Estimated reading time: 9.7 minutes

ChatGPT has taken the digital world by storm and more businesses are using AI for automating tasks and shrinking creative exhaustion. For good reason too. With burnout causing a not-so-silent crisis, work and life demands have become too demanding for most.  

As a small business owner and SEO content writer, I get it.  

Which is why, like any smart copywriter, I’ve explored and experimented with ChatGPT content. 

Here’s what I learnt. 

Despite the hype around ChatGPT articles, it isn’t the holy grail to your content woes. Sure, it can be a companion, but AI-generated content cannot replace SEO articles – and nothing beats that human touch for creating authentic connections with your audience. While ChatGPT is helpful as a foundation, no one should rely solely on AI tools to create content. Especially if you want to provide real value. 

Still, there’s a place for ChatGPT if you know how to use it intelligently. 

More importantly, those who embrace the ever-changing digital landscape must understand what good content writing is and how it works for such tools to be successful. 

This article can teach you creative ways to combine ChatGPT with human skill. It’s for educating business owners on the best strategies and what to be aware of. 

Understanding ChatGPT

But first, what is this ChatGPT that’s dominating headlines?

Open AI’s ChatGPT is a powerful deep-learning tool that provides answers in seconds. It uses a Language Learning Model (LLM) to understand the intricate relationships between words and information and sources responses from an extensive dataset of websites, online books and journals.

You can ask the computer bot questions and converse with it like a person. Then it regurgitates content and answers into new prose. Similar to responses from a Google search, but much faster and without citing sources. 

Of course, taboo subjects are off limits, such as trying to overthrow the government and illegal activities. There are also questions ChatGPT won’t answer. 

Let’s dig into how I’m harnessing ChatGPT for SEO articles. 

1. Eliminate Procrastination 

One way I’ve been using the AI tool is to amplify productivity. For most creatives, this means eliminating procrastination areas. 

Those deep rabbit holes we sometimes get stuck in. 

Procrastination is something most writers and business owners face. Quotes from avid creatives remind us that writing is 90% procrastination, and pie graphs poke fun at the writing process. A chunk of time gets spent staring blankly at the wall, binge-snacking and random Internet surfing – a tidal wave away from productive research. 

I know because I can be guilty of it too. 

With ChatGPT, you have a procrastination killer. It can be a handy helper for drafting article structure and sub-headings, and gives you a blueprint to work from.  

For example: I asked ChatGPT to suggest subheadings for this piece. Although I had already mapped the points, it’s a good way to find new angles or ideas you might not have thought about. 

Fire up Your Creative Synapses

ChatGPT is a catalyst for fast idea generation. It can be the perfect tool for when inspiration isn’t striking. 

While I prefer picking up a book and disconnecting for 20 minutes to fire up my creative synapses (as Stephen King does), client deadlines often take priority. For those times – or to get your juices flowing – use ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas. 

The best way to do this is by starting a conversation.  

Just as you would brief a copywriter, ChatGPT needs detail and precise objectives to generate worthy ideas, topics and research. 

With the right person behind it, ChatGPT can revolutionise your research game. Use it as a researcher for:

• Brainstorming blog topic ideas
• Recommending headlines
• Industry research 
• Exploring the initial points for SEO articles
• Finding potential pain points linked to your target customer

There needs to be a partnership between a qualified writer and ChatGPT to make this relationship work for quality SEO content. A copywriter can refine and expand the data for your brand voice, goals and audience. Then uses their expertise to bring it to life and add vital SEO copywriting elements. 

Additionally, you want an industry expert who knows your niche and understands the importance of value-added content that connects and converts.

Because that’s something ChatGPT articles can’t do. 

