By now you’ve probably heard of SEO (search engine optimization), and your company is ready to jump on board. The task might seem daunting at first – and although it does require a lot of time and work – rest assured that you don’t have to be a tech genius or know how to code in order to optimize your blog. Even though Google’s algorithm is complicated by nature, researchers and data analysts work continuously to figure out what works, so that you can apply it to your own website when writing content.
We’ve compiled a list of helpful blogging tips below to get you started on the path to better blog metrics. Before you hit “publish” on your next sales blog post, compare it to these guidelines and see if you can check off all five.
Content Development and Optimization Best Practices
- Write smart, rich content. No matter what industry you’re in, a blog is a great way to show your audience that you’re an expert in the field. Turns out, Google wants to see this as well. To do this, incorporate lots of facts to support the claims you’re writing about. It helps to reference reputable websites that are relevant to your topic and to cite them with a hyperlink.
An easy way to remember this tip is to think about Google’s search results. When you type a question or phrase into the search engine, you’ve probably come to trust that the top results can give you what you’re looking for. With that in mind, you’ll want to make your posts just as informative and trustworthy
- Use keywords. Keywords and phrases are basically hot topics—or words that people tend to search for the most. Whatever main keyword you choose to use will dictate the topic of your blog post. So if there are a lot of people searching for this topic, your website is more likely to appear in their search results. You can increase your post’s rank by placing this keyword in the title, the image ALT text fields and throughout the entire post.
However, use these keywords wisely. While you might be tempted to stick them everywhere you can to increase your rank, doing so actually takes away from the value and readability of your post. To avoid this, write longer content, so that you can incorporate the keyword more often. Just make sure it doesn’t seem repetitive or out of place.
- Craft your title carefully. When it comes to Google, it’s important to focus on the length of your title. You want it to be long enough so that readers will know what the post is about and what they can expect to gain from it—but not too long. This is because if your title has too many characters, it will get cut off in the search results with an ellipsis. And with mobile screens as small as they are, the title could be cut off even more. HubSpot suggests having 6 to 13 words in each of your titles.
- Add social sharing widgets. In case someone really enjoys your content and wants to share it with their colleagues and friends, why not make it easier for them? There are things called social sharing widgets that can be added to each post. With a click of these buttons, your content can be spread far and wide. This is good, as it increases awareness and your chance of gaining backlinks, which could result in a higher rank on Google.
- Insert a CTA (call-to-action). If someone was interested in reading your content, they may be interested in other blog posts you’ve written or in checking out your company’s services. CTAs usually live at the end of a post, but since not everyone will read the entire post, you can also insert one earlier on as well.
Ready To Optimize Your Content Writing?
With these tips in mind, you can go forth and effectively optimize your online content writing for Google. It’s all about maximizing every aspect of your content to yield the best return, and not just throwing seemingly random content onto your site every now and then. The more optimized content you have on your blog, the better your site will perform on Google.
About Virtucom Group
Consistent business blogging yields results – more clicks, more subscribers and – ultimately – more conversions. Whether you’re writing an automotive blog, an accounting blog, a healthcare blog or a home renovation blog, blogging for business and content development are useful for any industry. Follow the content writers at the Virtucom Group blog as they share digital marketing tips and discuss website content writing services that can optimize your business blog.
