As a blogger, one of the main goals is to get exposure for your blog.
After all, what’s the point in writing if nobody is reading? In order to get more eyes on your blog, you need to ensure that your site is ranking as high as possible on search engines.
That’s where SEO comes in.
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing your site to rank higher on search engines like Google and Bing.
The higher your site ranks, the more likely people are to find it when they’re searching for topics related to your blog.
While there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to rank #1 for every keyword, there are several things you can do to improve your chances.
Here are the 9 best tips for boosting your blog’s SEO score:
1. Use relevant keywords throughout your site.
If you want your blog post to rank better on search engines, then using relevant keywords is a must. But how do you choose the right keywords? And once you’ve chosen them, where should you use them throughout your blog post? Keep reading to find out.
Why Keywords Matter for SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website for Google’s search algorithm. The goal of SEO is to rank higher in Google’s search results for relevant queries.
One of the most important ranking factors in Google’s search algorithm is keyword relevancy. Google looks at the words and phrases that are used on your website, and compares them to the words and phrases that are being used in relevant searches. The more relevant your website is to the searcher’s query, the higher your website will rank in Google’s search results.
This is why it’s so important to use relevant keywords throughout your blog post. By including relevant keywords, you can signal to Google that your blog post is about a particular topic. Then, when people search for that topic, there’s a greater chance that your blog post will show up in the search results.
How to Choose the Right Keywords
Not all keywords are created equal. When choosing keywords for your blog post, you want to choose keywords that are relevant to your topic and have a high enough monthly search volume that they’re worth targeting.
To find relevant keywords, start by brainstorming a list of potential keywords that would be used in a search query related to your topic. Then, use a keyword research tool like Google AdWords Keyword Planner or MozKeyword Explorer to get monthly search volume data for those keywords. Finally, narrow down your list of keywords to the ones that are both relevant and have a high enough monthly search volume that they’re worth targeting.
A word of caution: Don’t try to stuff too many keywords into your blog post. Not only will this make your post difficult to read, but it will also likely result in a penalty from Google. A good rule of thumb is to target one or two primary keywords and one or two secondary keywords per blog post.
Where to Use Keywords in Your Blog Post
Once you’ve chosen the right keywords for your blog post, it’s time to start using them throughout your article. Here are some of the most important places where you should use keywords:
Title:
The title of your blog post should include your primary keyword. For example, if your primary keyword is “dog toys,” then a possible title for your blog could be “The 10 Best Dog Toys for Keeping Your Dog entertained.”
Headings and subheadings:
Heading tags (H1, H2) are used to structure content on a webpage. Search engines give more weight to words that appear in headings and subheadings, so it’s important to include relevant keywords here as well.
For example, if you’re writing a blog post about dog toys, you could use “dog toys” as an H2 heading tag and then list different types of dog toys under that heading (e.g., chew toys, fetch toys).
Metadata:
Metadata includes information like the title tag and meta description of a webpage—it’s what appears in Google’s search results when people perform a query.
Be sure to include relevant keywords in both the title tag and meta description so that people will know what your blog post is about before they even click on it. Meta descriptions should be concise (no more than 155 characters) and written in natural language (don’t stuff them with too many keywords).
Body copy:
Of course, don’t forget to actually mention your keyword(s) somewhere in the body copy of your blog post!
A good rule of thumb is to target an overall keyword density of around 1-3%. This means that if your blog post is 500 words long, then you should aim to use your keyword(s) 5-15 times throughout the article.
Conclusion
By using relevant keywords throughout their blog posts, bloggers can improve their chances of ranking higher in Google´s search results.
However, it’s important not to go overboard with keyword usage – too many keywords can result in lower rankings or even penalties from Google.
A good rule of thumb is to target one or two primary keywords per blog post.
2. Search intent
What is search intent?
In short, it is what a person is looking for when they perform a search query.
And why does it matter?
Because if you want your blog post to rank higher on search engines, you need to make sure that you are addressing the right search intent.
Let’s say, for example, that someone is looking for a new car. They type in “buy a car” into their search engine.
The search intent here is to actually buy a car. Not to learn how cars are made.
The results that come back can vary widely. There are going to be articles on how to buy a car, which will talk about the steps involved in purchasing a vehicle.
If you have written a blog post titled “The 10 Best Cars of 2020”, your article is not going to show up in the results for that person’s search query.
Why?
Because it does not address their search intent. The person who typed in that query is looking to purchase a car, not read about the best ones available. In order to rank higher on search engines, your blog post needs to match the searcher’s intent.
Types of Search Intent
There are four main types of search intent: navigational, informational, commercial, and transactional.
Navigational:
This type of intent is when someone wants to go to a specific website.
For example, if someone types in “Facebook” into their search engine, they are looking to go to the Facebook website.
