Many business owners understand that content is king in E-Commerce and digital marketing. But, how do you find and use the best blog structure for maximum visibility online?
Thankfully, there are several blog post formulas that help your website rise in search engine results pages (SERPs.) Let’s outline your best practices for creating content that gets you noticed and paid in the digital and local-regional marketplace.
Romain Berg is a comprehensive digital marketing firm dedicated to getting traffic and conversion results for every client we serve. Contact us today. We’ll be in touch to help your blog, social media, and web content deliver the ROI you want without any hype.
First, make a content plan
Google and other search engines love consistency when it comes to content. To increase your chances for high-ranking blog posts, plan to post regularly 2-4 times per month.
If you don’t have the time, energy, or interest to make blog posting a priority, consider outsourcing this valuable portion of your marketing practices.
Hiring a team of expert content creators who can speak in your unique brand voice is a worthy use of your marketing dollars. You can still have input into your topics and add suggestions and edits to your content before publishing. But, you’ll save time you could spend in other critical areas of your business.
Outsourcing your content allows you to employ a high-powered digital megaphone to your business. All while freeing you up to innovate new products, oversee operations, and deliver high-quality customer service.
Next, employ diligent keyword research
Keywords are the phrases your audience speaks or types into their search bars to get the information they want and need. Using those keywords prodigiously in your blog structure and content can significantly elevate your SERP standings over time.
Though keyword use is important in your blog post, there are right and wrong ways to slide them into your content. You’ll want to craft a list of at least ten brand-relevant keywords. Hint: We like software tools such as SEMrush to help you sort through the vast number of keyword options.)
Blog Structure and SEO
Here are the basic keyword use guidelines that can improve your SEO, as well as detract from it:
- Clarify your blog post intent: Who are you writing for, and what do you want them to do, learn, or think after reading your post? Having these objectives in mind before placing your fingers on the keyboard will help you write more compellingly to hook the reader.
- Embrace a solid blog post structure: Remember, attention spans are notoriously short online. Structuring your article with an introduction, a body, and a conclusion (with calls to action at the beginning and end of your post) helps the reader stay engaged. If you ramble without focus, you’ll lose engagement and increase your bounce rate.
- Be conversational: While keyword use is important, Google knows when you’re padding your article with unnecessary keywords (known as a “Black Hat” SEO practice.) Use your keywords often (about six to eight times) in your blog posts, but keep your content natural and flowing smoothly.
- Make friends with headings: Sprinkling your naturally occurring keywords into headings helps your search rank. Use H2 headings after every few paragraphs to create a more pleasing and organized experience for your readers. (Because Google factors user experience into your rank score.)
- Avoid word walls: Though you may have plenty of ideas to share, consider how your content will look on a small mobile device. Walls of words in long paragraphs turn off users. Keep your paragraphs to three short sentences, max.
- Optimize blog post length: Search engines love blog content that tops out at 1000 words. Of course, you’ll need to factor in your audience’s desires and attention span as you compose your articles. Super-engaging topic areas have additional room where product reviews and other lighter fare need fewer words to make an impact.
- Discover related keywords: When you search on Google, you’ll notice a box of related keywords at the bottom of the SERP. Usually, it says “searches related to” and then lists several more keywords. Weaving those alternative key phrases into your copy can help you boost SEO.
- Use impeccable grammar: It’s fine to have an everyday, relatable voice in your content if it fits your brand. But poor grammar or lack of editing can diminish your subject matter authority and audience trust. Little grammatical elements make a big difference. Since Google deals in trust online, be diligent about editing, typos, and grammar to drive your point home confidently.
- Use backlinks in your content: You can invite more people to view and enjoy your blogs by linking to previous copy in each article you write. As you produce more blog content, you’ll build a resource library to tap into for relevant links. You should also include one outside, non-competitive link somewhere in your article to lend credibility to your material. (Make sure you set your publishing settings to open all links in separate windows, so your readers aren’t unwittingly clicking away from your site.)
- Be patient. You may not rank high in the SERP with your first (or 20th) blog post. Remember, SEO is a long game where consistency and perseverance pay off. Choose topics you enjoy writing about (or outsource your writing to a professional content team, like the one at Romain Berg.)
Keep at it. Use the practices listed above to create your blog structure. If you’ve nailed the keywords your audience uses, you’ll see SEO results begin to improve.
Tracking your traffic stats with a product like Google Analytics is simple and free. When you can see where your clicks come from (and where they don’t), you can tweak your content for better results.
Hire a pro to write content that gets you noticed
Content writing isn’t every business owner’s strength. If you don’t love writing, you’re more likely to falter in your consistent content practice. Plus, if you don’t enjoy writing, you’ll resent the time you could be doing other operational tasks that fulfill and energize you.
Contact Romain Berg today. Our experienced team of content writers know how to speak in your brand voice to engage your desired audience. We’ll help you build online clout, traffic, and conversions with relevant content that gets results.
