Having a blog just isn't going to cut it in the digital world that we live in today. Side note: If you want traffic coming in, users engaging with content and ranking high on search engines, then you are going to need a good blog that is properly optimized for SEO best practices.
The first thing before writing a blog, you must know what your audience is looking for. Do keyword research to uncover keywords which are highly searched for but have low competition in your niche
Keyword research tools: Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs to find focused on primary keywords (head term) and complementing secondary keywords.
For that purpose, use long-tail keywords which are typically more specific (and less competitive) keyword phrases. Ex: Content Marketing = Content Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses.
Search engines have the first glimpse of your blog link, and readers see the title no matter what platform you distribute it on. For example, to make it SEO-friendly and improve click-through rates:
A keyword is the title: And of course, put your target keyword in the title so that search engines know what this article is about.
Make it short and sweet: 55-60 characters is normally good to prevent truncation in the search engines.
Google puts a premium on quality content, whether it is informative or well-structured. Add Value to Readers Address Common Questions or Pain Points in your Blog.
Expert analysis: Go deep in the topic, your post should be around it and must bring new perspective. If it makes sense with the content, aim for 1,000 words or more as long-form works better.
Meta description: Let searchers know what your blog post is all about, use your targeted keyword within the first 30 of these 150-160 characters. At a minimum, you should always include your primary keyword and a call to action that will benefit in click throughs.
Headings (H1, H2, H3) :Dissect your blog break it up into sections using headers. It can improve readability and also helps the search engines to properly read your content. Remember to use keywords in your headers, especially H1 (title) and H2 (subheading).
Internal links – Linking to other related pages or blog posts on your website. This not only forces readers to stick around for longer but also helps search engines index your sites architectural design.
Backlinks: Add links to websites where they can learn more about your claims. This carries authority and tells search engines that your content is thoroughly vetted.
Good user experience (or UX for short) is a must if you want to maintain readers and build your blog towards success. For example, Google uses bounce rate and time-on-page as UX signals for rankings.
Easy to read: Keep paragraphs short with bullet points and use a nice clear font.
Call to Actions (CTAs): Prominent CTAs should be used to help guide the reader on what they read next, whether that is subscribing to a newsletter, downloading content or exploring more articles.
Social These things send more traffic directly to your blog, and social is what affects SEO in a roundabout way. Encourage easy reposting of your content:
Include social sharing buttons: Place at the beginning or end of your post for convenience.
Produce Valuable Shareable Material: Lists, how-tos, or controversial opinions will produce material that your readers want to share.
A successful, SEO-friendly blog will take a combination of technical capability and creative content creation. If you take this approach, then the results are not only better search engine rankings but also quality content that keeps people coming back again and again. Keep in mind, SEO is a marathon and not a sprint so be patient and consistent in your actions and eventually you will see the fruits of your labor.