How To Optimize Your Blog Content For Top 10 Ranking On Google
Does My Blog Content Need To Be Optimized Too? Only optimize your blog content if you want it to rank on google.
When it comes to blogging, readers usually don’t understand or care how the content came to be, just that it’s readily available when they need it. As a website owner, data driven SEO is a key component to getting your content readily available to your audience.
Consequently, optimizing your blog content is a top concern.
Every blog needs consistently published quality content if it wants to be successful. Successful content is well written, informative and strategic in nature and any website owner can create it.
So, why are so many website’s missing the mark?
Simply put, one or more of those components is lacking.
Imagine yourself writing a blog post covering a super generic or even trending topic. Your first thought might be of getting immediate traffic and leads, simply due to the popularity of the topic, but you’d be greatly mistaken.
Writing compelling content isn’t easy as it seems.
Yes, content marketing is a powerful digital marketing strategy, but only if you do it right.
Currently, content marketing is the top marketing priority for over 55% marketers and companies.
No matter what industry you belong to, you need to create and publish content that ranks well. Just writing high-quality content isn’t enough. You need a system, a process that you can use to maintain the consistency of your blog content to amplify your audience reach and rank you in the top 10 on Google search results.
The main idea here is that quality and consistency leads to better rankings in Google.
Hubspot reports that marketers who use blog content consistently generate a positive ROI of up to 13%.
This article is a detailed guide to help you pave your way to create content that makes sense. In short, I’ll walk you through how to optimize your blog content for Google Top 10 rankings.
You can use this guide for any kind of blog post. Just keep in mind, if it’s bigger and better, the top ranking it will fetch.
How To Optimize Your Blog Content For The Best Ranking
1. Keyword Research – Choose Wisely
Before you create a jumbled mess of words, check for the keywords that interest your audience.
Keyword research is the first step to optimizing your blog content.
Why?
Because if you carefully consider your keywords and choose your focus, your content is much more likely to reach it’s target. Select the primary keywords and secondary related keywords wisely.
Make sure you keep your eyes on the long-tail keywords and phrases and voice search as well because these might help you pinpoint the focus of your audience.
2. Check For Results In The SERP
The next thing to do after choosing a keyword focus is to check how the keyword is doing on the search engine ranking page (SERP). You’ll see snippets and other media, such as images and thumbnails of videos, as the SERP rich results. The example below shows a search for “teak patio furniture”. As you can see this turns out to be a high volume and extremely competitive search query.
If outdoor furniture happens to be your niche, you’re really going to have to strategize your keyword use and optimize your blog content to compete for the featured media or snippet. This means you need to create unique content based on well-planned and less competitive search terms.
By entering various ‘related search queries’ into Google’s Keyword Planner we can get search volume and competition values to begin planning out our strategy.
3. Use Your Keywords Throughout The Post
Your blog content optimization is starting to take shape.
Now, you have to use your primary keywords and variations throughout your post. You have to place them at specific positions where it’s convenient for the search engine crawlers to index your content, but more importantly you have to use them in way that benefits the reader.
This means DON’T start off by stuffing your blog post with your keywords.
• Google repels keyword stuffing as much as your readers do.
• Don’t pressure keywords where they don’t fit.
You won’t be getting anywhere near the first-page ranking by keyword stuffing. Instead, keep a natural flow throughout your content.
When aiming for a natural flow, make sure you include your keyword in the following four main areas:
· SEO Title
When someone searches for your content, the search engine will refer to your title/ SEO title to determine the relevancy of your content. You MUST include the keyword here. To make your SEO title more effective, cut it as short as 60 characters (including the keyword).
Another best strategy to try is to include the keyword at the beginning of your title. That way, it won’t be cropped off in the SERP.
· Headings and Body
As mentioned before, keyword stuffing can lead to penalization of your blog content. Don’t rush the keyword flow and make sure it is distributed throughout the headings and the body. Focus on what piques your audience’s interest and use it to structure your keyword usage.
· Meta Descriptions
The SERP displays the bit of description, which is kind of an abstract or summary of your blog content. You can use long-tail keywords here to compel your audience. Make sure it’s natural, includes the keyword, simple, and engaging.
· Blog Post URL
The link to your content also comes under the SEO scrutiny. Optimizing your blog content means taking into consideration every aspect including your URL. Yes, your keywords should be included in your url – whether long or short.
4. Add Keyword-based Image Tags As Well
Besides your title, headings, and the URL, the images you use should also be optimized.
Your SEO on page optimization also needs to take into consideration the text and tags with which you label your images and media. These are mainly used as a part of adding accessibility, which also counts under the optimization approach. Go ahead and name your image and the alt text with the primary keyword you want to use.
5. Your Blog Post Has To Be Mobile-Friendly
If you’re not paying attention to how your content is displayed on different browsers and devices — you should.
You have to notice that the search results on mobile, PC and browser type differ greatly.
Why?
A larger population is shifting to the mobile-based search system, which makes it necessary for Google to display search results optimized for mobiles first.
If your blog content on your website isn’t optimized, you must try using a responsive web design for your website. It enables your website to shift to a different platform without any hassle. Moreover, when it’s optimized, the URLs to your website blog content will remain the same for both mobile and desktop. This way, Google will definitely notice the value of your optimized blog content and rank it relevantly.
6. Relevant Internal Links Are Worth It
The ranking of your optimized blog content also depends on your inbound linking.
The links you add within in your content are the green or red signals for search engine algorithms to determine the content’s relevancy. Sure, you can add links from other websites too, but make sure you always implement relative internal linking within your own website first.
Whenever you’re publishing new content, consider going through the archives and make a list of related blog posts you’ve published before. Include these in the most natural manner and use an anchor text to make a connection between the old and the new blog content.
7. Structure Your Blog Content Tags And Categories
As a part of the overall SEO optimization, structured blog categories and tags serve as the ultimate navigational tools.
When you create blog content and publish it in a category, your URL for the blog post will include the category, which will allow the SEO to help the viewers explore the category for relevant content.
On a relative note, make sure you don’t stuff tags like keywords. Overuse of both can lead to penalization. Take a moment and think about the keywords to add and the relevant tags that are valuable for your audience.
Let Google Award Your Blog Content Optimization Strategy
Your blog content is a valuable asset in your overall SEO strategy. You have the time, you have the tips, and you have the resources. Implement the above tips and let Google crown your content with top 10 search rankings.
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