When writers get into the groove and the words start pouring forth like the salmon of Capistrano it can be difficult to reign in and edit the content not only for grammar, but for formatting as well. Just like the dying newspaper or the glossy magazine editor must edit content for readability and appearance, so must the blog editor do the same. But blog editors must not only edit their content to provide their readers with the best product, they must also edit content for Google’s algorithms – assuming that they are implementing SEO strategies in order for their sites to rank higher. This is easier than it sounds, and it becomes second nature as you write SEO minded blog posts.
If you’re running your blog as a means to add timely and relevant posts to your otherwise stagnant website, then the blog should reflect the same keywords that you are trying to rank for. Think of the keywords as bits of cheesecake; every little bite adds explosions of flavor that the Google page crawlers taste and relate back to the keywords on your site and anchor text, but too much will make them sick. Typically, it is good to shoot for a keyword every 100 words or so. This keeps the keyword density up throughout the post without weighing it down. Be sure that the keywords fit naturally within the sentence.
Relevant Subheads, Bullets, and Fonts
- Subheads: If you’ve been writing content for the web for any amount of time then you might be familiar with using subheads to break up walls of text and to make your posts more readable. However, subheads are also a great place to fit in keywords, but pay special attention to using the proper H tags so the Google crawlers know to pay special attention to it.
- Bullets: Crawlers have also learned that bullets are often a sign for important information, so they look carefully at what is being listed in them. Utilizing bullets also helps your readers find the most relevant information that fastest. Be sure to use text bullets rather than Java script (search engine algorithms can’t crawl Java).
- Fonts: Along the same vein, bold or italics is a great way to not only highlight important words or phrases to the reader, but to the crawler as well. Overusing them can make your post look messy, but don’t be afraid to stress the important phrases.
Get Rid of Lingo
It is difficult for experts within a field to get away from using jargon or lingo that is commonplace to those in the same field, but confusing to those outside of the field. A typical user would never search for these terms and using them frequently will make you suffer in SERPs. It is also a bad idea to use vernacular or SMS abbreviations.
Label Photos and Use Captions
Use plenty of photos that add to the post, and be sure to label them and caption them. Use ALT tags on your images to provide a brief, keyword driven description that can help bring traffic from Google image searches, and provide captions with the photo that help the crawlers (and users) see what use the photo is serving. This is probably one of the SEO tools that bloggers are at fault for looking over and is one easily remedied.
Keeping SEO in mind while you’re writing doesn’t need to be an ordeal. The simple rules and practices quickly become second nature and the benefit of potentially ranking higher in SERPs far outweighs the slight amount of extra time it might take to properly edit a post.
Thomas McMahon is a writer who is passionate about white hat SEO, link building, and blogging. He is an online content producer for Page One Power, a relevancy first link building company.
