You’ve probably heard of search engine optimization (SEO), but have no idea what it is, or what it’s used for. Did you know that search engine optimization is integral in getting your blog recognized by any search engine? When you’re interested in a topic and want more information on it, think about the first thing that we do in the twenty-first century – we look it up on Google.
After we type in the subject matter on Google, what is the first title we click on? More than likely, you will click on one of the first three hits offered by the search engines. The successful use of search engine optimization is what is getting those websites or blog post listings to the top of the page. So, to get your blog post to the top of someone’s search engine hits, what is the best blog writing format for SEO, and how do you go about it? Let’s take a look.
1. What is your topic?
Before establishing your blog writing format, you need to have a clear topic in mind – what is the subject matter, and what are you trying to get across? Publishing a blog post that is straight and to the point, with plenty of opportunities to include your search engine friendly keywords, is going to be the most important step in attracting hits. Once you are completely clear about what it is that you’re writing, and how you want to execute it, you can start thinking about the format of your blog post.
2. Create your structure
Your blog posts should all have a similar, if not the same, structure. Not only does your structure need to be consistent, but it needs to be set out in an easily readable way. We all know how short the average attention span is – you see an article, take a quick scan, and if it looks promising and easy to read, you will continue reading it.
With the sheer number of articles that are published for you to read on any given topic, you want to make sure you’re capturing the reader’s attention – and fast. You are going to want to make sure you have the following:
- A clear and concise title
- An introductory paragraph
- A body with multiple, easy to read paragraphs
- A conclusion
Having a clear and consistent structure will not only help with search engine optimization, but it will help you obtain repeat readers who will skip out on the search engine process altogether, and go right to your blog posts.
3. Break it up
Writing a readable article in the digital world of limited attention spans involves paragraphs, paragraphs, and more paragraphs. Breaking up a blog post into short, manageable paragraphs of no more than four sentences will help significantly in making your article more readable to the reader. Nobody wants to have to weed through an online article to try to find the information that they’re looking for – break it up, so they don’t have to.
4. Use headings and/or numbers
Another easy way to break up a long article and make it more readable is to use headings, numbers, or both at the beginning of every new paragraph. Creating lists and paragraphs is certainly easier on the eyes, as well as the fact that it’s a quicker way for readers to access the information they’re looking for.Google actually recognizes headings when it comes to SEO – headings help Google to better understand the subject of your blog post, which will help you in receiving more hits.
Making lists or including headings is a great way for the reader to feel like they don’t have to waste their time, and you’ve done the work for them – and in this busy world, where many of us don’t have time to sit around and read endless articles until we find what we need, this is a huge plus. They will either stay and read what you have to offer, or realize that you don’t have what they’re looking for, and will move on. No wasting anyone’s time. Don’t forget to include your keywords in some of your headings – the more you can include keywords without making it seem like you’re overdoing it, the better!
5. Don’t make your blog posts too short
This actually goes against the idea of keeping your blog posts to the point, and just getting your message across. Yes, you want to keep your reader’s attention, but making your articles too short can most definitely hurt your SEO ratings. You want as many opportunities as you can to include your SEO keywords, in as many different forms as you can. Search engine optimization doesn’t just end with a few words. You want to make your blog posts at an absolute minimum of 300 words. The longer your blog post article is (without it being tedious and unreadable), the more opportunities Google has to recognize your SEO keywords and put your articles to the top of their rankings.
6. Publish articles often
Last but not least, make sure you’re publishing articles often. Having an active website will affect how often Google’s Googlebot crawls your website and adds it to Google’s index. Keep your website relevant by continuing to add quality content regularly. You will not have a successful blog by writing an article once in a blue moon – keep your blog on Google’s index, which will help both your search engine optimization and your rating on Google.
These are only a few of the many ways that you can help your SEO by effectively formatting your blog posts. Although search engine optimization is only one of the many ways you can successfully implement your digital marketing strategy, it should never be forgotten.
Ranking high on a search engine will be huge for any product or business, and if you can successfully format your blog to do so, while at the same time implementing other digital marketing strategies, you have nothing to lose.