These blog writing tips will help you publish high-impact articles that find a relevant audience. You need more than clever content; you need good presentation that pays attention to structure, format and SEO.
1. Pick a central keyword or phrase. Think about what terms a potential reader might use to find your content. (research what people are using in searches with Google’s keyword planner). Know your main keyword and three to five variations BEFORE you start writing.
2. Structure your article; an outline helps tremendously:
• Core thesis
• Supporting point and evidence
• Supporting point and evidence
• Summary/so what/what to do next
3. Article length matters—aim for between 301 and 500 words. If your article is shorter it hurts your SEO. If it is longer, you most likely don’t have a tight, focused, high-impact idea. Consider breaking a long article into a multi-part series. That actually helps SEO and encourages reader engagement.
4. Revise with keywords. Go over your first draft and sprinkle keywords throughout. A rough rule of thumb is to use the keyword once every 100 words, and then use:
• In the headline
• In the first sentence
• In at least one subheading
• Use variations throughout as needed
5. Add a visual and make sure you have clear copyright ownership. Visuals can be photos, illustrations, graphs, icons, logos. Name the image file name isonmg the central keyword. If “naming products” is my keyword, I change my image name from IMG_20150805.jpg to Naming_Products.jpg. Make sure the alt-text also contains the keyword.
6. Add at least one outbound link to some other source or resource—with the anchor text containing the central keyword.
Example: More on naming products here>>
7. Provide metadata that includes a title and description for Google that uses your keyword: Title of 55 characters and description of 115 characters. Be sure to use the keyword in your post URL and on all alt-tags on the page.
8. Include social media posts for Linked In, Facebook and Twitter. It makes sense to write this important content at the same time you are writing your blog. Use an active statement that invites a click.
Good example: Get advice for naming products from brand naming expert Lisa Merriam with important do’s and don’ts to avoid product naming problems.
Not so good example: Lisa Merriam offers good advice about how to name products in this month’s blog entry.