If you’re a regular reader of my blog (thank you, I adore you, truly), you’ll notice that I have mentioned SEO quite a couple of times in some of my blogging posts. The reason is simple, really: SEO is an incredible tool and, as soon as you start learning a little bit about it, it can help you grow your blog tremendously. I’ve been asked a couple of times to write a longer blog post explaining it all and how to write SEO-optimized blog posts, so… here I am.
Note that these are some beginner tips to try, when you’re not too familiar with SEO, are just getting started or need a little refresh. Fingers crossed you will enjoy this post and that it can help someone out there!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is SEO and why is it great?
SEO means Search Engine Optimization. To make it short and sweet, it’s the process of improving your website to make it more visible to search engines and, therefore, rank it higher in search results.
To put it in even simpler words, it’s every action you can do to appear, whenever people are doing a search on a search engine, at the very top of the answers. Or, at least, on the very first page.
Let’s say I’m looking for recommendations for YA books about sisters and, if I’m not a book blogger, don’t know anyone to recommend me any books… well, like a lot of people in the world, the first thing I’ll do is a quick Google search. Then, I’ll click on the results to get some book recs. If you wrote great, SEO-optimized blog posts, people might come on your blog this way. That’s SEO, friends.
SEO matters because it helps people find your blog. Just like social media and other kind of promotion can help you, SEO is one tool that, if mastered well, can help you gain an incredible amount of quality traffic.
10 Tips To Write SEO-Optimized Blog Posts
Before I start throwing these beginner SEO writing tips your way, a little note here: these tips can mostly be applied when you have a self-hosted blog. Plugins I mentioned are available for WordPress.org users and I am, unfortunately, not aware of the possibilites of handling your meta description, for instance, with the free wordpress version.
All in all, I’ll always recommend, if you’re serious about blogging, to self-host your blog. This is my very first tip, to look more professional and to improve your SEO 😉
💡 If you want to know more, read my blog post about How To Self Host Your Book Blog (there is a promo code for self-hosting in this blog post, too!)
Okay, let’s get to it now!
1. Learn to find and use keywords
If you want Google to rank you right, keywords are, excuse the pun, the key to the kingdom, if you will. When you’re starting to write a blog post, you’ll have to think about the keywords.
How do you find keywords for your blog posts?
The first answer here is super easy: just use Google! Let’s say, I want to write a blog post about YA books with sisters (aerm, I did this very recently!). The first thing I do with my topic is that I go to Google and type it in and then, I see what the search engine’s suggestions are.
At the very bottom of the page, you’ll find similar requests from other people, which can give you ideas for this blog post, or for others! Sometimes, Google also suggest some questions that people are asking: this is also a nice guiding line for you.
Here’s a short list of websites and WordPress Plugins you can use to help you find keywords and use them in the right way in your writing:
- Ubersuggest
- Answer the Public
- SemRush
- Keysearch
- Yoast SEO (WordPress Plugin)
- Rank Math (WordPress Plugin)
💡 My tip: try using what we call long-tail keywords, rather than an unique keyword. (Meaning: YA Books About Sisters, instead of YA Books, for instance. It’s more specific so the right people will find you easier, there is less competition and more chances for you to rank higher on Google!
How do you use keywords?
You’ll have to use your keywords while you write your blog post: in the title, the meta description (more on those below!), as well as happily sprinkled through your writing.
💡 My tip: Do NOT write your keyword in every single sentence. Keyword-stuffing like that is definitely frowned upon. When you’re just starting out, use a plugin like Yoast SEO to guide you for that!
2. Write a great SEO-optimized title and meta description
The title and meta description are the very first place where you should use your keywords. They’ll tell your reader immediately what your blog post is about AND Google will see that, too.
💡 My tip: this doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with your title! You can write “Crier’s War: Review of This Book That Ruined Me”, if you want to make it a bit more exciting than “Crier’s War: Review”.
The meta description is the short summary you find, whenever you’re on a search engine :
In the meta description, you should mention your keywords, just as well, but don’t forget to make it fun and enticing, so that people will want to click on it, just as well!
3. Structure your blog posts the right way
To write great, SEO-optimized blog posts, building the right structure is key. This doesn’t mean that you’ll have to write stiff, annoying blog posts that you can’t have fun with, not at all! It means that, while you do, you just have to pay a little more attention to the way you’re presenting it all.
Two main rules to structure an SEO-friendly blog post:
- Use headings (H2, H3, H4), and ONLY one H1!
- Make it breathe with paragraphs and lists (when it’s appropriate!)
You can take a peek at your blog post’s structure on the Gutenberg editor, by clicking on the little i on the top left hand corner of the page!
Writing a great, well-structured blog post will not only make you happy, it will make your readers want to read MORE and more from you and, before you know it, it will help you grow your blog, just as well.
💡 For more, check out my tips to write a great blog post!
4. Write a quality, SEO-friendly blog post
More often than not, I feel like, when you’re thinking about writing an SEO-friendly blog post, you’re thinking about writing for robots… like a robot.
