5 Tips for Optimizing Your Website’s Blog Section
Whether your website offers products or services, having a blog can significantly help you promote it, boost your conversion rates, and reach new audiences.
However, just having a blog is not enough. You also need to ensure that it’s optimized, that it can be found online, and that it’s not just a space no one ever visits.
In this post, we’ll look at five tips that you can implement to optimize your blog section and use it to generate more traffic, conversions, and sales.
Start with the Right Keywords
The keywords you choose for your articles will largely determine how likely they are to be found online.
Keyword research will take up a fair bit of time, and it will require you to get to know a bit more about the subject, but it will be worth your while.
Aim for keywords that have a decent monthly search volume but not that much competition (i.e., the posts that are ranking top for them don’t have too many backlinks pointing back to them).
Once you’ve chosen your keywords, use them naturally throughout the post. Don’t worry too much about using them a certain number of times. Search engines are becoming ever smarter, so the optimization tactics that were once popular would now be considered spammy.
Consider the Content Format
Before you start writing, you should also consider how long the post needs to be.
Some topics can be covered with a shorter post, and you don’t need to drag it out just to make sure there are plenty of words in it. True, search engines favor longer content, but if you can reasonably answer a question in 800 words, you don’t need to push to 1500 just for the sake of it.
On the other hand, using long form content is an excellent way to explore a more in-depth topic and offer a more comprehensive overview. Make sure you put some thought into the word count you actually need, and don’t just go for the one you think the search engines would like to see.
Optimize the Images Too
Choosing the right images for your blog is the first step towards making it a success. Rather than being there just for the sake of it, they should complement the text and add additional value to it.
Optimizing them is also a key step – ALT tags, image descriptions, and the file name should all reflect what the image is about. Make sure you use the appropriate keywords, too.
Don’t forget that the image’s file size should be as small as possible. A lighter image will speed up the website and allow for a better user experience.
Use Links Cleverly
Internal and external links should also be a part of every post you publish on your blog.
Internal links serve to pass what is known in the industry as “link juice” from one page to another. In other words, a page passes on a portion of its own authority to the pages it links to.
When writing a post, consider the internal links you want to add. That way, you won’t have to add them in forcefully later on, and they will seem much more natural.
As for your external links, you want them to point to pages that provide additional value and that have some authority on the subject. Stats and sources of information should always be referenced, and anyone you cite should be properly credited.
Don’t Forget about the Formatting
User experience is becoming an increasingly important aspect of optimization. That’s why the post you publish needs to be easy to read, as well as easy to skim through.
Start with the use of headers. They should aim to help out a visitor who is not interested in reading the entire post. They should illustrate your main points and serve as pointers as to what a certain paragraph will be about.
Bullet points and numbered lists are your friends as well. They will break the article up and make it easier to digest.
If you are using a lot of figures, try to use charts and tables to illustrate them, as opposed to just spelling all of them out, which might be more challenging for a reader.
However, never underestimate your reader, either. Allow them to come to their own conclusions, helping them get there in as little time as possible.
Final Thoughts
Optimizing your blog is no longer a mysterious art. It’s a straightforward process that will certainly take some time and experience, but you can easily get the hang of it in time. Read up on some of the more important aspects of it, and use our article as a guide to get you started in the right direction.
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