Writing blog posts goes beyond brainstorming, writing, and clicking the Publish button. To get as many eyes on your blog posts as possible, you need to write about compelling topics that search engines can digest easily.
Doing search engine optimization for your blog, or blog SEO, means ensuring your blog’s content, structure, and technical features are relevant and crawlable for search engine algorithms. When done right, you have a better chance of attracting free organic search traffic.
An SEO-friendly blog can mean the difference between a handful of clicks or thousands of them. Learn why blog SEO is important, and tips to optimize your blog like a pro.
Table of contents
Why is blog SEO important?
An optimized blog allows you to achieve a few important things: First, the top five spots on Google’s front page generate 70% of all clicks. Implementing blog SEO strategies helps you rank for those high-value spots for relevant search queries, making it easier for visitors to find your blog in search results for terms within your industry or niche.
If your blog post ranks for a highly searched query, it could lead to thousands of visitors from search engine traffic. If you were to rely on paid channels for comparable traffic from Google search, you might have to pay hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to attract visitors.
Good SEO also improves your brand image. A first-page ranking signals to searchers that your brand creates high-quality content. After all, it’s not just any old site that wins those coveted top search rankings. As you continue to post high-quality content, users will trust you, visit your site more, and engage with your content—further signaling your authority to Google and other search engines.
How to implement effective blog SEO
- Choose blog topics using keyword research
- Gut check the topic with your business goals and expertise
- Create a structured outline
- Use strategic keywords throughout your article
- Write an effective title
- Include internal links
- Add original multimedia content
- Monitor technical issues
- Update old content
Consider the following steps to improve your blog’s visibility in search results:
1. Choose blog topics using keyword research
Instead of choosing topics according to personal interests or intuition, follow the data. Use SEO tools like Ahrefs and SEMRush to understand the topics people are searching for within your niche and their search volume.
When doing keyword research, start by identifying broad target keywords related to your products, then continue drilling down to generate a list of long-tail keywords. Having a mix of short-tail and long-tail keywords can ensure you cast a wide net.
For example, if your business sold dog products like Earth Rated does, you might search for a broad keyword phrase like “dog chew toys,” then identify long-tail keywords to write blog posts about, like “what are dog chew toys made of.”
2. Gut check the topic with your business goals and expertise
While search volume is useful when considering what content to publish on your blog, make sure it aligns with your business goals and expertise.
Going back to our dog chew toy example, this article would only make business sense for Earth Rated to create if its products were useful to the reader. For example, if the article says rubber chew toys are best for dogs, but Earth Rated doesn’t sell those, it wouldn’t be a very useful experience for the reader (and Earth Rated probably wouldn’t make many sales).
So before you write that article, ask yourself two questions:
1. Is this a topic where I can provide genuine value to the reader?
2. If I rank for this keyword, will I actually solve a customer problem, earn new sales, or build relevant brand recognition?
If the answer to both of those questions isn’t “yes,” you should look for another topic.
(And for the record, Earth Rated does sell rubber dog chew toys!)
3. Create a structured outline
Each blog you write should be optimized for just one target keyword. In our example above, the target keyword would be “what are dog chew toys made of.” Include your target keyword in the following areas:
- The main header (or H1)
- The title tag
- The URL
- The post’s intro
- The meta description
From there, choose two to three supporting keywords and common questions related to the target keyword to flesh out your blog content outline and cover the topic comprehensively. SEO tools will come in handy here as well. Use header hierarchies when outlining your content, so that search engines can easily crawl the post and understand its relevance to the target term.
4. Use strategic keywords throughout your article
Search engine algorithms use keywords to understand an article’s relevance. Users also search for information using specific keywords. Because of this, include relevant keywords in your blog post so algorithms can understand what your content is about. This also gives you a better chance of showing up on SERPs (search engine results page) when users search for keywords related to your target keyword.
Search engines nowadays can understand semantics and synonyms, so you don’t need to keyword stuff. Instead, include keywords naturally in your writing. If you’re stuck, use a tool like Surfer to help you create an SEO outline and guide you on the right keywords to use and their frequency.
“Use on-page SEO optimization tools as a guide, not a mandate,”says Kyle Risley, lead SEO at Shopify. “They can be helpful for highlighting topical areas you forgot to cover, making your article more useful to readers. If the recommendation makes sense, include it. If not, you can skip it.”
For a blog about dog chew toys, strategic keywords might include: “safe chew toys for dogs,” “choking hazard,” and “dog toys to avoid.”
5. Write an effective blog title
It’s one thing to rank—it’s another to get users to click through to your blog and read it. A compelling blog post title not only quickly signals the nature of your content to search engines, but a snappy title also makes it enticing for users to click on it on Google SERPs. Click-through rate (CTR) is important because the higher your CTR, the more search engines see your post as authoritative, granting higher rankings.
To write an effective title, front load your target keyword and keep it to 55 characters so it doesn’t get cut off on the SERP. For example, “What are Dog Chew Toys Made Of? 5 Materials to Avoid” is a descriptive, eye-catching headline that stays under 55 characters.
6. Include internal links
Internal links create a contextual association between new and existing blog articles, which helps search engines understand your expertise within a specific niche. Internal links also allow you to push users to view more of your relevant content or find additional content they may be interested in.
7. Add original multimedia content
Multimedia content is anything that goes beyond the written word—like images, videos, interactive elements, and infographics. These keep your readers engaged, clarify your writing, and demonstrate your expertise.
For example, in a comparison article, an infographic comparing all the options listed in the blog post can be a valuable addition, as can a diagram that simplifies a complicated concept. Videos or interactive elements like surveys and polls can keep the reader on the page while they watch your video or engage with the survey.
All of these signal high engagement to search engines, which can lead to better rankings. Ideally, multimedia should be original. Use a program like Canva to create professional, branded graphics quickly and easily.
8. Monitor technical issues
Your blog post may be the most relevant and engaging, but if your site has technical issues, your hard work may not pay off. Technical SEO refers to behind-the-scenes aspects of a site that affect a page’s visibility, crawlability, and indexability.
For example, if you have a beautifully optimized blog article with original videos, proper structure, and internal links but your website loads painfully slowly or is buggy to use on mobile devices, search engines may pass it up in rankings due to its unfriendly user experience.
Some technical SEO issues to watch for include:
- Page speed
- Mobile-friendliness
- Website architecture
- Duplicate content
- Security
- Broken links and 404 errors
- Image alt text
- Accessibility
9. Update old content
Over time, your content may get outranked, because search engines can prefer newer content. To avoid losing visibility, update older content every 12 to 16 months with new information to signal freshness to search engines. Updating old content also gives users a better experience and establishes credibility. Would you be more likely to trust the blog offering clothing trend tips from two years ago or the one talking about the latest trends?
Blog SEO FAQ
What is blog SEO?
Blog SEO is the practice of finessing a blog post so that search engine crawlers can index the page efficiently and rank the link at the top of search engine results pages. Tactics include adding relevant keywords, structuring the post so that it’s easy to digest, and including original multimedia content.
How can I improve my blog SEO?
You can improve your blog’s searchability with a mix of on-page SEO tactics—such as incorporating relevant keywords in the copy and meta descriptions—and off-page tactics like building backlinks and improving your site’s technical features.
Is blogging good for SEO?
Yes, blogging is a great way to create content and boost a site’s SEO, letting you drive traffic to your site while signaling authority, relevance, and credibility to search engines.
