How to write Well-Ranking SEO Blog Posts
This week, we’ve got a special guest, SEO Blogging expert: Polly Clover.
In case you’re new to the term SEO or need a refresher – SEO, or search engine optimization, is a set of practices you use to write content that ranks on Google and reaches a target market.
So, how do you write SEO-friendly blogs? Here’s a quick crash course:
Get to know the brand.
The most critical piece of SEO blogging is understanding the brand you're writing for. This helps you identify suitable topics and how to write in a way that best serves readers.
Consider these questions:
Who’s your client and their target audience?
What is their audience’s pain point(s)?
How can your client help their audience?
What’s your client's tone of voice?
What goals do they have that they want their blog to help them meet?
Many clients will have brand guidelines to share with you that answer these. If not, you’ll want to send an e-questionnaire or have a call with the client to learn more about their brand.
Understand SEO keywords.
Often, your clients will provide SEO keywords for you. Or you can offer keyword research as a part of your blogging services.
SEO keywords are phrases people are searching the internet for. For example, if you're writing for a skincare brand, their target market might search Google for the phrase "quick skincare routine," and you can write an article on this topic.
You want to use keywords with a high search volume and a low competition score because these are easier to rank. This is how a website gets organic search traffic.
Plan for your article.
When you know your blog topic and primary keyword, you can start planning your article.
Use these tips to help you plan:
Search your target keyword phrase. Look at the top 3 ranking pages to discover what Google likes to rank for this keyword. Use this for inspiration, not to copy.
Do further research on the topic if needed. You might also gather a few stats for credibility.
Create an outline for your article using information from the two points above. When writing your outline, put yourself in the reader's shoes and cover details you think they'll want to read.
You can use this blog outline template to help you.
Write the article.
Now for the fun part – writing your article!
Here are some pointers for writing an SEO-friendly blog:
Write a strong introduction that hooks the reader. You want them to know exactly what the article will cover and be excited to continue reading.
Naturally include your keyword in the title, some headers, and throughout the content. A good rule of thumb is to use your keyword ~10 times per 1,000 words.
Make your content easy to read and skim by using headers, lists, and short sentences and paragraphs.
All information in the article should be helpful to the reader. Otherwise, leave it out.
Use storytelling and specific examples where it makes sense. This helps the article stand apart from others with similar topics.
Include a call to action (CTA).
The purpose of blogging is to increase brand awareness and generate leads. This is where a call to action comes in.
A call to action is a statement that tells the reader what to do next, like reading a related article, signing up for an email newsletter, or buying a product.
You can include your CTA at the end of the article and sometimes others throughout the article.
Check out this blogging course for a complete run-down on writing SEO-friendly blogs.