Improve SEO: How to Blog Like a Pro. Part 2

Blogging in 5 Steps

This section covers how you should approach SEO when creating blog posts on your site. This is one of the most important aspects of your site. If you want to rank well, make note of the below each time you think about posting articles.

1. The focus Keyword

You've just written an awesome blog post, or curated your images to tell an amazing story. Get the most out of your post by adding a relevant focus keyword, something that people might search for. If it's a post about a wedding in Barcelona, Spain, then use a title such as X & Y's Chic Barcelona Wedding at Venue Name. The focus keyword could then be Barcelona Wedding Venue Name.

1. Add keyword to title.

2. Add keyword to meta description and title.

3. Use in first paragraph and a subtitle if relevant.

4. Add to the page slug (if the title was as above, it should automatically be ok).

2. Meta Description

We mentioned the meta description earlier in this post. Make sure that your meta description is relevant and contains the focus keyword. Keep it under 156 characters. If it can be 2 equal sentences, it will work even better on mobile.

3. Word Count

Aim for at least 300 words per post. Make sure that the keyword is used in the first paragraph if possible. Also note that it doesn't have to be your keyword specifically, synonyms also work great in this case. This is going to be one of the most important parts of your SEO strategy. Don't ignore it, especially when your content is heavily focused on images.

4. Outbound Links

If relevant, add an outbound link to other relevant content. Maybe you've worked with a certain venue, vendor, or wedding planner - make sure to mention them in your post. This increases the chances of your post being shared. Awesome, free backlinks :)

5. Image Alt Tags and Descriptions

This is something important to consider each time you upload images to your blog posts. Make sure you save the files with relevant names. Also, add your alt tags and image descriptions, including your focus keywords if relevant.

Remember the most essential thing when creating articles is to provide your viewers with relevant content. Make your content memorable, shareable, and valuable. If you do this, Google will recognize that it's great content (when analyzing your shares, engagement, backlinks, bounce rates, etc). Great content always ranks higher, so think quality over quantity.

For further reading, we highly recommend looking out for our SEO eBook which will cover more in-depth details on how to build and implement an SEO strategy.

Cheers,
Squaremuse Team