SEO of article/blog post content

iteles commented 6 years ago

As a business owner, I would like to know how to optimise the content of blog posts/articles on my website So that I can make sure I am doing everything I can to appear in the relevant search results.

We get asked this a lot by clients so it would be great to have something to point them to!

rub1e commented 6 years ago

Some resources to start with

A good introduction from Google, covering more than just blog posts (images etc.), but the content section is very useful.

SEO chapter from growth-hacking book Secret Sauce

In-depth tips from https://www.hobo-web.co.uk

Monitoring

30 Day free trial at AuthorityLabs

Proper use of Google Analytics

Chat soon

rub1e commented 6 years ago

Content

What are your keywords?

It's not always about getting visitors to your site, but about getting the right kind of visitors. The usefulness of this intelligence cannot be overstated; with keyword research you can predict shifts in demand, respond to changing market conditions, and produce the products, services, and content that web searchers are actively seeking.

https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/keyword-research

Crafted content is essential

Every search performed at the engines comes with an intent—to find, learn, solve, buy, fix, treat, or understand. Search engines place web pages in their results in order to satisfy that intent in the best possible way. Crafting fulfilling, thorough content that addresses searchers' needs improves your chance to earn top rankings.

Put users at the heart of your content strategy

Content should exist because there is a target set of audience – people who will read, watch, and/or look at your stuff. Keep in mind that the reason we are making content is not to make ourselves feel good, or to archive and document what our company is about. We make content for people – users who drop by in your site because they want to know you!

https://seo-hacker.com/developing-user-centric-content-strategy/

General tips

Make sure to include a keyword within the first 65 characters of the headline, because that’s where Google cuts it off on a search engine results page.
Search engines look at the URL of your content to understand what the post is about. Make sure to include one or two keywords in the URL.
Links
- Within the body copy of your content, link to external pages on trustworthy websites whenever relevant and helpful to your audience.
- Within your own website, linking to your own pages improves indexing of content and points readers and search engines toward the most relevant content on your site.
Check spelling and grammar - this affects ranking (and perception of your business)

Evaluate your content

Be aware of Google's Quality Ratings Guidelines

https://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer

http://tools.neilpatel.com/en/analyze/dwyl.com

Usability / UX are essential but secondary

Usability and user experience are second order influences on search engine ranking success. They provide an indirect but measurable benefit to a site's external popularity, which the engines can then interpret as a signal of higher quality. This is called the "no one likes to link to a crummy site" phenomenon.

iteles commented 6 years ago

Excellent, thanks @rub1e!

Could you please add a Content section to the readme with this great stuff? It will probably need some rejigging as there will be a small bit of repetition, but what is currently here was created from a developer viewpoint and the above is from a site owner viewpoint (which is what we need).

Wrote this into an email I just wrote to a client, the sentiment is worth keeping: Having said this, it's not all about the keywords anymore and Google is VERY aware of 'keyword stuffing' - understanding user intent and having quality, shareable content is the key

dwyl / learn-seo