We all know by now how often Google is changing up their algorithm and how the days of keyword stuffing and buying links to boost your ranking are long gone. With thousands and thousands of searches happening every second of people not just poking around social media but looking for information, you cannot afford to ignore the importance of SEO when it comes to content marketing. With that being said, you need to have the right strategies in place in order to see results.

Here are 10 SEO tips to help improve your blog posts google ranking.

1. Reference credible sources in your posts

When it comes to important Google ranking factors, the quality of your content is at the top. When writing your blog posts, it is essential that you are including references to credibly sourced information that helps back up your points. Aside from helping with SEO, it will help build reader trust.

When we are talking about high-quality content, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your posts need to be novels (although a first page google ranking for posts seems to be close to 2000 words), Google really just wants to know that people that are finding your posts, are not immediately clicking away which gives the impression the content you are providing is not what they are looking for.

2. Make sure to research your keywords

In order for Google to get a feel for what your post is all about, it sifts through your content looking for specific words. This is where keywords come into play. They let Google know what your post is all about. For this reason, doing research for the best keywords is important. More than likely, you are already including a lot of great keywords in your posts just by writing about a given topic related to your niche. With that being said, in order to boost your research efforts, you want to try using a tool like Google Adwords Keyword Tool. This will give you additional ideas for keywords along with which keywords are generating the most searches each month and which ones are highly sought after by other brands.

3. Include keywords in your posts in the right places

Now that you have done your keyword research, you need to use them in the places that will give you the most impact for both your readers and the search engines. Here are some places you want to include them:

In your blog post title
In the headings and subheadings
In the first paragraph
In the last paragraph
In title tags and meta descriptions
In the descriptions of any visuals you use

One thing you want to make sure to do is not stuff your posts with as many keywords as possible.

4. Use visuals

Using visuals on social media and in content marketing has become very popular. With attention spans waning, visuals help keep visitors on your site for longer. People tend to remember more of what they see than what they read and it just adds more pizzazz to a post just containing text. So if you are not incorporating visuals into your marketing, you need to .

When it comes to the types of images you include, vary them. In addition to static images, include charts, infographics and of course video (very popular). Just be sure to reference the source so you don’t run into any issues. One thing you want to make sure to do is optimize your images so that Google knows what they are about. Here are two key things you want to do:

The ‘Alt Title’ and description of your images should include your keywords.
Ensure you are using the right resolution for your images. If they are too big, you will effect loading time and people abandon pages if they do not load in three seconds or less.

5. Come up with the right headlines

The headlines you use in your posts ranks right up there with the content you create. With an effective headline, you will not only receive more clicks but Google will take notice. Aside from appealing to the emotional side of your readers, it is also important to think about the words you use and in what order you use them. The length of the headline also matters. Headlines that are about 15 words seems to be the sweet spot.

6. Your website and blog needs to be mobile-friendly

Most people are doing searches via their smartphone these days. For this reason, Google very much favors mobile friendly websites and will display that result first in a search. In order to ensure you have a mobile friendly website, you need to use responsive design which means it adjusts accordingly to the device it is being viewed on. Your blog pages will also only have one URL as opposed to two (one for desktop and one for mobile). This is more beneficial to you since traffic will not need to be divided between the two URLs. This all helps Google determine how valuable the content is in your post and rank it accordingly. Since all this is dependent upon Google’s current algorithm, it is important to stay up to date for changes by subscribing to Google’s official blog.

7. Vary your topic tags

Topic tags help you organize your blog content by subject matter. With that being said, you need to be careful to not use the same tags over and over. This could get you penalized as the search engines may think you have duplicate content on your site. This happens because each time you create a new topic tag, you are also creating a new page on your site where that content will also appear. Now it looks like you are displaying the content multiple times across your site. Now would be the time to go through your blog posts and see if you have too many tags that are similar and switch them out with new ones.

8. Use internal linking

Internal linking (linking pages within your website) is helpful to your blog since it helps boost your other relevant content to search engines. Aside from the SEO benefits, It is also very helpful in keeping visitors on your website for longer. This is a step you don’t want to skip as it is important to the overall foundation of your website. The more internally connected your site is, the more Google understands what your site is all about.

9. Use Google’s Search Console

Finding the keywords people are using to search for your blog content is key to your marketing strategy. Lucky for you, Google offers its free Search Analytics Report. This report will help you with analyzing the clicks you receive from Google searches as well as those helpful keywords. If you have not used it yet, check out Google’s official support page for help.

10. Incorporate longtail keywords

You may not know this, but most search queries generated with Google are longer than four words. These longer phrases are referred to as ‘longtail keywords’ and they help give Google a more in depth idea of what your blog post is about. As an example, when you go to do a search in Google, you are more likely to search for “content marketing tips for small businesses” than “content marketing tips”. Many consumers are performing narrow searches and this helps you reach a more targeted group of people that are more likely to become customers. Use a keyword analyzing tool to see which longtail phrases rank the best for your posts and include them strategically throughout your post.

Conclusion

Optimizing your blog posts is something many marketers have a tough time with. Keep in mind you will not see major increases in your ranking right off the bat since it takes time to build up authority with the search engines. The key is to make sure to post consistently as well as take the time to optimize every post. If you do this along with providing valuable and relevant content, you will see gains in traffic and leads over the long run.

10 SEO Tips To Help Improve Your Blog’s Google Ranking