When building a new website or updating an established site, it’s easy to put the blog tab on the back-burner, considering it an optional asset to your site. However, a blog could actually make your website more visible to potential customers, and may be the most valuable tool you have. With a regularly updated, relevant blog, you could find your SEO shooting through the roof, improving your site’s ranking across numerous search engines. Here’s how to make the most of the SEO boost.
Customise the title tag
One of Google’s most important ranking factors is title tags, and these are the main weapon in your SEO armoury. This piece of HTML code tells search engines the name of your blog, giving it the information it needs to understand what it is all about. Giving it the right information is crucial, and the first step to doing so is loading it with optimal, relevant keywords. A little keyword research, plus Who, What, When, Why, Where information will go a long way to feeding Google what it needs to make your blog visible.
Use a header image
Using header images for your posts gives you another opportunity to use keywords, and it’s keywords that Google thrives on. Keep the image relevant to the blog content, and research your keywords before adding them. Make sure the file name is optimised as well as any captions.
Keep it simple
Google prefers short sentences and paragraphs to a long-winded stream of consciousness. When you’ve written your blog, go back and ask yourself the following:
– Is it easy to read?
– Could it be broken into shorter chunks?
– Could you utilise bullet points to enhance readability?
– Could you use sub-headings to further increase ease of reading?
Track the performance of your posts
Once you’ve written your first few posts, it’s important to monitor how they’re performing in order to make course corrections if necessary. Install Google Analytics on your site; this will give you the tools you need to track traffic coming from search engines, analysing what is working and what needs to be tweaked.
Conclusion
A blog, along with its SEO, is a great way of improving the visibility of your website, offering Google the fresh content it requires to keep you high up in its search results.