Blogging For Robots
I am not an SEO expert, I just know enough to be dangerous. These are some of the techniques I have learned over the years. Search algorithms constantly evolve. If you intend to make an effort, more research can only help.
One of the benefits of writing regular blog posts is building credit with Google. The algorithms constantly evolve and change, but generally, Google favours websites that add fresh content regularly and that others seem to find important (like linking to it). So, just writing articles creates new content and provides tasty snacks for search robots.
However, you can make your posts work even harder for you by thinking about keyphrases (often called keywords, but it’s really phrases) that you can use in your posts and by applying on-page techniques to help Google view the page as important and rank it higher when the keyphrase is searched. The caveat is that to really do well for a specific keyphrase, you probably have to work much harder than below. But with a little extra effort, you can open the door to the possibility.
Find the Perfect Search Words
Keyphrases don’t have to be specific to what you are selling, like ‘down coats’ if it’s outerwear. You can provide related information in a blog post like ‘how to keep warm in winter.’ Ideally, the reader sees you can sell them a nice coat once they’ve read the post, and think you are an expert on warm coats. With that idea in mind, you can come up with search phrases to inspire blog posts or write your posts first and look for relevant search phrases to work in afterward. Also, you can guess about phrases you might search with, but there are tools available to help you find what people are actually searching for, and provide slight variations and useful stats. You can choose one that is popular but not so popular you can’t possibly compete for it (there are likely people working a lot harder than you are on the really popular ones).
Hot Tip 1: The slight variations can be used to inspire additional blog posts.
One Phrase Per Page, Then Work It Baby
Each blog post is a ‘page’ and all of it is searchable. Choose one search phrase to dedicate special on-page efforts to. Include the exact phrase in the title of the blog post, the permalink and even a subhead or two, so they have H1 and H2 tags, which help it stand out to Google. Readers appreciate subheads to make posts more readable anyway. Pepper the phrase throughout the copy as much and as naturally as you can. If you have the exact phrase in the body text, make the words of the phrase bold. You can even add the exact phrase to descriptions of images or alt tags. This process can feel contrived when hammered into a paragraph so aim to strike a balance between pleasing human readers and search robots.
HOT TIP 2: Plugins like Yoast SEO for WordPress can help you improve your use of search terms on every page and post.
Look for Ways to Enhance the Effort
It is excellent practice to consider editing existing posts and web pages to link to new blog posts as they are published as a way to keep people in your world. Google likes cross-linked content too! You could look for the keyphrase for your post on other pages (massage something that sounds close into the exact phrase) and hyperlink the exact phrase back to the post page for extra brownie points. Sharing the post on social media is another opportunity to boost efforts by creating more links to the page, more traffic, and more chances that other people will link to your page (which Google likes) by sharing. There are probably many more ways to help that change every day!
Setting Realistic Expectations
Don’t expect miracles unless you make a dedicated effort. If it is a competitive search phrase in a crowded marketplace, you would need to do more than I have described to win it. People who go after search terms with strong purpose are aware of the ROI they can expect and know when it’s worth it. Keep in mind that you won’t see results overnight. Organic growth takes time to build but then lasts longer. The kind of growth you pay for (like AdWords) may offer more immediate results, but that ends as soon as you stop paying for it. There’s nothing wrong with using both strategies in tandem.
This Is Optional – Don’t Let it Stop You
If adding this task is going to make you less likely to write regular blog posts, don’t do it. Generating fresh content regularly is what is really important in building your reputation, making you more referrable and providing ways to talk more about what makes you great. Plain ‘ole posts will make your site more significant in the eyes of Google than static ones, and all the words used can and will be searched. You stand no chance at all if you aren’t even on the board.