Welcome to our page on SEO for Bloggers. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about SEO so that you can master SEO blog writing and acquire high organic traffic from search engines.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for “search engine optimization,” which deals with how optimized your content is for search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo, etc.
Google specifically sends something called “spiders” to crawl your website and figure out what your content is about. During this process, the spiders may deem your web page worthy of adding you to Google’s search results based on the keywords you use throughout your page.
Now, if you’re not familiar with the term “keywords,” they are simply “search terms” or “phrases” that people search for on the internet. For example, if you wrote an article about why kittens are cute, there’s a chance that someone will find your website when someone searches for “why are kittens cute?”
The more optimized your site is for the keywords you want to rank for, the higher you’re going to rank for those specific keywords.
Why is SEO Important?
If you want to truly grow your blog traffic, then SEO cannot be ignored.
When you publish an article, you’re essentially competing with all of the other websites out there that have written about the same topic. If your article is poorly optimized, other websites will outrank you and your posts will receive no traffic.
Consider SEO as an investment. If you take the time to optimize each and every one of your posts, you’ll get a huge boost in organic traffic—this is passive traffic that flows into your site from the keywords you are ranking for. Search engines will continue to send traffic to your blog for as long as your blog is up and running.
Doesn’t that sound awesome?
This should be the ultimate goal for you as a blogger—for search engines to send readers to your blog so that you can share the content you’ve worked so hard to write. If you monetize your blog, you’ll earn a higher income from the organic traffic you get from SEO.
If you’re not going to bother search engine optimizing your website or your posts, then don’t waste your time blogging at all—unless, you want to spend all of your free time promoting every single one of your posts on social media or other traffic sources.
Now that you have a much clearer understanding of SEO and why it’s important for bloggers, we’re going to cover some SEO techniques that can help you increase SEO on your blog!
How to Improve SEO
SEO can be broken down into on-page SEO and off-page SEO.
What is on-page SEO?
On-page SEO (also referred to as on-site SEO) is the process of optimizing your web pages so that they rank higher on search engines.
What is Off-Page SEO?
Off-page SEO (also referred to as off-site SEO) is the process of improving your web pages through external factors such as link building.
How to Improve On-page SEO:
- Site speed
- Site security
- Keyword-rich content
1. Increase on-page SEO by increasing site speed
Site speed is one of the most important ranking factors for any website. A slow website isn’t favored by search engines like Google for one good reason: It doesn’t deliver a good user experience.
I’m sure you wouldn’t want to wait a long time for a website to load either.
Here are a few ways to help you increase your site’s speed:
Choose a good web host
A good web host makes all the difference when it comes to server response times—the time at which your website responds to a host’s servers. The faster the server speeds, the better.
I’ve used many web hosts in the past but now I only ever recommend Siteground to new bloggers. I find it to be the best web host available for beginner bloggers because they deliver super-fast response times, they’re inexpensive and they offer security like no other host for its price.
You can sign up and redeem their discount of $6.99/mo for a year or read more about them in the review I wrote below:
Article | The Best Web Hosting Service for New Bloggers – Why I Use Siteground
Switch to PHP 7.0 or higher
PHP is a scripting language used in web development and in web hosting servers. Some people are still using the older PHP 5.6 and you might be one of them.
PHP 7.0 is the latest and greatest and it runs up to 2x faster than PHP 5.6 so it’s well worth it to switch! It doesn’t cost anything and you can easily do it in your web hosting panel. If you’re unfamiliar with how to switch, it’s best to contact your web hosting support and they will be able to help you out with no problems.
I was able to do it on Siteground by using the PHP Config feature in my SG Optimizer plugin. This plugin is only available to Siteground users, unfortunately.
Install a caching plugin
First of all, what is “cache”? It’s not what you use to pay for groceries at the supermarket if that’s what you’re thinking.
Cache is a temporary storage space that is used to store information for easier access later on. By installing a caching plugin, you can utilize this caching feature so that visitors can load your pages even quicker!
There are quite a few caching plugins available but what I use is W3 Total Cache. You can download it from your plugins tab in your WordPress admin panel or use the link below to download and install it yourself:
Download | W3 Total Cache
Minifying your images
Larger image file sizes will contribute to longer loading times if you don’t optimize them. This is because your pages will have to download the images from your server when your pages load.
To counter large image file sizes, you can install an image compression plugin.
These plugins will automatically compress all of your images as they’re uploaded so that you won’t have to worry about doing it manually.
