How To Write Blog Posts For SEO Using These 18 Effective Tips

How Content Marketing Helps SEO Efforts (Boosting Your Visibility)

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Blogging is a fantastic way to share your thoughts and knowledge. But if you're not optimizing for SEO, your brilliant ideas might not reach as many people as they deserve. It's a common challenge: writing engaging content that also ranks well on search engines. You’re not alone if you've ever wondered, “How do I nail this SEO thing?” That’s where understanding SEO blog writing comes in. This article will guide you through the essentials of crafting blog posts that captivate readers and boost your website’s visibility. Ready to get started?

Regarding tools, Feather’s notion to blog could be your secret weapon. It helps you streamline the writing process so you can focus on what matters: writing killer SEO blog posts.

What is an SEO Friendly Blog Post?

Creating a blog post that ranks well isn't just about cramming in keywords. It’s about crafting content that search engines love and readers enjoy. You need to place keywords strategically to keep things natural. The article must flow logically, making it easy and enjoyable to read. Headings, images, and links must also be optimized for search engines. The topic should be relevant and valuable, encouraging people to share or link back, which boosts your blog's authority.

Why Is SEO Crucial for Blog Posts?

SEO for blog posts isn't just about visibility. It’s tied directly to revenue and lead generation. Organic search accounts for a significant revenue share across B2B, retail, and technology industries. SEO is also a top method for bloggers to generate traffic. It contributes over half of all web traffic, overshadowing other channels like social media and paid advertising.

The Role of SEO in Driving Revenue and Lead Generation Through Organic Search

Optimized blog posts improve your chances of attracting potential customers through search engines, something vital for marketers focused on lead generation.

Revenue

Organic search generates the highest average share of revenue (44.6%) across the following:

Retail

Media

Technology

Travel industries

Lead Generation

A recent survey of 1067 bloggers showed that SEO is their 2nd most crucial method of generating traffic. SEO contributes 53% of all web traffic, compared to 27%, 15%, and 5% from other paid and organic social channels.

Primary Sources of Web Traffic

Considering that 61% of online marketers struggle with lead generation, paying attention to your SEO content strategy is essential. The more optimized your blog post is, the higher its chances of garnering traffic and potential customers from search engines like Google and Bing.

What are the Basics of SEO Writing?

Making Keywords Work for You

Keywords are like search engines’ GPS to your content. You can’t just cram your article with popular search terms and call it a day. You need to know your audience inside and out.

What’s on their minds?

What are they searching for?

Answer these questions, and you’ll be able to sprinkle keywords naturally throughout your content. But remember, keyword placement matters. Titles, headings, and the first 100 words are prime spots. Don’t overdo it, though. Search engines are smart enough to spot keyword stuffing and will penalize your content for it. Aim for balance: keywords that feel like they belong in your writing, not like they’re crashing the party.

Understanding What Your Readers Want

Good SEO content isn’t just about the words—it’s about understanding why someone is searching in the first place. Are they looking for information, trying to find a specific website, shopping for a product, or comparing options?

For example, if someone searches for “best headphones under $100,” they’re likely in research mode. “How to fix headphones,” on the other hand, shows an informational intent. Aligning your content with the right intent helps it stand out to users and search engines. It’s like serving the perfect dish to someone already craving it.

Writing for Humans, Not Just Search Engines

Readability is a huge factor in SEO. If your content is hard to read, people will bounce off your site faster than you can say “search ranking.” Your goal: make your content:

Clear

Concise

Engaging

Use shorter paragraphs, break up text with headings, and write in plain language. People love scannable content—think bite-sized chunks rather than walls of text. You’re writing for humans first, search engines second. If a reader finds value in your content, search engines are more likely to boost it.

Refreshing Your Content to Keep It Relevant

SEO isn’t a one-and-done deal. Even your best blog posts need maintenance to stay competitive. This is where historical optimization comes in. Look at your older content—it might’ve performed well a year ago, but traffic has dropped off. That doesn’t mean it’s useless.

Refresh it:

Update stats

Add new insights

Rework the structure for better readability

This process improves rankings and allows you to repurpose valuable content for new audiences.

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Feather is an SEO-friendly blog and email newsletter service that lets you publish blog content and a newsletter through Notion without needing coding or design skills. Feather allows companies to write blog content on Notion and automatically publish it to their Feather blog.

