Content is king; it is not a secret in the current blogging industry. Everyone wants to create an excellent blog to rank higher on search engine results pages. Professionals do a lot of research and analysis on keyword selection. They make effective SEO strategies to get better results on search engine results pages. Here we have created best blog post SEO checklist.
Getting your blog post to rank high in search results requires more than just great content. Follow this checklist to optimize your blog post for search engines and ensure it reaches your target audience.
Table of contents
- How to Do an SEO Checklist for a Blog Post?
- 1. Start with Keyword Research
- 2. Create a Catchy Title
- 3. Optimize Your Meta Description
- 4. Use Meaningful, Short and descriptive URLs
- 5. Craft Engaging Headings and Subheadings
- 6. Optimize Images with Alt Text
- 7. Write High-Quality, Unique Content
- 8. Use Internal and External Links
- 9. Optimize for Mobile Devices
- 10. Focus on Readability
- 11. Use Schema Markup
- 12. Add Social Sharing Buttons
- 13. Use a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)
- 14. Update Old Content
- 15. Track Your Results
- Conclusion
How to Do an SEO Checklist for a Blog Post?
1. Start with Keyword Research
Let’s talk about the impact of keyword research; if you are targeting a skincare audience, “best skincare routine for glowing skin” or “morning skincare routine” could attract relevant traffic.
SEO is all about what users or visitors are looking for. If you are a service provider, you will research keywords related to your service. Now, the question raised is how you will choose the right keywords in SEO. So, the intent of the keyword does matter a lot. There are four kinds of keyword intent: informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional. You should choose your intent carefully.
Therefore, find relevant keywords that match your main topic. You can use many keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to pick high-volume but low-competition keywords. It is beneficial because you can get traffic.
2. Create a Catchy Title
The title has a significant role in the click-through rate. If you have a catchy title, you can observe that the click-through rate is increasing. In terms of search engines, the title is the main thing to define a page and its content. Yes, when you write a title, you must consider several things. Your title should cover keywords with a tempering title. It means your title must make sense.
Imagine you are writing the title “SEO Tips” for a page. It is better if you choose “10 Proven SEO Tips to Boost Your Blog’s Traffic”. If you look at this title, you will see that many topics have been covered.
In a nutshell, your page’s title is the main thing search engines and users read, so you must make it catchy, use primary keywords, and be clear and engaging. Make sure you complete the page title in less than 60 characters.
3. Optimize Your Meta Description
Do you know Meta descriptions give a brief summary of your blog post and also impact the click-through rates of your pages?
There are certain parameters in writing a Meta description, like it should not be more than 160 characters and keywords included. Many people write annoying descriptions on their landing pages, and it does not make them relevant. So, you should avoid it and write a Meta description that intrigues readers enough to click through without using clickbait tactics.
4. Use Meaningful, Short and descriptive URLs
URLs are adders to your landing pages. Let’s understand its value; everyone has a physical address; what would happen if we changed them? It might be possible that you will lose your parcel and other contacts. Same with URLs.
You should use a simple URL structure with your main keyword; if it can be otherwise, do not put your keyword forcefully. People generally avoid long and complex URLs because they mention some sort of numbers or characters, which are unnecessary, and users think it’s suspicious. Have a look –
“example.com/seo-checklist” instead of “example.com/2024/09/blog-1234/seo-checklist.”
The first URL will be considered customer-friendly compared to the second.
5. Craft Engaging Headings and Subheadings
The long paragraph seems boring and hard to read. You should break your content into small paragraphs to improve the readability of the content.
You should use headings like h2 and h3 to break your content into small and relevant sections. It helps users to read your content without being bored. You can also use related keywords in the heading to improve your holistic SEO. For example, “How to Optimize Your Blog for SEO” can be h2, and “Step 1: Choose the Right Keywords” can be H3.
6. Optimize Images with Alt Text
Imagine you are reading a blog, and there are no graphics, only content. It feels boring, isn’t it? Images make content more appealing. When you use an image, it decides the visual direction of content in the reader’s mind. Recently, the demand for vector images and infographics has increased. While using graphics for your content, you should optimize images to control page speed and use descriptive alt text with keywords for search engines.
7. Write High-Quality, Unique Content
In this modern era, technology is upgrading itself day by day, but content is better when a human writes it. Google has announced an update regarding AI content, which is to stop using AI-generated content. When humans write content, they take care of a lot of things. If there is any static data, they verify it through several websites and give a live view.
If your content is Original, it matters a lot. So, you should avoid stealing content from other web pages. Write quality, easy-to-read, and engaging content to keep users engaged on your page. It is a strong pillar for ranking your website in search engines.
People generally ask what the minimum words should be for my content. It depends. If allowed, then your content could be 2000 to 3000 words, but if it can be concluded in 500 to 700 words, then do not stretch it.
8. Use Internal and External Links
Internal linking means linking to your own content; external links mean connecting to other websites. You have read that internal linking is helpful, allows readers to read other content on your website, and distributes link equity. External links to credible sources improve your post’s credibility.
9. Optimize for Mobile Devices
Do you know the number of mobile users is increasing day by day? This means you should think about mobile users, too. Recent data shows that more than half of web traffic comes from mobile devices. So, your blog must be responsive and mobile-friendly. You should check your website on your mobile phone to see what it looks like.
10. Focus on Readability
Readability does matter a lot. Imagine you have written content with some complex words, and a user from a different language lands on your website, but they cannot understand it. However, if you have written content in plain language and elaborated on everything easily, it may be possible that different languages will stay on your page or a less-known person will read your content.
11. Use Schema Markup
You have posted how-to guide-based content on your website. You can use schema to show your content in special rich search engine results. Using schema helps search engines to understand what kind of content you are posting. So, you can add structured data to your blog, and it will improve search results.
12. Add Social Sharing Buttons
It is true that social signals are not a direct reason for ranking, but when anyone shares your content on social media, your content visibility increases and drives traffic. So, you should keep it simple and add a social sharing button that anyone can share.
13. Use a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)
Your call to action must be clear. You visit many pages that have no call to action. It is confusing. So, you must encourage your readers to take the next step. It can be anything like subscribing, newsletter, commenting, or downloading a resource. It will make your pages more reliable for users and search engines. For example, you can write, “Kindly subscribe to our newsletter for further tips if you have enjoyed our Blog Post SEO Checklist.”
14. Update Old Content
Many people think of posting new content per day to increase website traffic. It is half true. You should keep updating your content old content to get better results. So, whenever you see any older blog, update its information to ensure it’s still relevant.
For example, if your post is about “SEO in 2020,” you can include new strategies and publish it for SEO in 2024. It will work for people searching for SEO in 2024.
15. Track Your Results
If Google Analytics shows a high bounce rate, it might be possible that your content isn’t engaging, which means you need to rewrite it. You can also compare a blog’s performance by choosing dates in Google Analytics or Google Search Console. Tracking keyword position, traffic, and bounce rates tells a lot about how users behave to your content.
Apart from Google Analytics and Search Console, there are lots of third-party-based data tracking tools that have evolved from simple website counters to sophisticated analytics tools. It also helps to understand audience behaviour deeply.
Conclusion
So, when you write a blog, there are lots of points for blog post SEO checklist like keywords, readability, on-page, and content quality do matter a lot. Although SEO is a long-term strategy, if you lack it today, how will you rank tomorrow? So, you should focus on content structure and technical content writing to create brilliant content that draws more traffic.
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