We have supported the idea of good content for a long time now, but a number of clients ask how to link good content to the performance of their site. We have written elsewhere about the importance of ongoing SEO: this is a short and easy guide to optimizing your blog posts for best results.
Keyword Research
Decide on your "desired result". So, what do you want the blog post you are about to create and who do you want to attract. A fundamental maxim of SEO is not to aim for numbers but to aim for specific results.
You are looking for a keyword result of 3-5 words.
Once you have your desired result in mind, head over to the Google keyword planner tool and join Google adwords. Don't worry that you are going to have to spend money, you are going to use Google's resources to do some free research. The good news is Google offers you some really good ways to test your keywords for free, so take a little time to try out the keywords you think will achieve the desired result you want. It may be that the process of research will throw up some even better alternatives.
If you use local resources, then think of adding these to your keyword result - for example, "SEO expert Swansea" is better than "Richard - SEO expert".
On page optimization
Let's start with the title. This should be your keyword phrase 3-5 words long, so go back to your "desired result", compare it once more with your content and come up with your best possible headline. This after all is what your title is.
When you save and publish your work, check that the URL (the address you see at the top of your browser) includes your keyword - so it should read something like "www.mysite.com/this-is-the-keyword-I-want-you-to-see/".
As well as your title, you should include an enticing explanatory description that is no more than 65 characters long.
If you need subheadings, allocate h2 or h3 tags to them (speak to your web designer if you need these to look better on the page). Wherever possible, include your keyword in these subheadings too.
Use your keyword on the site, but limit it to no more than 1-2% of content. Straining to get the word in too many times puts of readers and goes down badly with the search engines. Using related words and synonyms is a much better policy.
An excellent place to add the keyword is in the first sentence of your article, and certainly in the first paragraph.
Name your images in a relevant way and make sure that the ALT description is relevant and included (ALT text is the description that allows a text reader to understand the content and function of the image).
Make sure you include a tempting meta description which included your keywords and which is 155 characters or less.
Add tags which you can display elsewhere on your site to encourage readers to find the post. Tags are one of the easiest ways to create a link building and filtering process which makes it easy for your readers to follow.
Off page optimization
Link your post to other relevant posts and content on your site and on others. This is specially good if you are writing a series of content on similar topics.
Share your post in appropriate social media outlets including:
- Facebook comment and link on your Facebook business page - make sure the title, keywords and a relevant description feature.
- Creating a small Google+ article. Don't just link to the title, but make this piece of content unique and descriptive. Do ensure you include your keyword and the title link.
- Link to the content in Linkedin if this is relevant
- Create a good Twitter post and short link to your article which you can share across your lists and hashtags.
- Make sure you have social share buttons on your post that encourages your readers to do the same.
All of which reminds me of the things we were taught a long time ago:
Decide what you want to say, create great headlines, link your content to valid sources and publicise it well. And all this was before the web had been created....
If you have any thoughts, please add your comments or get in touch with us directly.
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