Informational:
This type of intent is when someone wants to learn more about something.
For example, if someone types in “how to clean my coffee machine”, they want to know more about cleaning the machine and are looking for an article that will give them that information.
The search intent here is not to buy a new coffee machine.
Commercial:
This type of intent is when someone is considering making a purchase.
For example, if someone types in “best laptop under $500”, they are comparison shopping and considering buying a laptop within a certain price range.
The search intent here is to compare products and buy the best-suiting product.
Transactional:
This type of intent is when someone is ready to make a purchase.
For example, if someone types in “buy laptop”, they have decided they want to purchase a laptop and are now just looking for the best option available to them.
This search intent will most likely end up with an actual purchase.
Addressing Search Intent
Now that you know the different types of search intent, let’s talk about how you can address them in your blog posts.
– If you want to rank higher for navigational searches, make sure your website’s name appears prominently on your website and in your blog posts (in both the text and in the title tags).
– For informational searches, focus on writing well-researched articles that provide value to the reader.
Make sure your articles answer the reader’s questions and provide further resources for them to explore if they want to learn more about the topic.
– When it comes to commercial searches, include product reviews and comparisons in your blog posts.
You can also partner with affiliate programs or include product links throughout your articles (just make sure you disclose these links so you are not misleading readers).
– Finally, for transactional searches, include clear calls-to-action (CTAs) telling readers what action you want them to take next (e..g., “click here to buy our product”). You can also add content like coupon codes or special offers exclusive to those who visit your blog post from a particular search engine result page (SERP).
Conclusion
If you want your blog post to rank higher on search engines and get more traffic from organic searches, then it is vitally important, that you understand search intent and know how to address it within your content strategy.
Thankfully by keeping these 4 major types of search intent in mind and tailoring your blog content accordingly, you can ensure that your blog posts are seen by the right people to help grow your business!
3. Use external links
Do you want to rank higher on search engines with your blog posts?
External links are links from other websites that point back to yours – also known as backlinks. Backlinks are important because they show search engines that other people consider your content worth linking to. The more high-quality backlinks you have pointing back to your site, the better chance you have of ranking high on search engine results pages.
When it comes to ranking on search engines, there are several different factors that come into play.
Search engine algorithms are complex and ever-changing, making it difficult to keep up with the latest trends. However, one thing that is known to help with rankings is having external links within your blog post.
Why is backlinking important?
External links help to show search engines that your blog post is credible and trustworthy.
This is because you are linking to other sources that provide additional information on the topic you are discussing. By doing this, it shows that you are not just spewing out information without any backing.
In addition, it also helps to improve your blog post’s click-through rate. This is because readers will be able to quickly and easily access more information on the topic if they want to learn more.
It’s important to note that not just any old external link will do. For this tip to be effective, you need to make sure that you are linking to high-quality websites that are relevant to your discussion. If you link to a website that is not reputable or does not provide accurate information, this can actually end up hurting your ranking rather than helping it. So choose your links wisely!
How to get backlinks?
One way to get backlinks is by guest blogging – writing articles for other people’s blogs in exchange for a link back to your own site (usually in the author bio).
You can reach out to other bloggers or businesses in your niche and offer to write a post for their blog if they’ll link back to one of yours.
Just make sure that any sites you guest post on or get backlinks from are high-quality and related to yours – otherwise it could actually hurt your chances of ranking high on search engines.
Conclusion
It is definitely worth utilizing external links within your blog posts if you want to rank higher on search engines.
This is because it helps to show search engines that your blog post is credible and trustworthy. In addition, it also helps improve your blog post’s click-through rate. Just make sure that you are linking to high-quality websites that are relevant to your discussion in order for this tip to be effective.
4. Use Internal links
What are internal links?
Internal links are links on a page that point to other pages on the same domain.
They help establish an information hierarchy for the given website, indicate the relevance of one page to another, and spread link equity (ranking power) around websites.
In simpler terms, when used correctly, internal links can give your website a ranking boost on search engines.
How Internal Links Help Your Website Rank Higher
Internal links help search engine crawlers index your website more effectively. When a crawler visits your site, it “reads” the content to determine what the page is about and how it should be classified. The crawler also looks for links to other pages on your site and follows them to those pages. The more links there are to other pages, the more likely it is that the crawler will find all of the pages on your site, which is helpful for ranking.
In addition, when you use relevant keywords in the anchor text (the text you hyperlink), you are indicating to the search engine what that page is about, which can also help with ranking.
For example, if you have a blog post about “SEO tips for beginners,” and you use the phrase “SEO tips for beginners” as anchor text in a link to another blog post about “advanced SEO tips,” you are telling the search engine that the two blog posts are related and that the second blog post is about a more specific topic.