Run your blog and newsletter with Feather today—create a new account and send emails from Notion, or go from notion to blog in minutes!

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How To Write Blog Posts For SEO Using These 18 Effective Tips

1. Choose A Proven Topic

You should already have a proven topic if you’ve done keyword research. This is something with traffic potential, business potential, and ranking potential:

Traffic potential: can generate enough visits to make creating content worthwhile.

Business potential: allows you to mention your product or service naturally

Ranking potential: your website can rank for the target keyword.

2. Analyze Search Intent

Understanding search intent means figuring out what the searcher is looking for. You need to do this because your chances of ranking are slim if your content doesn’t align with it. For example, a keyword like “how to make espresso at home without a machine” makes it easy to guess the intent behind the search. The information is in the keyword: searchers want to learn how to make great coffee at home without an espresso machine.

But the intent behind “espresso” is more complex to infer from the keyword alone:

Does the searcher want to buy coffee?

Do they want a simple definition or a detailed process for making it?

Should we write about expensive espresso machines or DIY alternatives like a moka pot?

Decoding Search Intent: Using Google Results to Optimize Content Strategy

This information isn’t in the keyword but in the search results. If an article ranks well for a particular keyword, it’s probably giving searchers what they want. The existing search results can provide a roadmap to help you understand and match intent. Most of the top results for “espresso” focus on definitions and simple explainers.

To identify search intent, look at the top-ranking results on Google and identify the three Cs of search intent:

Content type: what is the dominant type of content? Is it a blog post, product page, video, or something else?

Content format: are all the top results how-to guides? Or lists, or reviews, or comparisons?

Content angle: what approach do the top-ranking articles take? Do they all talk about the “best,” “cheapest,” or “for beginners”?

Aligning Content with Search Intent: Lessons from Top-Ranking Pages

For example, the top results for “Neapolitan pizza dough” are all recipe blog posts, and authenticity is the dominant angle.

In most situations, your content should take a similar approach to the content that already ranks well (similar, but not identical). Once you’re happy you’re giving searchers what they want, it’s time for the nitty-gritty of on-page SEO.

3. Check Your Expertise

Today, more than ever, Google values content that shows first-person experience of the subject matter. Here’s what they said in a recent update to their quality rater guidelines:

“Does content also demonstrate that it was produced with some degree of experience, such as actual product use, having visited a place, or communicating what a person experienced?

In some situations, what you value most is content produced by someone with first-hand life experience on the topic at hand.”

Understanding YMYL and Everyday Expertise: Crafting Content That Aligns with Google’s Standards

Google uses signals to help determine content that demonstrates expertise. This is especially important for topics impacting a reader’s:

Happiness

Health

Wealth

Google calls these topics “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL).

As Google explains:

Non-YMYL topics. “Everyday expertise” is enough. You’re good if the writer has the type and amount of life experience to make them an expert on the topic.

YMYL topics. Formal expertise is essential, but “everyday expertise” is enough for some topics. For example, someone with cancer can answer “What is it like to have cancer?” better than a doctor.

Showcasing First-Person Expertise: Enhancing Content Credibility with Hands-On Experience

The easiest way to demonstrate first-person experience is to write about subjects you know well. There are on-page elements that can help, too:

Include expert quotes. When your expertise isn’t enough to be authoritative, seek expert quotes and feedback (especially in fields requiring specific certifications and qualifications, like healthcare or accountancy).

Get hands-on with your topic. If you’re writing about brewing espresso, brew a few hundred shots.

Show evidence. Prove to readers (and Google) that you did what you’re talking about: add experience to your author bio and include photographs and videos of your experience.

4. Cover The Topic In Full

If your expertise is covered, it’s time to create the type of content searchers want to see. Analyzing search intent gives you a high-level idea of this but doesn’t reveal everything. That’s a problem because the best result for a query covers everything searchers want to know.

If a reader clicks on an article titled “How to brew perfect espresso,” they’ll likely feel frustrated if it skips essential steps, like grinding beans or dosing your basket.

Good Search Content is Exhaustive

It covers all the process steps, lists all the resources the reader needs, and answers all the questions that need answering. It delivers on its promises and leaves no critical gaps in its information.

