How to write optimized blog content for any website.

Before you get started with the writing process, the article you write should start with three things:

The topic should be a natural fit for your site’s niche.
The topic should be something your target audience is interested in.
The content should naturally relate back to the goal of your site (ie: it easily includes things like your products, ties into your mission, or compounds information from other pages on your site).

If you address the things above, you’ll naturally include keywords that will attract the right people to your site and your articles.

Make a list of keywords for your blog article

Once you have a topic and direction in mind, you can choose keywords for your article that will increase your article’s chances of appearing higher on google for the topic. Note that it’s your article only that will appear in the search results, and only for keywords that make sense for the article. This is why you want to choose topics that speak to your customer base, otherwise, you’ll attract people who don’t want or need your products or services.

Make a list of your keywords along with their search volumes and keyword difficulty levels.

Also, as a very BIG side note for blog posts in particular: choose keywords that naturally lead to information – not directly to products.

For example: if you’re an athletic shoe brand, you might be tempted to write about “running shoes.” However, someone googling the phrase “athletic shoes” is not looking for a blog post and information; they’re looking to buy athletic shoes, so they should be led directly to products or category pages of products.

You can test this out by googling your ideal title for your article. Google’s goal is to cater the search results to what searchers have expressed they’re looking for to the algorithm. The first page of results will indicate what users want to see when they’re searching a keyword. If your page is of a similar kind as what’s on page one, you’ve probably chosen a good topic and good keywords.

Consider your tone and how you address your audience

Next, consider how your target audience talks about those topics. Use a keyword tool to edit and add to your list of keywords through this part of the process while answering these questions:

Do they use industry jargon and phrasing or do they discuss this topic with more layman's terms?
Does your target audience have a basic understanding of this topic or is there specialized foundational information they need first?

Search volumes will indicate what’s popular, and what might be an alternative phrase for the same words. Bear in mind that the most popular keywords for a topic might also have the highest keyword difficulty – in other words, it might be really hard to get your article to page one on Google if you’re choosing the topics with the biggest search volumes. Just because a keyword has a lower search volume, doesn’t mean you should disregard it. Things like “long tail keywords” can often be even more valuable in the sum of their search volumes, easier to get to rank on page one, and can often be more targeted to your target audience.

Make it a good read!

Ensure your articles embody both your brand voice, and an appropriate emotion for the topic. No one likes a wedding decor article that sounds like your lawyer wrote it. You also might consider how people are going to find your articles. Are you sending it out via newsletter, or posting about it on Instagram? I personally always prefer an entertaining and conversational style to blog posts, and studies show that most people expect to be entertained especially when using social media – so if that’s your main outlet for driving initial traffic to the article, make sure you consider that kind of user journey in your tone.

Finally, optimize what you write.

As a personal note, I tend to draft my article first before injecting keywords, then I’ll scrape through my keyword list and interchange and inject keywords as I edit. This might not be your cup of tea, but I find it helpful.

Your articles should always be roughly 1,000 words, and should include external links (aka links to other sites) and their pages that relate to your overarching topic, as well as your own articles, products, and/or pages that are related to your topic or subtopics. ‍

Optimize your headings with your keywords

You’ll notice in the template below there are some code elements that indicate your text’s hierarchy. This is important because Google needs to decipher your title from paragraphs and subtitles, etc. The heading structure (anything with a “<H>”) has to be in sequential order; in other words, an H3 (or multiple H3’s) can only be used if an H2 has preceded it. Additionally, each of the headings/titles should include keywords. Each heading in the hierarchy shows Google what the paragraph text below it is about, and which larger section it’s nested in. So the keywords within each of those titles carries some weight. It’s okay to repeat a heading structure level, with the exception of <H1> since that’s reserved for your page’s main title.

The paragraphs should use alternate versions of your keywords interchangeably, but naturally! Don’t force keywords if it’s awkward or makes it unpleasant to read. Your goal is a good article, with good keywords, for ideal users, so just sprinkle the rest of your keywords throughout the article.

Template for Optimizing Blog Posts:

<H1> TITLE OF ARTICLE + MOST RELEVANT KEYWORD TO THE TOPIC</H1>

OPTIONAL: <H2> A SUBTITLE HERE, INCLUDE DESIRED KEYWORDS (SOMETIMES THE ONE THAT’S HARDER TO RANK FOR) OR OFTEN AN ALTERNATE PHRASING OF THE ONE IN YOUR H1 </H2>

(if you don’t use an H2 here, use it instead of the H3’s below)

Paragraph: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur INCLUDE KEYWORD FOR THE TOPIC incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. INCLUDE KEYWORDS RELATING TO THE INDIVIDUAL SUBTOPICS WITHIN THE ARTICLE non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt INCLUDE LINKS TO YOUR OTHER ARTICLES OR PAGES THAT ARE SIMILAR IN TOPIC laborum.

<H3> TITLE FOR YOUR FIRST SUBTOPIC OR FIRST POINT + KEYWORDS RELEVANT TO THE SUBTOPIC. INCLUDE YOUR MOST RELEVANT/DESIRED KEYWORD WHEN POSSIBLE <H3>

‍Paragraph: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur INCLUDE ALTERNATE KEYWORDS FOR THE TOPIC incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. INCLUDE KEYWORDS RELATING TO THE INDIVIDUAL SUBTOPICS WITHIN THE ARTICLE non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt.

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. INCLUDE KEYWORDS RELATING TO THE INDIVIDUAL SUBTOPICS WITHIN THE ARTICLE non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt INCLUDE LINKS TO YOUR OTHER ARTICLES OR PAGES THAT ARE SIMILAR IN TOPIC laborum.

‍<H3> TITLE FOR YOUR SECOND SUBTOPIC OR POINT + KEYWORDS RELEVANT TO THE SUBTOPIC. INCLUDE YOUR MOST RELEVANT/DESIRED KEYWORD WHEN POSSIBLE <H3>

‍Paragraph: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur INCLUDE KEYWORDS FOR THE SUBTOPIC incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. INCLUDE KEYWORDS RELATING TO THE TOPIC WITHIN THE ARTICLE non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt.

‍<H3> TITLE FOR YOUR THIRD SUBTOPIC OR POINT + KEYWORDS RELEVANT TO THE SUBTOPIC. INCLUDE YOUR MOST RELEVANT/DESIRED KEYWORD WHEN POSSIBLE <H3>

<H3> IN YOUR FINAL SECTION, ADD YOUR MAIN KEYWORD AGAIN FROM YOUR H1/H2 </H3>

Paragraph: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur INCLUDE MAIN KEYWORD FOR THE TOPIC incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

MAIN KEYWORD Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. INCLUDE LINKS TO OTHER PAGES OR ARTICLES non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt CALL TO ACTION.

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