6 ways to optimize your blog posts for seo

You probably already know the importance of blogging for business and the SEO benefits. Do you know how to optimize blog posts for search engines?

Many bloggers don’t realize the huge marketing potential of blogs. A recent study by blogger.com found that while 60% of businesses have a blog, only 65% have updated their blogs in the last year. You can reap the benefits of blogging by providing relevant, fresh content and basic optimization for blog posts.

These are six simple search engine optimization (SEO), tips that will help you get your blog noticed.

1. Keyword research is crucial for optimizing your website. You are likely to include keywords in your content without even realizing. There are many tools and techniques that can help you find related keywords to your blog posts. Both the Google Adwords Keyword Search and Semrush.com are great tools that will allow you to search for keywords relevant to your topic. You can also spy on your competitors to see which words and phrases they are using to drive traffic to their websites.

2. Use keywords in your posts. These keywords should be included in the following locations:

• • • Title
    • Headings and Subheadings
    • Introduction
    • Conclusion
    • Anchor text is text that links to related pages on your website.
    • Meta descriptions and title tags

One word of caution: Avoid keyword stuffing. This is when you fill your content with too many keywords that it becomes hard to read. This will not only irritate your readers, but it can also result in you being penalized by Google. A few strategically placed keywords can do the trick.

3. Optimize your images.

4. Refer to other bloggers and articles with links. It is good blogging practice. You may even get a link back. High quality links are valuable for sites that want to rank higher on search engine results pages.

5. Readers have the option to subscribe to your blog. Make sure to place prominently placed RSS or Feed Subscription Buttons. You can also offer subscribers the option to subscribe via email whenever possible. Your blog followers will receive instant notifications of the latest posts, without needing to check your site periodically for new content.

6. Social media can be used to increase the reach of blog posts. Small businesses may use Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to make connections with current and potential customers. These sites can help you promote your blog content for more exposure. Hootsuite is a free program that makes it simple to post links from your blog posts to all your social media accounts with just a few clicks. You can even plan your posts in advance!

These simple SEO tips will help you achieve higher rankings in the SERPS, more web traffic and better customer conversion rates.

Are you too busy to maintain your blog optimization? We’ve got you covered. OpenVine’s search-engine optimization specialists can help get you more prominent placement on search engine result pages.