Are you tired of not getting any leads through your website? You may want to give blog SEO a try.
Write some blog posts with keywords and search engines in mind. Then, you can start to get more passive, organic traffic to your site.
Before we get into the guide, this post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy to learn more.
What Is Blog SEO?
Blog SEO refers to search engine optimization for your blog posts or articles. When you write a new post for your website, you should do so in a way that will help it rank higher on Google.
Instead of writing what you want to write or what you think your audience wants to read, you have to put in more strategy. That way, you can choose the right topics to help attract your ideal clients or students to your website.
Blog SEO Tips and Best Practices
Whether you want to start a blog or implement SEO on an existing blog, consider the following tips and best practices to follow.
Do Keyword Research
Keyword research is where you choose keywords or phrases that will help you reach your goals. In general, it’s better to use long tail keywords, such as “online flute lessons for beginners” rather than short tail keywords, like “flute.”
I like to look for keywords with at least 100 searches per month and medium competition or lower. If you try to tackle super competitive keywords, the odds of your blog post making it to the top result is very slim.
Less competitive terms give you better odds. You can still reach your ideal audience, and you can make sure you publish good content.
Focus on Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is a type of content that stays relevant months or years after you publish it. For example, “10 Tips for Beginner Flute Players” is evergreen. I can almost guarantee the tips will never go “bad.”
But “10 Holiday Flute Choir Arrangements” isn’t evergreen. Sure, it will be relevant around the holidays. However, it probably won’t get much traffic outside of October, November, and December.
Non-evergreen topics are better for social media. Things move a lot faster on Instagram, for example. But for your blog, you want to prioritize topics that will apply throughout the year.
Keep Your Ideal Reader in Mind
Another thing to consider when using blog SEO is who you want to read your content. If you’re a performer, you may want venue owners or potential clients to read your stuff.
Meanwhile, a private teacher may want students and parents to read their articles. Knowing who you want to target can help in a few ways. First, it can help you cover the right topics that those people will search for.
You can also write in a way that will be more engaging. What’s interesting to a parent may not be interesting to a venue owner and vice versa.
Use an Interesting Title
You may spend hours writing an article (or have someone else spend that time). But that won’t matter if no one clicks on the link to your blog post. A big part of blog SEO is choosing the right title.
It’s what will show up in search results. And if you don’t have a compelling title, you could lose out on a ton of website traffic.
Make sure the title includes the keyword for SEO purposes. But aside from that, consider what would make you click. If you find your title boring, change it. And don’t be afraid to come up with a few ideas before choosing one.
Write an Outline First
Another one of my favorite things to do when working on a blog post is to start with an outline. Outlining each post allows you to cover the topic in depth and avoid missing important aspects.
You can also make sure you include in the keyword and other relevant terms in your headings. That can help with SEO, and you won’t have to try to force the keyword into a heading as you write the post.
Writing an outline is also useful for predicting the word count. I tend to keep each section around 100 words. So if I have a long outline, I’ll know I need to set aside more time to write the draft.
Add Keywords Naturally
You have your primary keyword for the article in question. Now, you need to include the keyword in your content. I like to put the keyword in the intro, conclusion, and a header.
But you shouldn’t ever force a keyword into an article. If you do so, it can come off as keyword stuffing. That technique used to work, but search engines have gotten smarter.
If anything, keyword stuffing nowadays can do more harm than good to your blog SEO. It’s better to write like you’d speak and to use the keyword when it makes sense.
Include Visual Media
If possible, you may want to include photos and/or videos in your blog posts. You can use media to break up the text and make your content more engaging.
A video is especially useful for any tutorial post. Meanwhile, photos can help you show details that are hard to explain. You can include one or more forms of media, so think about what makes sense for the topic.
I especially like to include photos and videos in review posts. That helps the reader get a better idea of if the product would work for them.
Keep Paragraphs Short
Whether you use photos or not, you should keep paragraphs on the shorter side. I aim for two or three visual lines in my blog editor. That way, I know the paragraphs will be easy to read, especially on a mobile device.
As more people use their phones to browse the web, readability will become even more vital. Short paragraphs allow that. Plus, they make your content easier to skim, which is great since people are also busy.
I know, it can be hard to break things up. But that’s why you can use headers to cover sub-topics of the blog post topic. Then, everything will still be together but more readable.
Don’t Forget Links
Adding links can also do wonders for your blog SEO. If you have existing blog posts, try to link back to them in newer posts. For example, if you have a blog post with tips for flute students, link to it in a blog post about private lessons.
These links are called internal links. You can also link to service or product pages depending on what your business is. That makes your blog a great place to market your business.
You’ll also want to use external links. These links point to websites other than your own. It’s good to link to relevant, authoritative websites. That can help build your blog SEO.
Check Your Analytics
After you start using SEO for your blog, be sure to check your analytics every month or so. Then, you can learn which topics perform the best in search engines for your blog.
You can write content similar to that to help increase your chances of ranking in search results for more keywords. As much as you may want to write about one thing, it’s better to follow the numbers.
However, you have to determine when to ignore the numbers. Sometimes, the content that performs the best isn’t what you want to promote. Instead, you’ll have to do more keyword research to help pivot your blog.
Update Existing Articles
After a year or so, take a look at how your blog posts are doing. You can use tools like Google Search Console to review search engine performance. If you find a post that ranks in positions 2-5, update it.
Add more details, answer more questions, and just make the post better. That can help you break through and potentially nab the top spot for that keyword. Then, you can get even more traffic to that blog post.
I would give blog posts as close to a year as possible before updating them. Then, search engines will have time to index the content and show it to people. You’ll then be able to see the performance to decide whether an update is necessary.
How Many Blogs Should You Publish a Month for SEO?
The number of blog posts you publish monthly isn’t as important as staying consistent. If you only have the time or money to publish once a month, start there.
It will take longer to see results with fewer posts. But it’s better to stick to a schedule than to publish a bunch of blog posts at once and then go months without any new content.
What Day Is Best to Post a Blog?
The best day to post a blog depends on you and your business. I like to post on Mondays and Fridays, but Tuesday or Wednesday may work better for you.
If you’re targeting businesses, a weekday is better. But if you’re looking to market to individuals, you may want to publish on the weekends.
How Do I Get My Blog Noticed?
Using blog SEO is a great way to get traffic, but the results can take months or even years. If you want more immediate traffic, consider using social media.
I like to promote my content on Instagram. That way, I can connect with others in the industry, and my newer blog posts can get attention.
Final Thoughts
Using blog SEO is crucial if you want your blog posts to start gaining traffic. Be sure to consider some tips and best practices.
And if you want help with your SEO, let’s work together. I’d love to write some blog posts for you or help with strategy.