When you are running a business, especially a small business, it is crucial to be constantly trying to reach new audiences. There are several ways to do so, and one that is most commonly used in the online world is paid ads. However, there are more cost-effective ways to expand the limits of your brand, and one of those ways is to write an SEO-optimized blog post.
Search Engine Optimization and Its Use for Companies
First of all, we will start by defining SEO. Search Engine Optimization is the process of adjusting your content, and other aspects of your website, to increase the visibility of your content in online search engines, like Google or Bing.
The biggest companies across the globe use SEO strategies to increase their online visibility but make no mistake, you don’t need to own a huge enterprise to be able to obtain benefits from SEO, so your small business should also be optimized for it.
If you transform an online article into an SEO-optimized article, you will see more organic traffic to your website as a result. This will lead to an increase in your overall reach and, eventually, an increase in your sales.
The Core of SEO
We can affirm that keyword research is at the core of search engine optimization. The keyword search definition can be summarized as the process of identifying relevant keywords that users are entering into search engines in order to adjust a content marketing strategy accordingly.
This should be the first activity that you need to perform for writing SEO-friendly content. If you identify the trends by looking at the keywords that your target audience is more likely to search, you may create content that directly addresses those topics, increasing the possibilities of reaching this audience.
How to Create an SEO-Optimized Article?
We already defined SEO and made it clear that every business, even small businesses should be taking advantage of the different strategies to improve their search ranking results. We are now going to share some tips to have in mind when developing your SEO strategy and generating your SEO-optimized articles.
Focus on Keywords
As we mentioned before, keywords are at the core of SEO, which means that you will need to perform research on the most common phrases or words that are being looked for in the different search engines by the users or niches you are targeting.
Check for different variations of the same concept so you can cover most of them in your articles. Also, check keyword difficulty so you can understand how hard it will be to rank well for a specific keyword.
Using long-tail keywords is a great way to find words that don’t have competition as big as shorter keywords, as well as aiming for a more reduced and niche-oriented audience, and even a group of people that is more advanced in the purchase process.
Create Content With Value
Once you identify the keywords or topics that your audience is more receptive to, it is important to start developing your content with an extra focus on quality. Quality content is more likely to be read, shared, liked, and commented on, which translates into a better commitment from your audience.
Generating content that addresses the needs of your audience and that is also high-quality content, gives your brand a boost of trustworthiness, which positions yourself in a place of authority before your readers.
This increases the bond between your brand and your customers and can result in them becoming loyal clients and even advocates of your brand.
Organize Your Text Thoughtfully
It is not only important to write a good text in terms of its grammar, punctuation, and quality content, but it is equally important to organize it in a way that is also optimized for SEO.
Firstly, an SEO-optimized title should contain the main keyword, and it also needs to be attractive to the readers so they are intrigued by it and click on your link to read your article.
Then, the rest of the sub-titles should be also thoughtfully taken care of, with the use of different headers (h2, h3) organizing the content in a way that is easy to read, but also easy for search engines to understand the hierarchy and relevance of your content.
Avoid Keyword Cannibalization
We mentioned that keywords are a very important aspect of your SEO strategy and that they are key to writing an SEO-optimized blog post, however, they could also become a pain point if not used correctly.
Keyword cannibalization occurs when you have several pages within your website that target the same keyword or keywords. Search engines cannot determine which one is the most relevant site for that keyword, which leads to a negative impact on your search results.
To avoid it, make sure that every SEO-optimized article that you create targets different keywords. Also, you may take advantage of the different online SEO tools that will help you identify those issues through reports of your site’s health.
To finalize this article, it is important to mention that the ability to write an SEO-optimized blog post is not just for big companies. You should consider it as part of your arsenal of strategies, even if you own a small business.
By using these strategies and aiming for the correct keywords, you will for sure increase your brand’s visibility in search engine results pages, and get to a wider audience that could convert into frequent clients of your products.
Include these tips into your overall digital marketing strategy, along with social media, email marketing, and other marketing efforts, and your brand will continue its road to success.