Blogs

How to Use a Blog to Increase Organic Traffic

There are numerous beneficial reasons for businesses to maintain a blog, but one sticks out: boosting keyword ranks and organic search traffic.

The number of terms a website can rank for is proportional to its size. In other words, the more pages indexed, the more options for ranking. There is a limit to the number of pages that most small and medium-sized businesses may have on their website before it becomes bloated and difficult to navigate. Once you've exhausted your options for services, products, case studies, etc., it's time to focus on blog content.

A blog is typically the difference between a 50-page website and one with more than 500 pages. Blogging is therefore a crucial strategy for SEO and traffic generation.

When I introduce the concept of blogging, the most common criticism is, "What am I supposed to write about?" The brief answer is to focus on your keywords. Since you will be utilizing your blog to write about your industry and niche, it will be a logical place to develop content around the long-tail keywords for which you wish to rank.

In this piece, we will demonstrate how to leverage a blog to increase your organic traffic.

1. Know your intended audience

Surely, you've heard the expression "honey attracts bees." This is because bees enjoy honey. Imagine attempting to sell oranges to a consumer who is looking for apples. You could likely sell them some oranges. Yes. Would it be more challenging? Definitely. Understanding your customer's wants puts you in an excellent position to make a transaction or create a relationship. If a consumer requests apples, provide them with apples. Offering apple-based items such as juices and pies would not be an impossibility either.

Understanding your audience is essential to developing content that meets their needs. The initial stage is to develop a buyer persona. A buyer persona is a representation of your ideal consumer and will shape and direct your approach as you progress through the process. You can construct a buyer persona by conducting market research and analyzing existing customer data. In essence, you are finding your target audience and gaining an understanding of their desires and requirements to attract them more effectively – like bees to honey.

Keep in mind that your intended audience can and certainly will change over time. Ensure that you review your target audience occasionally to better customize your material to them.

2. Identify keywords

Let's face it. If you are not Blogger, Wikipedia, or WordPress, you will not soon be the top search engine result for the term "blog." And that is fine. By considering how people search, you may still be inventive and capture a substantial portion of the traffic.

Most experienced Google users understand that employing broad terms will not lead them to their desired results. Typically, individuals look for keyword phrases, such as "how to use a blog." Using a keyword research tool to compare "blog" and "how to utilize a blog," you would discover that the former is more difficult to rank for than the latter.

Simply explained, this indicates a greater likelihood of ranking for the keyword term "how to use a blog." Bear in mind that your chosen keyword may not have a huge search volume, but if you can rank for a dozen or more long-tail keyword phrases connected to the term "blog," you will get a substantial amount of traffic.

How do you determine which long-tail keyword phrases to employ to increase your search engine rankings? Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Arel are examples of keyword research instruments. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer is a popular tool among bloggers and online marketers. These algorithms take a single or two-word seed keyword and generate a list of suitable long-tail keywords. A Google Keyword Planner search for "blog" returns results such as "beginning a blog", "best blogging platform", and "blog post ideas".

Consider the following when picking keywords: search volume, keyword difficulty, and intent.

• Search Volume

Evaluate search volume for a clear indicator of how many people submit your keyword into a search engine. Often referred to as Monthly Search Volume (MSV), this measure can help you estimate the amount of possible traffic; nonetheless, it is insufficient for predicting the performance of your search.

• Keyword Struggle

Keyword research tools, such as HubSpot's Keyword Grader, provide information on keyword difficulty, or how difficult it is to rank on the top page for a specific keyword search. The greater the allocated complexity, the more difficult it is to rank highly in search engine results. Compare the difficulty of a keyword to its search volume. As of September 2021, Google's Keyword Planner indicates that the monthly search volume for "blog" and "how to use a blog" is between 100K and 1M for "blog" and 100 to 1K for "how to use a blog." The Keyword Difficulty Checker by Ahref assigns "blog" a difficulty score of 98 and "how to utilize a blog" a score of 84. Both keywords are difficult to rank for, but "how to use a blog" is your best shot, as noted above. Even though the search volume for "blog" is substantially higher, the level of difficulty is identical. You would likely have a greater chance of ranking with the long-tail keyword. Although the search volume is lower, the keyword is easier to rank for due to its lesser difficulty.

• Intent

Why do individuals search for specific keywords? Understanding the intent of a search helps you select appropriate keywords. With a search term as imprecise as "blog," it is impossible to determine its genuine intent. Google guesses that the individual is searching for a definition or a blogging platform. The distinction between "blog" and "how to utilise a blog" clarifies the searcher's goal and increases the likelihood of finding relevant results. They will be more responsive to the information, resources, and tools made available to them because they are seeking a solution to a problem they have identified.

