SEO blogging is an art. Not many people have the kind of discipline it requires to ensure that the right amount of keywords are strategically placed in the blog content.
Either they put too many (especially towards the end), or not enough (especially in the first paragraph–which should always have at least one). Of course, if you are blogging using the WordPress CMS, you have the benefit of their Yoast SEO partner, which will guide you into placing the required numbers that will meet Google’s best practices.
Still, even after all that, there is no guarantee you will start seeing traffic to your website as there are other factors that can prevent Google’s algorithms from ranking your site. So how can you guarantee traffic flows to your website through blogging? By using the Best SEO in Canada. However, if for whatever reason you are unable to avail yourself of the excellent services of our SEO-expert A J Frey, fear not. We will share with you 12 tricks you must know to attract traffic through SEO blogging when DIY.
Attracting Traffic Through SEO Blogging
Here’s the thing: Google is on a mission. And so are you. Google’s mission is to ”organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. What’s your mission? If you wish to succeed in attracting traffic to your website, you must familiarize yourself with Google’s mission, which means you have to understand search engine optimization (SEO). Is your blog in line with Google’s mission?
If you’re reading this article, then it means We have succeeded in attracting traffic through SEO bogging. It means We have succeeded in showing search engines like Google and Bing that our blog is a relevant source for people like you who are searching for information about attracting traffic to your website. That’s what SEO blogging is all about.
Do you think We could help you do the same? Sure we can. Here, then, are the12 tricks you must know to attract traffic through SEO blogging:
1. Use a SEO-friendly CMS
What’s a CMS, you ask? Content Management System. The text and images on your blog are called contents. It’s a no-brainer: If you’re doing SEO blogging you need a CMS that not only facilitates SEO blogging but also promotes it.
It is a documented fact that WordPress is, by far, the best CMS on which to blog, especially SEO blogging. WordPress not only allows SEO plugins like Yoast (which is the closest thing to a human SEO expert), but also facilitates Google Analytics so you can do your own informal audit of your site.
2. Conduct a SERP Research for your keyword/phrase
SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page— it’s your go-to to learn which pages are ranking using your search term. Knowing what the search results page looks like for the term you’re targeting is important.
After spending time analyzing the top five or so posts to see what they are doing right, you are now armed with the necessary information on how best to optimize your blog posts to not only land the best spots on the results page, but to ensure your content is outstanding.
Researching your keyword/phrase is perhaps the foundation for your plan as it shows you how many people are already searching for your keyword/phrase, which sites are ranking for your keyword/phrase and even make suggestions for alternate keyword phrases that could potentially be more successful for your website.
3. Strategically place the keyword/phrase
Another “trick” you must know to attract traffic through SEO blogging is placement. One of the reasons many people are turned off SEO is due to misunderstanding. They believe SEO is stuffing keywords into headers and body of content that does not make sense. That is what’s called keyword stuffing, and actually frowned on by Google. See our article Good SEO Practices vs Bad SEO Practices to learn more.
Good SEO practices actually include placing keyword/phrases in headers and paragraphs of content that has been well-researched and is coherent. It means when a searcher enters a search term like “how to bake a cake”, he/she is looking for an actual Recipe, not a site with the phrase “how to bake a cake” a million times, but no Recipe.
If this has ever happened to you, you know how frustrating that is. That’s why Google heavily penalizes sites that practice keyword stuffing.
But where do you place these keywords/phrase you ask? AJ Frey and his team of SEO experts suggest placing them at the following places:
URL:
The first and most obvious place for your keyword/phrase is in your Url. The Url with the main keyword/phrase gives a hint of what is on the page. Besides, It is a big turn off for Google to see these Urls with a string of characters and numbers.
Page title:
The page title is the “main idea” of your page, and should show up first in a search result. This is a no-brainer.
Headings (and subheadings):
These are phrases used to segment the content on your page. They make the content more scannable, and also help visitors to your page to decide which sections to read, in the event they are unable to read the entire article.
Content:
This is the tricky part, and where most people err. There’s a not-so-thin line between keyword stuffing and strategically placing keywords in the body of your article. Rule of thumb: One in the opening paragraph, one in the closing paragraph and at least 2 – 3 in the body of the text. This, of course, is dependent on the length of the article. You wouldn’t want to have half a dozen keywords in your 500-word article. That could get penalised by Google.
Meta description:
Do you ever notice the block of text in a search result? Sure you have? That’s what decides whether or not you will click on the link in that search result. That’s what we call the meta description. It is very important, as it not only helps Google to determine how relevant is your content, but it also helps searchers to decide whether or not they should click the link to your website. Including the target keyword/phrase clearly makes your content more relevant to the search.
4. Use internal links
There are only a few times that I’ve gone on a website for a minute and end up staying for hours, and that’s usually caused by the interlinking of their articles. I.e., linking from one post to another on the same site. I would start to read one article, but it linked to a few others that I was interested in reading. This is a wonderful trick by the SEO experts for that site, because they managed to accomplish what many experienced webmasters failed to do–keep visitors on their site.
Google rewards such SEO practices. By using internal links you’re helping search engines better understand the topic of your blog content, and keeping visitors on your site longer, which ultimately can lead to paying customers.
If you’re new to blogging, don’t worry. It will only be a matter of time before you find yourself with a solid library of posts that you can interlink.
