How to Write a Successful Blog for Your Business
Do you want your website to rank on the first page of Google? Then you need to start blogging. Every blog is an additional page on your website that has the opportunity to rank on search engine result pages (SERPs).
Blogs are a free marketing tool that you can use to promote your business online and get in front of potential clients.
But what good is a blog sitting on the 100th page of Google? Useless.
In this article, I’m giving you 7 tips on how to write SEO-friendly blog posts that will help your content rank on Google. Get out your notebook, you’re gonna need it!
7 Tips on How to Write SEO-friendly Blog Posts
Knowing how to write a successful blog starts with having a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Keep in mind that blogging is a means to an end. Blogs help your website rank on search engines for various topics when written with SEO in mind.
Don’t aimlessly write and post blogs on your website. Make sure that the content you’re sharing has a good chance of showing up on the first page of Google by writing SEO-friendly blog posts.
Want to know how to write SEO-friendly blog posts?
Keep reading. In this blog, I share 7 tips on how to write a blog that ranks on Google.
1. Start with strategy
How to start writing a blog begins with learning how to write a blog post outline. I use the same workflow before I write any blog, which I’ve included below for you to use as well. It helps me clarify the blog’s purpose and the people I'm writing it for.
What's the purpose?
This question helps you identify the point of your blog, so you aren't just writing content for content's sake. Hone in on why you feel the need to write this blog and what questions your audience may have that it will answer.
What are FAQs about this topic that I can answer?
The best way to outline your blog is to think of frequently asked questions that people ask regarding the topic you're writing about. FAQs are also typically keywords (or queries) that users type into Google. Ideally, you want to find these questions and explicitly answer them in your blog post, so Google sees you as a valuable source of information.
Who am I writing this blog for?
One of the most important questions to ask yourself before writing a blog is "WHO am I writing this for?" In order to write a successful blog, you need to speak directly to your audience. Call out their pain points, use their language, inform them, delight them, entertain them...show readers that you "get" them.
What do I want them to KNOW?
Every blog should have a takeaway, so what do you want people to know after they're done reading your blog?
What do I want them to FEEL?
Your words should not only be intelligent but stir emotion. Do you want readers to feel understood? Empowered? Informed? Scared? Relieved? Choose the emotion and write with it in mind.
What do I want them to DO?
All blogs should have a clear call to action that supports your business goals while still providing value to your audience.
Moving on. Now that you have an action plan for your blog, it’s time to get down to business. For your blog to rank on Google, it needs to incorporate keywords.
2. Research and incorporate keywords
Keywords are words, phrases, or questions that people type into Google about a particular topic. For instance, “How to write SEO-friendly blog posts” is a keyphrase that I use in this blog. Ideally, when someone types that statement into Google my blog will pop up as the answer!
So, how do you research keywords for a blog post? Enter: Google Ads’ Keyword Planner. You can only access Keyword Planner if you have a Google Ads account, but there’s a loophole. You don’t have to have a paid campaign running in order to set up a Google Ads account. Watch this quick video to learn how to access Keyword Planner without paying for Google Ads.
How to Access Google Keyword Planner for Free
If you want a step-by-step guide with screenshots instead of watching the video below, follow my directions in this blog: How to Set-up Google Ads Without a Campaign.
Tada! Now you know how to research keywords like a pro. How to choose keywords for blog posts is a bit tricky though, so here are two things to consider:
Search volume.
When researching keywords in Google Ads’ Keyword Planner, look at the column “Avg. monthly searches.” That column will tell you how many people type that word into Google each month. The ranges are 1-10, 10-100, 100-1k, 1k-10k, 10k-100k, 100K-1M.
Now, if you watched my video above, you know that low search volume isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It actually means that the people who are typing that keyword into Google are highly targeted. But you also don’t want to use keywords with extremely high search volume because your newly published content likely won’t rank for it.
Competition.
This is an important column to pay attention to. The Competition column has three entries: High, Medium, and Low. You want to find keywords that have “Low” competition. If the keyword you want to rank for says “High” in the Competition column, that means many different websites are trying to rank for that term. Stay away from High competition terms because you won’t be able to rank for them.
Your best bet is to find keywords within the 10-1k search volume range that are marked as “Low” competition. This combination gives you the best chance at ranking for that particular keyword/phrase.
