How Do Blogs Help SEO? (+ 10 Blog SEO Tips For Better Ranking)

By: Lauren Petrullo
9 mins max
April 26, 2023

Are you a website owner or digital marketer looking for higher rankings on search engines? Have you heard about blog posts and their potential for improving SEO but aren’t sure how does a blog work?

It can seem overwhelming, but it is, in fact, good execution of a carefully crafted strategy.

In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the basics of blog SEO and how blog posts can bring great results regarding search engine optimization (SEO).

We’ll also explain why blogs are important and what steps need to be taken to ensure they’re useful.

So if you’re ready to take advantage of this powerful online marketing tool, keep reading!

What is Blog SEO?

Blog SEO is the process of optimizing blog content to get a higher ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). The process involves writing high-quality blogs and articles and taking the right steps to optimize blog content, like adding an optimized blog post title, meta description, and title tag.

For a greater impact, off-page SEO tactics like link building and social media promotion are also used.

But why does blog posting in SEO help?

Let us explain.

Why Does Blog Posting in SEO Matter?

You must have seen a “blog” section on many popular websites. No matter their niche or industry, they all have one thing in common—a blog section.

Why? Here are a few ways blog posts help improve your website ranking and overall SEO.

1. Fresh Look & Up-To-Date Content

People on the internet are always looking for updated information on the topics they need help with.

Not having the latest information on your website means you’re either out of business, not paying attention to your audience’s needs, or don’t know enough about a subject.

In any case, users are likely to ignore your website, and search engines will not place your website higher in the rankings if that’s the case.

Creating new blog posts regularly shows visitors and search engines that you care about keeping them up to date with relevant content.

2. Enhance Click-Through Rate And Time On Website

Google highly values its users’ time. If a user lands on your website after a Google search and doesn’t find your content helpful or interesting, they’ll leave right away.

This minor-looking act signals Google that your website isn’t worth ranking and can lead to a drop in rankings.

On the other hand, regularly uploading SEO blog posts will engage visitors, leading to higher click-through rates (CTR) and longer time spent on the site. This makes Google trust your website more, leading to a boost in search engine rankings.

3. Better & More Frequent Indexing

Indexing means a web page is added to Google’s database and can appear in SERPs.

Regularly updating your website’s content or adding more blog posts gives Google a reason to crawl your website more often.

As a result, all the new content or blog posts will get indexed faster and be ready to appear in SERPs if they’re worthy of it.

4. Create More Internal Links

Using internal links allows visitors to explore other parts of your website and increases the chances of finding what they’re looking for.

When you create blog posts, you can add internal links to other relevant posts or products on your website. This helps search engines identify the relationship between them and boosts their visibility in SERPs.

5. Better Audience Connection

Having a blog section on your website doesn’t just help make it more SEO friendly; It also helps you build trust with visitors by letting them get to know your brand better.

By providing helpful content, visitors will recognize and appreciate your brand. This leads to improved customer loyalty and conversions from new customers as well.

These are some ways blog posts and blog SEO help your website. Overall, blogging has numerous SEO benefits, and having an SEO-friendly blog on your website is a must for any business.

Now that you know why blogs are important, let’s learn about the best SEO practices to create your blog or SEO strategy in order to get the most out of it.

How To Write An SEO-Friendly Blog Post?

Writing an SEO blog post involves 6 fundamental steps.

1. Create Content Strategy

Before you randomly choose a keyword or write anything, make a content plan.

You can’t just take your business’s primary keywords and start building content around that.

No. It doesn’t work like that – it’s like going on a road trip without a map or directions. A big No.

Instead, first, build a well-thought SEO content strategy.

Here’s how you can make one:

Define your target audience and see what solution your business offers them.
With that in mind, think of topics that your audience wants to learn about.
Then, pick the one you’re an expert in and can build topical authority in.

That one topic will be your pillar, and you will need to create cluster content around that to build authority.

Now that you know your target audience and topic areas, move to the next step.

2. Keyword Research

Keyword research is the next step in your content strategy and the first step of writing an SEO blog post.

Start by finding keywords relevant to your selected topic that have a good search volume and low competition. You can use various tools, such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, SEMRush, etc., to find the right keywords for your blog post.

If this seems overwhelming, check out this detailed, step-by-step keyword research resource.

3. Search Intent

Once you have the keywords, it’s important to understand their search intent. Analyze why people search for those words and target your content accordingly.

If you fail to understand the user’s search intent, then even if you rank on a keyword, it won’t be relevant. Instead, this will result in an increased bounce rate and a drop in rankings.

So, it’s essential to understand the user’s intent and create helpful and relevant content.

4. Blog Format

Deciding on a blog format in advance helps you create a structure for your post that makes it easier to write (and read as well).

Some of the most popular blog formats are:

Listicles
How-to Guides
Reviews
Interviews & Expert Opinions
Case Studies
Comparison

But how to choose the right format?

The answer lies in the search results. See what the top-ranking sites have used for the keyword and try to replicate that format in your blog post.

5. Blog Outline

Creating an outline helps you organize the ideas in your head before you start writing. It also ensures you don’t miss out on important points while writing.

Start by jotting down a few topics you want to cover in the post and then create a structure for them.

Tip: You should definitely check out competitors and take inspiration from their blog post outline.

6. Writing

Now that you have the keyword, search intent, format, and outline for your post, it’s time to start writing!