I personally use the Smush plugin which can also be downloaded through the plugins tab in your WordPress admin panel. Here’s the download link:
Download | Smush Image Compression and Optimization
2. Increase on-page SEO by using HTTPS
Out of the box, your website will use HTTP. Implementing HTTPS on your website, however, will help make your website much more secure! That’s what the ‘S’ stands for.
Since I’ve already mentioned that search engines value greater user experience for page ranking priority, it makes sense for me to say that websites that offer higher security will rank higher in search engines. After all, they don’t want their users to catch viruses or malware.
Siteground provided me with an easier route by allowing me to implement HTTPS on my website with one click by using their personalized “SG Optimizer” plugin.
If you’re not using Siteground, you can contact your web host and get them to configure HTTPS on your website for you.
3. Increase on-page SEO by optimizing your content
Content is probably the most important factor when it comes to SEO for bloggers. The first thing you MUST do before starting a new blog post is to find a focus keyword and related keywords for the post by conducting keyword research for SEO. This will help you identify popular phrases that people are searching for on Google.
You absolutely do not want to take shortcuts when it comes to SEO, so don’t just choose random keywords! Otherwise, you’ll end up using keywords that are already being used by thousands of other websites—which makes it very difficult for anyone to find you when they’re Googling the keywords you use.
Once you find your keywords, you can move onto implementation by using an SEO Plugin:
Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO plugin is the best free on-page SEO analysis tool for bloggers. It helps you keep track of how effectively you’re using your keywords within your posts and pages. This tool is used by millions of users worldwide, including many professional bloggers and marketers, probably because Yoast SEO is considered the best plugin when it comes to helping WordPress users with on-page factors that affect page ranking.
You can install it straight from WordPress by going to Plugins > Add New > Searching for Yoast SEO.
Once you have Yoast SEO installed, you’ll notice something like this at the bottom of your post/page edit screens.
Using the seed/focus keyword you found through keyword research, enter it into the box that says “Focus Keyword,” and then modify your article so that everything under the “Problems” list has a green circle. The analysis displays all of the on-page factors that you need to focus on.
You want as many circles to be green as possible! But in some conditions, you may not be able to.
Related Article | How to Properly Use Yoast SEO to Get Organic Traffic
Let’s see why some of these on-page factors are important:
Keyword in Title (aka H1 heading on WordPress)
Based on intensive research done by Ahrefs (as shown above), having your keyword in the title is one of the most important on-page ranking factors. This means that your title absolutely must include your keyword. By default in WordPress, your page/post titles will always be in H1(heading 1) so you won’t have to worry about the second on-page ranking factor in the image above.
Let’s think about this for a second. When you search for a phrase in Google, what’s the first thing you’re going to look at before determining which link to click on? The title! Google also knows this and that’s why having your keywords within the title of your posts is so important. It helps users identify what your post is about and whether or not they’re interested enough to click it.
When it comes to the title, don’t just throw your keyword in there! You need to still create a catchy title that people will actually want to click. This method is called link bait and will increase the number of people clicking on links to your site from search engines.
Keyword in content
Including your keyword in your content is also very important. If you’re going to write about a specific topic, make sure that the topic is clear to your audience.
On average, you should have your keyword included in your articles once for every 100 words in your article. For example, if your post contains 1000 words, include your keyword 10 times. Yoast will help you keep track of this.
Also, include H2 and H3 tags for topics and sub-topics. Bots will emphasize more on topics using those headings.
Keyword in meta description
Below the title and URL of a search engine result, you’ll see a short description of the post. This is called the “meta description.” With Yoast SEO, you’re able to easily modify the meta descriptions of your posts.
If you don’t set a meta description, WordPress will automatically generate one using a few lines from the first paragraph of your post. You do not want this to happen because sometimes the first paragraph won’t contain your keyword.
It’s good practice to write your own meta description so that it will contain your keyword and you’re able to customize what you want people to know about your article before you click it.
In my example link in the image above, I explain briefly how one should take precautions by backing up WordPress databases and files so that anyone who’s interested in learning why or how can click on my link. Learn more about the importance of Meta Descriptions.
Keyword in the URL
The URL (aka permalink) of your post or page should also contain your keyword. While this is minor compared to other on-page ranking factors, it’s still something that shouldn’t be ignored.
Good permalinks will help others to further identify what your articles are about.
You can edit your permalinks by clicking on the edit button underneath the title while on an editing page:
The alt tags in images
The only way Google or other search engines can identify your images is through “alt tags.” Otherwise, their bots aren’t smart enough to know what your images are. That’s why it’s necessary to manually enter in alt tags for all of your images.
