Today’s epidemic is bringing lots of shifts.
I believe the trend of search-friendly, user-first, awesome content will emerge as no longer a trend. More like, a must-have.
For marketers, business owners, creators, brand builders…
There has never been a better time to jump into online content, SEO, and building your online presence.
Why?
Before today’s pandemic, we were already looking at statistics like this —
71%+ of the world’s online traffic comes from a search.
3/4 of the internet is reading blogs.
On average, there were 3.6 billion Google searches per day from humans looking for answers to their problems.
During the pandemic, this number shot up to over 6 billion Google searches per day!
(To verify this incredible stat for myself, I followed a Worldometer live tracking all day till 8 pm CST the other night… yep, clocked in right over 6 billion live searches that day )
Taken at the end of a 24-hour period in April, 2020
Think about the fact that 140 countries in our world as we know it are impacted by COVD-19. There are 195 countries in the world. This is already impacting 72% of our world! That’s a ton of people that have had to take their “IRL” work/social life online.
Given how much of the world this is impacting, and how many countries have made it mandatory to stay at home as much as possible…
Creating content to pull in your online audience just got 10x more valuable.
In today’s brand-new YouTube video, I’m covering a valuable topic for us in the economy we’re in today: What you need to know when it comes to SEO writing for your blogs and websites, in a way that produces REAL results.
This is an evergreen how-to video built on tactical methods that work. You’ll learn evergreen strategies that you can immediately put to use to get more results and Google traffic from your blog and site content.
I’ve tested and tried these strategies over nine years and throughout 1,500 blog posts to earn over 20,000 keyword positions in Google (and that’s just on one of my five sites). Watch this video, focus in and implement these tips, and you WILL see results — guaranteed.
How to Use SEO Writing for Your Blog and Website for More Traffic From Google (Video)
…Who likes checklists? Good, me too!
This video is checklist-style, focusing on SEO writing optimization tips that work to rank your blog and website high in Google.
Let’s go!
Video Notes: How to Use SEO Writing for Your Blog and Website for More Traffic From Google
But first, a quick recap of “a day in the life of Julia.”
The last time I talked to you guys, it was book launch day for Woman Rising: A True Story. WOW! WHAT a rewarding book launch! This is my third book, the true story of escaping my father’s cult and building a life I love. It was an incredibly hard book to write, but I believe it will change and transform lives, and give hope to those who read it.
We had over 1,000 people pick up a copy from Amazon in the first three weeks since launch day February 10. We also hit #1 Amazon New Release and #1 Amazon Best Seller! My first local book signing event on February 29, at the Springhill Suites in Cedar Park, was a tremendous success.
I did all this while running my agency, so this past month was a bit hectic. We’re planning a roadtrip and a beach retreat when the kiddo is off of school for spring break. Time to chill a little and celebrate!
Now back to today’s video!
How to Use SEO Writing for Blogs and Website for More Traffic From Google
First, we’re going to run through the checklist, and then I’m going to switch over to my site and a high-ranking blog to show you how this was actually applied.
Step 1. Do your research before you write.
Everything in SEO writing for your blog and website begins by finding the right focus keyword. This is a must!
The top tools I recommend using are: AHrefs, SEMrush, KWFinder. Avoid using free tools. They can give you misleading data.
You can’t go wrong if you use any one of these three top tools to research your keyword.
The top two metrics to focus in on would be:
- Keyword difficulty score (aim for 40 or less if you have a new site), and
- High relevancy of the keyword to your actual customers/buyers.
Step 2. Create 10x content.
This step is your most important.
First, quick reminder of how to use your keywords.
Use the focus keyword as the TOPIC, & synonymous keywords throughout.
How do you find synonymous keywords? Go to Google and look up Searches Related to after plugging in your actual keyword. This works better than any tool, because you’re mining real, people-populated data.
Know WHERE to put the keywords. Keyword placement matters far more than keyword density. Keyword density is an outdated concept — forget it! Place your keywords in your:
- Headlines (all H2s, H3s)
- Intro
- Throughout the content naturally with synonymous keywords (once per every 1-2 paras)
- Conclusion
Use relevant secondary keywords to frame your H2s and H3s (also called LSI or synonymous keywords).
Here’s my checklist of important points to know in your SEO content.
- Forget keyword density and think keyword placements. Your keyworde needs to be placed in headers, naturally in the first sentence, and conclusion.
- Remember the focus keyword should guide your topics. Your content must be topical. Don’t get distracted! Stay on the topic.
- In the meta description, keep the keyword far left at the meta title, BUT also keep it natural. Web page meta content can be a bit more branded, promotional. Use the vertical bar for cleanliness (Google reads it as a space).
- Blog Example: Meta title: How to Be a Content Marketing Writer: The Future of Freelance Writing & Meta Description: Have you heard? Content marketing will be worth $412 by 2021. Learn what a content marketing writer is, and how they could be the future of online writers.
- Web Page Example: Express Writers | Your Content Creation Writing Partner
- Your subheaders should be created out of related, synonymous keywords.
- The URL must be the focus keyword alone. The shorter your URL, the higher the likelihood you’re going to rank for that term.
- You must mention the keyword naturally throughout your content.
- Citations are critical — link out using 2-3 words to your TOP resources. This adds TRUST.
- Your content quality is everything. You must create effective, helpful, guide-style content to rank well for your focus keyword.
- Think of content quality as 10x content. In 2015, Rand Fishkin talked about this and coined the term 10x content. Make your content 10x better than the average.
- As Pat Flynn says, write for people reading on the internet. Completely avoid boring essay style.
- Include GIFs. Emojis. Be fun. This isn’t your stuffy professor’s AP class… This is content for an online reader.
- Work on your opener and closer. Remember: your conclusion paragraph should be a full conclusion with a CTA. Your opener should be a hook.
Step 3. Keep your content evergreen and optimize your images.
Finally, let’s discuss how to keep your content evergreen (so you don’t have to do heavy maintenance down the road), and how to optimize your images.
- Avoid dates in headline or content. This will mean less updating and headaches down the road. If you must date (i.e. 2020 trends), come back and update the next year.
- URLS should be SHORT.
Here’s how to optimize your images:
- Alt text must be focus keyword, and also relate to the image.
- Be very clear on what the images are in your keywords.
- Rename them the keyword before and after uploading.