Basic SEO Tips for Writing Blog Posts

You may be vaguely aware that SEO is something you should care about when writing your blog posts, but don’t now where to begin. First, start by writing your post. Don't worry about SEO keywords, section headers, etc. And write as if you’re talking to your ideal client. We don't want to give you a reason to feel like you have immediate writer’s block or feel a sense of overwhelm before you even get started.

After you have a solid draft written, consider:

• If someone were to search a keyword or phrase in Google that your blog post answers, what question are they asking?

• What is the main topic of your blog post? Take your keyword/main theme and make sure you include it in your title (if it makes sense) and your post. Including it in header text is even better. Don't feel like you need to go overboard in including it, but do make sure it's there.

• Do you have sections of your post that are lengthy blocks of text? Go through it again and see where it might make sense to use a bulleted list instead of a list contained in a sentence. Maybe you can break up a long paragraph into 2 or more shorter paragraphs. If a reader sees a large wall of text, they're more likely to skip it. Can they skim your post and get an idea of what it's about and where they can find key pieces of information?

• Is your post at a moderate reading level? Most people don’t sit down to specifically focus on reading long or difficult blog posts, so you want it to be written at more of a casual speaking level.

• Your blog platform likely has an option to add tags - take advantage of this. Add tags that help categorize the post. (ex. A gym might want to include tags for exercise tips, healthy habits, nutrition tips, etc. A nonprofit might include tags for volunteer opportunities, events, project successes, etc.)

Other tips:

• Spell check only helps so much. Some other great resources are Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and Hemingway Editor. These can help check for reading level, how difficult a sentence might be to read, and will find spelling and grammar issues.

• If you have a WordPress website, the Yoast SEO add-on is very helpful to guide you toward these guidelines, but don’t feel like you need to have all green lights. If you have yellow or red lights, read why it has given you those and consider if it makes sense to make those changes (hint: it will not always make sense to do so).