How to Write a Blog for SEO

SEO is not just a buzzword. Short for “search engine optimization,” it refers to adapting your website’s content so that it organically ranks high on a search engine results page (SERP). 

 

Maintaining a blog on your website by posting regularly is a great strategy for boosting your entire site’s SEO, even if the blog itself is not optimized. It helps keep your website fresh and positions you as a source that is knowledgeable and up to date. 

 

But an optimized blog can do even more for your site’s traffic – so how do you write one? Here are some tips and factors to consider:

 

A “keyword” refers to the words and phrases that search engine users type in a search engine to find information. It’s possible to manually research which keywords your audience is using, but programs such as Semrush can make finding or generating keywords much easier.

 

Generally speaking, you’ll want to include a sizeable number of keywords – a dozen or slightly more, depending on the length of your blog, should do the trick. 

 

There’s a balance you’ll need to strike with keywords. You might be tempted to include a nonsensical sentence somewhere on the page, filled with as many keywords as possible, to meet your quota. But this would actually hurt your SEO for a couple of reasons.

 

First, it doesn’t make you sound human and could lead the reader to distrust your content. Search engines punish sites that don’t provide coherent information.

 

And second, search engines know that bad actors try this “keyword stuffing” tactic in order to cheaply drive traffic to their sites. So, when keywords are stuffed into a webpage willy-nilly, it does the exact opposite of what you hope. 

Search engines and users alike value blogs and websites that can teach them something new. If you’re just repeating what everyone else is saying (or worse, plagiarizing), then search engines are going to prioritize the websites that already get a lot of traffic. 

 

Along with originality, personalization helps too! Mention your location, talk about what local or loyal consumers would recognize and make the topic relevant to the current needs of your target audience.

 

And no, artificial intelligence (AI) tools aren't a great choice to rely on for writing an optimized blog. Generative AI such as ChatGPT cannot create new content. They can only synthesize and regurgitate existing content, and there’s no guarantee that whatever they generate is not stolen verbatim from another source. Still, you may find it useful to generate ideas which you then write about.

 

What new information is your content providing? What new perspectives is it contributing to existing conversations? How does your content stand out? Keeping these questions in mind as you write will help boost your originality – and consequently, your SEO.

 

Part of how SEO is measured includes how long users stay on your website. So longer blog posts can boost your SEO, since they keep readers on your page for longer and allow you to squeeze in more keywords. 

 

But posts that are too long start to degrade your content’s quality and can deter readers, which in turn lowers your SEO score. Super-lengthy posts tend to either be redundant or unfocused. Your goal should be to provide information succinctly, then bolster it with more details that are clear and support the main topic. Consider incorporating a testimonial, a case study, an FAQ or even a human interest story to develop your topic and draw in your readers.

 

The right balance for a long-form blog currently seems to be between 1,000 and 2,500 words. But more important is tailoring your content to your audience – someone who wants a quick answer won’t read a 2,000-word blog post. Including short blog posts (roughly 500 words) can also benefit your website's SEO because you’re still refreshing your site, and readers may appreciate the variation in blog length.

 

In short, it’s not enough to have a certain blog length; you need valuable content written in a captivating way. 

 

Your blog’s title is also heavily considered by search engines, so this step shouldn’t be just an afterthought. When titling your blog for SEO, you should:

 

Long-form content such as blogs also benefits from being organized using headings and bullets. Not only do search engines scan and factor the different headings you use, but it makes it easier for readers too!

 

Writing for SEO doesn’t just include writing good content. Search engines also consider other, more technical factors such as links. 

 

When third-party sites link back to your page, that page is considered more reliable by the search engine, boosting its SEO score. Adding links that lead to external pages and websites in your content similarly helps, since the search engine can quickly see how your content relates to other webpages. For example, you might include a link to your local Chamber of Commerce or a nonprofit your organization works with.

 

Internal links (which lead to other pages on your own site) are just as important. Such links keep the reader on your website longer, plus they help search engines rank and sort your pages. In other words, internal links allow the search engine to more easily see how your site’s pages relate to each other. If you’re including internal links, consider optimizing those linked pages at the same time for an added boost!

 

 

Writing a blog for SEO can require extra work, but the results often speak for themselves. When done right, search engine optimization is a win-win scenario: your website gets more traffic, and readers learn something new.

 

At image.works, our digital experts and professional copywriters can take that extra work off your plate. Talk to one of our account managers today to learn what we can do for you!