Blog Post 101

A step-by-step guide on how to write blog content that ranks

1. Start with keyword research: Before you start writing your blog post, you need to identify the keywords that people use to search for the topic you're writing about. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to find the most relevant and high-traffic keywords. Select one primary keyword and several secondary keywords to use throughout your post.
2. Optimize your headline: Your headline is the first thing readers will see, and it's crucial to make it eye-catching and SEO-friendly. Use your primary keyword in the headline and make sure it's attention-grabbing and accurately reflects the content of your post.
3. Write high-quality content: Your blog post should be informative, engaging, and well-written. Aim for a word count of at least 1000 words and use subheadings, bullet points, and images to break up the text and make it easier to read. Use your primary keyword in the first paragraph and throughout the content, but don't overstuff it.
4. Use the Yoast plugin to optimize your content: Yoast is a powerful SEO plugin that can help you optimize your content for search engines. Install and activate the Yoast plugin and follow the recommendations it provides for improving your content's SEO. Yoast will analyze your content for keyword density, readability, and other factors and give you specific suggestions on how to improve your content.
5. Add meta tags and descriptions: Meta tags and descriptions provide information about your post to search engines and can help improve your ranking. Use Yoast to add a meta title and description that includes your primary keyword and accurately summarizes your post.
6. Use internal and external linking: Internal linking refers to linking to other pages on your website, while external linking refers to linking to other authoritative websites. Both types of linking can help improve your ranking and make your content more valuable to readers. Use Yoast to check for broken links and add internal and external links throughout your post.
7. Publish and promote your post: Once your post is complete, publish it on your WordPress site and promote it on social media and other channels. The more visibility your post gets, the more likely it is to rank well in search engines.

By following these steps and using the Yoast plugin to optimize your content, you can create blog posts that rank well in Google and attract more traffic to your WordPress site.