With tons of keywords everywhere, basically a text that no one ever wants to read or feels like reading, except for the little robots ranking your website.
You can write with your heart and still write for SEO, as well. You can rank high on Google without having to sacrifice your blogging voice. All that matters is that you write a quality blog post.
What is a quality blog post, then, you’ll ask? Let me break it down for you:
- A title that makes people want to read more. Informative or exciting, it also gives us a peek of what to expect in the blog post. Don’t lie in your title, friends.
- Your chosen keyword, naturally included in your blog post’s titles and text
- A good structure with headings and paragraphs
- YOU. Your voice, your passion, your heart shining though!
💡 The ideal blog post length for SEO doesn’t really exist. Make sure you write at least 300 words and that you’re writing quality content, that’s what matters. No need to write 3000 words just to take room!
5. Optimize your images for SEO
Yes, if you want to write SEO optimized blog posts, your images also matter.
There are TWO ways to make sure you’re doing the best you can when it comes to your images:
- Save your image in your folder, on your computer, with a real name. Like, “Books About Siblings”, instead of ugh2711. This matters when you upload the image on your blog!
- Fill out the ALT text part, when you’re uploading a new image in your blog post.
In case you don’t know, the ALT text is what will show up if, for any reason, your image fails to load. It should describe specifically your image and include relevant keywords, related to the image, just as well, to increase your chances of getting found online.
You can find this in the image settings. When you’re using the Gutenberg WordPress version, with blocks, you can find this by clicking on your image, then on the right side, on blocks, you’ll find the Alt text to fill out.
6. Add internal links to your blog posts
Your blog post is right there, in the middle of ALL of your other blog posts, the ones you worked for tirelessly and the ones you love.
Don’t forget them and don’t let other people forget them, either.
Whenever you’re writing about a topic, think about other blog posts you wrote previously that can relate to this. In my book reviews, I sometimes link back to other, similar books people might enjoy, as well. In this very blog post, I’m going to link to other, relevant blog posts I think might help.
This will be very helpful to grow your blog’s traffic: people reading might want to read more on another topic AND search engines will notice these links. If people spend more time on your blog, search engines will notice it, take it into account and rank you better, as well.
💡 My tip: don’t link to anything random! What we’re looking for here, is to provide more information, to expand our reader’s knowledge. It wouldn’t make any sense for me to link to a book review in this blog post, for instance. Keep that in mind!
7. Add external links just as well
You’re not alone and you shouldn’t be, when it comes to blogging. So many other websites and blogs are sharing valuable information as well and you should share it, too.
Okay, you’ll ask, but won’t this just drive people away from my blog?
That might be the case, but if you wrote a quality blog post, I don’t think that it will, on the contrary. People will LOVE you even more for sharing, as long as it’s relevant, interesting content. At least, I know I do!
💡 For more info on this topic, you can read about External Links’ Best Practices on Semrush (See what I did there?)
8. Invite people to interact and leave comments
Once again, being part of a community is a win-win for everyone, even when it comes to SEO.
Why comments on your blog matter
When people take time to leave a comment on your blog, they’ll spend more time on your page. This will show that your content has value to them, which is always, always good, friends.
If you manage to create a conversation on a particular topic, this will show more quality content to Google, too.
Let’s say someone has a lot to say about SEO in the comments (I hope you will!), questions and tips and more: this will be valuable to everyone.
To me, because I’ll cry happily when I read a long comment. To the person commenting, who will get an answer and might get a visit back to their website, too. To search engines, who’ll notice the relevant conversation and therefore will boost the blog post itself. Win-win-win!
Why comments on other blogs matter, too
Blog hopping matters, both because it’s an incredible way to find like-minded people to scream with about all the things that you love… and because it will help your grow your blog AND help your SEO.
Whenever you’re commenting on a blog post, you’re leaving your blog’s link, too. Therefore, there are chances that they might visit you back, leave a comment, which will boost your blog’s traffic and therefore, will help your SEO.
Let’s be honest for a second, though: chances are that you’ll leave a comment on someone’s blog and they’ll end up being one of your best friends, so… that’s a gigantic win, too.
💡 My tip : Comment genuinely and start a conversation, don’t comment just for the sake of it. This is fake interaction and it’s absolutely… well, stupid. Sorry not sorry. Read my blog post on Why I don’t believe in fake engagement in blogging (+ tips and tricks to engage and build genuine connections!) to find out why!
That’s all for me today, friends! I hope you learned something in this blog post and, if there’s anything you’d like to know more about, when it comes to SEO for bloggers, please feel free to ask in comments. I’m reading and answering to everything and ready to expand on a topic you’d like!
💛 If you learned something today, please consider supporting my work by tipping me on ko-fi! 💛
To learn more about SEO, I recommend reading these:
- Yoast’s article about What Does Google Do?