You can use the AI tool as a launchpad for creating more engaging ideas. But it’s only a dirty draft with serious limitations. These include:

• Privacy and plagiarism: Generated content is paraphrased from existing content without proper attribution
• Superficial and soulless: Robotic content, limited creative thinking and zero personal experience and emotional intelligence
• Stifles creativity: Over-dependence on AI technology can lead to less collaboration and creativity, steering content away from that vital human touch
• Poor quality: Google rewards high-quality, people-first content which AI content can’t always produce. If it’s not helpful and reliable, your content will be devalued
• Lack of experience and personalisation: Content must show Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness to build trust and credibility with your audience 
• Lack of search engine optimisation: ChatGPT lacks the understanding and insights a human SEO copywriter or specialist has. What’s more, it can’t provide essential data on website traffic, rankings and conversions
• Lack of research and comprehension: Yes, it’s a research tool but you still need to understand your audience and the different ways of communicating with them first. Research for your messaging is a step you can’t skip
• Lacks real-time data: Its knowledge cut-off date is September 2021 making ChatGPT ineffective for recent research and statistics

I’ve also been using the AI tool to make space for fresh ideas by eliminating clichéd and obvious concepts. I stole this great idea from Tom Roach, an expert in marketing and branding. 

2. Discover Seed Keywords and Phrases

ChatGPT can assist with keyword research by suggesting relevant search terms to expand your list. Tell it your topic, brief it on your business and target audience, and ask for associated keywords and phrases. 

It’ll spit out ideas in seconds – but I wouldn’t be using it solely for keyword research. 

Think of ChatGPT as an alternative to Google’s Keyword Planner. You still need other platforms like Semrush or UberSuggest for reviewing the raw data, and it doesn’t replace the skills of an SEO copywriter for finding the most appropriate search terms and using them in your content.  

The thing about keyword tools such as ChatGPT, Yoast, Ubersuggest and Semrush is they’re simply tools. They make our jobs easier but you need human expertise for the final decision. More importantly, you need a creative copywriter who knows how to find ranking keywords and turn them into relatable content that’s unique and better than what’s ranking in the first spots. 

While this trick doesn’t replace the skills of an SEO pro, it can give you a starting point. But it won’t provide information on search volume, intent, SERP features or keyword difficulty, which are vital for keyword research.

ChatGPT SEO example:

Ideally, ChatGPT could’ve recommended location-specific search terms since Perth and Australia are in the brief.

The below example provides a better response. I like how it recognised you need additional tools for in-depth data and mentioned niche-related keywords, however, this was only after I regenerated the response. 

Hot Tip: Google any keyword ideas you get from ChatGPT to see what content is ranking, identify gaps, and better understand the search intent. You should never rely on ChatGPT for your SEO strategy either.

3. Gather Helpful Information

People want helpful content that’s written by humans for humans. If your content doesn’t prove experience and meet the E-E-A-T standards, then it won’t be deemed helpful by your audience and Google. Consequently, it’ll be devalued and dropped in the search rankings. 

Creating helpful content starts with gathering essential information. While you shouldn’t use AI tools to write your web copy and blogs, ChatGPT can streamline how you collect data. This makes your day more productive and provides a platform for fleshing out content and adding copywriting expertise. 

For example: Recently I was writing an article for my local winery client. They wanted a piece on annual organic audits to show their customers why certified standards and inspections are important. 

I knew I needed more information from my client to begin. 

Usually I’d spend 15-20 minutes researching potential topics and angles and mapping points to include. Instead this time, I called on ChatGPT. 

I had an idea of the points to highlight and used this to prompt ChatGPT. This is what it said:

I wasn’t going to get AI tools to write the content – ChatGPT isn’t an article writer. But it enabled me to send the right questions to my client and uncover the information I needed for mapping and writing the piece. By doing so, I saved 20 minutes in research. 

The result was a unique blog tailored to their winery and vineyard, and why these audits matter to their products and customers. 

Expert Tips for Effective ChatGPT Content

Writing SEO content that provides value demands a certain level of skill, experience and creativity – something AI tools aren’t yet equipped with. Yet there are ways to embrace the tool. 

