How To Write SEO-Friendly Blog Posts As A Newbie Blogger
How to write SEO-Friendly blog posts as a newbie blogger? is that really possible for a new blogger? The good news is; Yes! it is very much achievable for any blogger — new, old, or pro.
How do I write SEO-friendly blog posts? is a common search term on Google. What is the answer to this seemingly important question? Here is the answer ;
Understand what SEO is and implement it while writing your blog posts. But hold on! What is SEO?
What is SEO?
These three little letters -SEO- is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization. They are very important when it comes to blogging and web content creation. SEO is simply the act of optimizing (editing and perfecting) web content (blog posts and all content that appear on search engines ) so they can be displayed and ranked on search engine result pages. It is the process of editing web content so that search engines will understand the content and display them to their users.
Writing amazing blog posts that your audience love is not the best way to grow your blog and excel as a blogger or content writer. Really? Yes! Your blog posts or web content should be both search engine and human-friendly. They should be loved by your audience and search engines. Why? Search engines run the blogging world and you need to be in their good books to do exploits with your blog. Secondly, search engines bring in more audience than you can ever imagine. They are the time travelers of the blogosphere, saddled with the responsibility to swiftly disseminate your content to various continents — every country in the world. Amazing right? This is why you need to write SEO-friendly content.
How do I write SEO-friendly Blog posts and content?
So how do you write contents that search engines love? There are not so many ways to write these contents but the most trusted and result-yielding steps that all SEO experts (myself inclusive) swear by are as follows.
STEP ONE : Carry Out Keyword Research
The first step to take in writing a blog post that will rank well on Google or any other search engine is Keyword research.
First of all, keywords are terms and terminologies that search engines understand and look for in your content. It can be a single word like “blogging” or a sentence like “SEO for blogs”.
Keywords are like the language of the search engine. It is worth noting that these keywords are not alien nor from the metaverse — totally not out of this world. They are very mundane and vastly used by us daily.
Amazingly, they are words we humans ask search engines all the time when we want answers to questions. The search engines save these words we query them with every now and then and therefore call the words, keywords.
The major types of keywords are long-tail keywords and short-tail keywords. They have nothing to do with monkeys or animals 🙈. I can’t say why they are suffixed by the word tail. However, it is very important to know the difference and use them well.
- Long tail keywords — These are keywords that consist of three or more words. They are very effective in your blog ranking on search engine result pages if used well. Examples of these types of keywords are; “best keyword research tools” and free keyword tools”
- Short-tail keyword — Unlike its “long” brother, the short-tail keyword is brief and straight to the point. It’s mostly one to two words. Examples are; “blogging tips”, “fashion blogging” “blogging niches”, “cooking” and many more.
The short-tail keywords are usually the topics and one-word summary of the idea you have. You have to modify them into long tail keywords so they become a post title and rank well on search engines.
GREAT TIPS!
One ever-winning rule of thumb that I use when generating content ideas is asking questions like a user. This tip is used by a lot of SEO experts and it is worth banking on. Let’s assume I want to write a blog post about keyword research.
I will ask myself; “what will I type on google to know more about keyword research”? I will likely type “how to do keyword research for a blog post” or “easy keyword research steps”. These answers become my proposed content ideas. The next thing I will do is research on the keyword using the two best techniques below.
Why do you need to use keywords in your blog post?
All web content writers need to use keywords because search engines are customer-centric (just like me 😊 ) and they pride themselves in giving the best results to the billions of users that bank on them all over the world. They have a search process (algorithm) that they, religiously stick to in other to satisfy their users. This search process is dominated by keywords — It is the only language and currency in use in this process.
How does the process work? Just three easy steps; Crawling, Indexing, and ranking.
Crawling: Search engines have programs known as bots, web crawlers, or spiders. These multiple-named programs (web crawlers ) are tasked with the responsibility of crawling — going through websites, web pages and blog posts in search of keywords — so they can be stored for users.
Indexing: After the bots have successfully crawled a website, they archive all pages in their database according to the keywords. This process is called indexing.
Ranking: Every indexed website is ranked (search ranking) and displayed to users on the search engine result page (SERP). Whenever a user types a search query (I.e. asks something on Google or any other search engine), Google bots search its archive for the lists of blog posts and contents that have that keyword or search term and display it to satisfy the user.
