Writing an SEO-friendly blog post is a demanding and time-consuming task, right? Well, not necessarily. You can master the basics of writing a quality BP in no time! Hopefully, this short and on-point guide will serve as a good starting point.
Brainstorming
If you’re not sure about the topic and key points of your SEO-friendly blog post, make sure to browse for ideas in forums, blogs, and social networking sites. Jot down a couple of them, and set a strong basis for your article.
Blog Post Length
In order to write a quality SEO-friendly blog post, there are a couple of standardized rules that should not be overlooked.
Title
Titles should have 50-60 characters. If you exceed this limit, Google won’t display it properly. Differently put, some of the words may be cut or not appear at all. You wouldn’t want that, would you? And don’t forget to use your focus keyword as close to the beginning of your title as you can.
Sentence
Sentences are considered too long if they have more than 20 words. This does not mean that every single sentence has to be under this limit. You can still write longer sentences, bearing in mind the proper use of transition words and punctuation. However, if you overuse longer sentences, your SEO score won’t be satisfactory. Moreover, you will probably bore your readers at some point…
Paragraph
Paragraphs are considered being SEO-perfect if they are 150-200 words long. If your paragraphs are longer than the recommended length, try adding a few relevant headings and break them down.
Body
A blog post is considered to be readable and user friendly when it has got between 1000-1700 words. As an experienced writer, I can say that this is more than enough to cover any topic.
Content
Make sure to provide original, quality content. If you use any external sources, you must link them at the end of the blog post. Otherwise, you risk being accused of plagiarism. Transform your own ideas, thoughts, and experience in your field into an original story worth reading and rereading.
Headings
Headings help you highlight important parts of your post. Moreover, their proper use adds to text structure. They guide readers through your article. Make them relevant and informative.
H1-H6
Another important thing when using headings is structure. In other words, use H1-H6 levels based on their size and importance. As you may already know, H1 is the most important heading, otherwise known as the main heading. The rest of the H elements are called subheadings. Each of the elements has to be relevant and clearly state a certain aspect of the blog post topic.
Keywords
Every SEO-friendly blog post should have a carefully selected keyword or phrase. Why? Well, you want your readers to find your article fast, right? Thus, you have to make it both SEO and user friendly. Before you decide on your focus keyword, make sure to perform keyword research, and analyze your audience. Also, you should place your keyword throughout your content properly and thoughtfully.
Keyword Research
When you think of your article, certain keywords immediately pop. But, your potential readers might have some other terms in mind. This is why you have to perform thorough keyword research. If your chosen keyword matches the one that users typically type, they’ll find your blog post in no time!
Here is a free tool that will help you with your research.
Keyword Density
Naturally, you should use your keyword in your text and headings, but not too often. Depending on the length of your article, there should be a proper amount of keywords. If you aren’t using any extensions while writing, you can check the keyword density on some of the listed websites.
To check the density of your keyword, you can use this amazing tool.
Transition Words
Using transition words can be very effective and informative. Moreover, they work so well in linking sentences and forming a lexical entity. Depending on the transition you want to make, choose the most appropriate word or phrase. Here are the TW categories:
- Cause and Effect (therefore, as a result, so, consequently)
- Clarification (that is to say, in other words, to clarify)
- Contrast (but, however, on the other hand)
- Example (for example, for instance)
- Emphasis (above all, most importantly, certainly)
- Enumeration (firstly/secondly, further, and, moreover, in addition)
- Time (meanwhile, during, subsequently, after that)
- Similarity (likewise, similarly, in the same vein)
- Summarize/Conclude (in conclusion, to sum up, in short)
Use them wisely. The magical percentage is 30.
Consecutive Clauses
Ensure content variety. Do not start consecutive clauses with the same word 3 or more times in a row. The English language is rich with possibilities. Instead of a repetitive beginning, you can use synonyms or transition words. Moreover, you can shorten the sentence or make it longer.
Exceptions
Of course, there are some instances where it is required to start consecutive clauses in the same way. For example, the deliberate use of the same words is often found in anaphora and enumeration.
Short Sentences
If you want to reach a broad audience, you have to keep it simple. Shorter sentences are certainly a better choice than long, complicated ones. They’ll help you deliver your message loud and clear, regardless of the subject or its complexity. In fact, they are easier to understand than the long ones.
More on Writing Short Sentences
Long Sentences, Example
“This approach worked, they were able to use the same landing pages and offers they built as part of their content strategy but have ads do the work of driving traffic. Search ads drove results while they waited to move up in organic search results and they found a combination of ads and good organic results worked the best.”
Short Sentences, Example
“And it worked! EHS used the same landing pages and offers built during their content strategy. This time, the ads drove all the traffic. In the meantime, they continued strengthening their organic search results. In time, EHS found ads and organic traffic an excellent combination.”
Paragraphs
Your paragraphs should be short, concise, and engaging. However, it is not always easy to provide all of the necessary information with a limited number of words. But, there is a simple solution. Break them down with headings and subheadings.
Another important thing is the paragraph’s focus. It should be stated within the very first sentence. In the rest of the paragraph, you should state clearly the aspect of your topic.
Grammatical Voice
There are two grammatical voices, active and passive voice. They closely define the relationship between the subject and the object of a sentence. Use both of them in your text, but be careful. You should not overuse the latter.
Active Voice
You should definitely use the active voice in the majority of content since it is more engaging and more natural. Communicate with your readers in the same way you would in a live conversation.
Passive Voice
On the other hand, the passive voice is sometimes inevitable or necessary. Use it thoughtfully, bearing the 10% limit in mind. If you have too many passive sentences, try paraphrasing them into active ones.
Useful Links
Make sure to check the length of your blog post, fix grammatical/lexical errors, and use synonyms to enrich your text. Also, don’t forget to keep your keywords and phrases in focus. Here are some links that might come in handy.
Wrap Up
Do you have any more tips on writing an SEO-friendly blog post? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
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