- Kal’s great guide to Evergreen Content and Book Bloggers
- To get really more in-depth about SEO, check out Semrush’s ultimate SEO checklist
📌 Pin How To Write an SEO-Optimized Blog Post on Pinterest!
Do you pay attention to your SEO, when you’re writing your blog posts? What do you find the hardest?
Do you have any questions about SEO? I’ll answer to them in the comments below, so feel free to ask!
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I mostly avoid that subheading part. It never fits with keywords in reviews as keywords usually are not just title of book. Lately I’m thinking if I should use titles or continue with different keywords.
For internal links I add last 2 post under “just in case you missed” that way i can add review even in discussion post.
Ah yay that’s good! I really like when people add these “in case you missed it”, often it intrigues me once I’m done reading a post and I want to read more! 🙂
I’ve been working on improving my SEO this year and I honestly I haven’t particularly noticed any positive changes in my stats yet… (it’s actually slightly worse in some ways) But I’ll keep trying, it’s not really something time-consuming or difficult to do so it doesn’t bother me and I hope it starts doing something in the future. Though it can be really frustrating when you’re putting in the effort to improve your blog and it doesn’t show results….
SEO is a long-term strategy, that’s for sure! It took me a little while to actually see results, as well. I wrote a blog post last summer that’s currently working really well thanks to SEO, but back when I posted it, it didn’t rank too well. It takes a bit of time, that’s for sure. I hope you’ll continue and that it will work out well for you, don’t give up! <3
YESSS!! Loved this, Marie! It was so well put together and thought out! 😊 I need to better my SEO and this has given me a few places to start! Thank you!! ❤️
Oh thank you so, so much, so happy this could be helpful!
You’re very welcome! 💞
Marie, I don’t think I do any of these things on purpose hahaha I’m TERRIBLE! How have I blogged for so long!? But thank you for compiling this post and giving the rest of us some easy to understand insight into how SEO works <3 love you for that!
Oh thank you so, so much, Kat, so happy you enjoyed this. Thank you! <3
Although I do know most of SEO basics, I still found this post helpful! Sometimes, we need to be reminded of things in order to put them into action. Such a helpful post, Marie!
Agree, it’s always so good to be reminded of these little things 🙂 thank you so much for your sweet comment!
I love this post, Marie! I started to seriously use SEO last year when I launched my new blog and taking SEO-related courses to upskill was a good choice. I really learned a lot and noticed that my pageviews increased significantly when I applied the techniques.
Oh Inah thank you so, so much! I’m so happy you’ve been seeing progress thanks to SEO, that’s fantastic! 🙂
I’m an SEO noob and really only know the very basics, but it’s something I want to get better at! While currently my main goal with my blog is to try different types of content and write posts that bring me joy and authentically reflect who I am, I also want to invest time in all the behind the scenes things that I’m currently ignoring a little. I love all of your blogging wisdom, it’s always so expansive and easy to follow, a real treasure trove! Thank you for sharing it with us 💜
Yes! Writing what brings you joy is what matters the most, no matter what. Yet, I also believe we can write posts that make us happy and reflects who we are AND work well with SEO, as well. I’m so, so happy this post could be helpful to you, thank you SO much for reading! 🥺🥺🥺
ahh.. Marie, you always write the best blogging posts!! Full of advice, sense and heart. I just love it, especially as it is always easy to understand. I still need to remember about the use of keywords more– loved the pun you used as well. 😂 “keys to the kingdom” 😂😂 I love headings, like you say they just make the post easier to read for a start!!
Such a great post!! Thank you for sharing your advice! 🥰🥰
Sophie thank you, you’re way too kind 😭😭 thank you so, so much for reading!!
Marie!! As always, your blogger-helpful posts are so informative, and I always come away learning something new! Sometimes, I feel like throwing in the towel with SEO, and I usually settle for something very basic that hits the Yoast green. This year, I’m feeling like stepping it up with my little corner on the internet, so I’m definitely going to have to come back to this post and rev up what I’m doing with SEO!!
Oh thank you so much, Macey, so happy you enjoyed this post! 😭😭 I hope this can be helpful to you!
This is something I’ve been really working on with my blog posts. The one thing that’s helped, which you mentioned is the Yoast Seo plugin! It’s made my blog posts a lot more seo friendly. Great post, super helpful! xxx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com
Ahh thank you so much Melina! So glad this could be helpful <3
I loved this post, Marie!! It was really refreshing to see that I’m following some of these correctly (😅) and to see areas where I can improve. Thank you for writing this. I’m very excited to reference it in the future.
Oh thank you so much for reading, Nicole, so happy you enjoyed this <3
Amazing and succinct post about SEO, Marie! Words cannot express how useful I find the Rank Math plugin. There’s so much more I could be doing with SEO to further optimize though – checking out Ubersuggest.
Oh Kal thank you so much, this means a lot coming from you, the blogging guide queen!! 🥰 I need to check Rank Math, I’ve been using Yoast for a little while now and I wonder if I’d like Rank Math better!