When it comes to writing a captivating blog post, remember that it isn’t something you can do without proper planning and research – it requires skill. If you intend to keep your reader interested, make the content enjoyable and structure it well. If people understand your article, they’ll like it and will probably share it among their circle. It will, in return, improve your search engine rankings.
SEO Essentials to Rank Higher in 2021
So, if you want to rank on the first page of Google, here are six SEO essentials you should keep in mind for your blog posts.
1. Begin with keyword research
If you want to create blog posts that top the SERPs, ensure you do your keyword research properly.
First, do your research. Then, proceed onto the next step, that is, which keyword should you target and whether that’s a higher volume target or not. Now, create the content around it. Don’t forget to read similar blogs that rank well for that particular keyword. Ensure that your keyword research responds to the following three questions:
- 1. Which keywords have the highest search volume?
- 2. How challenging are these keywords?
- 3. What are the frequently asked questions?
Just a little glance over the SERP will be enough to give you an idea. See if websites like Stack Overflow or Quora top the SERPs. If they do, replacing them is easier compared to well-written blogs with solid internal backlinks.
During your research, search for more common phrases. Your blog must target the most common keywords. After you’re done picking and using these keywords, the chances of you ranking higher in the SERPs will improve significantly.
2. Get backlinks by sharing your content with influencers
If you’re successful in achieving influencers’ attention, you’ll get a great reward from them in the form of a backlink. This process is also known as blogger outreach and helps increase traffic to your website.
But you have to get your pitch right. Don’t be too pushy, but don’t be too hesitant – you’ve got to step up. Your main goal is to get a couple of backlinks, if not more. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a link in a blog post or a share on social media, all of this matters.
But don’t come banging at the door asking for a backlink. It doesn’t work that way. If the influencer likes your content, they’ll give you a backlink. If not, well, you can’t force them.
3. Make long-tail keywords your primary focus
Of course, you’d love to achieve a good rank for short-tail keywords that describes what you do in the broadest sense.
If you provide men’s clothing, then showing up when people Googlemen’s clothing would mean millions of people would find you. However, try searching for that term, and you’ll know there are some giant competitors you’re competing with within the industry. Of course, your blog wouldn’t be able to overpower giants like Ralph Lauren, Diesel, Calvin Klein, and Gucci.
But when you give it some thought, many people searching for men’s clothing won’t probably use this term since it’s so generic. Usually, people are looking for specific information, for example, “how do Chinos and Khakis differ?” or “Are suspenders out of fashion?”.
These specific, more detailed searches are known as long-tail keywords. For many websites looking to enhance their SEO, these keywords are the most critical factors. Since they’re not as competitive as their short-tail counterparts, they’ll help you grab some share of the traffic.
Read also: 10 Tools for Long Tail Keywords Research in Any Niche
4. Perform SERP research for all topics your blog relates to
Not every SERP looks the same. Thanks to the emergence of rich results, specific searches have ads of a product at the top of the results page. Some consist of answer boxes. Some generate a customary list of links, and some dominate the page with a local results map.
To ensure your blog posts stand out, optimizing them is necessary. How? By finding out how the search results page looks like for the term. Plus, go through the top 3 blogs and see how they’ve written their blog post. Look for patterns. How did they use headings? Images? Page title? And what’s their length? See what questions they answer.
It will help you decide why Google ranks them higher.
5. Structure your post
To write an SEO-friendly, readable post, you need to set its structure straight. It means that every post must contain:
- An introduction (where you introduce your topic)
- A body (where the main message is)
- A conclusion (where you draw a conclusion or summarize the main ideas)
Write down a few sentences or make an outline explaining what you would be writing in every section. Also, ensure that you utilize visuals such as graphs and charts to attract the audience. It will help you create a readable, structured blog post. Now comes the time to write, and you’ll probably do it well because you’ve got everything mapped out.
Read also: HTML Sitemap vs XML Sitemap
6. Use helpful subheadings
Suppose search engines identify that your target keyword is part of literally every subheading in the blog. In that case, they’ll push your blog down in the SERPs because they’ll consider it keyword stuffing. Instead, your subheadings must allow the readers to navigate the content.
Use subheadings for the sole purpose of increasing readability by breaking up your article. In a nutshell, let your subheadings guide your readers. If possible, ensure subheadings talk about benefits content of use to viewers.
Conclusion
If you’ve been writing blog posts but haven’t been getting the results you’ve been longing for, this checklist will be of great help.
Yes, blog posts do work and can yield fruitful results. But only if they’re supported by the six essentials above. Ensure to do proper research, identify the best keywords, get influencers on board, and you’ll achieve maximum results instantly.
Understand that this list is just a basic overview for doing a great SEO, and there might be tons of other things worth discussing. But this is just a simple checklist that you can use for writing/editing your blog posts.