3. Use proper header hierarchy
Using proper header tag hierarchy cannot be overstated. What if this entire blog had no headings, just paragraph text? You likely wouldn’t have made it this far down the page! Point being: you NEED to use headings if you want to write successful blog posts.
Headings create structure and improve readability (for both people and search engines) on web pages. When paired with keywords, headings also boost your SEO.
Header tags span from H1 to H6 with H1 being the largest, most important heading and H6 being the smallest, least important one out of the six.
For instance, the H1 of this blog post is, “How to Write a Successful Blog for Your Business;” the H2 is “7 Tips on How to Write SEO-friendly Blog Posts;” the titles of each of the seven tips are H3s, and H4s are sprinkled within those H3s. (It’s unlikely your content would need to use Heading 5s and 6s unless it’s very complex.)
Finally, headings MUST stay in order. Heading 1 should always come first, followed by Heading 2, followed by Heading 3, and so on. Use larger headings to create sections or start new thoughts, while using smaller headings to clarify the content within the high-level headings.
To learn more about header hierarchy and typography, read Your Guide to Brand Typography and Hierarchy.
4. Space out your paragraph text
Spacing out paragraph text is not hard, but it’s hardly done. Fellow writer, use the Enter key liberally! Your paragraphs should only contain about 3-4 sentences. Why? Because 43% of people admit to skimming blog posts, meaning they aren’t reading blogs from cover to cover like a book.
Highlight certain sentences by putting them on their own lines or playfully expressing your brand’s personality. It might be counter to how you were taught to write, but when blogging, write as you would talk. And don’t be afraid to use bold, italics, and underlines for emphasis!
Whatever you do, don’t write a wall of text and expect people to read it.
5. Tell people what to do
One thing that’s usually missing in amateur blog posts is calls to action (CTAs).
A call to action tells people to do something: Learn More, Sign Up, Book Now, etc. You’re not writing a blog to be purely informative—you want people to take action after reading it! Blogs position you as an expert when you write valuable information on a topic you’re knowledgeable about.
The goal of a blog is to first build trust with your readers, then ask them to take action in one way or another.
Throughout, but especially at the end of, every blog, you need to include a CTA. Maybe you want readers to contact you, maybe you’ve created a free downloadable, or maybe you want them to join your email list. Whatever it may be, tell readers what to do after they’ve read your blog—don’t leave them without directions!
6. Craft a compelling headline
One of my favorite tools to use after I’ve finished writing a blog post is HeadlineStudio by CoSchedule. Once I’ve selected a keyword/phrase for my blog title, I analyze it using HeadlineStudio. HeadlineStudio ranks your blog title based on different criteria such as Word Count, Sentiment, Clarity, etc.
If you pay for an account, HeadlineStudio will also determine your headline’s SEO score. Because I do all of my own SEO research, I don’t feel the need to pay for this feature. You can use this tool for any kind of headline, not just blog posts (e.g., web pages, YouTube videos).
I recommend choosing your blog title before you start writing to give you clarity on what you’re writing about, then rank it in HeadlineStudio once it’s complete. That way, you know what you’ve written and how you can alter the title if need be. As a good rule of thumb, I aim to get my headline score in the green, which means scoring 70 or above.
Having trouble coming up with a compelling blog title? Check out this Blog Title Generator.
7. Edit ruthlessly
Finally, edit your blog ruthlessly.
I cannot stress enough how vital editing is. It’s easy to write a blog post in a hurry then end up with typos or incomplete sentences throughout because you didn’t take an extra minute to read it over. Ideally, send your blog to a teammate for proofreading once you’re finished writing it.
If you don’t have a team to review your blogs, I highly recommend using Grammarly. It’s an app that helps you write better, grammatically correct content. You can write your blog posts inside Grammarly’s platform or get Grammarly for Chrome and add it to your browser (that’s what I do).
Grammarly will undoubtedly help you communicate better whether you’re writing an email, a blog post, or even a text if you download their mobile app!
Now you know how to write a successful blog post that’s SEO-friendly, bringing more value to your business. So, do you have a blog page on your website? If not, let’s set one up for you! Get in touch with a Squarespace web designer (like me) who knows their way around SEO to optimize your blog page for search engine success!