5. Add internal links to new pages
Internal links are backlinks from one page to another on your website. As mentioned before, they keep visitors on your site, and also help visitors to navigate from page to page, distribute ‘link authority’ throughout your site, and allow Google to use their anchor text to understand context.
The problem is that most people forget to add internal links whenever they publish a new page. However, if you want your page to stand the best chance of ranking on Google or any other search engine for that matter, then you must remember to add internal links to it.
6. Long-tail keyword/key phrase
Long-tail keywords are also called key phrases. They’re highly specific, consisting of three or more words. For example, “12 Tricks You Must Know To Attract Traffic Through SEO Blogging” is considered a long-tail key phrase. Four reasons long-tail keywords are so effective are:
They generate more qualified leads
Searchers using long-tail keywords have a more defined search query, which typically results in more qualified leads. Someone searching for “SEO blogging” might just be looking for information on what is search engine optimization and how to use it in a blog post; whereas someone searching for “12 Tricks You Must Know To Attract Traffic Through SEO Blogging” as clearly pass that stage and is more than likely looking for other ways to attract more traffic to their site.
There’s less competition
Long-tail keywords/key phrases also have less competition, which makes it easier to rank for organically and cheaper to bid for when advertising. They make up more than seventy percent of online searches, but they have less traffic, making them more effective for smaller eCommerce brands to rank highly in SERP.
They result in more conversions
The third reason they are so effective is that they result in more conversions. Online shoppers searching for long-tail keywords have high purchase intent, making them more likely to convert and generate profit. They’re no longer in the discovery phase of what is “SEO Blogging” – they know they want “12 Tricks You Must Know To Attract Traffic Through SEO Blogging” and they’re ready to apply them.
You can create targeted content
Finally, long-tail keywords enable you to create more targeted content for your audience. Information on 12 Tricks You Must Know To Attract Traffic Through SEO Blogging is relevant to your audience and geared towards creating trust and value that increases spend and customer lifetime value. Your site becomes the “go-to” site for all things SEO, and before long, they are purchasing one of the best SEO packages in Canada.
7. Fix pages with broken backlinks
Backlinks are hyperlinks that link one website to another. However, the link is incoming. Meaning that the other website is linking to your website. The more backlinks you have pointing back to your site, the more popular your site becomes.
However, if the linked page is dead, then it is not ranking, and is probably preventing other pages on your site from ranking. If the websites linking to your site are high quality–what we call “high-quality backlinks”–then it is worth fixing these “dead” pages. However, if they’re not, then you can leave them as 404 pages (that’s the error message you get when a page is dead).
8. Update old posts to keep them current
It takes a lot of work to create fresh content on a regular basis. One way to ease the “stress” is to look for good, older posts that may have become “outdated” and spruce them up with “new” information.
This is especially applicable to those pages ranking on Google’s page 2 and older. Analyse them to see what could have prevented them from making it to Page 1 and fix the problem. This could also mean adding missing information.
9. Feature Influencers in your blog posts
One of the big “tricks” to attracting traffic to your website is finding ways to collaborate with Influencers. This is useful as it exposes your blog to a wider audience. Collaboration could be in the form of interviewing them, featuring a quote from them, or referring back to advice they provided on their site (with a link).
By featuring them, you not only get on their radar (you’ve initiated a relationship with them), but they may thank you by sharing your blog post with their audience. And the rest, they say, is history.
10. Optimize Your Images for SEO
As mentioned earlier, blog posts consist of text and images. At least, it should be. If your blog post has text only, it may be intimidating to read for the visual learners. As such, every blog post you publish should include at least one image, and sometimes more. But don’t just post them, optimize them!
Every image you include in a blog post gives you an extra opportunity to add your keyword/phrase to the page. You can use either the alt text and/or the image file name. If possible, you can even add it to the caption text. That’s a few more ways to signal to Google what the page is about.
11. Embed your videos in relevant posts
You can take it a step further and add videos, in addition to your image(s) to your blog posts. Videos can really bring your blog to life and make the visitor experience more engaging and interactive.
12. Make sure your site is optimized for Speed and Mobile Use
The days when web browsing was done exclusively on a desktop are long gone. It is proven that more people access the Internet on a mobile device than ever before, which means more people are searching the web on their mobile devices than ever before. This is the reason your site must be optimized for mobile.
Your mobile site should have a responsive web design with a fast page speed, so people don’t bounce from your site. If your mobile site delivers a positive experience, visitors will stay longer on your page longer and even return. These behaviors show search engines like Google that your site is helpful and easy to use. This will improve your ranking and send more traffic to your site.
Conclusion
- And that’s it. 12 Tricks you must know to attract traffic through SEO blogging:
- Use a friendly CMS like WordPress
- Conduct a SERP Research for your keyword/phrase
- Strategically place the keyword/phrase
- Use internal links
- Add internal links to new pages
- Use long-tail keyword/key phrase
- Fix pages with broken backlinks
- Update old posts to keep them current
- Feature Infuencers in your blog posts
- Optimize your Images for SEO
- Embed your videos in relevant posts and make sure your site Is optimized for speed and mobile use.
We guarantee if you follow these 12 “tricks”, you will start to see traffic flowing to your website. Did we leave out any you think should have been among these twelve? Let us know in the Comments box below.
