SEO Writing: 15 Tips on Writing Blog Posts That Rank on Google

If you’ve ever written a blog post as a blogger, you know how long it can take. From topic/title selection and gathering research to writing the post and pressing “Publish,” the process often demands lots of time. That‘s why if your post doesn’t get the expected traffic, it can be a major letdown.

1. Conduct Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing people’s search terms. It is crucial for SEO and general marketing. It helps you understand what your audience is looking for and how to align your content with their needs.

To start, list down all the topics you have in mind. Use a keyword research tool like Ubersuggest to get accurate results. Search for keyphrases and choose keywords with low competition and high search volume. For example, you might choose “dog behavior training” if you write about that topic. This keyword has a search volume of 2,900 monthly searches and a keyword difficulty score of 46%, making it a good target.

Next, look at your competitors to find content gaps. Use tools like Topic Research to enter a broad keyword related to your niche. This will help you find topics your competitors have covered and identify opportunities for your content.

Once you have your primary keywords, find secondary keywords. These are related terms or long-tail variations of your primary keyword. Using secondary keywords helps you cover your topic more comprehensively and improves your chances of ranking.

Remember, keyword research is not a one-time task. Trends change, and so should your keywords. Regularly update your keyword list to stay relevant.

2. Optimize Your Title

Your blog post title is the first thing readers see; it plays a crucial role in SEO. A well-optimized title can significantly boost your click-through rate (CTR) and improve your search engine ranking. Here are some tips to help you craft the perfect title:

1. Include Your Target Keyword: Ensure your main keyword is part of the title. This helps search engines understand what your post is about.
2. Keep It Under 60 Characters: Titles that are too long may get cut off in search results. Aim for a length between 55-60 characters.
3. Make It Compelling: Use power words and numbers to make your title more enticing. For example, “5 Tips to Improve Your SEO” is more engaging than “Improve Your SEO.”
4. Avoid Clickbait: Ensure your title accurately reflects the content of your post. Misleading titles can increase bounce rates and harm your SEO.
5. Adjust Title and Subheadings: Based on your updated keyword research results, modify the title (H1) header or any subheaders (H2, H3) as necessary.

A captivating title not only attracts readers but also signals to search engines that your content is valuable and relevant.

3. Write a Compelling Meta Description

A meta description is a brief summary of your article that appears below the title tag in search results. Even though Google might not always display the meta description you set, it’s still important to optimize it. A well-crafted meta description can entice users to click on your result, improving your click-through rate.

Here are some tips to write an effective meta description:

• Use active voice to make your description clear and direct.
• Include action verbs like “learn more,” “find out,” or “dive deep” to encourage clicks.
• Keep it short. Aim for one to two sentences, as Google cuts off descriptions after about 105 characters on mobile.
• Naturally include your target keyword to signal to users that your page covers the topic they are interested in.

Remember, a good meta description should clearly describe your content and its benefits, and include relevant keywords.

By following these tips, you can create meta descriptions that stand out and attract more visitors to your site.

4. Use Headings and Subheadings

Using headings and subheadings is crucial for both readers and search engines. Headings still play an important role in SEO by helping to structure your content and making it easier to read.

Why Use Headings?

Headings and subheadings improve readability by clearly signaling transitions between topics. This helps readers navigate smoothly through the content. Additionally, they allow search engines to understand your post’s hierarchy and main points.

How to Use Headings Effectively

1. Start with H1: Your H1 tag should be the title of your post and include your primary keyword.
2. Use H2 for Main Sections: Break your content into main sections using H2 tags. Each H2 should support your H1.
3. Add H3 for Subsections: If you need to further break down your H2 sections, use H3 tags.
4. Maintain Hierarchy: Always follow the order of H1, H2, H3, etc. This creates a clear and logical structure.

A well-structured blog post not only makes it easier for readers to follow but also helps search engines crawl and index your content more effectively.

