Blogging with the intent of boosting your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) continues to be one of the most important methods for marketing your brand. Blogging creates a portal of content to your website visitors, customers, and leads in the form of value. By providing high quality blogs to the public, your website will be rewarded with more trust and visibility in search engines. So how do you effectively rank your blog and practice great SEO? Let’s find out!
Identify Target Audience
You need to establish a primary audience with your blog. It’s important to stay consistent with the tone of your blog along with your big picture message. All of your blog posts will be different in some way, but what kind of value are you giving the public?
Is your blog targeting business owners where you write about tips for starting a business? Are you passionate about the environment so you teach others how to do better for the planet? Or maybe your blog speaks to the value of branding for growing businesses? Whatever your niche is, double down on it and continue to deliver to your target audience.
Why does a target audience rank your blog?
Your target audience will likely come back for future blog posts. They are also much more likely to read other blogs on your site or click around because they are already interested in your topic. Additionally, search engines boost websites that continue to deliver quality blog posts in the same niche.
Catchy, Concise Titles
There’s no better way to hook readers into your new blog with a catchy, yet concise title. With hundreds of pages on search engines to sift through, people quickly scan for titles that precisely answer their questions. Before readers even reach your site, they are going to see the title first and decide if a full read is worth it. Your titles should quickly state what the blog topic is about such as “5 Reasons Why…” or “3 Tips for…”. When you’re aiming to make your blog title concise, keep it under 60 total characters so the visibility is maximized on search engines.
Why do catchy, concise titles rank your blog?
Even though using titles with lots of keywords seems like a great SEO trick, it has the opposite effect. Search engines recognize long titles will not fit from left to right and will significantly rank these blogs lower. Catchy titles result in more clicks, and more clicks mean that the search engines will treat your page as having high value information.
Keywords
Keywords are a popular term in the world of blogging, but how do you effectively rank your blog with them? The trick is to keep your content organic and relevant to the niche of your blog. If you’re starting out, it’s better to get specific with keywords so you can rank posts higher in less saturated search results.
For example, if you have a cafe with a blog, maybe you want to post about iced coffee. Instead of making a broad topic such as, “3 Reasons Why Iced Coffee is So Popular”, you can make something more specific like, “3 Reasons Why Banana Milk Iced Coffee is Trending”. In this instance, you focus on iced coffee, but also target a less answered topic — Banana Milk.
Some sites try “keyword stuffing” their posts which is when certain words are repeated excessively in order to get better search results. However, this method will rank your blog lower because search engines treat keyword stuffing as a spam tactic. Instead, pick a few keywords and sprinkle them in organically which will yield much better results.
Why do keywords rank your blog?
Keywords tell search engines what your topic is and where it belongs when people search for a specific query. Effectively placed keywords mold your blog into a niche and this is where you begin to build trust and authority with search engines. The more value you provide using keywords means that your chances of ranking higher will increase.
Ranking Your Blog With Results
Search engines love fresh content and starting a blog is the perfect way to gain organic traffic to your website. With a bit of consistency and organic information to spare, you can effectively rank your blog using a few simple tactics. A higher ranked blog will keep you ahead of your competition because the clicks act as a snowball effect. As you build your blog, it won’t be long before you get the hang of SEO. Give it a try for yourself!
Drew Thomas
Drew Thomas is a graduate of Georgia College & State University, where he earned his Bachelor's Degree in English Literature. He is an expert in brand marketing and has experience in freelance writing on topics ranging from sports to music reviews. He has also spent time as an editor, having revised website copy and press releases for local businesses. In his free time, Drew enjoys performing music, reading, hiking, and spending time with friends.
