Simple and Effective Ways to Optimize Your Blog Content
WriteCollective
Creating and maintaining an on-site blog for your business can be a tall order, especially when the many other demands of your work need to take precedence. When you’re catering to clients, managing financial accounts, and dealing with day-to-day operations, you might not have the time or energy to squeeze in blogging activities. However, there are a few compelling benefits to be gained when you add articles to your website, optimize your blog content, and update your blog consistently!
A blog provides you with the opportunity to add value for your current clientele through articles aimed at delivering timely information meant to enhance their experience with your company. It also helps you to reach a larger audience, potentially encouraging new patronage. In order to expand your reach, though, you’re going to have to optimize your blog content.
Top Ways to Optimize Your Blog Content
While there are some simple steps you can take on your own to begin optimizing blog content, bringing in a team of SEO experts can help you to post relevant content that is tailored to your ideal audience consistently.
Consider Topic Selection
The topics you choose for your blog posts can majorly impact your ability to optimize content. Start by selecting topics that are relevant and timely. Keep in mind that some topics are always going to be relevant. These are known as “evergreen” topics. That said, you shouldn’t necessarily post holiday-related articles during the middle of summer — they might be relevant, but the timing also has to be right for your audience to care about what you’re saying!
Since your topic choice informs your content, you need to make sure that the subject matter is both relevant to your industry and that it is timely, corresponding to current online trends. An article about data breaches, for example, is sure to catch attention because it concerns both businesses and consumers. However, you might want to wait to post such content until a major data breach makes headlines. That way, your topic will already be trending.
Topic selection also impacts the title you choose. You might be surprised to learn that your title is perhaps the most important part of your content. After all, it is the first thing readers will see and it will guide the key phrases and terms that you’re able to weave in throughout your content.
Carefully Implement Keywords and Phrases
One of the best ways to optimize blog content is using keywords and keyword phrases. Although Google and other search engines frown upon the practice of keyword stuffing (a term for attempting to load subpar content with enough keywords to choke a search bot), a skilled SEO team can find ways to use keywords appropriately and get the recognition your stellar content deserves.
The major benefit of using keywords and phrases is that they can make your content easier to find. Of course, you’ll have to do some research to get the most bang for your buck, so to speak. It’s not enough to find trending keywords (those that the largest number of users are searching for right now) — you also have to find keywords that are relevant to your industry, your audience, and your content.
Assuming you can get away with sneaking in keywords and phrases that don’t fit your content could be a major mistake. It might work for you in the short term, but savvy readers will spot unnatural language immediately, and search engines will quickly follow suit. Getting caught using keywords inappropriately can impact your search rankings these days, so do your homework and find the keywords and phrases that will be the most beneficial all around.
Add Tags and Titles
Metadata is a little advanced for an SEO novice, but in essence, it refers to the data that sits behind the scenes of your content. It is embedded in your copy but invisible to readers. It can, however, be seen by search bots and utilized to help a broader range of searches land on your site.
If you are unfamiliar with how to use metatags and titles, there are plenty of resources online to help you out. Your SEO expert can also give you a crash course, or better yet, simply handle tagging for you!
Consider Your Length
There is no set, ideal length to optimize blog posts, but generally speaking, you want to avoid content that is less than 300 words in length. For some reason, search bots tend to pass over articles shorter than this. Additionally, you need a little more meat on the bones to interest voracious readers. Most industry experts recommend somewhere in the 300-1,000 word range for optimization purposes.
Include Relevant Linking
Ideally, you want links outside of your website pointing back at you, but you can also use linking within blog content to your advantage. One good way to do this is to reference past articles in your current content whenever possible in order to link back to other pages.
As links go, however, you should also make sure to link out to each of your social media profiles as a way to make sharing your content easier for readers. When readers can share your copy at the click of a button, you have a much better shot at organic link-building, which Google looks on favorably.
Publish in Sharable Formats
In terms of making content easier to share, you should also consider the format you choose to relay your blog content. Instead of building up hard-to-digest blocks of text, you might want to experiment with infographics and videos. These self-contained formats are tailor-made for the short attention spans of the average internet users.
You’ll be glad to learn that you can also embed links and metadata in these formats, increasing opportunities for both optimization and sharing. When it comes to utilizing tools for blogging productivity, the format you select can have a major impact on the outcome of your efforts.
The Best Content Wins Out
Whether you’re optimizing a home services piece, an article about mental health, or real estate blog, the absolute best and easiest way to optimize is to start with a solid foundation, which is to say, the best possible content. The battle is already half won when you create clever, engaging, entertaining, and informative content that users are looking for. From there, optimization can ensure that the people looking for you have a path to your door!
Ready to learn more about creating an effective blog for your brand? Reach out to the SEO blog writing experts at Write Collective today!