You don’t want your blog post to be read by just a few people you told about your blog via word of mouth. Do you? So you see why you need to use keywords in your blog posts? In SEO and blogging, keywords are golden! However, it all begins with keyword research.
How to carry out keyword research for your blog posts
Hey! Do not fret, this is as easy as eating pizza. You can either use free or paid keyword research tools that are available on the internet or go the good old way that I love and use.
What you have to do is;
- Write down your keyword of choice, proposed blog post title or content idea either on paper or app. E.g. SEO or styling stripes like a fashionista.
- Type this title or keyword on your keyword research tool of choice — like the one below. It will display numerous keyword suggestions (that are worthy to be a blog post title) alongside relevant search metrics that relate to the topic or idea of your search.
- Choose any of these titles while ensuring you pay attention to the metrics provided. Use titles with lesser KD% (keyword density percentage) they easily rank better.
Viola! You have just carried out keyword research using keyword tools.
So what is the good old method of keyword research that I use? Here it is👇
Method One: Use ‘People Also Ask’ On Google
- Write down your blog post idea e.g. how to make chocolate cake (why not cake ? I am a foodie who loves to cook as much as I eat😊)
- Search for that idea on Google or any search engine of your choice. I suggest and use google because it has more users and ranking there will be a big boost for your blog.
- Once the search result comes up, scroll down to the “people also ask” segment. You will see some questions which are all blog post-worthy titles. You can use any of these questions as your keyword title, or modify them in your little way like I did the title of this post by adding “…as a newbie blogger”. Be aware that the more questions you open the more “people also ask questions” google reveals. So do well to explore as many questions to get the best title for your blog post.
Method Two: Use Google’s Related Searches
- You can and should also scroll down to the “related search” column at the bottom of the result page for more keyword title ideas. Be certain that you can always bank on these keyword titles because they are the questions your prospective readers are asking google every passing second and hour of the day.
Here are some of the best tools for keyword research ;
- SEMrush — I actually used this tool alongside the good old method in generating the keyword and title for this post. SEMrush offers both free and paid plans and it gives an in-depth and helpful search analysis of the keywords.
- Long tail pro is a great tool but only offers paid plans with a 7-day free trial option.
- Google Keyword Planner— It is all free and at your service.
- Word Stream — A great keyword tool that is totally free
GREAT TIPS!
Always ensure your keyword is between three (3) to seven (7)words. Try not to exceed seven words or 30 characters
Also, make sure your blog post title which is inclusive of your keyword is not more than twenty (20) words or sixty (60) characters. This is to ensure google doesn’t scrap out some part of your title which will affect your traffic and ranking on SERPs.
Finally! Place your keywords at the beginning of your blog post title!
After keyword research what next?
STEP TWO: Write Quality SEO Content!
Yes! After generating your keyword and blog post title, writing your blog post should be step number two. However, there are success-inducing guidelines to write your blog post for both Search engines and humans. These are the result-yielding guidelines that you should follow. Shall we?
✔ Use these “5-point content rule” of mine - What is the rule? The rule is, your content should and must ;
- Be Original — Do not copy and paste! Write genuine and original contents that are free of plagiarism. Do not also repurpose other people’s content by changing a word here and there — it is still plagiarism! Always know that millions of contents are out there and no one wants to read something similar that lacks originality. So use your own tone, voice, and words. Get ideas from other content (we all do that) but don’t copy others — be original!
- Be Informative — Everyone is searching for an answer to something - that is why they use Google and other search engines of course. Do your blog, self, and audience the honor of giving them an answer. Give them the information they so desire. This tip right here brings back the audience and you will surely thank me for it.
- Be Educative — There is always a way to educate people on every topic and niche. If you write about fashion or food or blogging — just name it - there is room for educating your audience. It can be through tips, hacks, pros, cons, etc. Simply ensure your content is educative one way or the other. Your traffic will show proof if you ‘serve’ educative content.
- Be Engaging — Who doesn’t like an engaging content? Absolutely no one! So always ensure your content will keep your readers glued till the end and unto the next blog post just like I am doing with you 😊. Sprinkle spices of humor and humanity here and there. Don’t be robotic like some machine-generated content. Say hi, if you need to, and include a friendly CTA (we will get to this soon) at the end of your blog post.
- Make It Lengthy! — I make bold to say, longer content will positively affect your blog ranking, now and always. Don’t throw in 200 words and call it a blog post (that is for Instagram *winks*). Write a minimum of 1000 words always — exhaust the topic and give value with every content. Doing this will make your readers love your content. It also increases the amount of time your visitors spend on the blog and Google pays attention to it when ranking.
