There is no question that the Internet has changed the way that people shop and live. As more and more businesses begin to recognize the importance of well-designed websites, they are also becoming aware of how critical page and search rankings are to their site traffic. That said, there are a few proven ways to optimize your business blog posts to improve your SERP listing and attract new business.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of getting organic visitors to a website. Since all major search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo display free search results based on a host of analytics, it’s important to keep abreast of best practices on how to help your business rank at the top of search engines.
One important feature of SEO ranking is the content on your website. All websites should have well-written copy that describes services, products, hours of operation and location. In addition, adding a blog on your business website now proves to be a premier catalyst for obtaining sought-after high page rankings.
Having a blog on your business or corporate website allows you to add fresh content to your site on a regular basis, which is now one of the most significant factors in obtaining advantageous SEO. Each time that you update your blog, your website will notify various search engines, boosting search engine rankings.
4 Proven Ways To Optimize Your Business Blog Posts
Keyword In Titles and h1 Tags
Once you’ve selected your keyword, you need to make sure that both your title and h1 tags contain it.
Titles and h1 tags can containing variations of your keyword and keyword phrases are ideal in order to expand your chances of your website appearing in searches related to the topic.
It’s very important to make sure that your title and tags are relevant to the keyword; the last thing that you want is someone clicking on your website and not finding what they were looking for.
When creating a title, including your keyword can sometimes be challenging. The h1 tag allows you to broaden your keyword a bit. Even if your h1 tag isn’t an exact match of your long-tail keyword, you need to verify that it is still keyword-rich.
Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions of your post should be engaging and include a call to action. Sometimes this can be a challenge with 160 characters, but meta descriptions are critical to click through rates.
Meta descriptions allow you to let the reader know what they can expect to find if they click on your link. You should consider them a business sign outside of your website. If you don’t create a meta description, Google will do it for you…and that isn’t a good idea. You don’t let advertisers decide what to say about your company, and your meta tag should be looked at with the same perspective.
Social Sharing: Be Sure To Pre-Define
When your post is shared across social networks, it gives search engines an idea of how well-informed the content of your post (and website) is. Taking the time to pre-determine the copy that is used when someone shares your post on social networks like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest is a great way to engage more readers.
Be sure to look at and customize what will be shared on various social networks that are important to your business while you’re looking at the draft of your post. By taking a few minutes on the backend, you’re customizing your message to entice potential readers. As people link to your post on social platforms, your SEO is increased.
A Picture Says 1,000 Links: Try to Use Unique Photos
Using a unique image relevant to your post is a great way to boost traffic to your website. It allows you to create an image that is shareable on social, as well as adds the image to Google Image Search.
If you don’t have the time or staff to create images for your posts, consider using infographics that are downloadable and shareable. Always make sure that your images contain the website for your business so that as it’s shared, you’re still getting a marketing boost.
Since readers are more drawn to content with images, be sure to use some sort of image with each post and that your alt tags contain your keyword and list your website as the source. These are just a few proven ways to optimize your business blog posts. Feel free to ask us how we can assist you with your SEO and blog writing needs.