Make sure you:

• Add ‘experience’ elements – the first E in E-E-A-T – professional experience and human experience
• Master the art of writing good ChatGPT prompts
• Double-check suggested article titles and topics haven’t been used before
• Provide specific instructions and always refine
• Use words like ‘expand’ to delve deeper into a point or topic
• Fact-check information for accuracy and plagiarism 
• Review ChatGPT SEO articles for sensual experience – sights, touches, tastes and smells breathe more humanity into content
• Enhance the content ie: visuals, quotes, statistics and internal linking to related articles 
• Download the ChatGPT Chrome extension 
• Create content machines can’t replicate

The Takeaway

AI is already starting to fill the Internet with noise, ultimately making quality human-created content more valuable.  

Still, the question remains. Will AI tools like ChatGPT replace creative copywriters? 

It depends on your standards. 

Canva didn’t replace graphic designers and neither will AI for copywriters and SEO specialists. 

But there’s no use denying the technology – it’s already here. Rather than treating AI as a replacement for human expertise though, use it as a tool. Supplement your productivity and accelerate how you work. 

ChatGPT isn’t an SEO article writer. It’s an assistant – and a limited one at that. And it doesn’t excuse you from working on the real foundation of great content writing: listening, empathy and connection.

The post 3 Creative Ways to Use ChatGPT for Your SEO Articles appeared first on the little typewriter.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

If you want your business to grow and your content to perform, then your website needs to tick a number of boxes. One of those boxes is keywords. 

Blog keywords (or keyphrases or search terms) are golden tickets for creating content that meets your audience’s search intent. Meaning, content that resonates with the people you want to do business with and makes them feel heard. 

But unless you know what they’re searching for, you’re planning your content blindly. And that’s never a smart move.

Keyword research is complex and involves identifying, analysing and mapping appropriate search terms for your blog and web copy. In doing so, you improve your search engine rankings and drive more targeted organic traffic to your site. People you can turn into happy clients and customers.

Benefits of Keyword Research

Planning without research is easy to do when you’re a business owner. 

You’re strapped for time, zapped of creative energy and busy with tasks that drain your tank dry. Maybe you think of a blog idea – and it’s good, so you write and publish away with no real plan. 

It’s the same story for many people. 

Unfortunately, it’s not effective. 

Content relies on keyword research like our lungs need air to breathe. It’s an essential piece of the puzzle for increasing your online visibility, amplifying user experience and pushing engagement to new heights. All of which contribute to being an authority in your industry and improving brand awareness. 

If you want potential customers to find your website – whether it’s your blog articles, a local service or an e-commerce site, you must develop a content strategy to help them find you. That’s where keyword research comes in. 

Strategic keyword research allows you to:

• Align and amplify your content marketing strategy
• Find new, valuable topics to write about
• Target specific customer problems and provide solutions 
• Get found by the right people
• Optimise your content for users and search engines, pleasing both parties
• Create articles that reflect what interests your audience 

Without the crucial information that comes from keyword research, you have no clear path for mapping and creating content to your audience’s needs. Therefore it’s likely a waste of time, creative energy, money and resources. 

Examples of Keywords and Keyphrases

Keywords are concepts and themes that define the subject matter of your business, industry and the products or services you offer. They’re the words and phrases users type into search engines to find what they’re searching for online. That’s why keywords in blogs and web copy is essential.

For example, if you’re looking for someone experienced to write your content, you might type ‘seo copywriter perth’ into the search engine. 

Or maybe you want to know ‘how much an Australian copywriter charges’.

In these examples, you’re likely looking to engage a local copywriter or creative content writer – this is an informational search intent. You have a specific question or want to know more about the topic. 

Look what pops up:

With this valuable data, you can identify content gaps and craft useful articles or web pages around these search terms, ensuring you satisfy and solve your audience’s search intent. 

Imagine the content you can create when you tap into this information.