Fortunately, it’s easy to add alt tags to your images by either editing the images when you upload them or by clicking an image that’s already in your post and clicking on the pencil to edit. You’ve probably seen this screen before:
How to Improve Off-Page SEO
In case you don’t recall, off-page SEO involves any external factors that improve your blog’s overall SEO posture.
These external factors include:
- Backlinks / link-building
- Social media marketing
What are Backlinks / Link Building?
A backlink, also known as an inbound link, is simply a link from another website that leads a page on your own site. You’ll get these when someone else chooses to mention you and provide a link to your site. Generating backlinks for a page on your website will increase the page’s overall PageRank.
What is PageRank?
PageRank—a term created by Google that measures the placement of your pages on search engines. Better SEO will lead to higher PageRank for your different posts and pages.
If one of your posts comes up as the number one result on Google for a specific keyword, it’s already at the highest PageRank possible for that keyword. However, if your post is on the 79th page on Google, then its PageRank isn’t very high at all.
Whether your posts are on the 79th page on Google or the first page is determined by two main factors:
- How optimized your posts are
- The number and quality of backlinks leading to your pages
Typically the more backlinks you have, the better but only on the condition that they’re quality backlinks and not given by poor quality websites.
What is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority is the overall ranking/reputation of your site based on the PageRank of all your pages.
The higher your Domain Authority, the easier it will be for your posts and pages to rank really high in search engines immediately after you post. You can increase your Domain Authority over time by getting backlinks from high-authority websites.
1. Increase off-page SEO by building backlinks
There are a lot of different ways you can get backlinks from sites that are relevant to yours. Here are some of them:
Build connections
I find that building connections with other bloggers in your niche is the most effective way to get backlinks to your site.
You can exchange backlinks which means you link to someone’s articles in your posts and they link to your articles.
This ends up being a very reliable source of backlinks because good connections will stay and you’ll have the opportunity to get more backlinks from these connections in the future. Plus it’s always nice to meet other bloggers!
Write high-quality content
The more useful and fun your articles are to read, the easier it will be for others to find your articles and give you backlinks on your own.
Successful bloggers love to provide solutions for their readers and sometimes it might not be through their own content, but content from another website.
Sometimes I link to articles that I like simply because I know my readers will benefit from it. You want to ensure every single one of your articles is worth sharing.
Guest blog
Guest blogging is a term that means writing content for another blog.
This can give you backlinks because most sites that you can write guest posts for will allow you to include yourself as the author of the post and provide a link to your site.
If you can manage to get permission to write a guest post for a very popular blog, you’ll notice that your page rank will go through the roof from the backlink!
Some additional things to keep in mind in terms of backlinks:
Ensure that you’re getting DoFollow backlinks
While backlinks are important, you want high-quality DoFollow backlinks.
Only DoFollow links will be considered for increasing your page rank, so make sure when you receive backlinks from other sites that they are DoFollow!
Anchor text in backlinks
Another thing you should keep in mind is the anchor text of the links leading to your site. Anchor text is the text that contains the hyperlink. In my link to the DoFollow article above, the anchor text is “What is DoFollow?”
Anchor text is important because it helps your website rank for the keywords you want to rank for. If you’re getting backlinks for a post about making money through blogging, you might want the person giving you a backlink to use the anchor text “learn how to make money through blogging” to link to your site. That would allow your pages to rank further for the keyword “make money through blogging.”
2. Increase off-page SEO through social media marketing
Social media doesn’t have a direct impact on search rankings but it does have a correlation to it.
If you use social media correctly, you’ll be able to reach a broader audience and that can influence the number of likes, shares, and followers you get. The more engagement you get with your social media accounts, the higher the “quality” of your blog in the eyes of search engines and other people.
This can lead to you getting more backlinks from people that like your content and wish to share it on their own websites.
Your job is to find social media platforms that work for your blog and develop an audience on them. Be sure to interact with your followers and share as much valuable content as you can. Take the “always on” approach in social media.
Welcome to the world of Search Engine Optimization!
Congrats! You’ve made it to the end of this post.
I never said it was going to be easy 😁. I intentionally made this post really long in order to provide you with as much information that I think is necessary for you to learn in regards to SEO for bloggers. As I mentioned earlier, as tedious as SEO may be, you absolutely do not want to take any shortcuts!
I must be honest. I don’t find SEO fun to implement at all. However, what’s fun and exciting is seeing the traffic that flows through my websites afterward! I’m sure you’ll feel the same way too once you start seeing massive growth in your organic traffic 🙂
