How To Optimise Your Blog's SEO For Higher Traffic
Sunday, August 30, 2020
Do you want to know how to increase the number of visits your blog gets? It is important to grow your online presence, especially as a blogger. It can be disheartening to find that a post you've worked hard on only has 10 views. Growing your blog's traffic can be hard, but not impossible! More traffic allows you to unlock new opportunities and work with amazing brands. Today's guest writer, Patrick, is going to share some of the best ways to drive traffic to your blog posts!
What Is Search Engine Optimisation
In simple terms, search engine optimisation (SEO) is what helps search engines to pull up your blog when people search for a related topic. For example, if your blog post is about the best Disney films to watch, the better your SEO, the higher you'll rank on a Google page. Ideally, you want to have good SEO, so you come up on the first page. Does anyone really look on the 2nd, 3rd and beyond pages? If you said no, then you know why you need good SEO, or you'll struggle to get organic traffic from searches.Why You Need To Implement SEO Practises
As I mentioned before, the better your SEO, the higher you'll rank on a search engine. That is one of the main reasons for having good SEO, but it's not the only thing that matters. Here are some reasons why you need to have good SEO practises:- You'll rank higher on a search engine search
- You will gain more organic views as people click on your relevant links
- Your site will be considered more reliable and trustworthy than other's
- Good SEO usually means a better user experience as your information is easier to find
- If you implement SEO practises from the start, it saves you time as you won't have to go back through and update things
Install The Yoast Plug-in
If you have a WordPress blog, you should get the Yoast plug-in. Yoast essentially does all the hard work for you and tells you what you need to improve. You don't need to purchase the premium version to have good SEO. Yoast is a tool that will flag up any issues and help you to fix them. The free version will help you with keywords, knowing when a post needs updating and help you improve your post's readability.
If you purchase the premium version, you'll get features such as internal linking suggestions, a redirecting manager and no ads. It's worth looking into both options and deciding what you want to get out of your package. With the free version, there is more work for you to do, but it's manageable. It's a great step for beginners to ensure that they're hitting all the right spots and keeping up with good SEO. I don't have a WordPress blog, but every blogger I know recommends this plug-in.
Cover A Topic That Has A Search Volume
When picking a topic to discuss in a blog post, make sure that it covers a topic that is trending online. To find the current trending topics, you need to check a search engine’s most-searched keywords. These keywords are important when talking about search engine optimization. They will help you reach your target audience or market.
You can research for the right keywords from any research tools, such as Google Trends, Google Correlate, Google Search Console, Answer the Public and Keywords Everywhere. All of these you can take advantage of as they are free!
Use Keywords In The Appropriate Places
Finding the right keyword is just the start of improving your blog’s ranking and driving traffic to your blog through keywords. The proper placement of keywords is another consideration. The chosen keywords should be found in the main title tag as well as one of the subheadings or subtitles of your blog post.
When creating your title, make sure you don't overdo it with keywords. Choose a few for your title, making sure it flows. You should also put your important keywords first. You also should include the keywords throughout the post, but make sure you don't spam the text! It's better to use your keywords 15 times than 150!
Write A Good Meta Description
When uploading a blog post, there are certain SEO boosting specifics that you should fill out. Make sure to place your keyword in the meta fields, particularly in the title and meta description. Meta descriptions are essential for ranking in Google and gaining more blog post traffic.
When filling in the meta description, make sure you create a brief web page summary. This is important since this will be your way of telling Google what the post or page is about. It will give the search engine a picture of what you do and match it with the internet users’ keyword searches. Moz has some guidelines for meta descriptions which you should follow!
- Keep your description between 50-160 characters
- Don't overuse your keywords
- Make sure you include relevant keywords
- Don't use the same description twice
- Add a call to action at the end
Consider Your Keyword Density
Keyword density refers to the frequency that your keywords appear in an article compared to the total number of words it has. Ideally, keyword density should be at one per cent. This means that for a blog entry with 1,000 words, the keyword should appear at least 10 times. It's argued that the right density is between 0.5% and 3%.
