Every blogger wants to go from 0 to 100,000 visitors as quickly as possible. SEO for bloggers is the most important factor in helping you get there.
Featured content isn’t enough anymore and Google is getting smarter. In order for your blog content to rank now, it must be long-form, properly structured for SEO, match user intent, and have other relevant and high Domain Authority (DA) sites pointing to it.
Does it sound complicated?
Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
One thing I learned about blogging is that you don’t need 100,000 or even 10,000 visitors to start making real money from your blog. If you treat your blog like a business – focus less on writing and more on scaling your backlink acquisition – you will reap the rewards.
When I started my blog, I only had 5 “pillar posts” – high-quality, long-form articles that I could easily get links to (bonus points if they have citation statistics for easier linking). After launch, I focused 100% of my energy on getting links to those articles instead of writing any new content.
Who will find me if I don’t have domain authority?
Fortunately, I was able to find some tricks to scale my link acquisition and guest blogging strategy.
In accordance with AhrefsI got over 1,000 backlinks from over 200 referring domains to my blogs in the first 90 days:
This also had a direct correlation to my sites initial organic traffic:
What led to future SEO success after 17 months:
By implementing some simple SEO tactics such as link building, optimizing title tags and headlines, improving content quality and outreach, you can grow your traffic in less time
Also, if you want to outsource, there are plenty of them companies that offer SEO services and others that Sell white label SEO which can help scale your processes.
Here are some of the best SEO tips bloggers can try this year.
1. Do some keyword research and focus on 1 or 2 long tail keywords that match your reader’s intent
Optimizing your blog posts is not about stuffing as many relevant keywords into the article as you can (this can hurt your SEO now). It’s about writing for humans first and search engines second.
Including 1 or 2 long-tail keywords you’d like to rank for helps you create solid content that doesn’t feel unnatural or forced. You should also focus on these long-tail keywords because they are longer, provide more user intent, and tend to be less competitive.
Be sure to check different SEO tools to see the keyword’s “difficulty” score to see how much competition there is for that keyword. If you have a new blog and are just starting out, look for long-tail keywords in the range of 200-2,000 searches per month with a difficulty score of less than 0.2.
2. Include these 1-2 target keywords in specific areas of your post
Now that you’ve completed your keyword research and picked 1-2 good keywords you’d like your blog post to rank for, it’s time to place them in your article.
Where are the best places to add these keywords to get your SEO ranking as high as possible? There are four main sites, which are described below:
1. Title tag
The title (title) of your blog posts will appear on the search engine results page (SERP) and will be the first thing the search engine uses to determine the relevance of your content.
You want to include your target keywords in the first 60 characters of your title, and make sure they’re at the beginning so they don’t get cut off (optimal title length is 50-60 characters.
2. Your URL
Search engines still look up your URL to find out what your blog post is about. It’s a good idea to optimize your URLs on every post you publish, as each blog post will live with its own unique URL.
3. Your headers and body copy
Mention your target keywords in your blog post headers and content. You should stick to a natural cadence and not overdo it.
For example, your main keywords should be in H2 headings in the form of a question.
“What are the best SEO tips for bloggers?”
Your answers to these questions should then be in numbered H3 headings.
Ultimately, you need to write for the reader’s intent. So whenever you write a post, first focus on what matters most to your audience, not how many times a keyword is on the page.
4. Your meta description
This is the description that appears under your page title in the SERPs and is very important for click-through rates.
Keywords within the meta description aren’t as important as the title tag, but a clear description that matches your readers’ intent is a good place to start.
3. Quality content is king
Google’s latest algorithms reward content-rich, long-form articles that include things like videos, images, and infographics.
Aim for more than 2,500 words as it contains the average first page result 1,890 words. Just remember that the quality and relevance of your content plays a big role in page ranking. Creating a long blog post only won’t help your rankings if the content isn’t relevant to the user’s query.
4. Link building strategies for bloggers
Link building is one of the most important and difficult parts of SEO for bloggers.
Google sees links to your blog as an indication of your site’s authority.
Each link is a signal to the search engine that you have a quality and authoritative website and it will in turn rank you higher. Remember, the first key to getting more inbound links is to create content that others actually want to share.
Here are four more link building ideas for your blog:
1. Write guest posts
A guest post is a post you write for someone else’s blog that is valuable to their audience. You can reach out to bloggers similar to your niche.
An easy way to do this is through email or simply Facebook. Just ask them if they accept guest posts on their blog, create an outline for them and write the content.
Be sure to include 1-2 relevant links to your site, only mention your brand when it makes sense so you don’t come across as spammy. Writing guest posts takes a lot of work, but it’s a great way to build links to your site.
2. Create a statistics infographic
Blog writers love statistics. If you can provide a large number of statistics in an easily accessible format, you are providing value to the writers who are looking for this information.
If you give this content away for free, many users will put it on their site or simply link to your site as the original source of the content.
3. Don’t forget internal links
Linking to other content on your site helps users navigate your site and can also contribute to SEO success.
Be sure to identify the most important pages on your site, be strategic with your anchor text, and only link to relevant content.
4. Build relationships with other bloggers
Real relationships are an important part of link building. People are much more likely to help someone they know and trust than a stranger they’ve never interacted with before.
Always consider the goals of other bloggers and be sure to share their content, comment on their posts, retweet them, and find other ways to collaborate.
5. Give readers a chance to subscribe
Include prominent links that offer readers the chance to subscribe to your email list. This allows you to regularly interact with your audience and maximize the impact of your blog.
I currently use OptinMonster to collect email addresses on my blog sidebar, posts themselves, and exit intent. Providing a free offer also entices users to subscribe, and it doesn’t have to be something very detailed. A simple one-page checklist works well.
Also be sure to include social sharing options so readers can post to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other networks.
6. Optimize your images with high tags
Whenever you upload a photo to your blog, be sure to include keywords in the file name and fill in the alt text field with a short, keyword-rich description of the photo.
Since search engines can’t “see” images, they need to be told what they are with alt text. Adding this alt text to your images will improve SEO for bloggers.
FAQs about SEO
What is the golden rule of search engine optimization?
It’s about creating content for users and not for search engines, as meeting the needs of your users is much more important than just ranking, as you want users to return to your pages.
How can I maximize my search engine optimization?
– Make your site informative and valuable.
– Know what your readers need and supply them.
– Act in a way that allows and cultivates the trust of users.
– Clarify experience and authority from the outset.
– Provide an appropriate amount of content for your niche.
– Avoid the use of distracting ads.
– Use links sparingly and wisely.
Does SEO require coding knowledge?
The short answer is no, SEO doesn’t require much coding knowledge. Still, having some coding knowledge and understanding how programming works can get you a lot further if you have an edge over the competition.
SEO for Bloggers: Summary
I don’t expect you to incorporate every one of these SEO best practices into your blogging strategy right away. But as your website develops, you should look at these SEO tips to help you rank higher organically and ultimately monetize your blog.
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