SEO blogging 101: How to rank higher on Google

Today, everything is at the touch of your finger.

Who needs an encyclopedia when you can just Google the answer? And who needs a newspaper when you can just ask Siri the question?

Finding out the most commonly Googled questions can be hilarious!

In 2018, 450,000 people asked Google: "is water wet?" and 74,000 people wanted to know if dogs can eat apples. The answer is yes and yes, in case you were wondering.

Point is, everyone Googles everything. People want answers fast, and usually, they'll only click on one of the top articles.

So how can you get your article to the top?

Here are 5 tips on how to rank higher on Google with SEO blogging

SEO - search engine optimisation (or optimization if you're American) is super important! When you optimise your webpages you're making your website more visible to the people Googling the keywords associated with your business, products and services.

Blogging is incredibly helpful in boosting SEO because it positions your website as being a relevant answer to your customer’s questions. Blog posts that use a variety of on-page SEO tactics can give you more opportunities to rank in search engines and get customers to visit your site.

But it's not really that straight forward. Google continuously updates its algorithm, so the best SEO strategies are all about relevancy and intent.

So - how do you know what matters? How do you know what people are Googling? And how do you remain relevant?

1 - Focus on just 1 or 2 keywords at a time!

SEO blogging is not about stuffing as many keywords as you can into one article. In fact, this may hurt your chances at a high Google ranking!

Search engines are onto it. They can figure out when you're just trying to boost your ranking by stuffing in too many keywords!

It also doesn't make for a very user-friendly or interesting read. Make sure that the keywords you're using actually match the intent of the website visiter. And craft your content in a way that flows and is easy to read.

2 - Use long-tail keywords

A good rule of thumb is to focus on one or two long-tail keywords per post. The longer and often question-based keywords keep your post focused on a specific question your audience wants to be answered.

Website visitors searching long-tail keywords are more likely to read the entire article and then explore the rest of your site.

In other words, you'll be getting the right type of website traffic: visitors who then convert into actual paying customers.

3 - Include these keywords in your post

The best places to include your keywords are the headline and text body, URL and meta-description.

Headline:

The headline of your article should definitely include your keyword/s! Google calls this the "title tag". Make sure it’s in the first 60 characters of your title-tag because this is where Google cuts it off.

Body:

Mention your keyword throughout the body of the text, but make sure that it flows and makes sense. Don't just chuck it in because you should, use it wisely. Whenever you create content, your focus should be the reader. Is this text enjoyable to read? Does this answer the question of my reader?

URL:

Search engines look to your URL to figure out what you're talking about. You really need to think about using your URL to optimise every single thing you post, because this is one of the first things that search engines will crawl!

Meta Description:

Your meta description gives Google and Googlers extra info on what your post is about. So you definitely want to be using your long-tail keywords here! With that in mind, remember that the actual copy is super important for a click-through rate - it needs to satisfy the needs of your readers! The more compelling and engaging, the better.

4 - Be mobile-friendly

It shouldn't be a surprise that the majority of people Googling are using their phone. Google knows this, and it displays more mobile-friendly results first!

5 - Optimise the images' alt text

Blog posts should include images that help explain your content. Search engines look for images with alt text and prioritise it over those that don't.

Because search engines can't see an image the same way people can, the alt text tells them what it's about. This also helps those images rank higher in Google Images results.

Adding keywords to your alt text may seem minor - and it won’t impact your search rankings as much as other things mentioned in this article. But it is worth taking the extra minute to change the name from "IMG97263" to something relevant to the picture.

There are so many important ways to stay relevant for search engines

And I don't expect you to rush off and incorporate all of these now, but it's something to think about. Especially if you want to get your Google ranking up!

Make yourself a set of goals, and as your website and business grow, so should they. Once you identify the goals of your customers and ideal readers, you'll be on the way to knowing how to deliver content that meets their needs.

Now, this article doesn't cover every single on-page SEO rule, but these are a good place to start for your SEO blog!