Use Blog Keywords to Answer Your Users’ Questions

When you publish fresh, helpful blog content, you position your website as a relevant answer to your customer’s questions. 

How?

By providing accurate and authentic explanations for the questions they’re seeking, with the short and long-tail keywords they’re using.

For your content to offer real value and earn trust, use blog articles to debunk misinformation and myths and educate prospects. This way, you’ll have a plethora of useful resources they can connect with, and send to your customers for more understanding about a specific topic or problem. 

Drive traffic with blog articles that answer questions by:

• Optimising for humans and Google
• Using a mix of short and long-tail keywords, as well as question keywords ie: ‘why blogs are important’, ‘what is copywriting for seo’ or ‘how much does a website cost in australia’
• Turning FAQs into articles
• Building a blog strategy with commonly asked questions relating to your target keywords
• Finding relevant questions via tools such as Google Search Console, Ubersuggest, Answer the Public and SemRush

Communicate and Connect with Your Audience (and Google)

High-quality, optimised blog content is one of the most effective ways of connecting with your audience. When you use the right blog keywords, you also communicate to search engines that your content is a relevant match. 

By communicating the information users want or need, they keep coming back to your site for more. It also helps get them over the line to make a sale, use your services or engage with your business. 

This is only productive when the right people find your blog articles. And this relies on keyword research and deep diving into your audience to target content for them, while telling Google your articles are answering the question users ask.

Create Helpful Blog Content

If you’re not creating useful content designed to help your audience, adding all the right blog keywords won’t help. After all, great content is about people first and Google second. 

Smart SEO copywriters use keyword research to find what topics will help your audience and what phrases to include while writing. But for your content to be deemed helpful, it needs to focus on the ultimate goal and solve their problems. This is what I do for my clients. 

The Bottom Line

Writing blog content and web copy is more than just finding the right words. You need to know what users are searching for otherwise, your target audience will struggle to find and engage with your content. So make a content plan that creates connections with website visitors, grows leads and generates more engagement – and ensure it’s backed up by adequate research.

The post Why Does Your Blog Need Keywords? appeared first on the little typewriter.

Estimated reading time: 6.8 minutes

How strong is your online presence?

Is your business ranking on the first three pages for your desired keyphrases? Does your website engage your users? Is your content meeting your audience’s search intent?

If you’re unsure or the answer is ‘no’, it’s time to make some changes. 

The problem with cutting corners on the above is a direct, negative impact on your search engine rankings. Your brand starts to drop off people’s radar, your organic web traffic diminishes and your supply of quality leads crumbles. 

It’s not a great place to be. 

Fortunately, there’s more you can do to amplify your digital presence and create a steady flow of website traffic. 

Let me show you. 

1. Start with Strategic Keyword Research

Keyword research is the pinnacle of every successful online marketing strategy. If you don’t do it first, or you start it too late, you’re working blind with your website content – and that won’t bring results. 

The process involves identifying, analysing and mapping appropriate search terms for your copy. These search terms (keywords and keyphrases) must match topics and themes relevant to your business, industry and product/service. This way, you improve your search engine ranking and drive more targeted organic traffic to your website. 

Effective keyword research focuses on:

• Relevant keywords aligned with your content strategy – relevant to your brand, audience and content, and reflecting the topics your users are interested in 
• High search volume terms
• A mix of short and long-tail keywords
• Keyword difficulty, which will determine how hard it’ll be to rank for a particular term
• Google Analytics – what keywords are driving traffic to your website and which ones need to be adjusted or replaced?

Expert Tip: Understanding the intent behind a user’s search is crucial for effective keyword research. This allows you to align your content with 4 types of search intent categories. 

When choosing keywords and writing content, always consider what your users are searching for and what their end goal is, and never over-optimise! Keywords should be naturally fitted into your web copy and articles, not stuffed like your Christmas roast.

2. Grow Your Brand with Blog Management

Now that you’re armed with the words and phrases your audience is using, you can create helpful blog content around them. 