This helps the search engine understand your website’s structure and content, which can positively impact your ranking.
Finally, when done correctly, internal linking can help spread link equity around your website.
Link equity is basically ranking power – it’s a measure of how strong a given page is in terms of its ability to rank well on SERPs. When one page has a lot of link equity and another page has very little link equity, the page with more link equity will tend to rank higher. By using internal linking correctly, you can distribute link equity around your website so that all of your pages have some amount of link equity and have a better chance of ranking well.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many benefits to using internal linking on your website.
Not only does it help search engines index and crawl your site more effectively, but it also helps improve your website’s overall structure and content.
Additionally, by using relevant keywords in the anchor text, you can give specific pages a boost in terms of their ranking potential.
And finally, by spreading link equity around through internal linking, you can ensure that all of your pages have a chance to rank well on SERPs.
So if you’re not already using internal linking on your website, now is the time to start!
5. Optimize your page speed
Page speed matters.
A lot!
In fact, Google has stated that they use page speed as a ranking signal in their algorithm. That means if your blog takes too long to load, you could be missing out on valuable traffic from organic searches.
But why does page speed matter? And what can you do to improve your blog’s page speed? Let’s take a look.
Why Page Speed Matters
User experience is paramount on the web.
If a user clicks on a link and it takes too long for the page to load, chances are they’ll click back and try another result. No one wants to wait around for a slow website to load, and Google knows this. That’s why they use page speed as a ranking signal in their algorithm. In other words, if your website is slow, you will be missing out on traffic from organic searches.
What You Can Do to Improve Your Page Speed
There are a few things you can do to improve your blog’s page speed.
First, make sure you’re using a fast hosting provider.
Second, optimize your images by compressing them and using proper file types (like JPEG for photos and PNG for graphics).
Third, minimize HTTP requests by reducing the number of plugins you’re using and combining files where possible.
Finally, leverage browser caching so that visitors don’t have to download the same resources every time they visit your site.
By following these tips, you can improve your blog’s page speed and start ranking higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Conclusion
Page speed matters—there’s no doubt about it!
If your blog is slow, you are missing out on valuable traffic from organic searches.
Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to improve your page speed. By following the tips outlined, you can start ranking higher in search engine results pages and driving more traffic to your blog.
6. Optimize your images
Including images in your blog posts can make them more engaging and visually appealing. But did you know that you can also optimize images for SEO?
If you’re a blogger, then you know how important it is to ensure that your blog posts are optimized for SEO. But what about your images?
Are you optimizing your images for SEO? If not, then you could be missing out on a huge opportunity to increase your blog’s traffic and rankings.
Here’s why it’s so important to optimize your images for SEO and how you can do it
Webmasters frequently ask me whether they should optimize their website’s images and, if so, how to do it properly most effectively.
The simple answer is that, yes, of course you should optimize all of the images on your website!
Here are five tips on how to optimize Images for better search engine ranking results
File Name:
Always give each image file an appropriate name including relevant keywords; i.e., instead of DSC04567.JPG, name it yellow-flowers-in-springtime.JPG or highlights-from-our-vacation.JPG.
ALT tags & Image file size:
Whenever possible, fill out the ALT tags with keyword-rich descriptions of each image; also make sure that your image file sizes aren’t too large because that will negatively impact page load speed which is another ranking factor.
Contextual relevance & Surrounding text:
Be sure that the keywords used in the image file name and throughout the web page title, metadata, and content are relevant and contextual to the surrounding text and topic at hand.
In other words, don’t keyword stuff or use phrases that aren’t relevant just to try and rank higher in Google Images results because that will likely backfire as Google will view it as search engine spamming!
Content quality & Authoritative Domain:
As with everything related to SEO these days, content quality is king!
So make sure that the overall quality of each image, as well as the accompanying text, is top-notch. In addition, try to get links back from authoritative websites whenever possible as that will further help increase each image’s search engine ranking results
Page load time & Website performance:
Finally, be sure that each image file size isn’t too large because if it takes too long for a webpage containing several images to load, then people will likely leave before all of the content has a chance to load which will increase your bounce rate. And nobody wants that!
In short – make sure your website loads quickly by optimizing all images properly including those found in any blog posts or articles!
Conclusion
As a blogger, you know how important it is to ensure that your blog posts are optimized for SEO. But what about your images? Are you optimizing your images for SEO? If not, then you could be missing out on a huge opportunity to increase your blog’s traffic and rankings. By following the tips outlined in this blog post, you can start optimizing your images for SEO and improve your blog’s chances of being found by potential readers.
When you upload an image to your website, make sure to include keywords in the file name and fill out the alternate text field with a brief description of the image. This will help search engines index your images and show them alongside relevant search results.
