Rank in Google Sooner with Blogging Best Practices
Published March 19, 2024
You know you want your website to have visibility, you know you need to write a blog for your business, but blogging best practices are a little unclear.
There's a lot of information out here on the internet, and it can be hard to know which advice to follow. But take a step back and remember it all comes down to something very basic: making useful content for your community on a regular basis.
(Yes, frequency matters to a search engine, so you might want to outline several blog posts per month on an editorial calendar. 1-2x per week is considered the ideal number of posts on current data).
There's a lot of information out here on the internet, and it can be hard to know which advice to follow. But take a step back and remember it all comes down to something very basic: making useful content for your community on a regular basis.
(Yes, frequency matters to a search engine, so you might want to outline several blog posts per month on an editorial calendar. 1-2x per week is considered the ideal number of posts on current data).
1) Blogging Best Practices Begin with Audience Research
If you've done due marketing research, you know: the foundation of it all is understanding your target audience. There will be no success for your brand if you don't understand your buyer persona.
Do some market research. Start with brainstorming a basic description:
If you understand your customer, content creation is a lot easier. So will be ranking on the search engine results page.
The ranking on a search engine depends entirely upon whether the content is useful. Style helps -- good writing and grammar, easy to navigate layout, quick loading -- but if nobody wants to find your page because it's not relevant to them, you lose before you begin.
Do some market research. Start with brainstorming a basic description:
- Demographics (age, sex, income)
- Goals and aspirations
- Desires and fears
If you understand your customer, content creation is a lot easier. So will be ranking on the search engine results page.
The ranking on a search engine depends entirely upon whether the content is useful. Style helps -- good writing and grammar, easy to navigate layout, quick loading -- but if nobody wants to find your page because it's not relevant to them, you lose before you begin.
2) Keyword Research is a Second Foundation in Blogging Best Practices
When people hear search engine optimization (SEO), they almost entirely think of keywords. I don't have to go into too much detail for this concept -- your target audience is searching on Google for something, and you want your company to be found for that term.
So we go for the biggest search volume, right?
WRONG.
As I mentioned in another blog post, it's quality over quantity for keyword research. Many "long tail" keywords (long phrases like "where is the best place to buy used phones?") are more effective than "short tail" ("phones") keywords.
So how do you find the right terms for Google search?
First of all, see what you're already ranking for. If you don't have Google Search Console set up, do that and lean into words you're already known for.
From there, research: there are tons of pages out there with a tool to help you find the right phrase. Some are free, some are not. Pick your favorite. Google Trends. Ubersuggest. Answer the Public. Keyword Discovery.
If you get into the mind of your target audience and start thinking about the questions they have before they come to your website, you won't have trouble brainstorming tons of options and finding some with moderate search volume.
What's really important is also checking how difficult it is to rank for that phrase.
A free resource for getting around that issue is Ahref's Keyword Difficulty Checker. NOTE: No Search Engine Optimization tool is perfect -- so keep that in mind when looking at all these numbers -- but you should get some idea of a phrase that might be easier to rank for.
Then you can start writing.
So we go for the biggest search volume, right?
WRONG.
As I mentioned in another blog post, it's quality over quantity for keyword research. Many "long tail" keywords (long phrases like "where is the best place to buy used phones?") are more effective than "short tail" ("phones") keywords.
So how do you find the right terms for Google search?
First of all, see what you're already ranking for. If you don't have Google Search Console set up, do that and lean into words you're already known for.
From there, research: there are tons of pages out there with a tool to help you find the right phrase. Some are free, some are not. Pick your favorite. Google Trends. Ubersuggest. Answer the Public. Keyword Discovery.
If you get into the mind of your target audience and start thinking about the questions they have before they come to your website, you won't have trouble brainstorming tons of options and finding some with moderate search volume.
What's really important is also checking how difficult it is to rank for that phrase.
A free resource for getting around that issue is Ahref's Keyword Difficulty Checker. NOTE: No Search Engine Optimization tool is perfect -- so keep that in mind when looking at all these numbers -- but you should get some idea of a phrase that might be easier to rank for.
Then you can start writing.
3) Blogging Best Practices Encourage Keyword Clusters
When you're writing a blog post, you want to avoid keyword stuffing (using the same word over and over and over and over). You want your main keyword to be in prime real estate space for Google's algorithm, like in the attention-grabbing headline. But throughout the post, expand your language.
Think about phrases and ideas that relate to your primary keyword. Think about the different questions and answers surrounding your chosen term.
Use these secondary terms throughout every paragraph in a way that still improves readability and engagement.
Remember: in your blog post, you're trying to be the thought leader on that primary keyword phrase. Google wants to see your experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. They tell us that repeatedly. They don't need you to say the same thing any other blog post could say -- there are AI writers for that.
What can you contribute in a holistic, useful conversation on the topic?
There are digital marketing companies out there that have tools that have run statistics and will pull a keyword cluster list to show you the frequency needed of different words. I don't know of any free ones.
And when you're working on that, don't forget a call to action at the end of the piece. Every blog needs a goal. Where should your reader go next?
Ideally, in a way that gets them on your mailing list or newsletter subscription.
Think about phrases and ideas that relate to your primary keyword. Think about the different questions and answers surrounding your chosen term.
Use these secondary terms throughout every paragraph in a way that still improves readability and engagement.
Remember: in your blog post, you're trying to be the thought leader on that primary keyword phrase. Google wants to see your experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. They tell us that repeatedly. They don't need you to say the same thing any other blog post could say -- there are AI writers for that.
What can you contribute in a holistic, useful conversation on the topic?
There are digital marketing companies out there that have tools that have run statistics and will pull a keyword cluster list to show you the frequency needed of different words. I don't know of any free ones.
And when you're working on that, don't forget a call to action at the end of the piece. Every blog needs a goal. Where should your reader go next?
Ideally, in a way that gets them on your mailing list or newsletter subscription.
4) Don't Skimp on Resolving Technical Issues for Blogging Best Practices
When you've got your draft, you'll do the normal writing things--editing, proofreading, design, making sure it all looks good. Run a grammar checker if that's your thing. Have someone read over it and give you feedback. Whatever your workflow is for writing. (Don't have a checklist for your content creation? Might want to create one for your business.)
Are you done?
Not quite for good SEO practices.
You do want to make sure all your technical, backend website things look good. You can run through how to do a search engine optimization audit on your website here.
Even if your content follows best marketing practices, if Google's robots can't figure out what your page is about from good coding, you might not rank.
There are a few other pieces to a strong overall SEO content strategy, like link building and accessibility, but a content strategy that reaches your target audience is not a bad place to start.
Download a flyer with this checklist for your own use here!
Are you done?
Not quite for good SEO practices.
You do want to make sure all your technical, backend website things look good. You can run through how to do a search engine optimization audit on your website here.
Even if your content follows best marketing practices, if Google's robots can't figure out what your page is about from good coding, you might not rank.
There are a few other pieces to a strong overall SEO content strategy, like link building and accessibility, but a content strategy that reaches your target audience is not a bad place to start.
Download a flyer with this checklist for your own use here!
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