Posting high quality, information-rich, and keyword-friendly blogs on your business website can get your consistent traffic from your target users. As a local business owner in Mississauga, your SEO strategy can include writing blogs that help you become an industry expert locally.
SEO blog writing has come a long way from randomly inserting keywords in the written content to precisely crafting content that fulfils your user’s search intent, meets Google’s guidelines, and is represented in an easy-to-digest manner divided into written and graphic content.
Here are 8 tips to write an SEO blog for beginners:
1. Do your keyword research
Use free or paid keyword tools like Moz, SEMRush, and Google Keyword Planner to find keywords you want to target. These keywords should have a good CTR (click through rate) of 50 or more and a sizable search volume. If you’re writing on a popular topic, do a Google search and go through the first 3-4 blogs. Make a note of non-negotiable information you need to include in your blog and more things you can add that adds value to your user’s query.
I recommend forming a keyword cluster and then adding sub-keywords and long-tail keywords under it. For example, if you’re a fitness studio in Mississauga, one of your keyword clusters would be workout routine. Sub-keywords or long-tail keywords under it would be workout routine to lose arm fat, workout routine to lose belly fat, or workout routine to tone thighs.
2. Understand the user’s intent
User intent and keywords are co-related. Your blog should satisfy the query the user has when they click on your blog. For example, if the user’s intent is finding how to DIY a plant hanger, you cannot use the blog to market your handyman services. Your goal should be to provide them with the most complete information to complete their DIY task. If your user is searching for a comparison between your products and a couple more brands, write an article about it.
3. Format the content to make it digestible
A good blog structure not only helps the user process information but also assists Google crawl bots in reading and indexing the content.
Here are some content rules I follow:
- Divide the content into introduction, body, and conclusion.
- Limit paragraphs to four lines each
- Include H2 and H3 to break down the content
- Mention your target keywords every 50-60 words
- Add examples to make your content relatable
- Add bullet points to highlight steps, rules, conditions, or tips
4. Add images and graphics
Users enjoy content that includes fun images and graphics when reading a long blog. Sign up for a free Canva account and create graphics using the free templates. You can also use original images from royalty-free websites like Unsplash, Pixabay, and Pexels.
Mention your main keyword in the image name with hyphens between each word. When you upload the images or graphics to your website, optimise them for Google. Add alt text, geo-tag them, and resize all images to one size, so the content looks uniform.
5. Optimise the length of the blogs
Even though attention span is reducing, long-form content continues to perform exceptionally on search engines. However, as a beginner SEO writer, you might not have the time to write very long blogs or can also find it overwhelming.
A study by Hubspot revealed that the average length for blogs to perform well is 2,100 to 2,400 words. As a beginner, start by writing 500 to 600-word blogs and only cover sub-topics instead of one big topic. Make sure you do justice to the search intent and blog topic.
6. Add a custom URL and meta description
Meta description is a meta tag that displays a summary of the blog on a particular search engine. While some SEO experts believe the meta description is useless, some greatly trust in it helping rank blogs. I highly recommend you write a custom meta description and include your main keyword in there. The same goes with the URL. Include the keyword in it, so it’s easier for Google and search engines to index your blog.
7. Use SEO plugins to check for quality
Yoast SEO is a must-have for all SEO blogs. It is a free plugin that you can install on your WordPress website. It has a SEO analysis section, which you can use as a checklist to ensure your blog’s website optimised. A free Yoast SEO plan is good enough to get you started.
8. Make internal linking a habit
Every time you publish a blog, link it to one of your main pages and all related blogs to create a web within your website. It also helps new blogs index and rank in target keywords when Google re-crawls the older pages.
How do I find topics for my business’s blog?
To find high-value topics for your business’s blog, start by finding your target keywords or keyword cluster. Enter these keywords (one at a time) in Google Search and look for content that’s displayed in the Featured Snippet, FAQs, and Related Searches section. Use the Featured Snippet as your main topic, the FAQs as Heading 2 and 3, and Related Searches are supporting keywords.
Which is the best platform for writing blogs?
WordPress is the best platform for writing blogs. It offers maximum custom code control but at the same is user-friendly. You can use the Yoast SEO plugin to your advantage as well.
Do you offer SEO blog writing services?
Yes! I do offer SEO blog writing services. I started out as a SEO writer 9 years ago and slowly developed into an on-page and off-page SEO specialist. Using high-quality content to help my clients boost online visibility and reach their target audience is the essence of my services. Book a quick call with me today and I’ll walk you through my SEO blogging process.