Imagine a beautiful house on the outside – manicured lawns, freshly painted, petunias in the flower pot, but go inside and you find a gutted mess.
You’d probably think that’s too bad, and you’d be right. That’s how a lot of companies’ websites are. They look great on the front end – what customers see – but are carnivals on the back end because no one took the time to optimize it.
If you hire a blogger for SEO that might not be enough. That’s because the front end and back end must work in tandem.
A blogger can craft the perfect blog with the right keywords and create stylized graphics correctly placed for maximum visual impact and still won’t get customers.
But if you want to maximize your content, you need make sure your backend works with the front end of your website.
SEO is a long game. It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and effort to grow your SEO, but it’s worth it if you are trying to get exposure for your brand.
Blogging SEO – Front End
How do you find SEO keywords? It’s a combination of guessing and consulting data. You need to use data to find the right keyword for you. Some of this is trial and error and seeing what works as you do for social media with engagement.
What you want to do first is guess what you think people are typing into Google that might lead them to your site.
No one knows your site better than you do, and you know your target market, so it’s OK to start here. That means brainstorming a bunch of terms you think will work.
If you’re looking for topics to write about, think about what topics you want to be known for, what are trends in your industry or profession, what valuable information can you offer an audience and what problems can you solve?
After you make a list, group them under general categories.
Then, you need to use keyword research tools to look for search volume. I use free tools, including Google Ads, Google Search Console, Google Trends, Keywordwordtool.io, and Answer the Public. The paid versions that are industry standards are SEMRush, Moz and Ahrefs.
One aspect that you want to be careful about is using the same keyword on multiple pages of your website. That will cause your pages to compete against each other and Google will only show one of the pages in search, and it might not be your best page. That’s why each page should rank for its own keyword. If you have many similar pages, you should combine them into one page.
PRO TIP: Every page should be optimized with unique keywords. For instance, if the title tag shows up in Google as “about page,” that page has not been SEO optimized. You need to go into the backend of your website and adjust the title tag.
If you go into Google Analytics>Behavior>Site Content>Content Drilldown. Then go to Second Dimension on the right side of your screen and type in “Page title.” You will see two columns – Page Path Title and Page Title. Under Page Title, also known as Title Tag, you will see the keywords for every page. If you see a Page Title that says “about” for a page, your website is not SEO-optimized.
Keywords – How to Use Them Right
When you identify your keywords, add them into your copy – the title, subheads and in the first 100 words of your copy. Then add them again two more times through the lengths of your copy.
It’s crucial to write this in a natural way, so it doesn’t look like your placing keywords, known as keyword stuffing. What I’m saying is your copy should not be awkward to accommodate your keyword. Your job as a writer is to seamlessly add it in so that no one thinks you’re gaming the system by placing keywords.
You should also add secondary keywords if possible. These are keywords that are synonyms to your main keywords.
When your blog post shows up in Google search, it will have a Title Tag, which is what you click on when you have found the page you are looking for after searching for it. Another way to look at it is if you have multiple tabs open in google, you can hover over the tab that shows you the title tag, which is one of the most important places to add keywords.
Underneath the Title Tag is a short description, called Meta Description, of what your post is about on your site. You want to place your keyword here too.
Don’t get sloppy with your Title Tag or Meta Description.
If you misspell or write poorly-worded sentences in the meta description, it will show up in search. I’ve almost done it myself. I spend so much time editing my blog for typos but then get sloppy with the meta description because I’m anxious to post my blog. Look over your meta description as carefully as you do your blog.
Like meta description, it can be tempting to get lazy with photos, but don’t do it. You must correctly name your photos. Img_241 is wrong, although I’ve seen it many times on websites I’ve managed.
Not only is it nondescriptive, but you want to use dashes, not underscores and only use lower case letters.
You want to use the keyword in the file name, if possible. Don’t put the keyword in an image if it doesn’t warrant it. Be descriptive and specific regarding what the image shows. You want to do the same for the alt text.
Also, try to add a photo or graphic every 500 words to break up large blocks of text. You can add more stock photos that relate to your subject or create graphics that highlight essential aspects of your blog. You can also add bullet points and bolded phrases in your brand colors to break up large tracts of text.
Additionally, try to use unique images instead of stock photos that other websites use. Google knows it’s a stock image because many websites use the same one. But if you have unique photos with keywords, you will get a boost in ranking. But that’s not always possible, and I use a lot of stock images because they are far better than my own and being visually appealing is paramount for blogs. However, if you can add a well photographic image that you created, then shoot for that.
You also want to add as many relevant links from your website and other reputable websites into the body of your copy. Don’t add links unless they truly add to your story.
The length of a blog post is critical for SEO. You want your blog post to be between 1,500 and 2,000 words. This range has changed throughout the years as Google changes its algorithm. But right now, it seems long-form blogs are more valuable than shorter blogs.
Final Thoughts
As a writer, I focus on the front end, but I have to be aware of the backend since it affects my work and ability to convert sales.
Business owners should invest in a site audit from a digital marketing agency or a skilled freelancer.
Not only can they make sure your site is optimized, but they can also teach you what you need to look out for in the future.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
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