By organizing your content with headings, you can create a clear and logical structure that helps both Google and your readers understand and navigate your content.

5. Write Quality Content

Creating quality content is the foundation of effective SEO writing. Without focusing on quality, no amount of optimization will help you rank higher. But what is quality content?

• Accurate: Ensure your information is correct and up-to-date.
• Valuable: Provide insights that your audience finds useful.
• Original: Offer unique perspectives and avoid plagiarism.
• Engaging: Keep your readers interested with interactive elements.

To create quality content, consider hiring someone who writes well and has firsthand domain expertise. This is especially important for “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) topics, which include health, legal, and financial advice. Google holds this type of content to a higher standard because misinformation can have serious repercussions.

By creating quality content, you can build trust with your audience and establish yourself as an expert in your niche.

Remember, user-first content for SEO is valuable, comprehensive, and well-written. This approach will help you boost your SERP rankings and connect better with your audience.

6. Include Keywords Naturally

Including keywords naturally in your blog post is crucial for SEO success. Avoid keyword stuffing as it can make your content unreadable and may even lead to penalties from search engines. Instead, aim for a keyword density of around 1-2%, meaning your primary keyword should appear 1-2 times per 100 words.

Here are some tips to help you include keywords naturally:

1. Understand User Intent: Your goal should be to provide high-quality content that matches user intent, not just to insert keywords. This will help you use keywords more effectively.
2. Use Synonyms and Related Terms: Instead of repeating the same keyword, use synonyms and related terms to make your content more engaging and less repetitive.
3. Incorporate Keywords in Headings: Use your primary keyword in headings and subheadings to help search engines understand the structure of your content.
4. Write for Humans First: Focus on creating valuable content for your readers. Keywords should fit naturally within the context of your writing.

Remember, the key to effective keyword use is to maintain a natural flow in your writing. This not only improves readability but also enhances your SEO efforts.

7. Optimize Images with Alt Text

Optimizing images with alt text is a crucial part of SEO. Alt text helps search engines understand the content of your images, which can improve your site’s visibility in search results. It also enhances accessibility for visually impaired users who rely on screen readers.

Why Alt Text Matters

Alt text serves multiple purposes:

• It provides a description of the image for screen readers.
• It helps search engines index your images.
• It can improve your site’s ranking in image search results.

Best Practices for Writing Alt Text

Follow these tips to write effective alt text:

1. Be descriptive but concise.
2. Include your focus keyword or keyphrase where appropriate.
3. Avoid keyword stuffing.
4. Use natural language.

Alt text is not just for SEO; it also makes your content more accessible to everyone.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Using generic phrases like “image” or “photo” as alt text.
• Leaving alt text fields empty.
• Overloading alt text with keywords.

By following these best practices, you can ensure that your images are optimized for both search engines and users.

8. Use Internal and External Links

Internal and external links are crucial for SEO. Internal links connect different pages on your website, helping distribute link value and making it easier for search engines to find and index your content. They also improve user navigation by creating a roadmap for users to explore your site’s content.

External links, on the other hand, point to high-quality resources on other websites. These links add credibility to your content and provide additional value to your readers by directing them to authoritative sources.

When adding internal links, ensure the anchor text is relevant to the linked content. For example, if you’re writing about dog training, you can link to other articles on training treats, essential commands, or training schedules. This helps readers and signals to Google that your site is an authority on the topic.

When referencing statistics, reports, or case studies for external links, it’s a good idea to link to sources. Ensure these sources are up-to-date to maintain the accuracy and credibility of your content.

Internal links boost a website’s SEO by distributing PageRank across pages, aiding the visibility of important pages on SERPs. They also play a crucial role in enhancing the SEO of important pages—not just your homepage.

In summary, using both internal and external links effectively can significantly enhance your SEO efforts and provide a better experience for your readers.

