Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is really important for your website. One way to boost your SEO is to create regular, relevant and interesting content for your website. A blog is a perfect way of doing this. And our 2017 SEO tips for blogging beginners will help you on your way.
First of all, some background.
What Is SEO?
Do a search in Google. The list of results that come up are called search engine results pages or SERPs for short.
The results appear because of SEO.
SEO is the way you optimise your content on your website for the search engines, so that it helps it to rank higher than content from other sites that appear in the results when someone punches in a search query.
For each piece of content that is published on a website there needs to be some consideration about the target keyword you want to rank for.
By target keyword, we mean the words and phrases that are associated with your business and for which you therefore want to be found for.
In the example above, the target query keywords were: digital agency Wyre Forest.
It would be pointless, and potentially damaging to your SEO, to add regular content to your website about an unrelated subject. You want to be found for terms relating to your business.
The words and phrases on your page act as a signpost to search engines. They tell them what you are about and therefore whether your website should be shown in the SERPs when someone types in a given query.
For example, if you’re a manufacturer, add content related the manufacturing phrases around your specialism
Why Blog To Help SEO?
The basic structure of any given website is such that it only has so many pages to include content about what you do, based around the keywords you want to be found for.
These pages might include your homepage and then your subsequent service or product ones. You would likely have an about us page, a testimonials and perhaps a case study page. Beyond that, where else are you going to include extra content?
One of the best SEO tips (and services) we give to our digital agency clients is that they should have a regularly updated blog. This is because it is somewhere on your website where you can consistently add more content that includes more of the types of words and phrases you want to be found for.
By content we mean blog posts, which can take many forms. Adding frequent articles to your site means it is kept updated and refreshed, which the search engines love.
You’ve Got Your Blog. Now Follow These SEO Tips To Get The Basics Right
Once you’re ready to blog, you’ll want to make sure that your content efforts can be found. SEO is important to help you do this. But how do you do that if you’re not exactly savvy in this area? It takes a lot of skill to make sure your blog is SEO friendly so you can truly leverage it as an influencing tactic that helps you rank better.
However, fear not because there are a few SEO tips and tricks for beginners you can master now to get to grips with the basics.
Reader First, SEO Second
With all the importance placed on SEO and maximising content, sometimes it’s easy to forget the real purpose of it. Repeat after us: content is NOT just for search engines. It’s for real people and therefore needs to be valuable, relevant and have depth.
Writing content just for search engines results in spammy sounding articles that no one wants to read. Give thought and input to focus on who your target readers are and what they want. Quality content should inform and/or entertain, so make sure you’re not just writing for Google and ramming keywords in for the sake of it.
Google will know if you do this and it won’t help your success in the SERPs. In fact, it could lead to you being penalised for black-hatting, which can have your site banished to the nether regions of the SERPs where no one is going to find it.
Good Headlines Are Worth The Effort
Your headline is your shop window. It should be both eye-catching enough to tempt the reader in and provide a clear idea of what the content is about. Don’t use a misleading headline just to draw in clicks. This is called click-baiting and it’s something Google does not like.
Both your headline and the content within need to have integrity. A good SEO-tip for headlines is to always include at least one keyword for the subject you’re covering.
Writing about X? Then include X in the headline.
The Importance Of The Introduction
Introductions matter.
The introductory paragraph of any writing needs to set the scene and grip the reader. Digital content is no different.
Think about how your audience might find your article using the search engines, then incorporate this search query into the intro. Using a meaningful keyword phrase in your lead paragraph will help your content’s visibility on search engines.
Every query typed into a search engine is essentially the result of a desire to satisfy an intent or question. Bearing this in mind when tailoring your introduction will help you deliver content that addresses such queries best.
Don’t Go It Alone
You will have heard the phrase, it’s not what you know; it’s whom you know. Similar applies when it comes to getting eyes on your content.
Being connected is how we thrive and a website, in particularly content, needs internal and external links for it to rank higher. Good quality links will provide credibility to your content and further build trust with your audience.
A Picture Paints A Thousand Words
SEO and content doesn’t always have to mean the written word. It’s about what will add the most value to your audience. If that means a particular topic lends itself better to video, then that’s what you could use.
In fact visual content is an extremely and increasingly popular format. The important SEO tips to remember here are that when using photos, videos, screenshots, charts, drawings, infographics, GIFs or any other image based assets, make sure you optimise alt text and include a keyword in the file name description.
Stay Relevant & Up To Date
Staying on top of your game and knowing your stuff keeps you relevant to your industry. To do so, follow blogs, news, events, people and anything else that keeps you in the know, or forge opinions to keep your content engaging.
Another big influencing factor affecting how many people actually see your content is when you post it. Do your research on the best time of day for your target audience to maximise engagement.
Befriend Social Media To Leverage Exposure And Drive Traffic Back To Your Website
Social media can be your best friend when it comes to sharing your blog content. Use it to set up a strong and supportive network. Share your content and encourage others to do the same if they found it useful, interesting or entertaining.
If you can get other industry experts to share your work this adds even more credibility to you as someone to be listened to.
Conclusion For SEO Tips For Beginners
We hope this guide to SEO tips for blogging beginners has given you some easy takeaways. Blogging can seem daunting but the benefits to helping your website’s SEO are potentially huge. Following these 2017 tips will keep your blog seo friendly, giving your website more chance of appearing higher up in the search engines and driving more traffic to your website.
If you action just one thing from our SEO tips, make it this: aim to keep your content unique, interesting and valuable to your reader and you’ll be okay.
Would you like to blog to improve your website’s SEO? Find out how we can help today by emailing Sarah on info@aiminternet.co.uk or calling her on 0870 062 8760.
If you enjoyed reading our SEO tips for blogging beginners you may also like to read our blog on 5 Ways We Run Effective PPC Advertising To Help Grow Manufacturing Business
