how to optimize blog posts for seo

 how to optimize blog posts for seo

how to optimize blog posts for seo

I’ve been blogging for quite some time now. From my blogging journey so far, I’ve realized that SEO is an ever changing concept! It can’t be mastered at once. With each update that search engines roll out, bloggers must rethink about their SEO strategies and improvise at times. A new year, 2022 is all set to begin. Let us check out some key strategies to implement so that SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) feature your blog/site.

Bloggers have seen some big algorithm updates by Google recently. The major ones are- Panda, Penguin and most recently hummingbird. Google’s hummingbird update is said to have brought in a major modification in its algorithm. It enables Google deliver quality search results.

In the wake of these series of updates, many sites/blogs have suffered traffic loss. These losses are not just small ones. Some sites have reported as much as 60% traffic loss! This means that it is high time that we take SEO more seriously. Since Google is the most used search engine, Google friendliness should be priority number one!

Must Read- How to Recover Traffic Lost to Google’s Hummingbird Update

Despite this flurry of updates, SEO’s basics still remains the same. At the same time, there are some new hurdles that bloggers should face. We will discuss about them here.

Key SEO strategies for 2022 you must implement

1. Quality content

I just mentioned above that despite the updates, SEO’s basics remains the same. Quality of the content that you publish is one such basic.

Google’s hummingbird update is aimed at providing relevant, semantic, high quality search results. It seems that Google will be making minor updates to this algorithm throughout 2014. Publish quality content and you’ll get rewarded.

Publish useful and original content. Google hated and still hates plagiarism. With each update, it is tightening its grip on duplicate content and punishing sites offering inferior content.

2. Keywords: When, where and How to use them?

Gone are the days of stuffing keywords throughout the article, in ridiculous amounts! Still, keywords hold an important place in search algorithms.

Use keywords in the title. But, make sure that the title describes what the article is about. Don’t let keywords change the structure of the title. Titles should be created keeping readers in mind.

Coming to the content, don’t give much importance to stuffing keyword. Write for the readers. Try to keep a conversational style. I’m not saying to avoid keywords altogether. But don’t consciously insert them into the content. In short, don’t overdo SEO!

3. Social Media presence and sharing

Among the more than 200 factors deciding your blog’s place in a SERP, Social media statistics is an unavoidable one. Make sure that your blog has a good presence in Social networking sites. Share your blog posts on major social networking sites.

The more your blog’s content gets shared on such sites, the better it is for SEO! So, publish content that’ll get more tweets, shares and +1s!

4. The curious case of backlinks

I get to hear diverse speculations about backlinks’ effect on SEO. Well, backlinks still matters a lot! But follow these guidelines while building backlinks to your blog :

Build quality backlinks from authority sites/blogs. Don’t go for paid backlink schemes. Commenting on other blogs to get backlinks is okay, but don’t exceed the limits. If you do that, it’ll be treated as spam! Let other bloggers link to your blog’s quality content. This is the best strategy. For this, publish useful, good articles.

Submit your blog to directories like DMoz and Technorati. Google still values backlinks from them! Try guest blogging. It will get you traffic and backlinks at the same time!

5. Design, Navigation, Compatibility with mobile devices and speed

Google values user friendliness of a site/blog. And design, navigation, responsiveness, loading speed etc have much to do with user friendliness.

Give your blog a good design with easy navigation setup. Don’t make too much change to the design frequently.

The use of smartphones, tablets and mobile devices have increased much in the recent years. I’ve been using Google analytics to check the devices used by my blog’s visitors. Surprisingly, on one of my blog, more visitors were using smartphones than PCs! It is high time that you use a responsive theme on your blog. This will give you a edge over your competitors and keep visitors happy!

Loading speed affects Google’s SERP. If two blogs offers content of equal quality, Google will give priority to the one that loads faster! Fasten your blog and you’ll have an SEO edge over your competitors!

6. Does your Blog fare well as a ‘unit’

Don’t look at the quality of individual posts on your blog. Look at your blog as one big picture. Now, do a honest quality evaluation of the whole unit.

A single inferior quality post can cast shadow on the whole ‘unit’. A single bad blog post can affect the whole blog negatively. Delete such inferior posts. Another option is to edit and improve them.