Balancing Depth and Brevity: Creating Exhaustive Content for Readers and Rankings

Exhaustive content is great for readers, but it also increases the likelihood that your article will rank for more keywords. Importantly, being exhaustive doesn’t always mean writing something very long. Content can be, depending on the topic, be:

Thorough

Helpful

Short

If you know from experience that a particular subtopic is crucial to mention but can’t see any keywords or existing articles to justify it, go ahead and add it anyway. Information that helps the reader is information that helps search rankings.

5. Make It Unique

If you base your content on top-ranking pages, you’ll end up with copycat content. This content fails to stand out from the crowd or offer anything unique. Copycat content is a problem for SEO because people have no incentive to link to it. Links are important because they’re a ranking factor.

Whatever you want to call it—information gain, uniqueness, value-add—the answer is straightforward: offer something that can’t be found anywhere else.

Understanding Google’s Approach to Copycat Content: The Role of Information Gain in SEO

Google is aware of the issues with copycat content. They even filed a patent in 2020 with a potential solution. It’s called Contextual Estimation of Link Information Gain. It presents a solution whereby documents are given information to gain scores. These state how much more information one source may bring to someone who has seen other sources on the same topic.

6. Make It “Sticky”

People aren’t going to stick around for something they find confusing or hard to read. That’s bad because Google uses interaction data to assess relevance. If searchers abandon your content like the Titanic, that’s unlikely to help SEO.

Here are a few tips for making content more “sticky”:

Keep it simple. Avoid complex words and sentences.

Make it visual. Break up walls of text with images and videos.

Speak your audience’s language. Use terms and jargon that resonate with readers.

Boss your spelling. Run a spell check; it makes all the difference.

Tools like Hemmingway and Grammarly can help with simplification and spell checks.

7. Keep It Evergreen

Content doesn’t stay fresh forever. That’s an issue if you’re targeting a fast-moving topic. It means you’ll have to work to keep your content updated to keep Google and searchers happy.

For example, the estimated traffic trend for our list of top Google searches goes up and down.

Estimated Organic Search Traffic To Out List Of Top Google Searches Over Time

This happens because the topic demands fresh content. Searchers don’t want a list of the top Google searches from yesteryear; they want something up-to-date. Each dip happened when our content became stale, and each rise happened when we updated the page.

The latest algorithms look for common words that accompany your keywords. That lets the search engine know that the content is about that topic. It isn’t necessary to research which accompanying words to use, as they are generally the essential words that something about that topic would use.

If you aren’t sure how to use these companion words, study latent semantic indexing and put that knowledge to use.

9. Link To High-Quality Sites

Using links as information citations is a common way to show where the information came from. Your site should not be using information from low-quality sites. If you have links to spammy sites, the information on your page will also be assumed to be spammy. Always link to high-level websites that are popular in their own right.

The overall goal of search engines is to make good information universally available. When you link to good sites, you show search engines that you get your information from valuable sites.

10. Use Varied Content Types

An excellent web page may include several ways to impart information. These often include other types of media to back up and expand on the information in the text. Videos are excellent for this purpose, and helpful pictures are valuable for readers.

Too much gray text can be challenging for people to read. Breaking it up makes it flow better and allows for easier reading.

11. Write Meta Information

Every piece of content needs meta tags and a meta description. This allows search engines to display a short description of your created content. You also need a title tag. This should be no longer than about 70 characters.

This is the maximum number of titles Google allows. The meta description should be no longer than 160 characters. If you aren’t up on basic HTML, learn some basics to create these valuable pieces for your content.

12. Use Plenty Of Subheadings

No matter how narrow your topic is, it can be broken up with subheadings. This also allows you to have your keywords where they are prominent. Subheadings help break up the text, making it easier for readers to find the information they seek.

In SEO writing, you need to consider the goals set for your strategy and search engine ranking factors. Writing content is more of a process to meet user demand than SEO requirements. When you provide a qualified and unique experience of reading and visiting the page with high-quality content, it automatically favors the position of your page in the SERPs.

13. Optimize Your Content For Featured Snippets.

Featured snippets on Google are the most direct answers to search queries. For instance, if I were to search, “How do you write a blog post?” Google might use a featured snippet to show the best answer. You must answer the question thoroughly and succinctly to earn a featured snippet on Google.

