By Pirah Aijaz
You might have heard the term SEO for blogging, but don’t know about it. Or, maybe you might have seen experts or employers that demand SEO-friendly content. This is a very frustrating situation when someone asks you to write SEO-optimized content, but you feel like a blank. This write-up serves the purpose of enlightening you about the term SEO and the 7 essential elements of an SEO-friendly blog post.
In 2019, when I started my freelance career, I was so confused about the term SEO, because everyone asked me to write accordingly and I was unaware at that time. Due to this, I missed several opportunities. This made me realize I should learn SEO. However, considering its importance, I chose this topic to help those who are not familiar with the term and its essentials.
Today, I’m going to share everything you need to know about writing an SEO-friendly blog post that Google will rank and a large number of free, organic readers will read your content. Let’s start from the basics!
What Is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization which is the process of optimizing the blog post to increase the readership and ranking on the Google Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). It’s one of the most demanding freelance skills that everyone needs to learn. Nowadays, web owners are struggling to increase the readability of their content and ranking on Google. This is the reason they always ask for SEO-friendly content.
It’s all about the appropriate utilization of keywords in your overall content. When you write accordingly, Google will provide you the search engine result pages according to your ‘Keyword’. This way, Google generates the most valid and reliable pages for you. This is a writing technique that you need to understand for writing an SEO blog post. It is the way to get free and genuine traffic directly from Google. In other words, you can say it’s a free online advertising technique that helps you to grow your readership.
In this write-up, I’m going to share 7 essential elements of an SEO blog post and I’m sure this write-up would be a great help for you to write accordingly. So, let’s start!
Keyword, Keyword research, keyword targeting, and its utilization
The keyword is one of the most essential elements of SEO strategy that helps you to optimize your blog appropriately and ranked on the top 5 to 10 pages of Google. The keyword is a pillar of the content that you need to research before writing a blog.
First, you need to research a keyword through any free “Keyword Research Tool” and after research, you will know about the most trending topics to write on. So, bear in mind that your first step would be keyword research. Once you are done with it, you will be able to write a blog.
You can research simple to complex long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords mean phrasal words because Google understands machine language and it demands phrasal words that give a proper meaning to Google. So, avoid using functional words as your keyword, like … This, that, here, and so on.
Remember that, keywords can be picked from the beginning of the title. For example, if you already have a blog title, then you need to pick first to four words from the beginning of the title as your keyword. According to SEO guidelines, first to four words is a recommended strength of keywords.
Another important thing you need to follow is to know the criteria for the selection of keywords. While using the keyword research tools, you will have to pick those keywords whose volume is high and competition is low. The reason is, that Google easily supports Low competition keywords.
Now, in the end, you need to learn how to utilize that keyword in your overall content or blog to make it SEO friendly.
To write an SEO-friendly blog, keyword utilization is a must. So, first of all, you need to use a keyword in your first paragraph, then you can use it in your main body, and also in the last paragraph of the conclusion. This way, you can easily utilize a keyword 3 to 4 times in your blog. But remember, utilization of keywords depends on the word limit of your blog. It means the more you increase the word limit of your blog, the more you need to utilize a keyword in your content.
7 Essential Elements of an SEO-Friendly Blog Post
Let’s move on to the first type of SEO, which is On-Page Optimization. In this technique of SEO, we will learn 7 essential elements that will surely help you to optimize your content as per SEO guidelines.
First of all, keywords can be used at the beginning of the title. As we earlier discussed that if you already have a title, then you can pick first to four words as a keyword from the beginning of your title. But if you don’t have a title, then first you will have to research keywords through a keyword research tool. Once you are done with it, then you can easily use keywords in your title.
1- Setting URLs
Now, move on to U R L, which is another crucial element of on-page optimization. While setting U R L, you will have to insert your keyword instead of using the entire title. After setting U R L, you will have to use that keyword in the first paragraph and then the overall body of your content.
2-Setting Headings
Next, headings add more beauty to your content. So, make sure your subheading is H2 and other headings are H3 in size. Also, use keywords in your headings to make your content SEO friendly.
3- Keyword Density
While another important element is the density of the keyword. It depends on the word limit of your blog or content because the more you increase the word limit, the more you use keywords.
4-Setting Images
Another important element is optimizing the images for your content. When you search for images from Google, you will have to optimize them by using a keyword as a file name. Also, make sure your image size is appropriate which should be 800 to 1200 px or above. While selecting images from Google, one must take care of copyright issues. It means your images should have no watermarks. Apart from this, you will have to use a keyword as your alter text while inserting images into your blog. This way, your images would be optimized.
5- Inserting Outbound Links/Anchor Text
Now, move on to anchor text which is also known as outbound or external link. While setting an outbound link, you will have to highlight any word and make it a new tab by inserting a link to any other website. It is used for adding information regarding the particular term you highlight.
6- Inserting Inbound Links
While setting an inbound link, you will have to highlight any work and make it a new tab by inserting a link to any other blog on your website- related to that particular word.
7- Meta Description
For writing a meta description, you need to write a precise piece (summary) of your topic. Meta description requires keywords that you have already utilized in the blog post. It helps readers to know what the blog is about.
These are the 7 essential elements of on-page optimization that are necessary to utilize in your content to make it SEO friendly. Have a good read!