7. Optimize for Mobile Use
In the modern age, more people are using their mobile devices to access the internet than ever before.
In fact, recent statistics show that over 60% of internet traffic comes from mobile devices.
This trend is only going to continue to grow in the coming years.
Therefore, website owners and bloggers need to ensure that their site is optimized for mobile use if they want to rank higher on search engines. Let’s take a look at why this is the case.
Why you should optimize your website for mobile use?
The first reason is that search engine algorithms have begun to favor mobile-friendly sites. Google, in particular, has stated that they give preference in their search results to sites that are responsive and can be easily accessed on a variety of devices. If you want your site to rank higher on Google, you need to make sure it meets their criteria for mobile-friendliness.
Another reason why optimizing for mobile is important is that it makes your site more user-friendly.
Imagine if you were trying to access a website on your phone or tablet and it was not optimized for mobile use. Chances are, you would quickly become frustrated and would likely leave the site without completing the task you were trying to do.
On the other hand, if a site is designed with mobile users in mind, they are more likely to stick around and engage with your content.
Creating a positive user experience should be one of your top priorities if you want people to keep coming back to your site.
Finally, optimizing for mobile users can help you reach a wider audience.
As mentioned before, more and more people are using their phones and tablets to go online. If your site is not structured in a way that makes it easy for them to view and navigate, you are missing out on potential readers and customers. But if you do take the time to optimize your site for mobile use, you could find yourself reaching an entirely new group of people.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many good reasons why you should take the time to optimize your website for mobile use if you want to rank higher on search engines.
8. Promote your content through social media and email marketing.
If you’ve been blogging for any length of time, you know that the hardest part isn’t necessarily writing the blog post – it’s promoting it. There are a million and one places to promote your content online, but which ones are worth your time?
Why you should promote your content through Social Media or Email marketing?
Social media is one of the most effective channels for promoting your blog content. Not only does it allow you to reach a wide audience with minimal effort, but it also allows you to target specific demographics and interests.
For example, if you’re targeting small business owners, you can promote your blog content on small business-related social media groups and pages.
Email marketing is another great way to promote your blog content. This is because you may already have a list of people who have signed up to receive your emails, which means they’re interested in what you have to say. Plus, email marketing allows you to get personal with your readers by including a short message along with your blog post link.
Social media and email marketing are great ways to get exposure for your content.
When you share links to your latest blog post on social media or in an email newsletter, make sure to include relevant keywords so that people can easily find it when they’re searching.
You can also submit links to your articles on social bookmarking sites like Reddit and StumbleUpon. Just make sure not to spam – only submit high-quality content that will be of interest to the people who frequent those sites.
Another way to reach a wider audience is by using the benefits of video marketing. You can use YouTube to share your work with the world!
If you already have a written blog post about a specific topic you can use that content to make a YouTube video from it.
Even as a complete beginner you can make awesome videos by using Artificial Intelligence!
You can read my blog post about Pictory.ai here.
Conclusion
In conclusion, social media and email marketing are two great ways to promote your blog content. They’re both effective channels that will allow you to reach a wide audience with minimal effort. So what are you waiting for? Start promoting your content today!
9. Provide a great User experience
The User experience is a very important factor to consider.
The way your website looks, how easy it is to navigate, and the quality of your content are all major factors in whether or not people will stay on your site.
And if people aren’t staying on your site, it’s going to be very difficult to rank higher on search engines.
What can you do to improve your website for a better user experience?
1. Make sure your site is well-organized
Organizing your website in a way that is easy for users to understand is one of the most important aspects of providing a great user experience.
If users can’t find what they’re looking for, they’re going to leave your site and go to one that is better organized.
2. Write easy-to-read content
The content on your website should be easy for users to read.
This means using short paragraphs, using simple language, and breaking up your text with headlines and subheadings.
3. Create useful content
Your content should be helpful and informative.
It should answer the questions that your target audience is asking.
If you can provide value to your readers, they’re much more likely to stick around.
4. Make sure your site has a great design
Your website should be visually appealing and easy on the eyes.
People should feel good when they visit your site; if they don’t, they’re not going to stay for long. In addition to great design, your site should also be responsive so that it looks good on all devices (desktop, laptop, tablet, phone).
5. Avoid annoying ads
Most people don’t like having ads shoved in their face, especially if those ads are irrelevant to their interests.
If you must have ads on your site, make sure they’re targeted and not intrusive. You don’t want people leaving your site because they can’t stand the ads!
Conclusion
By following these tips, you can create a blog post that ranks higher on search engines and provides a great user experience for your readers!
To sum it up
SEO is an important part of getting exposure for your blog.
By using relevant keywords throughout your site and promoting your content through social media and email marketing, you can improve your chances of ranking high on search engine results pages – which means more people will see and read your content!