3. Optimize your post for your chosen keyword

After identifying your target term, you must optimize your content for it. Your search term must appear in the following: SEO Subheadings Title Tag URL Meta Description, Article Title, and Alt Text for Images Body Content.

• SEO Subheadings Title Tag

When your content is displayed on a search engine results page (SERP), the SEO Title Tag is frequently the first thing that is observed. The title tag displays the page's name and is clickable to the destination of the link. There is no maximum length; however, Google only displays seventy characters in its search engine results pages (SERPs). If your SEO title tag is more than seventy characters, rewrite it such that the keyword appears first.

• URL

The URL is not the most key area for keywords, but it is one of the first locations where your term occurs. It is an additional indicator to Google and your blog's readers about the topic of your material. Not only does the URL display in the address bar at the top of a webpage, but it also appears beneath the SEO Title Tag on search engine results pages.

• Meta Description

Your chosen keyword should be included within the meta description. In addition to appearing in search engine results, the meta description is the text that appears beneath the URL. It blends keyword usage with an engaging description that compels readers to click.

• Article Title

The title of the page that appears when a reader clicks through to your content is the title of your article. Use your target keyword as casually as possible. If you continue to generate odd variations, reword your title while retaining as much of the term as possible.

• Subheadings

Before committing to the entirety of a webpage's content, a reader will scan it. Utilizing subheadings facilitates the rapid assimilation of information. Include keywords in subheadings to assist visitors in determining the relevance of your content.

• Titles & Alt Text for Images

Do not minimize the significance of keyword-optimized image optimization. Images are a means for visitors to discover your content. When saving photos for blog posts, caption them with relevant keywords. The second way to use your keyword in relation to images is in the alt text. Alt text is used to make content accessible to individuals with disabilities by describing a picture. Yes, your alt text should include your keyword, but it should also be sufficiently descriptive in case the image cannot be displayed.

• Body Content

Keyword density is the frequency with which your target keyword appears in the content and is typically expressed as a percentage. There is no numerical aim for this. Create your content with both your audience and your keyword in mind. Then, revisit your material to see if you can introduce your term naturally, without keyword stuffing. Aim to include your keyword every 100-200 words as a starting point.

4. Create original, high-quality material

Competition is essential for search engine rankings. You may ask, "How can I rank higher?" but your true query is, "How can I rank above others?" To surpass the competition, you must create high-quality content while simultaneously appealing to your target audience and optimizing your post depending on your keywords. Today, hundreds, if not thousands, of ideas are rehashed online. The issue is not always the idea itself, but its execution. Writing information on "how to use a blog" is not difficult, but making it appear identical to every other blog post is. Search engines favor new, high-quality content. Create several blog post ideas and compose something original. If the topic is not novel, add fresh ideas and viewpoints to enhance its quality.

5. Enhance the quality and credibility of your material via links

The right usage of links can enhance your content's visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) and your trustworthiness as a resource. Pay careful attention to interlinks and backlinks when developing content.

• Interlinks

Consider the creation of content as creating a map. You direct your readers to their next destination. Use interlinks to guide them. Interlinking is the practice of linking to other relevant articles on your website. The greatest advantage of this is keeping visitors on your website for longer. It also improves the quality of your work by giving users more resources to expand their expertise. When creating interlinks, pay close attention to the anchor text. It shows as highlighted text that can be clicked on. Using identical language for an incoming link on your website could have a detrimental effect on search engine optimization. Vary the terms and phrases you use to interlink to the same webpage.

• Backlinks

Backlinks strengthen believability. A backlink is a link from one website to another, and the greater the number of backlinks to your site, the more legitimate it appears to others and search engines. If your material links to another website, you have if business with a backlink. When another site links to your material, you receive a backlink. How can you encourage backlinks to your website? Create linkable content. There will always be a need to link to high-quality information, such as blog posts, infographics, videos, and surveys, among others.

6. Publish frequently

Finally, make your post public. Depending on the frequency with which Google and other search engines crawl your website, it may take a few days or longer for your pages to be indexed and appear in a Google search. Publishing more frequently is an effortless way to expedite your pages' indexing by search engines. When Google detects that a website is updated daily, it will perform more frequent scans.

Ready to grow?

Blogs do not see rapid organic development. One blog article will not position you as an industry leader, but regularity will. The repeated application of the best practices will strengthen your relationship with your target audience, increase your credibility as an online resource, and enhance your site's search engine optimization (SEO) — all of which will result in an increase in your blog's organic traffic.