How to optimize blog posts for SEO

If you have a website, chances are you’d like it to show up in Google. Setting up your website the right way for search engines—also known as Search Engine Optimization or SEO—can take many forms.

In our experience, the most powerful SEO tactic is blogging regularly as long as you optimize those blog articles for SEO.

How do blog posts help SEO?

Google’s whole goal is to help people find the information they were looking for, whether it exactly matches what they typed in or not.

So if Google matches people with helpful information, the strategy for getting more traffic to your website seems obvious. Put more helpful information on it!

Of course, that needs to be helpful information that people are searching for. So you have to do your research. And it’s also beneficial to know that in recent years, that information typically takes the form of blog articles. 

So if you want more people to visit your website, you have to put more helpful content on there that people are searching for. In recent years, that content takes the form of blog articles.

How do I write an SEO-friendly blog post?

In the past, Tim has shared an entire in-depth system for optimizing blog posts for SEO. If you want nitty-gritty details, feel free to read that article. Here, we’ll cover a high level of the steps I use when blogging for SEO.

I have three major tips.

First, research questions to come up with your main topics. Use Google itself to search for phrases and words related to your industry, products, and services. Pay attention to the autocomplete suggestions, the “People also ask” section in the middle of the page, and the other search phrases at the very bottom.

Second, pick your actual topic based on what’s most common and how it’s worded. While the exact wording isn’t as important as the overall meaning of the search, it definitely doesn’t hurt to match the phrasing exactly. The only exception to that is when a common search term is just plain wrong or bad English. You still want to look like an expert.

Finally, create headings for each section by searching Google once again. Search for roughly what you plan to discuss in the section, then use Google’s suggestion for the topic and even exact phrasing. In general, you’ll want to make those h2 headings when actually scheduling the blog.

How long should blog posts be for SEO?

A common question when creating blog posts for SEO is, “How long should they be?” The short answer? As long as they need to be and no longer.

The general rule of thumb is a minimum of 300 words. Some experts claim 1,500 – 2,000 words. But if the answer to the question you found in Google isn’t that long, don’t write filler. A shorter blog article of high quality is better than a longer blog article of low quality.

So do your research, write a minimum of 300 words, and blog regularly! Over time, you’ll see SEO results.