Each week we consume volumes of information online. In fact, 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine. Whether you are purchasing a new product or finding out more about a specific topic, ensuring your content keeps up with your competition is more important than ever. 

SEO blog writing is the process of writing blog posts that are optimized for search engines such as Google and Bing. Developing optimized blogs is a strategy marketers use to improve their organic visibility, drive qualified organic users, and boost the quality and relevance of their content.

This blog guides you through the necessary steps for building a successful SEO blog strategy and provides tips on improving the quality of the content to ensure it ranks at the top of SERPs.

Start With Creating an Organic Blog Strategy

No great blog is complete without a solid SEO strategy behind it. The goal of optimized blogs is to ensure they appear on search engine results pages (SERPs). This means building an effective strategy with keyword research and a thorough competitor analysis, which gives you an overview of where your competitors are succeeding and where they are not. Finally, develop a publishing cadence to help you determine a goal of how many blogs you want to be created on a weekly and monthly basis.

Keyword Research

The best blogs are built on a foundation of strong and thorough keyword research and keyword mapping. Utilizing a tool such as Ahrefs or KWFinder can help you search for relevant blog keywords. Think about different topics related to your industry that may be more difficult to understand or the root of frequently asked questions and search for them in one of these keyword tools. These tools will populate related search terms and indicate which topics could be valuable to target. Once you have constructed an initial list of topics, go back through each and ensure the search intent matches. One of the best ways to do this is to look at the first page results for each keyword. What types of pages are ranking here? Are they related to your industry? Are they home pages, service pages, or blog pages? Ideally, the pages that rank for your target keywords for SEO blog writing will be blogs or forums. Google ranks the type of information it deems the most valuable. If service-oriented pages rank, consider making a service-oriented page of your own rather than a blog post.

Competitor Analysis

A competitor analysis is what every SEO expert should complete to improve organic search rankings. You can analyze your competitors’ keyword profiles using tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to gain insight into what keywords competitors are targeting. Additionally, these tools cut through the clutter by filtering only blog pages to help you see which keywords are ranking best and which are not. If you need additional assistance on a competitor analysis, this blog on eCommerce SEO tips is an excellent resource to get started.

Cadence

Implementing a blog cadence helps you identify how often you will publish your blogs. Do you plan to publish weekly or monthly? Next, consider the costs and planning time. You can determine the frequency and write your first blog once you have it briefed.

SEO Blog Writing: The Process with Tips!

Now that you know to build a solid SEO blog strategy, apply these tips to your blog and watch your content improve in SERPs.

1. Think About Your Title and H1

Your H1 should include a targeted keyword and double as a title, and introduce your blog’s main idea. It should be intriguing enough to capture the reader’s attention but cannot be used as clickbait. Instead, consider what the customer is looking for when searching for your content.  For example, we could have titled this blog: “SEO Blog Writing Guide,” but that does not appeal to users, which is why we included terms such as “complete guide,” “2022,” and “driving engaged traffic.” These phrases add relevance.

Pro Tip: For a fully optimized title and H1, keep the character count below 70.

2. Create Relevant Metadata

While metadata is not written in the blog, it must be written clearly and concisely as it influences clickthrough rates on your website. There are two components of metadata: meta title and meta descriptions. Titles consist of no more than 60 characters of text and appear on SERPs in a large font when looking for a specific topic. Below them, you will find meta descriptions that are slightly longer than the title but are, ideally, comprised of no more than 155 characters.

Example:

Pro Tip: Meta descriptions hold zero weight for ranking but can influence click-through rates. 

3. Search for Related Questions (People Also Ask)

When you have your keyword, title, and metadata outlined, you should look at the “People Also Ask Section” of Google, which is typically in the middle of the first page. It is a collapsible dropdown that outlines some frequently asked questions related to the subject users are searching for. To get the best results in your blog’s rankings, take notes and add these questions to its outline. Answering these questions is a valuable tool for your content. 

Pro Tip: If you answer a question directly, include FAQ schema on the page. This will help your post take up more valuable real estate on the SERP.

4. Frame Out the Headers and Blog Structure

Framing the headers and blog structure is an excellent way to ensure your blog hits all relevant talking points before you start writing. While building out your structure, search for your topic and navigate to the top 5 blogs that appear in your results. Take note of how the information is separated. Ideally, you should structure your content similarly, but to rank higher than these competitors, it is essential to add more valuable content than these other blogs currently offer. 

Another essential component to consider is the length of competitor blogs. It is difficult for a 500-word blog to rank well when all top-ranking blogs are over 2000 words. This does not mean you should add fluff to your content just to increase the word count, though! Consider how your blog could provide more value than the current ranking content. For example, if you search for some of the other blogs around “SEO blog writing,” you may find that some provide 5-10 tips. We wanted to go above and beyond by providing a complete guide with a clearly defined process in addition to tips. Search for and exploit the weaknesses you see in the top-ranking blogs. Do they lack information about a certain sub-topic within your topic? Do they lack scientific research to back up their claims?

Pro Tip: Consider combining elements of the top-5 blogs to form 1 all-encompassing post.

5. Write While Considering Keyword Density & Related Terms

Once an outline is on paper, it is time to start writing. Keep in mind how often you are using your keywords. This is also referred to as keyword density. Ideally, you want a keyword density of roughly 1-2% and use the target keywords naturally throughout the content. Google’s algorithm tracks keyword stuffing and penalizes websites if it is suspected. Instead, create a great, informative, valuable blog. That being said, keywords are still important. Try to think of other related words and phrases people may search for and naturally work them into the content.

6. Link to Related Content (Internal and External)

Internal and external linking is a factor in Google rankings, and they play a role in the quality and quantity of your content. 

Internal Links: These links are hyperlinks that direct a user to another page within your website. 

External Links: Hyperlinks that direct users to a page on another website.

You can apply links to your content after it is written. Go back through and place links in relevant places throughout. Ensure that the anchor text you hyperlink with matches the keyword you are targeting for each respective page you link to internally.

7. Utilize Images and Optimize Alt Text

Using relevant images throughout your content keeps users engaged and allows you to rank for custom infographics and pertinent other photos in search results. Images are connected to alt-texts, which are picture descriptions for users who cannot see them. Additionally, they provide image descriptions to search engine crawlers to help them be described more accurately.

Upgrade Your Blog With Search Engine Optimized Content

A great blog is more than just excellent writing—it is an opportunity to appear at the top of Google search results. The SEO experts at Bullseye Strategy have 13 years of experience building customized SEO plans that improve your search results. Contact our SEO agency today to learn more.