9. Improve Readability

Improving the readability of your blog posts is crucial for keeping your audience engaged and ensuring they understand your message. Here are some tips to help you achieve this:

1. Use short sentences and paragraphs. This makes your content more scannable and easier to digest.
2. Use simple and clear language. This ensures that readers of all levels can understand your writing.
3. Incorporate visuals. Images, infographics, and videos can enhance your content and make it more engaging.
4. Utilize bullet points and numbered lists. These are great for presenting information clearly and concisely.

If your content is difficult to read, users will bounce off your page and likely never come back. This behavior signals to Google that your content is of low quality, which can negatively impact your rankings.

Remember, most readers skim blog posts rather than reading every word. By making your content easy to read, you can keep your audience engaged and improve your chances of ranking higher on Google.

10. Focus on E-E-A-T

When it comes to SEO, focusing on E-E-A-T is crucial. E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It’s a framework that Google uses to evaluate the quality and credibility of content.

To improve your E-E-A-T, consider the following tips:

1. Experience: Share real-life experiences and case studies to show you know what you’re discussing.
2. Expertise: Highlight your qualifications and link to other authoritative sources to support your claims.
3. Authoritativeness: Get mentions and backlinks from other reputable sites to boost your authority.
4. Trustworthiness: Include testimonials, reviews, and clear contact information to build trust with your audience.

By focusing on E-E-A-T, you not only improve your content’s quality but also its chances of ranking higher on Google.

11. Write a Strong Introduction

Crafting a strong introduction is crucial for grabbing your reader’s attention and setting the stage for the rest of your blog post. Your opening paragraph should introduce something valuable that readers won’t find anywhere else. This could be advice, tips and tricks, or case studies.

To write an effective introduction, follow these steps:

1. Start with a good hook. This can be a quote, fact, statistic, or an interesting personal experience.
2. Highlight your audience’s pain point. Let them know you understand their problem and that you have a solution.
3. Tell your readers what they can expect. Give a brief overview of what the post will cover.
4. Use your focus keyword. Include it naturally within the first 10% of your content.
5. Focus on readability. Keep sentences short and paragraphs concise.

A strong introduction not only grabs attention but also builds trust and sets the tone for the rest of your content.

12. Update and Repurpose Old Content

Updating and repurposing old content is a smart way to keep your blog fresh and relevant. Content repurposing is the practice of reusing all or parts of existing content. This usually involves changing the format from a blog post to a video.

To determine which blog posts need updating, conduct a content audit. This will help you identify underperforming or outdated pieces. Once identified, you can refresh the content by adding new information, removing outdated details, optimizing keywords, and improving formatting and readability.

Steps to Update and Repurpose Content

1. Conduct a Content Audit: Identify which posts need updating.
2. Add New Information: Ensure the content is current and relevant.
3. Remove Outdated Information: Get rid of any old or incorrect details.
4. Optimize Keywords: Make sure your keywords are up-to-date and naturally included.
5. Improve Formatting and Readability: Make the content easier to read and more engaging.

Repurposing content can also mean transforming old blog posts, articles, and social media content into new formats or rewriting them with fresh information and formatting. This not only saves time but also helps you reach a broader audience.

Keeping your content updated and repurposed ensures it remains valuable and continues to attract traffic.

13. Promote Your Blog Posts

Promoting your blog posts is crucial to driving traffic and increasing visibility. Here are some effective strategies to get your content noticed:

1. Share on Social Media: Utilize platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to reach a broader audience. Create engaging posts that encourage sharing and interaction.
2. Engage with Online Communities: Participate in forums and groups related to your blog’s niche. Share your posts where relevant, but avoid spamming.
3. Email Marketing: Build an email list and send newsletters featuring your latest blog posts. Personalized emails can significantly boost engagement.
4. Collaborate with Influencers: Partner with influencers in your niche to promote your content. Their endorsement can help you reach a larger audience.
5. Repurpose Content: Turn your blog posts into different formats like videos, infographics, or podcasts. This can help you reach audiences who prefer different types of content.

