Is your organization searching for ways to increase your online visibility? Publishing search engine optimized blog articles on a regular basis can create a flow of relevant traffic to your website, helping to establish you as an influential thought leader on topics that matter to your customers and stakeholders.

Search engine optimization (SEO) does not end after you launch a new website. While we implement a variety of SEO tactics when building a new site, we also recommend making several SEO tweaks when adding new content, such as blog articles, to a website on an ongoing basis.

Rather than jumping straight to advertising or earned media tactics, consider developing a strategy that focuses on most websites’ top referral source: organic search engine traffic.

Increasing Website Visibility

Establishing your place in the virtual world should begin with creating a website that accurately represents your organization. You can think of your site as an online sales person who is available 24/7. Tactics like search engine optimization can help to ensure your “online salesperson” is in front of as many viewers as possible.

Each page of a website can be individually evaluated for SEO purposes. The structure, keywords, and technical setup of each page (including blog pages) are all variables to consider.

SEO: The Rundown

SEO is a practice that attempts to boost a page ranking on a search engine results page(s) (SERPs). Good SEO practices can lead to more organic clicks and visits to a website. Specifically, Google has an algorithm for how websites and web pages are ranked.

There are several elements that, when combined, impact your website’s search engine ranking for various pages. One contributing factor to ranking high on SERPs is page content like blog articles.

This guide will help you learn SEO best practices when creating blog content for a page and how to optimize these elements effectively.

Sample Structure of a Blog Post

Main Image

If you’re focusing on the “content is king” mentality, don’t forget that visuals significantly increase the likelihood of engagement and increase the chances of making a lasting impression when included with your content. Any imagery used in a blog should have Alternative-text which provides a short description of what the image is. The Alternative-text describes what is in the image for computers and search engine algorithms.

Blog Title

The title of your blog should typically be between 50-60 characters. Organizations will often include relevant keywords in this short description of what readers can expect to see.

H1 Header Tag

While you don’t want to oversaturate a blog post with keywords, a natural fit for fitting in another use of a keyword is in the introductory sentence of the blog. This lead-in often contains a focus keyword, which is a search term you most want your page to rank for in search results.

Main Points

Structure your Use subheadings

Considered H2 Heading Tags in HTML code

Sub-subheadings are also known as H3 Heading Tags in HTML code

Conclusion

• • Doesn’t have to reiterate main points and bring content to a close

• • Include the focus keyword in the last paragraph
  • Include a strong call to action

Blog Post Structure Example

For reference, here are the various SEO elements of a blog post:

Focus on the Keywords

Now that you know the general structure of a blog post, it’s important to understand how to use SEO to adjust how your page will appear on search engine results pages. Include the following SEO elements in your blog submission.

Rank high on a search engine results page by including the following elements:

• Focus Keyword: The most important keyword for a specific post or page

SEO Title: Should include a focus keyword at the beginning of the title

• Meta Description
• • Teases page content in less than 320 characters (1-2 sentences)
  • Includes call to action, i.e., “Learn more about ___ with Capital Soup.”
  • Match the page content — don’t be misleading
  • Should be unique for each page
  • Should encourage people to click on the link
• Slug/URL Path
• • Part of URL
  • Brief phrase of page content
  • Remove “stop” words, such as “a,” “and,” or “is,”

Below is an example of what appears on Google, with each component highlighted.

SEO Blog Content Template

To ensure you optimize each element, use this table during the SEO blog writing process.

Website URL
Topic
Focus Keyword
SEO Title
Meta Description
Alt Text(s)	Main Image: Image 2: Image 3: *do this for every image included in blog post*
Slug/URL Path

 

Here’s an example of this table filled out, with the focus keyword highlighted in red for easy reference in each component.

Website URL	https://momsagainstcooties.com/
Topic	Where to find school germs and how to get rid of them
Focus Keyword	School Germs
SEO Title	Hide and Seek: 5 Places School Germs Like to Hang Out [53 characters]
Meta Description	Classrooms are the perfect breeding ground for school germs. Moms Against Cooties explains where to find these germs and how to get rid of them. [144 characters]
Alt Text(s)	Main Image: School Germs in Classroom Image 2: School Germs on Desks Image 3: School Germs on Computers Image 4: School Germs on Water Fountains Image 5: School Germs on Pencil Sharpener Image 6: School Germs on Art Supplies
Slug/URL Path	/school-germs-hiding-spots

 

Additional Resources

• What is SEO?
• How to Use Headings
• Focus Keywords
• Title tags and Using a Focus Keyword
• Meta Descriptions
• Image alt text
• SEO Slugs (URL extension)
• Tips for Writing Blog Posts