How to add SEO sauce to your blog
In my last blog post, I warned against letting perfectionism get the better of you. It’s better to publish than to procrastinate, people! Having said that, you will want people to read what you’ve poured time and effort into writing. And for that reason alone, you should spend a little time adding some SEO sauce to your post. (Note the phrase ‘SEO sauce’. Personally, I like to focus on creating content first, following the steps I’ve outlined previously. I then squeeze on the SEO sauce before serving up my post to the public. Why? If I get too hung up on SEO too early on in the writing process, it takes the fun out of things, making blogging seem like a box-ticking exercise. And it’s supposed to be fun, remember?) You may well have heard of Google’s EEAT Guidelines (yes, they recently added an extra E!). EEAT stands for: These guidelines are one of the ways in which Google assesses whether your content is of value to readers. And doesn’t this seem a logical way of doing things? Who doesn’t want to read reliable content written by someone who knows what they’re talking about? Bear this in mind whenever you write a blog post. Well-researched content should be the bedrock of your blog. Do your keyword research This is the basis of SEO – so don’t skip this step! If you do, you’re building your castle on shaky foundations. Follow these steps to make sure your keyword research is sound. Use your keywords How to use your keywords? You don’t want to smother your post in sauce (if you’ve ever shaken a bottle of ketchup too violently you’ll know that soggy chips are never good!), and you want to make sure there’s a nice even coverage. Remember too, that Google penalises what’s known as ‘keyword stuffing’. Read your post aloud – do your chosen keywords sound natural? Or does your post sound repetitive? If the latter, time to make some edits. Some further tips for using keywords: Include links Your blog post should include external links – as long as they are relevant to your topic and come from trustworthy sources. Why? Because this is another way of showing Google that your content is authoritative and helpful. Include internal links (links to other pages on your own website) too. This helps Google to index your content more efficiently – and gain a better, more holistic understanding of what you and your business are about. Just make sure: Utilise images Images have an important part to play in boosting SEO. Make sure you always include an alt-text description for any images you share on your blog post. Not only does this make your images accessible for people who use screen-readers, it’s also an opportunity to add keywords. For example, the alt-text caption I wrote for the above image is: ‘women conducting keyword research for her tourism blog.’ Make sure your pictures aren’t huge! Large images load more slowly, which hinders user experience. And that won’t exactly work wonders for SEO. There’s useful information about sizing your blog images here. Consider plug-ins And finally – why not get a plug-in to give you feedback on your SEO before you publish? I use Yoast (the free version) but there are others. A word of caution though: plug-ins like Yoast are handy, but they don’t do your keyword research for you and you should always use your own instinct when it comes to deciding how natural your keywords sound within your post. Do you need input personalised to your business? Why not book a Copy Boost session with me? This hour will be laser-focused on your specific needs, giving you the confidence you need to blog with confidence. Interested? DM me on LinkedIn or email me at genevieve@campioncopy.com