A keyword can be used multiple times within a post. It may also be wise to highlight the first keyword in bold. If you want to improve your keyword density, you could consider other variations of the keyword. For example, if the keyword was "Making money", you could swap it with "Make Money Online" or "Money Making Methods". Swapping your keywords gives you a higher chance of gaining search engine traffic!
When it comes to keywords, make sure you're not "Keyword Stuffing". Keyword stuffing is where you unnaturally use keywords throughout your post in an attempt to increase your range and traffic. Your blog can be penalized if you overstuff your pages with keywords as it is spammy. Remember, you're writing your blog for a person, not a search engine!
If your keyword density is over 3%, you're not automatically keyword stuffing, especially if you're using terms in the right context. You don't have to accurately watch your keywords, but if your density is high, you may want to consider switching some keywords up!
Link Throughout Your Blog Post
There are many ways that links can help improve your blog's traffic. Whether you're linking to a high authority site or interlinking posts, you're improving your SEO and climbing the ranks! Linking an article to the website of a credible media outlet or educational website can help in driving traffic to your blog. It takes the keywords from that post's title and helps readers find your content.
Outbound links have a high value. If a reader clicks on your post, they can be directed to a high authority site, helping them out further. Outbound links make your website more valuable. If you're linking to low authority pages, your content may be associated with the lower, spammy quality too. Make sure you don't spam your posts with quality links but fit them in where it flows.
You can use inbound links to gain blog traffic. Guest blogging and round-up posts are a great way to increase the number of backlinks there are to your blog. Backlinks increase your blog traffic as readers will click through to your blog. You're diverting another blogger's traffic to your own website. High authority blogs are the best places to have your inbound links on. If you're guest posting, try and write for someone with a higher DA score than you.
You can also interlink your blog posts! Throughout all my blog posts, I try to link older blog posts where I can. This will increase your traffic as it diverts your readers to related topics. You can subtly link blog posts through related keywords or mention related content. If you're confused, this is what I mean:
- "You could also boost your blog traffic through Pinterest Ads and social media"
Use Visual Media & Alt Descriptions
If you want to encourage visitors, your blog post could include a video or photo for added viewer experience. You should always include an image for any blog post you publish. A video is a useful way to convert readers into sales!
Whichever you decide for your blog, make sure you write the alt text. This is similar to a meta description but is for an image. In blogger, I can title the picture and add alt text by clicking on the picture. It's an important piece of SEO to remember for a few reasons. If someone were to read the page, the description of the image would come up. It will also appear if the image fails to show on the screen. The reasons alt descriptions will increase your traffic is it will help search engines crawl and rank your site better. You may also get traffic from users searching for an image and clicking through to your website!
There are lots of other ways to increase your blog's traffic, but these are the main SEO based methods you can try! Traffic will depend massively on your niche. Some blog posts will perform better than others, so don't be disheartened if you're not reaching high figures straight away! These methods are great for traffic, SEO and can even increase your DA score. Keep and them, and you will see your blog grow! What methods have worked for you? Let me know how you've increased your blog traffic in the comments!
About The Guest Writer
Patrick Bailey is a professional writer, mainly in the fields of mental health, addiction, and living in recovery. He attempts to stay on top of the latest news in the addiction and the mental health world. He enjoys writing about these topics to break the stigma associated with them. If you want to find more articles by Patrick, you can find them on his personal blog or in Sunshine Behavioural Health.
Hi there! I'm Emily, and welcome to my little corner of the internet. You can find me preaching sustainability, hustling hard or working on my endless to do list! Together, we can make a productive, happy lifestyle!
49 comments
Mine is a self improvement blog. I need to take SEO more seriously
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
Great advice especially for novices to blogging.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
I need all the help I can get when it comes to SEO, I am working really hard on it currently so I needed this post big time! Thank you so much for sharing x
ReplyDeleteI am working on SEO a lot lately too! Thank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
I've been working so hard on my SEO lately, and it is paying off!