….. A Little Break in transmission ..…Hey! Thanks for enjoying this post thus far. Read on till the end for the juiciest part and best SEO tip. Let’s go!
What Next?
✔ Write It Like An Essay! — Your blog post should have an introduction, body and conclusion. This makes it easy for both your readers and search engines to navigate your blog post and enjoy the content. It is no news that optimized blog posts are crawled and archived by programs known as “bots” or “spiders”.
These programs are simply lines of code that have no human feelings or emotions. All they understand are keywords and programmed rules — the algorithm. They will not take out time to meticulously read your content. Instead, these web crawlers or bots will swiftly go through your introduction, paragraphs, and conclusion like a skimming professor. It is what you present that will be interpreted.
Use headers (H1 to H6) adequately in buttressing your points. Don’t stuff keywords on H2 and H3 while using just them — Google no longer ranks content based on that rule. Instead, use headers like you do when writing a thesis. Include your keyword where necessary and not forcefully — Just like in this post.
You absolutely won’t want all your hard work in writing such a good blog post (like this one you are reading) to go to waste because you did not segment it into parts. So Dear blogger, do well to have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion just like in this blog post — Google will love it, and so will your readers.
Furthermore, do not forget to include CTA’s — Click Through Actions — in your blog posts.
What is a CTA? They are words or sentences that tell your readers to take a step or action. They prompt and compel your readers to act.
For instance, at the end of a lovely blog post, titled “ 5 simple ways to style your outfits like a fashionista” I include the CTA below.
“So lovelies, which of these 5 easy ways to style your outfits is your favorite? Kindly share other proven style tips you live by on the comment session — let’s learn from you.”
Note that the end result of a CTA is to “prompt an action” from your audience. In the example above, I want my readers to comment on other lovely style tips so we can interact. Your CTA can be channeled towards promoting a sale by jeering your readers to purchase a product. It can even be to compel them into dropping topics they will love to read on your blog. Completely, ensure you use CTA’s to your winning just like i did here😊.
STEP THREE : Infuse Keywords Strategically
Now you already know that google bolts and spiders ‘hastily’ crawl our content, looking for keywords in other to archive our post accordingly and present them as results to users during search.
These bolts will crawl your blog post (and website alike ) strategically. They will “likely”, go through the first paragraph in the blog post thoroughly, move from headers to the beginning and ends of other paragraphs in the body, and definitely the conclusion.
What are they looking for going through your content that way? The answer is keywords! They are searching through — albeit inhumanly - to take note of keywords and other necessities then decide if your content should be achieved and ranked on search engine result pages. You have to be in their good books and place your keywords strategically in the places they are likely to crawl through thoroughly.
Keyword Density is the best way to do this. I guess you are saying, ‘Keyword what? what does it mean? Do they still use that?’ — Here is the answer.
Keyword density is the number of times the desired keyword ( the one you want to rank for on SERPs) appears in the content. There is a thin line between keyword density and keyword spasm. If you place your keywords adequately — not forcefully and too much — you will have a good density and not spam the content detrimentally.
There are WordPress plugins such as Yoast SEO, and Rankmath that show the keyword density of your content and enable you to avoid keyword spamming.
NOTE! Currently, Keyword density is considered an outdated SEO practice. However, It is still effective but doesn’t work the way it use to — So says Mr. Cutt ( Google’s Former Head of WebSpam team ).
He said “I would love it if people could stop obsessing about keyword density. It’s going to vary. It’s going to vary by area, it’s going to vary based on what other sites are ranking it.
It’s not a hard and fast rule, and anyone who tells you there is a hard and fast rule you might be careful because they might be selling you keyword density software or something along those lines.”
Simply put, keyword density has been revamped. The rule that works is for you to use keywords naturally - don’t overuse them. Use it the new way which is as it naturally comes to you and not the old way of three times in 100 words.
This means you should not pay much attention to keyword density warnings from SEO plugins asking you to add more keywords to reach the density level. Nevertheless, you should reduce the keywords if the plugins alert you of keyword stuffing. I naturally use my keywords a maximum of five times in 1000 words. Sometimes (like in this post) it can be less than five times in four thousand words — Just be natural when using keywords.