Promoting your blog is not a one-time task. Consistent effort and diverse strategies are key to long-term success.

Remember, promote your blog using all legitimate white hat techniques and don’t expect results right away. Keep writing and improving your content while you promote.

14. Monitor and Analyze Performance

Monitoring and analyzing your blog’s performance is crucial for ongoing SEO success. Tracking your SEO performance helps you understand what works and what needs improvement.

Key Metrics to Track

To measure your SEO performance, focus on these essential metrics:

1. Search Engine Rankings: Track where your blog posts rank for your target keywords on search engines.
2. Impressions: Monitor how often your blog posts appear in search results.
3. Organic Traffic: Measure the number of visitors visiting your blog from search engines.
4. Click-Through Rate (CTR): Calculate the percentage of people who click on your blog post after seeing it in search results.
5. Engagement Rate: Assess how users interact with your content, such as time spent on the page and bounce rate.

Tools for Monitoring Performance

Gather data on your blog’s performance using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. These tools provide insights into user behavior and help you make data-driven decisions.

Regularly reviewing your blog’s performance data allows you to adjust your strategies and improve your SEO efforts continuously.

Adjusting Strategies Based on Data

Data-driven decision-making is key to SEO success. Use the insights from your performance data to refine your approach, focusing on what works best for your audience and search engine algorithms.

15. Get Backlinks

Backlinks are gold in the blogging SEO world, but if you struggle with this, you’re not alone. Most bloggers loathe getting backlinks. Fortunately, I can teach you how to get high-quality backlinks FAST.

Learn more about getting backlinks in my 10 Ways to Get High-Quality Backlinks MasterClass.

HOW TO WRITE SEO FRIENDLY BLOG POSTS

BONUS: USE AN SEO PLUGIN

If you aren’t sure how to make your blog SEO-friendly or if you’re wondering is a blog good for SEO, then using an SEO plugin could be helpful.

Even if you’re an SEO pro, a plugin can provide useful reminders to ensure you’ve checked all your SEO boxes.

Some of the top plugins are Yoast SEO, All-in-One SEO, HubSpot, and Rank Math.

Wondering how they work? For example, if you have the Yoast SEO plugin, you simply input your keyword into the correct box, and then it will rank you as you write.

It will let you know if you’ve missed something important, like including the keyword in your meta description.

HOW TO WRITE SEO-FRIENDLY BLOG POSTS: FAQS

WHAT IS AN SEO FRIENDLY BLOG?

An SEO-friendly blog is optimized for search engines to increase its visibility in search results.

For travel blogs, this means using relevant keywords, ensuring mobile responsiveness, optimizing images, and providing valuable content that addresses searchers’ intent.

The goal is to attract organic traffic and rank higher on search engines like Google.

HOW TO WRITE SEO FRIENDLY BLOG POSTS

HOW DO I WRITE SEO-FRIENDLY CONTENT?

Writing SEO-friendly blog posts is a multi-step process (see below). However, once you’ve done it a few times, this process becomes second nature, and before you know it, you have the best SEO blog posts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is SEO writing?

SEO writing is creating content that ranks high on search engines like Google. It involves using keywords, optimizing titles, and writing quality content that appeals to readers and search engines.

Why is keyword research important?

Keyword research helps you understand what terms your audience is searching for. Using these keywords in your content can improve your chances of ranking higher on search engines.

How do I optimize my blog title?

To optimize your blog title, make it compelling and include your main keyword. A good title can attract readers and improve your search engine ranking.

What is a meta description?

A meta description summarises your blog post that appears under the title in search engine results. It should be short, include keywords, and make readers want to click on your post.

What are internal and external links?

Internal links connect to other pages on your website, while external links connect to different websites. Both types of links can improve your SEO by providing more information and keeping readers engaged.

What does E-E-A-T stand for?

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It’s a guideline for creating high-quality content that readers can trust.