Creating content is super important for SEO, especially for startups and small businesses. Within the platform we help you build out your content strategy, and come up with title ideas that will drive traffic.
But how do you SEO your blogs? We detail EXACTLY how to do this below in 6 easy steps...
1. ‘Frontload’ the keyword in the title
This is an easy one to employ. Once you’ve diagnosed the content you want to write, and the keyword/question you’re targeting, then put this at the very beginning of your title! This is a quick and easy SEO tip that REALLY helps.
2. Length
Length of content is important when it comes to SEO. Statistically, longer content outperforms shorter content. But it’s important to know WHY.
Google doesn’t like long content for the hell of it.
The causation is indirect; Google loves webpages when they are an authority on a given subject. And to prove you’re an authority in Google’s eye, you need to be discussing a topic in detail so that you mention all the sub- and related-topics it correlates with your main topic.
And the only way you can really do that is by writing about it, which then leads to longer content!
Aim for 500 words minimum if you can.
3. Sub headings
Separating your long content with sub-headings is not only a good thing to improve user engagement, but it helps with SEO too.
'Pepper' other secondary keywords within sub-headings throughout the copy. This will give you a chance for ranking for those keywords too.
Want to know how to create a sub-heading? It needs to be a heading placed within a H2 tag. Every CMS platform is different, but they *should* all let you do this easily.
4. Links/citations to other great resources
Google also loves it if you link to other similarly-related, great content. And this can be on other websites. It seems counter-intuitive, but if you link out to other valuable websites that can help your SEO.
It tells Google that you’re aware of the authoritative websites around this topic, and that gives Google confidence in YOUR content.
Imagine it was your dissertation – wouldn’t you want to ‘pepper’ references to other authoritative content on the subject to prove you knew your stuff?
Link out to other resources that provide your users with real value. Google will see this, and they will like it.
5. Links to YOUR own content
You don’t just have to link out to other websites that are related. You can link to other content on your website too. This helps engagement as well as SEO; as they consume more of your content, they stay on your website for longer.
6. Including media (e.g. images, videos, graphs, tweets, etc…)
The final point is to add rich media to your content. Especially if it’s long form content.
Add images where relevant to flesh out your ideas. Embed videos that bring your content to life. Show tweets that reinforce your message. Use GIFs to add a slice of comedy, etc etc...
Again this helps to keep the customer engaged with your content, and adds value to what you’ve produced. It’s all good SEO stuff.