ReplyDeleteLove, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
That's great to hear! Thank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
These are some really good tips for building on SEO. I will keep these in my mind when writing future blog posts x
ReplyDeleteYou can always update old ones too! Thank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
These are some really good tips. I really need to start using these tips more often!
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
It's important to optimise your SEO with your blog and these are amazing tips to help do that Em! x
ReplyDeleteLucy | www.lucymary.co.uk
Thank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
These are great tips! I have just checked out Keywords everywhere, as I haven't heard of that one before. I usually use the same keyword from Youtube for my blog post, but this will help expnd that I hope. Yoast SEO is a brillaint plugin to use as well, if you use wordpress as it highlights all the areas to improve the SEO throughout the posts.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Aimsy xoxo
Aimsy’s Antics
Sometimes I wish I'd used wordpress so I can make use of the plugins! It's great that you're using similar keywords! Thank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
Love this! Great advice. I forget about meta descriptions and alt text. I need to go back and make some changes to my posts! Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIt's great because that's a really easy fix! Thank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
Great tips!
ReplyDeleteI’ve been going through a lot of older posts and updating them. It takes a while but it’s worth it.
It's so worth it! Thank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
Great post... never heard of bolding your keywords! ... yep, I like to mix them up too... aiming for more than one KW per post if it makes good sense.
ReplyDeleteSome people say it works, some don't so it's up to you to decide! Thank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
I do all of these yet fall short on boosting traffic. :(
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, really good post!
It will depend on your niche, age of blog and how much promotion you do too :)
DeleteI've been trying to work on my SEO recently so these tips are really helpful thank you!
ReplyDeleteEm x
https://planningwithem.com
Thank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
Great advice, I really enjoyed reading this! I need to spend more time optimising my blog xx
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dellalovesnutella.co.uk
I still have such a long way to go, especially in finding the right words and having more outbound links, but this certainly helps to refocus me to the right direction, so thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
Great tips! This is a good reminder for me to up my SEO game- thank you! x
ReplyDeleteGood luck! Thank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
What a great topic! SEO is so important make a buzz around the great content you create! Also love that you host a guest post! Connecting with fellow bloggers is so much fun!
ReplyDeleteLots of love, Miri
www.meetmiri.com
Thank you! That's really kind of you :) Thank you for reading and commenting
DeleteEm x
Thanks for sharing, these are a good selection of points to improve your SEO :)
ReplyDeleteNic | Nic's Adventures & Bakes
I really need to improve the SEO on my blog, so I'll give this blog post a good read and try and implement a couple of things. Thanks for sharing x
ReplyDeleteSteph | www.stephhannam.com
I need to improve SEO on my blog & am very grateful for this informative post. Nice work!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for these tips! Ive been working on my SEO and hopefully I get results!
ReplyDeletethequeensights.com
Lovely post ♥
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Thank you to you and Patrick for such an informative post on SEO's. We are still getting our head around it. This post feels like its all in our grasp; easy to understand and it makes total sense. We came reading 8 FREE blogging tools, which we also found incredibly helpful especially "Answer the Public" and Keywords. Your blog is also a helpful tool for blogging. Thank you once again x
ReplyDeleteThis was super helpful, especially about the Meta description. I always struggle with those!
ReplyDeleteDeandra| theblackprincessdiaries.com
I don’t know why eso has been so hard for me to get it right and understand. Thanks for this it helped me a lot
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This is so helpful! I'm really trying to work on varying my keywords with a higher search density in order to improve my SEO and DA, so this post encouraged me!x
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ReplyDeleteIt too me far too long to start working on my meta descriptions, I had to go back and change so many! Great article.
ReplyDeleteThese are very helpful suggestions. I did not know some of what you shared regarding key words so I will try out these new ideas right away. One other thing I have found drove up my views and helped my DA was to identify cornerstone content, and to keep it fresh. Even just adding a new image or tweaking the language slightly counts as an update, which Google likes. :-)
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