6 important tips for search engine optimisation

1. Plan the content based on keyword research

Search engine optimisation makes blogs easier to find for visitors and search engines. To optimise blogs properly, you start by researching the most important keywords. Keyword research helps determine which topics the target audience is interested in, based on search engine data. This ensures your blog matches topics that people actually search for. It is also a good way to explore and come up with new blog topics. There are various keyword research tools you can use to find relevant keywords. An example of such a tool is SEMRUSH.

2. Use an effective blog post title

The main goal of a search engine is to display relevant information and sources based on a search query. The title of a blog is the first element a search engine uses to determine the relevance of the content (and for a reader too!). It is therefore very important to include the keyword in the title. Make sure the keyword is included in the first 60 characters of the title, because this is where Google truncates titles in the search engine results pages. 

3. Search engine optimisation through internal links

Link to at least one of your own articles or web pages in a blog. This helps users navigate easily to other pages and stay engaged, and these links will create a contextual relationship between all your web pages. It also ensures a link back to the website if the article is shared by another website. Creating good content increases shareability and the chance that other websites will link to it, so aim to create quality content!

4. Make your blog easy to read. 

Readability is an important ranking factor for search engines. That is why it is important to use short sentences, smaller paragraphs, punctuation, headings and bullet points. We recommend using images and white space around the text to make it easier to read. It is also important to use a good hierarchy when using headings. The main title should be an H1, and subheadings should be H2 or lower (such as H3, H4, etc.). Also make sure the keyword of the page appears at least once in an H2, H3 or H4 etc.

5. Write unique content 

Make sure you do not copy text (either from internal content on your own website or from external content). Every text on every page must be unique. With the siteliner tool you can check whether the website has published unique content. This will help determine which content on the website needs to be optimised.

6. Gain insight into the results of your content

You can use various tools to gain insight into whether your content performs well. We advise everyone to install Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Google Analytics is a free tool from Google that tracks and reports data about your website traffic. It offers various insights such as the number of user sessions, the average time spent on a page, the bounce rate, conversions and more. This is valuable information, because it shows which blog or web page generates website traffic, and displays user engagement.

Google Search Console is a web service from Google that lets you view the indexing status and tracks keyword positions. Search Console provides insight into a website's visibility and plays a supporting role in the optimisation process. 

We hope this article helps you optimise your blog posts for search engine optimisation. It is very important to use SEO techniques to ensure more organic traffic and engagement on a blog or website. Do you have questions about the SEO blog writing tips, content marketing or SEO? Feel free to contact us.