Unlock the Secrets to SEO-Driven Blog Posts: What to Write and How
Many businesses are told that blogging is great for your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). However, it can be difficult to find information on what that means. Is it always great for SEO, no matter what I write? How do I ensure that the time I spend blogging is worth it for my business?
The reason that blogging can be great for SEO is because “consistent publication of high-quality content” is one of the top ranking factors for Google’s search algorithm. This means that by publishing high-quality content regularly you have a greater chance of showing up in searches.
For more information on Google’s Latest Ranking Factors, check out my blog post here.
So is posting a bunch of blog posts enough to boost my SEO?
Not necessarily. High-quality content means that your content is the best response to a particular keyword. Google decides this by determining what keyword your page is targeting and then analyzes how likely your page will satisfy the searcher’s intent as well as your website’s overall reputation or trust score.
In other words, according to First Page Sage your page’s rank will depend on:
Whether Google can determine which keyword you are trying to target
How well your blog satisfies the searcher’s intent. This is determined by searchers' behavior when they visit your page after searching the keyword, such as how long they stay on your page.
Your website’s overall reputation. This is based on whether your site is a consistent producer of high-quality content and your website’s popularity.
The question then becomes, how do I determine what keywords I should be using so that I can make sure I satisfy the searcher's intent to produce high-quality content that ranks high in searches?
SEO Basics for Content Creation: What do I write about?
It all starts with Keyword Research. Determining what you should be blogging about goes way beyond the topics connected to your business and what interests you. It is important to find a balance between your interests, your audience’s interests, and SEO.
Start by thinking about your ideal client and business offerings.
Who are you trying to attract to your website? Then choose a few overall categories or umbrella topics that interest you and attract your ideal client. For example, if you are a wedding photographer your ideal client is engaged couples preparing for their wedding. Although it could be interesting to write about your gear and photography techniques, those types of posts are more likely to attract other wedding photographers who are not looking to book your services. Instead, you might want to write about wedding preparation.
Then start making a list of keywords or phrases that fit with your chosen themes. SEOSpace has written a detailed post all about Keyword Research. I highly suggest checking it out here. The general idea is to come up with terms that your target audience is typing into searches.
To do this, I create a Content Planning Spreadsheet where I can list the keywords I find, their search volume, and their search difficulty. This spreadsheet will help me frame my blog post ideas.
I start by looking at my Google Analytics, Squarespace Analytics, and YouTube Analytics to see what posts of mine are doing well and what questions my audience is asking me. I may send out surveys or obtain some customer feedback as well. I then explore competitors’ YouTube channels as well as Squarespace Forums and various Facebook Groups to see what my target audience is searching for. The overall goal is to determine what my target audience’s pain points are so I can write posts that answer questions they are already asking.
I then turn to some keyword research tools such as GravityWrite, Semrush, Google Keyword Planner, etc. to see if there are any keywords I could be ranking for or topics that I have missed.
Once I have a decent-sized list of keywords or phrases in my Content Planning Spreadsheet, I analyze them for their search volume. The monthly search volume of a keyword will help me determine if a keyword is something people are searching for. A high search volume means that my post may appeal to a large audience. However, it could also mean that there will be a lot of competition or that my search term isn’t specific enough.
There isn’t a definitive answer on what number to look for as this varies from industry to industry. Plus, a keyword may have a lower search volume but also connects well to your ideal client’s pain point. In general, look for keywords that are around 100 -1000 searches a month and then use your judgment on whether it is a good fit for you and your target audience.
Finally, I look at the keyword difficulty to determine how much competition each keyword will have and therefore how hard it would be to rank in searches. Tools such as Keywords Everywhere can give you a good idea of keyword difficulty and search volume.
Once I have analyzed my list of keywords and phrases I pick the best ones and start to frame some blog posts ideas around those keywords. Feel free to use AI Tools like GravityWrite to help you frame your ideas and word some catchy appropriate titles that use your keywords. Remember that Google will use your blog title to help determine what keywords you are trying to rank for so you must include them.
Writing SEO-Driven Blog Posts: How do I write it?
Now that you have determined what you want to write about, how do we write our blog posts to ensure that they satisfy the searcher’s intent and increase our website’s overall reputation? The quick answer is to make sure that your blog title accurately represents your blog post. Remember that Google determines whether your post has satisfied a searcher’s intent by their behavior. If your blog title has too much clickbait or misrepresents the blog post, the searcher will click back to Google to find a different article. This will signal to Google that your post was not a good fit for that keyword and therefore did not satisfy a user’s intent.
Therefore, we want our posts to align well with the title and provide high-quality content that keeps the searcher on our page for as long as possible.
So based on the blog topic I choose, I write an outline for my blog post. Sometimes I use AI Tools such as GravityWrite to give me outline ideas. However, I always rework the outline based on my expertise, the keyword or phrase I am trying to rank for, and the questions I know my target audience is asking. I make sure to chalk it full with as much information as I can including links and references to other articles and backlinks to my other posts. I ensure that I use my target keyword or phrase in my titles and throughout the post.
Finally, I use tools such as Grammarly to check my grammar. I may also use AI Tools such as GravityWrite to reword or improve my post. However, I always make sure that the post reflects my knowledge and opinions and aligns with my business values and ideal client’s interests.
I finish off by rechecking my title and making sure it still aligns with the content of the post.
Note: If you are interested in learning more about AI and whether it will harm your SEO, check out this blog post. Spoiler Alert: It doesn’t, as long as you follow a few key guidelines.
Blog Writing Tip: A quick tip I learned about staying on top of blog posts is batching your work. Paige Brunton has done a few blog posts on this and how it has helped increase her workflow efficiency. Check them out here:
Improving Your SEO Strategy
You now have a plan for writing high-quality posts you can be confident your audience is searching for that satisfy searcher’s intent and increase your website’s overall reputation.
But, don’t stop there. How do you know if it’s working?
It is so important that you continue to take the time to see what blog posts your audience is interacting with and which ones could be doing better. Look into tools such as SEOSpace to analyze your blog pages to see how you can improve them.
Conclusion and FAQ
Blogging is a great way to boost your SEO and ensure your website ranks in searches. However, you must be using keyword research to drive your ideas. Starting with the right keywords will help you frame your posts so that you can write high-quality articles that satisfy your ideal client's search intent and boost your website’s popularity.
FAQ #1: How often should I write?
First Page Sage looked at how to increase a website’s trust with Google. They determined that it comes down to inbound links and publishing helpful content frequently. They suggested that by posting high-quality content twice a week. However, I would argue that for most small businesses, this would mean either turning blogging into your main job or outsourcing. In my experience, quality is more important than quantity. Therefore, you need to find a number that allows you to be consistent with how often you post and the quality of what you're posting. If posting twice a week means that your posts lack value, then those posts are not going to be considered helpful and will not rank. So I give you full permission to post as often as is realistic for your business. Just know that if you are posting less frequently, it will take longer to build your website’s reputation and popularity.
FAQ #2: Where should I place my keywords?
There is no wrong place to use your keywords. However, make sure that wherever you have used them, they are used authentically. Don’t just add them all over without a thought. Remember that your post is going to be read by humans and needs to make sense. The main areas are in your titles, descriptions, and throughout your content.
FAQ #3: I have an old post that needs to be updated. Should I update it or rewrite it?
Update and republish! A ranking factor that is starting to increase in importance is Freshness. This essentially means that Google is going to prioritize articles with a newer date of publication. However, don’t just start republishing the same article with a new date. Google sees frequently updated pages as authoritative. So keep the URL path the same, update the post with new ideas or improve the content, and then republish with a new date.