If the keyword you want to capture the featured snippet requires a definition, write an answer that’s no more than 58 words.

14. Write For Humans, Not Search Engines.

With all these SEO guidelines, it can be easy to forget that when a user searches on Google, they are looking for an answer. The best way to improve your chances of ranking is by writing high-quality blog posts.

What does that look like?

Thorough answers

Scannable sections

Organized subheaders

Visual aids

While some SEO tools can help on the technical side of your site, you can also opt to use content writing SEO tools to help you write correct, concise, and human-friendly content that will rank well and engage readers.

Keep your buyer personas

Their motivations

Challenges

Interests in mind

Creating Resonant Content: Addressing Customer Pain Points and Measuring Engagement

Choosing topics that will resonate with your potential customers and address their pain points is also essential.

Different tools also measure content engagement, allowing you to see how long people spend on a page, whether or not they visit multiple pages, or how far they scroll down your site.

15. Satisfy Search Intent

After identifying your keywords, you must ensure the content you create satisfies search intent. Search intent is the reason why users search for your keywords.

There are four main types of search intent.

Informational: The searcher is looking for information about a topic

Navigational: The searcher is looking for a specific website or page

Commercial: The searcher is researching options

Transactional: The searcher wants to make a purchase soon

Optimizing for Informational Search Intent: Content Formats That Drive Traffic

Your primary and secondary keywords should have informational intent for blog posts. Users who want to learn about a topic find helpful articles and in-depth blog posts valuable.

Some common content formats for informational search intent keywords include:

How-to guides

List posts

Step-by-step tutorials

Definition posts

Comparison posts

Looking at the top-ranking pages on Google can help you determine which content format is best for your topic.

16. Structure Content For Readability

It’s essential to make it as easy for readers to navigate and understand your content as possible.

You can do this by:

Dividing content into clear sections with subheadings

Organizing those sections in a logical order

Using succinct paragraphs and sentences

Utilizing bullet points when appropriate

Formatting some words/sentences in bold to highlight key points

Blog Content 2024 January Seo Optimized Content Structure For Readability

17. Implement Internal Lining

A good writing practice for SEO content is to include relevant internal links on your pages. Internal links can connect to related pages within your website to help create content hubs by clustering associated topics, while external links support your content with credible sources.

Search engines use links to discover new content, so it is a good idea to link to new pages so that they can be found and indexed easily. Use descriptive anchor texts in your link to convey what the linked page is about.

Internal linking also helps users find additional content to expand their education and move them further along the buyer's journey.

18. Create Content Hubs

Creating an article or two isn’t enough when you’re writing for SEO. Google relies on E-E-A-T factors to understand your position on the topics you write about and seeks credibility. You can enhance this by aiming for topical authority in your subject by creating content hubs.

Content hubs are structured with a central pillar page that provides a high-level overview of the topic and several related subtopic pages linked to it.

Building Content Hubs: Enhancing Website Authority and SEO with Interconnected Resources

This interconnected network of content allows users to easily navigate through different aspects of the subject while search engines can better understand the context and relevance of your content.

Instead of producing isolated blog posts, content hubs allow you to comprehensively cover various aspects of a topic, making your website a go-to resource for users seeking information on that subject. This approach signals to search engines that your website is an authoritative source on the topic, leading to improved search rankings.

How to Write a Blog Post for Beginners

Blog Content Writing Tips

How to Write a Blog Post Outline

How To Write Blog Posts Faster

Benefits Of AI Writing Tools

Blog Writing Format

Use AI to Write Blog Posts

Blog Writing Software

Blog Writing Topics

Types Of Blog Posts That Will Help With SEO And Page Rankings

Master “How-to” Guides for SEO Success

Crafting “how-to” blog posts is a smart SEO strategy. People love practical advice that solves their problems. Start with clear, step-by-step instructions that guide readers through their queries.

This approach boosts your search rankings and keeps readers engaged. It’s essential to weave relevant keywords naturally throughout the text. This will help you tackle user questions effectively and improve your organic reach.

Listicles: The Reader-Friendly Powerhouses

Listicles are popular because they’re easy to read and digest. They offer a structured format that both readers and search engines appreciate. To make your listicles more effective for SEO, use numbers in your titles like “10 Ways to Improve SEO.” Incorporate relevant keywords in subheadings and use internal links to guide users through your content effortlessly.

