Every day, millions of bloggers worldwide post and share their content. So if you’re a small business that just started blogging, it’s normal if you don’t get a high number of readers right away. Your content needs to be crawled first by search engines like Google before showing it to search users looking for content relevant to your blog articles.
So the challenge here is how to get your blog post indexed and appear on Google search results. The answer is quite simple. You need to properly optimize your blog post for search engines. Here are ways how you can do it, as recommended by the best digital marketing company in Los Angeles, Cybertegic:
7 Tips to Optimize Your Blog Post
- Write for users, not for search engines.
- Add visual elements.
- Place your main keyword on top.
- Make use of headline tags.
- Create an eye-catching title tag.
- Add an engaging meta-description.
- Use alt text and alt tags.
1 – Write for users, not for search engines.
With the recent updates that Google has applied to its algorithm, the search engine now makes sure that it delivers search results that users need. Gone are the days that you could write any content and include several keywords so search engines could find it. These days, content should be written for users. It should be highly relevant and informative.
Write content that provides answers and solutions to users. Remember that people go to search engines to find answers to their queries. And if your content has the answers to their questions, it will most likely appear on the search results.
2 – Add visual elements.
When people are reading content, they don’t just expect to see blocks of text. They also want visuals. Otherwise, they are most likely not to stay on your blog and go somewhere else. Visuals are more than just elements to attract them to read your content. They also engage users and help them digest the information you are sharing in your blog post.
Visual elements are more than just images or pictures relevant to your content. They can be infographics, GIFs, videos, slide presentations, or interactive animations. These elements help entertain readers and make them stay on your website, significantly reducing your bounce rate.
3 – Place your main keyword on top.
According to Moz.com, it is recommended that you place your main targeted keyword on the first 100 words of your content. This is so Google and other search engine bots can crawl the keyword right away when indexing your blog post. Doing so sends a signal to Google, so the search engine knows your article is relevant and related to the keyword. So if a user types in your target keyword in a search engine, there is a high chance that your article will appear on the search results.
Make sure that when adding your target keyword, the sentence should sound as natural as possible. You can’t just put your keyword in a sentence that doesn’t make sense, as it sends a wrong signal to Google and may affect the visibility of your blog post.
4 – Make use of headline tags.
Headline tags are used in HTML to define the headings of a page. They are used to separate the headings and subheadings of your blog post. For example, your blog’s title should be H1; any following sub-headlines should use H2 to H6 depending on your content structure. Heading tags are important because they help guide readers through your blog post.
You see, readers love to scan the content before deciding whether they want to read it as a whole. Using heading tags will help them review your content quickly. Using heading structure also helps accessibility, especially for people who might find it hard to read from a screen. Headings also greatly help with SEO as it creates high-quality texts, making them easier for users to read. This delivers a good user experience, one of Google’s main ranking factors.
5 – Create an eye-catching title tag.
When your article appears on Google search results, the title tag is one of the first two things a search user will see. Although you can choose to use your blog post title, you should create a different title tag that meets specific criteria. First of all, search engines can only show the first 50 to 60 characters of your blog post’s title tag, so you want to stick to that. Second, you need to place your keyword in the first three words of the title tag. This helps search engines quickly identify the topic of your content.
More importantly, create an eye-catching title tag. A great title tag can help your blog post stand out from all the other ones that appear on the search result alongside yours. Thus, it can increase the click-through rate of your blog post.
6 – Add an engaging meta-description.
Following the title tag is the meta-description. It is the second thing that search users see if your blog post appears on the search result page. The meta description is a short summary that tells readers what they should expect from your blog post. Think of it as a synopsis of your blog post, so you must write an engaging meta-description that will entice search users to click on your link.
Another tip when creating a meta-description is to only use 50 to 160 characters. Be descriptive but don’t give everything away on your meta-description. Think of it as a sneak of what information your content has to offer them. This will entice them to click on your link and actually read your blog post. Be sure to include your target keyword on the meta-description.
7 – Use alt text on your images.
When uploading images to your blog post, you must include alt texts. The alt texts or alternative text can be used to describe your photo. It also comes in handy if the picture doesn’t load properly as it will appear in its stead. When adding alt text, make sure it is relevant to the image. If possible, you can add a keyword to your alt text.
What makes alt text so important is that it tells search engines what your image is all about. This tag increases the relevance score of your blog post, which in return makes it easier for search engines to recommend your blog post to its search users.
