Guest Author: Eric Stauffer
If you’re looking to increase your company’s web traffic and improve your SEO campaign, there’s one sure-fire way to do it: create a blog. A business blog can give you a great outlet not just to provide pertinent and helpful information for your customers, but to also afford you additional opportunities to use your keywords, increase links and gain exposure for your website.
But creating business blog posts that are both readable and SEO-friendly isn’t always the easiest task. Need some help? Follow these quick tips.
- Look for longtail keywords. Longtail keywords are going to be your most effective and lead-generating type of keyword. They are highly specific phrases that are usually three words or more in length. “Black V-neck T-shirt,” for example, is a longtail keyword. When a customer searches for this term, they already know exactly what they are looking for; they’re simply looking for the source. By using these keywords, you’re ensuring your traffic is as qualified as possible.
- Use your keywords in your title, URL, headings and subheadings. Each of these areas is weighted heavily by search engines. When you place your keywords in these areas, it’s more likely to affect (and improve) your SEO rankings. Additionally, it’s much easier to work long or awkward keywords into headings and titles than it is to integrate them into sentences or paragraphs, where they could muddle your overall flow and confuse readers.
- Always add tags. Most blogging platforms, like WordPress, Tumblr and Blogger, allow you to add categorical tags to your posts. These signal to search engines (and readers) what sort of information your blog post contains, so they can be prioritized in search results. Take advantage of these tags by working in any applicable keywords. This will not only improve your SEO, but will bring in more qualified readers and customers.
- Get linking. When possible link important keywords or phrases to other blog posts or pages on your site. These will increase the number of links for your site, and it will enhance exposure for your keywords as well. Both of these can be a great boon to SEO rankings.
- Use images to your advantage. Name your images using your keywords and phrases, and make sure to include an SEO-friendly alt tag with each one. When possible, add a caption that includes your keywords as well. These actions won’t just increase your on-page SEO, but they’ll also help your images get displayed in Google Image Search (and other image searches) that can lead potential customers to your site.
- Find a keyword balance. Try to focus on just one or two keywords per post. Aim to work each keyword in once every 100 words or so. This will ensure you get the keyword in enough for search engines to pick up on it, but not so much that you overload your text with keywords, and end up confusing your readers.
- Add a meta description. If your blogging platform allows for it, always include an optimized meta description with each post you create. The description should be around 150 to 160 words and include each of the keywords you use in your post.
- Cross promote where you can. If you have a Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media account, always cross promote your blog posts there. Include a link, along with a teaser that both uses your keywords and entices people to check out your content. This not only increases the number of links to your blog, but it also exposes your brand to new potential customers and readers. Plus, search engines give a lot of weight to social media sites, so it could greatly improve your SEO rankings, too.
Eric Stauffer is a professional blogger and small business advocate. His organization, CardPaymentOptions.com, helps business owners navigate the murky waters of the payment processing industry and teaches them how to get a fair deal.