Curated Resources: Your Authority Boost

Curated resource articles save your audience time by compiling valuable information from multiple sources. These posts establish your blog as an authority in your industry. When creating curated content, select reliable sources and provide concise summaries.

Always link back and give credit to the original authors. This not only strengthens your SEO but also builds trust with your readers.

Handy Cheat Sheets, Checklists, and Templates

Cheat sheets, checklists, and templates are practical tools that your audience will appreciate. They’re often shared and bookmarked, enhancing your SEO outcomes. Make sure they’re easy to read and follow. Offer downloadable versions to encourage sharing and increase your reach.

Engage with Case Studies

Case studies are powerful storytelling tools that showcase real-life examples of your product or service. Focus on customer-centric narratives and include specific details about the results achieved. Use data-driven visuals to make your case studies more compelling. This evidence-based content attracts links organically, boosting your search rankings.

Boost Engagement with Visuals

Incorporating visual content into your blog posts can significantly increase engagement. Use relevant images to break up text and provide context. Infographics simplify complex data or concepts. Embedding videos adds variety and depth to your content.

Charts and graphs make statistics easy to understand. To improve your SEO campaign, optimize each visual element with:

Captions

Alt tags

Proper resizing

Stay Current with Trends and News

Keeping your content fresh and relevant is crucial for SEO. Stay updated with the latest news and trends in your industry. This helps you rank higher in search results and generates backlinks from other reputable sources.

Consider newsjacking by relating trending topics to your niche. Regularly update old posts to maintain accuracy and showcase your commitment to evergreen content. Stay informed by subscribing to newsletters, joining online forums, and following influential personalities in your field.

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Go From Notion to Blog With Ease Today with Feather

Gone are the days of juggling multiple platforms to get your blog content SEO-ready. Feather turns Notion into your all-in-one content management powerhouse. With Feather, you can write, edit, and publish blog posts directly from Notion, making collaboration a breeze. Subfolder blogs are crucial for SEO, and Feather lets you set up your blog on a subfolder instead of a subdomain.

This means better search rankings for your site. And with Feather's built-in features, you can manage everything from CRM to website blog management—all from Notion. The best part? No coding or design skills are required. Feather handles all the technical aspects of publishing blog content so you can focus on writing and collaboration. Connect your Feather account to Notion, and your blog will be live in minutes.

From Notion to Blog in Minutes

Feather integrates seamlessly with Notion to streamline your blog publishing process. Once you've written your content in Notion, Feather takes care of the rest, automatically publishing it to your SEO-friendly blog. Feather's user-friendly interface lets you preview and edit your blog posts before publishing, ensuring your content is polished and optimized for search engines.

Feather’s built-in collaboration tools allow you to easily share your content with your team and get feedback and approval before it goes live. Feather also will enable you to customize your blog's design with custom CSS and other options to create a blog that reflects your brand and style.

Feather doesn't just make blogging easier—it also streamlines your email marketing efforts. With Feather, you can create and send newsletters directly from Notion without a separate email marketing platform. Simply write your newsletter content in Notion, and Feather will handle the rest, automatically sending it to your email subscribers.

Feather also makes it easy to grow your email list by offering tools to collect email addresses and manage subscribers. So Feather has you covered whether you’re sending a weekly newsletter or a one-off announcement.

A CRM-Friendly Blog Solution

Feather isn't just a blog and newsletter platform—it's a CRM-friendly solution that integrates seamlessly with your existing tools. With Feather, you can manage your blog content and CRM data all from Notion, saving you time and effort.

Feather lets you easily connect your blog and CRM to track and manage your leads and customers. With Feather's built-in analytics and reporting tools, you can see how your blog content performs and make data-driven decisions to improve your marketing efforts.

Get Started with Feather

Ready to simplify your blog and email marketing efforts? Feather makes it easy to get started. Sign up for a Feather account, connect it to your Notion workspace, and start writing. Feather will handle the rest, automatically publishing your content to your blog and sending it to your email subscribers.

With Feather, you can focus on what you do best—creating great content—and leave the technical details to us. So why wait? Start using Feather today and see the difference for yourself.