Stories Matter! Do not just infuse Keywords, place them naturally so that they don’t alter your story or message. Don’t forget that every piece of content (be it on health, finance, food, or grief) is a story — You are telling it to your audience.
Where should you place keywords on your blog post?
You should place your keywords in the following places in other to rank well on search engine result pages. It is a good old rule that still works for everyone. It works so well and even earned me some google snippets posts.
Place your keywords here;
- In Your Blog Post Title — It is necessary to reiterate this!. Your keyword should be within the first three (3) to seven (7) words of your blog post or content title. It is an ethical SEO practice. Spiders — 🕷️🕷 — will certainly crawl through your titles first. Do not give them a bad ‘first impression’ that your content is not worthy to be ranked on Google’s first page.
- In your introduction — Your keyword should appear within the first five (5) to twenty (20) words or ten (10) to sixty (60) characters of your blog post. It should be right there welcoming the spiders to crawl your blog and rank it well on SERPs. Better still, ensure your keyword is in the first sentence of your blog post. Just like it is in this blog post.
- At The Beginning Of Paragraphs — Place your keywords “naturally” at the beginning of your paragraphs. Do not force it or spam the entire content with keywords. Google and all search engines hate keyword spamming and it will affect your search ranking holistically in a negative way. Simply, write your content naturally placing your keywords to create a flow.
- At The End Of your Paragraphs — Place your keywords naturally in the body of your content but also ensure you end some of your paragraphs with the keywords. Some paragraphs and not all — Let your content be natural.
- In Your Conclusion — This is a great way to get the bolts to salute you for your expertise. Plainly use your keyword at the beginning or end of your conclusion. It will do your content so much good.
After you have strategically infused your keywords within your content, do well to implement the next important step ;
STEP FOUR: Write An SEO-Friendly Meta Description
What is a blog post without a meta description? In my words, it’s a mere essay. Wait a minute what really is a Meta-description? Is it something from Marvel’s metaverse? 😂
What Is A Meta-Description?
A meta description is a descriptive writeup displayed under a post’s title (URL) on search engine result pages. It is aimed at informing readers about the content of the post.
Do not just write and optimize your blog post without writing a compelling meta description.
Sincerely, your meta description is the sales copy and advertisement piece of your blog post. It is what prospective readers see first before the content. It is what will either compel them to click and read the post or scroll down and visit another blog. You need to write a meta description that will literarily say to the prospect ( search user) “ this is the post with the answers you need”.
Similarly, it should make google bots nod and literarily say “ this blog post is on point! It needs to be on page one or even be a snippet”. How do you do that? Here is how do it;
- Start your Meta description with your keyword! — Google will love it and so will search users. The first one (1) to twenty (20) words or twenty to sixty characters of your meta description should contain your keyword. This is how to optimize your meta description for search engines.
- Make your Meta description short and compelling — Don’t make it an epistle. Simply use twenty (20) to one hundred and sixty (160) characters or ten (10) to twenty (20) words. These words should be compelling and make people click the link to read your post. They should be key points to the search query or information. This will make your readers know they are in for a treat and at the right place.
- Use CTA — Use catchy words that will make them click through. Words like see more, tips, hacks, free, etc. . These words do magic on meta-descriptions and even titles!
- Create Suspense — Most times, i love to end my meta-descriptions with a continuation mark suffixing an incomplete key point. Why? It creates suspense and makes them want to know the answers thereby clicking the post. This is like a ‘clickbait’ but a sincere one. Below is an example of how this works.
STEP FIVE : Use Images
A blog post without images is just a boring story — sorry writers. Images are the spice of your content. They add flavor to your served content thereby making it enticing and enjoyable to digest. Always include a creative featured image and ‘effective images’ within your content. Avoid publishing content without images unless you are writing a fictional story and it is also optional to not include an image— my two cents!
Images can absolutely play a huge part in your SEO and blog traffic. How? Have you ever checked for images on google and it leads you to a website? Your blog post images can do that and even more but there is a trick to it.
What trick? Image SEO! There is something called image SEO. You have to optimize your images for them to help you rank well on SERPs.
How To Do Image SEO
- Resize your images for swift loading — Smaller-size images positively affect your overall blog and content ranking because it increases your load time. Ensure you install an image resizer plugin in your blog to reduce your image sizes.
- Include Image Title — Always include an optimized image title. Don’t leave your images with a funny title. Do well to include your keyword on the image title but not all images to avoid keyword spasm.
