nothing matters more on your blog than the content you produce. Great content should focus on providing value to the reader while highlighting your knowledge and expertise.
When people search for something online, 9 times out of 10, they wind up on a blog looking for answers. Without content, there would be no blogs, and thus no answers to solve readers’ problems!
Make it your mission to provide answers to the people searching for them through the articles you publish. Give the people what they’re looking for.
One of the best ways to gain some insight on how to do this is by learning about SEO. SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization, is essentially the process of how to get organic traffic from search engines.
A little keyword research before drafting an article goes such a long way in terms of understanding what people are looking for online and the specific search terms they’re using.
Plus, when you integrate what you’ve found through keyword research into your content, you have a much better chance of getting your articles ranking and increasing your blog’s traffic.
There are plenty of ways to optimize your blog using SEO strategies. Doing this will set your blog up for success as you begin to show authority to search engines and stand out from the rest of the blogs online.
SEO can be a bit mystifying… so can writing great content. But we’ve got you covered! All you need to know about epic blog content, as well as SEO, can be found in these articles.
(And yes, we really can teach you how to write a blog post that people will want to keep reading.)
Important Elements on Your Blog
When it comes to creating your blog, the first step is designing the actual website. While there’s quite a bit that goes into this process, there are some must-have elements that you should focus on building right off the bat.
These core components of blog design are the:
- Homepage
- About Page (with a captivating blog bio)
- Blog Post Page
- Navigation Bar
- Sidebar
- Header & Footer
Once you have these main elements established, you can start to get funky with it and create the additional components of your blog using the framework you set up. This includes things like deciding on a color scheme, uploading images and choosing a flawless font.
If you feel stuck while building your blog, remember to seek inspiration from those who came before you! What do you like about other blogs? How can you replicate this in a unique way on your own blog?
Take this advice with you as you go forward with your blog creation. And remember not to get hung up on the little details… you can always smooth them out later!
How to Write Incredible Blog Posts
After you create a basic framework for your blog, it’s time to get started with cranking out content.
Always keep in mind that content is the single most important component of any blog. Without content, there would be no blog in the first place!
Besides just publishing articles on your blog, you need to make sure that they are actually valuable and relevant to your readers. If your audience recognizes that you have solutions to their unique problems, they’ll continue to come back time and time again.
When it comes to creating blog posts, it makes a world of difference to start with a blog post outline and work from there. Using an outline is the top way to organize your thoughts and create a cohesive article that reads well.
Each article should be finished off with a catchy headline to rope readers in and then be published on your blog in a timely manner.
Consistent and captivating content is the key to your reader’s hearts.
SEO for Bloggers
Learning SEO is a cornerstone of being a successful blogger, and getting a jump on the basics as a beginner will create a strong foundation for your blogging empire.
When your SEO is on point, you can expect your articles to rank in search engine result pages (SERPS) and benefit from heaps of organic traffic… Hello first page of Google! 👋
As your blog grows, this traffic translates to money. So keep in mind that SEO is directly tied to your earning potential as a blogger.
But how exactly can you implement SEO strategies on your own blog? Well, the basics of SEO are made up of on-page SEO and off-site SEO.
On-page SEO
On-page SEO is everything that you can do on your website to put it in Google’s favor.
This includes things like:
- Creating quality content – write BIGGER & BETTER than everyone else
- Incorporating keywords – make sure to do your keyword research!
- Keeping the URL short & writing an engaging meta description
- Interlinking posts & linking to other authoritative sites
Above all else (and like with most things in blogging), the best way you can practice SEO is by writing high quality content. And this starts with keyword research, or actively looking for what people are searching for online.
When you do your keyword research and then incorporate the chosen keywords into your articles, you make it easy for Google to understand what your article is about when it crawls for information. This is the number one way to boost your organic traffic and what to focus on as you begin to learn on-page SEO.
Plus, writing about what people are actually searching for online is key for how to get people to read your blog.
To do keyword research you’ll need a tool that allows you to access all of the search data out there.
We recommend using a keyword research tool to help you level up your SEO. We personally recommend Keysearch because it is so affordable. Use our Keysearch coupon code to get a 20% discount. Simply add the code “FASTLANE” when checking out.
Off-site SEO
On the other hand, off-site SEO is action taken outside of your website to build authority in Google’s eyes.
The most important aspect of off-site SEO is backlinks, aka when someone links to your blog from their own website.
Backlinks show Google that if other websites will link to you (especially from the same niche), you must know what you’re talking about. This builds authority and ultimately leads to Google ranking your content higher in SERPs.
You can build up backlinks through:
- Guest posting: Write a quality piece of content to be published on someone else’s site in return for links to your blog.
- Media features: Reach out to local media outlets and see if they’ll feature your blog on their website. Media websites generally have a high domain authority (DA) which means their links are extra powerful.
- Collaboration posts: Oftentimes, many bloggers will get together to work on a single post by each writing a paragraph or two. All contributing bloggers should get a link back to their website. Check out Facebook groups to find opportunities!
The sooner you can start to learn SEO and implement it on your blog, the better. Take things one step at a time and always remember that it all goes back to writing and publishing high quality content.
Other Tips to Get Your Articles Ranking
When it comes to blogging, it’s okay to not know everything at once and make blogging mistakes. This is only natural! Just correct yourself and get back on course. The entire blogging journey is about learning, writing and trusting the process.
Whenever you start to feel overwhelmed or confused, return to this place and use our resources to solve whatever problems you may be having.
If you don’t know a word, be sure to check out our blogging terms article for a complete glossary, and if you’re stuck in a creative rut, run through our blog post ideas to spark inspiration.
More than anything, my biggest tip when it comes to blogging is to remember to celebrate small wins! Open a bottle of wine after you publish your first post, take yourself out to dinner when you get an article on Page 1.
Even if it seems like a teeny tiny accomplishment, always remember to celebrate it to boost morale and prove to yourself that you (yes, you) CAN succeed at blogging!