Research the topic well and create original, informative, and engaging content.

Make sure the content flows naturally and is easy to read & understand. Also, try to use simple words with shorter sentences whenever possible. This will help your readers quickly absorb the information without any difficulty.

Finally, proofread your blog post to ensure no grammatical or spelling errors.

But before you head over to publishing your new blog post, check if it is properly optimized for SEO success.

Don’t worry — we’ll walk you through that too.

How To Optimize Your Blog Post The Right Way: 10 Blog SEO Tips

1. Optimize Your Title With Keyword

Your blog post title is the first thing that appears on the search engine results page, so it must be optimized for maximum visibility.

Try to include your main keyword at the beginning of the title to grab attention and increase your click-through rate.

2. Shorten The Title Tag

Title tags appear on the top of each search result and are usually the attention grabber when readers are skimming.

This is not particularly bad, but users will likely skip past your blog if they don’t know the complete title.

This is why you should add a separate title tag and keep it short (50-60 characters).

Most blogging platforms and CMS, such as WordPress, have plugins like Yoast SEO and Rank Math that let you add an optimized title and title tag, otherwise there are various SEO tools alternatives to consider. You can explore a list of the top SEO tools recommended here.

3. Write Catchy Meta Description

The meta description is the snippet of text that appears underneath the title on the search engine results page.

It should be optimized with the main keyword and should be compelling enough to motivate users to click your link.

Make sure to keep it under 150 characters and avoid keyword stuffing in meta descriptions as much as possible.

4. Include Your Keyword In The URL

Adding your keyword in the URL (also known as ‘Slug’) helps search engines categorize and rank your post better.

Keep your slug under 50 characters and include hyphens (-) between words instead of underscores (_). That’s because keywords separated with hyphens are easier for search engines to read & understand.

5. Add Optimized Images & Videos

Images and videos break the monotony of the post, thus making it more visually appealing for readers. Just make sure to use high-quality images that are properly optimized for SEO (with proper names and ALT texts).

Also, try to include a few relevant videos from YouTube or Vimeo if possible. Videos enhance user experience, decrease bounce rate, and improve blog SEO.

6. Add Internal and External Links

We’ve already discussed how internal links are super important for SEO – consider this a reminder of the same message.

But don’t forget to add external links to your blog posts.

Why?

“Google considers external links to have more value when applied to ranking.” – SEMRush.

So, should you start linking to every other website?

No. Only link to relevant and high-quality content from high-authority websites.

While you might think it will take users away from your website and cause you to lose prospects, the reality is different.

When readers see you linking to credible sources that add further value, they start seeing you as a trustworthy resource and keep coming back.

The same happens with search engines. When they see you linking to relevant, high-authority websites, they automatically trust your content and rank you higher.

7. Optimize Your Posts For Mobile Devices

Nearly 60% of the traffic comes from mobile devices, so it’s important to ensure your blog post is optimized correctly for them.

See if the page size and loading time are fine on different mobile devices. Also, check how the post looks on different screen sizes because you don’t want users to miss out on any important content on any device.

8. Use Structured Data Markup (or Schema Markup)

Structured data markup is a set of codes that help search engines better understand the content on your page. It helps them categorize, rank, and display your post in search engine results in the form of rich snippets.

What are rich snippets?

Rich snippets are SERP features that give additional information like ratings and reviews, event information, recipe, FAQs, etc., along with the meta title & meta description of your blog.

Why should you aim for rich snippets?

Rich snippets shouldn’t be considered a ranking factor at all. But since these are visual and interactive, they are likely to drive more clicks and blog traffic, improving the overall blog SEO.

This is why you should use Schema markup to add structured data and help Google understand and display your content better.

9. Add Social Share Buttons

Add social share buttons in strategic places (like the sidebar, under the post title, or at the end of the post) to make sure your readers can easily share your post on their favorite networks.

But why? Does sharing a blog on Facebook or Instagram boost SEO?

The answer is NO. Social media doesn’t directly impact blog SEO or organic search rankings.

However, social sharing does indirectly influence search algorithms in the following ways:

Gives your blog extensive reach
Increases the lifespan of your blog post
Drives additional website traffic
Enhances overall brand exposure

So, the easier it is for people to share your post, the better it is for your blog’s exposure.

10. Track Results & Improve

Finally, once your SEO blog post is published, measure and track its performance.

How? Google Analytics is a treasure trove of web traffic data.

Use this tool to keep an eye on key metrics like page views, bounce rate, average session duration, conversion rates, etc.

Google Analytics data will help you understand how well the post performed and what changes are needed in future posts.

For example, if the average session duration is low, your blog drives traffic, but users keep abandoning it for some reason. This could be due to poor formatting or design, slow website loading speed, or broken links. Figure out what it is, fix it, and get better results.

That’s it! These are the essential steps and tips to write and optimize your blog posts for SEO.

Get Ahead With The Right Blogging Strategy

Well-researched and engaging blogs are essential for any business trying to compete online.

But combined with a comprehensive SEO strategy, your blogs can become a powerful tool for driving traffic, generating leads, and building brand recognition.

However, doing it all on your own could seem like too much work. This is where Mongoose Media’s expert SEO team can help.

With our professional SEO and content creation services, we can develop a winning strategy that will propel your business ahead of the competition.

Check out our services and learn more about how we can help you maximize your content creation & SEO efforts today!

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