- Include Alt-text: Image Alt-text is important for Google and your readers, especially the differently-advantaged readers. Ensure to describe the images adequately on the alt text. Even here on medium, Alt-text is a priority.
- Use Descriptive images: Don’t use images that are out of context. They should relate to the topic you have written on. Your images should buttress the points better (be descriptive) to your readers
GREAT TIPS!
Fast load time is a Google ranking factor. Websites that load fast are ranked better and larger images make your blog and pages load slower.
Also, don’t be bothered about taking photos for every content. That is not an issue because there are numerous websites to download free high-resolution photos. We have Pexel (my fave) , Unsplash, Canva (for doing wonders with visuals and images) , even IG, and many more!. Don’t limit yourself by publishing content without images. Get free images and ensure you credit the source — take a positive clue from the images on this post.
STEP SIX : Link Your Contents!
Links will do your content a great deal of good. Search engines love a blog post that refers readers to other similar content within or outside the blog.
There are two result-yielding ways to optimize your content through linking. They are; Interlinking and outbound links.
Interlinking — This type of link involves linking to similar content or pages within your blog. It enables your readers to navigate and stay longer on your blog — likewise, read more quality content. Ensure you always link to other similar content within your blog — Interlink. If you write a blog post about money, link to other money-related blog posts. This will keep your readers navigating from one content to another. In return, Google will rank you better for an increase in your reader’s dwell time — i.e, the amount of time your readers stayed on a page, post, or blog as a whole.
Outbound Links — These are links that take your visitors to other websites, blog posts or pages on the internet. These links can make your content rank well. How? when you link to other blogs, it increases your chances of getting a backlink (i.e being linked back) from the websites you linked to.
Search engines prioritize backlinks because it’s like a vote of confidence. To them ( search engines, especially Google) the blog linking to you (backlink) is saying “ this blogger knows his or her onion. The blog is great with quality content ”. This makes them rank you better on search engine result pages. However, note that you have a better ranking chance when you get backlinks from well-established and top-ranking websites or blogs like BBC, Search engine journals and more.
Hey! Don’t hold back, do well to link to other quality content on the world wide web. Also link to helpful (not competitive) content on other top-ranking blogs and websites.
Including links to your content helps increase your blog dwell time, amajor Google ranking factor. How does it do that? Your readers are more likely to stayon your blog by navigating other content through the links you included.
STEP SEVEN — MARKET IT!
Hey there, be your first marketer! you certainly are your own marketer. Always utilize social media to your favor. Ensure you share every post to your blog social handles — and your personal social pages if you don’t mind. Yes, you should have social media pages for your blog or website.
Tell people about the blog post and your blog via word of mouth — you shouldn’t be ashamed. You should also share it on your green app (WhatsApp ) status — some people will read it and even get to love your blog. Similarly, answer questions relating to your blog post on answering forums like Quora and link back to the post.
All of the marketing tips above are still SEO. They are Off-page SEO techniques that work. I use them all the time and they don’t fail.
🥁 🥁 Drum rolls…..
QUALITY RECAP!
Here is a recap of the 7 Easy steps to write SE0-friendly blog posts & content :
* Do keyword research and include your keyword at the beginning of your content title
* Write quality contents that are devoid of plagiarism
* Place your keywords in your content naturally and don’t spam!
* Write a killer Meta description that will make your target audience click on the post
* Add images to your content and optimize the images.
* Link your content — Link to other quality content and pages within and outside your blog.
* Share your content — Ensure to bring your content to people on the streets of social media and anywhere you reside.
At this point, you have fully been equipped with result-yielding SEO tips that work like magic. These steps are years of study and practice that have never failed me. Thousands of SEO Experts out there use and literarily swear by these SEO tips.
If you follow these steps in optimizing your blog posts, your content (albeit on a new blog or not) will graciously sit on google SERPs — optimistically the first page.
As you write and optimize your content, ensure you continue to learn updated SEO tips from time to time. SEO practices are constantly updated — Lately, Google has been dishing out several algorithm updates. You won’t like to be left out, would you?
So congratulations on equipping yourself with the best SEO tips. Thanks for reading to the end 😊. Let me know which of these tips is new to you in the comment session. Don’t forget to motivate me with a follow ( i will do well to follow right back) and comments.
Till the very next awesome read, I remain Mary-ann — your highly interesting and passionate content writer and SEO Pro.
Lots of love
❤❤❤
M.A
