Our Top 10 Tips
1. Keywords
2. Meta descriptions
The meta description is the text underneath the title in the Google Search Results; it is the opportunity to best advertise what content can be found through the link, and ultimately decides whether someone will click on the post. Making the most of the word limit means using keywords most relevant to the topic. These keywords are bolded by Google when they are searched in the search bar, and so relevance to the blog content is crucial.
3. SEO optimised blog title- blog title | company name | location
Get the most from the word count in the title by including the company name and location at the end. Use pipes to separate the keywords.
4. Opening Hyperlinks in a new window
To retain users on the website, ensure any hyperlinks to external sites are set to open in a new window and not in the same tab; otherwise these users will navigate away from the web page and onto the new hyperlinked page.
5. Appropriate URL
When a blog post is first setup, the default URL is usually a collection of random numbers, with very little- if any- relevance to the blog topic. Ensure the URL includes keywords from the blog title. This will increase the likelihood of being clicked on if the audience believes it is an authentic web link.
6. Anchor text
Anchor text is the visible, clickable text for a hyperlink. The relevancy of a link is partially determined by the content of the anchor text- i.e. what words are used- and the content of the hyperlinked source page.
7. XML sitemap
Sitemaps on a blog or website are a way to let search engines know what pages on a website or blog are available for crawling. It can help a search engine navigate a site more easily, and increases the chances of it appearing higher up in search engine rankings.
8. Caption Images
Setting an ‘alt text’ for an image ensures the search engine is able to ‘read’ it and understand its relevance to the keyword or topic, ultimately helping it appear in the search.
9. Mobile- Friendly
10. Topic tags
Topic tags are found underneath a post. Used to link posts together, a pool of different tags with relevance to the topic of the post will outline for the reader what content they can expect to read about in the blog. Overusing topic tags and choosing ones too similar to each other will be seen by Google as repeating content on your site, which can be penalised.
What are the benefits of a blog to a website’s SEO?
A blog is a great way to boost a website’s standing in the search engine results. An SEO optimised blog ensures the right people are finding the blog, with it appearing higher in the rankings and keywords appearing when searched. A blog is an additional search result leading to the main website it is part of, once the link to the blog is clicked it diverts more traffic to the main website.