How to Optimize Blog Content for SERPs

You’ve finally done it. You’ve taken the plunge and started a blog for your Denver small business. Congrats! But now it’s time to start thinking about how you can get people to actually read your blog. The answer is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of optimizing your website for Google and other search engines so when people search for keywords related to your business, your website comes up as one of the top results. SEO can be overwhelming, especially if you’re in the beginning stages. It’s not always easy to understand what it is, how to do integrate it, and how to execute an effective SEO strategy. That’s why our Denver marketing team got together to outline a few basic steps we believe will help any business optimize their blog page to garner more leads and more conversions.

Do Your Keyword Research

Before you start writing your blog post, take some time to do some keyword research. This will help you figure out what keywords to target in your post so that it has a better chance of ranking high in Google searches. The main way we like to do keyword research is to use Google’s Keyword Planner tool or SEM Rush’s Keyword Research Tools. For all of these online tools, all you have to do is enter in some keywords that align with your content strategy and business and then see what phrases pop up.

Need an in-depth tutorial on how to do it? Check out Hubspot’s How-To Guide.

Don’t Forget to Optimize Your Post Title

Your post title is much more important than you’d think in terms of helping your blog post have a favorable position on Google’s search results page.

For optimizing post titles…

  • Make sure it’s accurate: Your title should directly reflect what your blog post is about. Using words like “what”, “why”, and “how” alongside descriptor words and numbers when applicable are what we typically like to do.

  • Make sure it’s short and sweet: According to Semrush’s blog, search results will show the first 50-60 characters on mobile before cutting things off.

One of our Denver marketing team’s favorite ways to jazz up a blog post title is to use power words. Power words are words or phrases that copywriters and marketers use to trigger a psychological or emotional response in their readers to pique their interest and, ultimately, persuade them to click on the blog post, website, or whatever content they’re trying to get out there.

Use Keyword-Rich Headers

Now onto the fun part – writing your blog post! While it’s critical to use your keywords in the body of your blog post (within reason), it’s especially important to use target keywords in your H1s, H2s, and H3s. An easy way to allow for more opportunities to include H1s, H2s, and H3s is to simply break up your blog post into smaller sections. Not only does this make your post more readable, but it also gives you another chance to drop in those target keywords.

Consider This

Be careful not to “keyword stuff”. Keyword stuffing is the repetition of keywords over and over again within your content to try to trick the Google algorithm into boosting your content to the top of its search results page. This interferes with your content’s readability, looks spammy, and will ultimately lead readers to exit your blog or website, damaging your chances of retaining any leads. Plus, Google will penalize you for keyword stuffing and your post could end up getting buried in the search results.

Optimize Your Images

It may be a little time-intensive but optimizing your blog post’s imagery will help to getting your content noticed by your target audience. The Denver marketing world–or any big city’s marketing scene, for that matter– can be a challenging one to navigate. Taking a moment to dig into the nitty gritty details like optimizing your images will make a world of difference. Don’t believe us? We’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.

Did You Know

Google Image searches account for 22.6% of all searches.

Pretty crazy, right? You don’t want to miss out on all the traffic that comes from properly optimized images.

Here are a few rules of thumb we like to follow:

  • Make sure to use a descriptive file name: According to Google’s Image SEO guide, this is a must. Take a word of advice from our Denver Marketing team and try to use a target keyword for this.

  • Use alt text: Alt text is essentially a written description of an image. Basically, it tells Google what your image is and makes the image you’re using more accessible to readers. Alt text helps improve your blog’s SEO performance because it helps Google index your images, which ups your chances of appearing in the Google Images tab.

  • Resize your images to the display dimensions: It’s no secret that page speed is a major factor that influences SEO rankings. When sized incorrectly, images can slow down your website. Make sure your images align with the maximum display dimensions needed before posting your blog post!

Add Internal Links and External Links

Another way to help Google index your content is by adding links to other related pages or posts on your website. These are called internal links, and they not only help improve your SEO, but they also keep readers engaged by providing them with additional resources they might be interested in.

Adding links to related pages on other websites is also helpful—these are called external links.

“External links can assist search engines in determining the usefulness and quality of your pages. High-quality pages usually link to other high-quality pages; thus, search engines will look at your content favorably, helping you rank higher.”

Hubspot

While internal and external links are important, take a word of advice – try not to overdo it. A few strategically placed links are all you really need.

Pro Tip

Make sure your anchor text (the clickable text in the hyperlink) is short and sweet. The text should reflect the link’s contents and your blog post as a whole.

Is Your Denver Business Investing in SEO?

By following these simple tips, you can start optimizing your blog content for search engines and watch as those precious leads start rolling in!

Now, if there’s one thing we understand, it’s that optimizing your blog posts (and web content as a whole) is a big job. There are so many different factors to consider, and so many moving parts that work together to put your online content in a favorable position on Google’s search page. If you or your team are feeling a bit nervous about going at it alone, take a sigh of relief—our Denver marketing team lives and breathes SEO. We’d love to help! Our nimble SEO strategists know what it takes to generate those organic leads your business needs to thrive.

Drop us a line or reach out at 720.580.6158 and we’ll work together to develop the strongest SEO strategy for your Denver small business.