There are some serious SEO benefits to blogs. For consistency, invest in a blog management service to ensure your content engages and converts your audience. Creative blog writers, such as myself, craft audience-specific content that targets your keywords and builds your organic search traffic. Personality-filled words written for the people you want to attract. 

Expert Tip: Content marketing is crucial for boosting your search rankings. Start with 2 blog articles a month and re-assess your content topics and keywords every 3 to 6 months. Review your web copy every 6 to 12 months to ensure it’s aligned with your brand, audience and goals.

3. Apply SEO Best Practices

Want to rank higher on Google?

Then you need to invest in SEO. 

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is key to getting found online. With a strong plan in place – one that applies best practices and prioritises the end user, you can increase the quality and quantity of organic traffic to your website. 

There are on-page and off-page factors to consider. 

On-page optimisation involves the structure, navigation and technical aspects affecting the user experience of your site, while off-page optimisation is the process of building quality backlinks from authoritative websites to your own. Both rely on having a consistent flow of valuable content relevant to your audience. 

SEO needs a long-term strategy with ongoing effort and optimisation – but the benefits are worth it.

Expert Tip: There are many best practices to implement on your site if you want it to perform. Because SEO covers a broad range of factors, consider working with an SEO specialist and/or SEO copywriter to increase your organic web traffic. 

Don’t forget local SEO either, and take advantage of your free Google My Business and Bing listings. 

4. Update Existing Content

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with content every time. 

In fact, giving your existing web copy and blog content a refresh is a game-changer for boosting search engine rankings. 

Why?

Because as new information becomes available, some content becomes old and stops performing. Your content, as well as the metadata and the images and links in it, need to stay relevant to your audience and keep up with the latest data. 

In doing so, you can create an instant lift in its performance and increase the click-through rate of your site. 

Make sure to:

• Start with a content audit to see what content needs a refresh
• Identify content gaps to fill 
• Update all relevant parts of your content ie: metadata, call-to-actions, target keywords, headings, links and statistics 
• Review the types of resources you have linked out to and swap with newer, better information

Expert Tip: It’s no secret that people (and Google) love fresh content – so include a content revive in your strategy to double your traffic. When updating articles check for broken links, speller and grammar errors and image alt-tags. Ensure old content is written to meet new EEAT and YMYL criteria too. 

The post 4 Proven Tips for Generating More Organic Traffic to Your Website appeared first on the little typewriter.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Blogs are an essential tool to have in your business toolbox. 

Whether you’re a sole trader, small business owner or run a large company, having an updated blog keeps your brand at the forefront of customers’ minds; making it easier for them to extract the information they need, when they need it.  

When executed properly, business blogs are a powerful tool that can be used for more than amplifying your site’s traffic. They are highly effective for connecting with audiences, increasing conversions and boosting brand presence, among other benefits.  

Creating regular blog content doesn’t come easy though. 

Blogs rely on time, expertise and creativity. While you are an expert in your field, not every business owner has the skill or time to create consistent, quality blog content. 

Those who do make the worthy investment get the competitive edge a solid blog brings. Explore some of the advantages below.

1. Strengthen Your Customer Relationships

When you interact with your customers through high-quality content, you create a conversation that cultivates brand loyalty. Blogs are a vital tool that helps facilitate this engagement and get into the heart of your audience.

The best way to do this is by learning what your customers want and creating relevant content that targets their pain points. 

This two-way conversation allows you to write content on the issues your audience is interested in while inviting them to share their feedback. Through relevant blog content, you can learn what your customers expect and need based on the types of articles they respond to and then adjust accordingly.

2. Build Trust

Blogs are an affordable tool for building trust. Trust in your brand, as well as in your products or services. 

The more value you provide your audience, the higher chance you have of fostering a stronger relationship. Ultimately this establishes credibility and authority, which is important for being a business that your customers choose to advocate for. 

When it comes to online buying behaviour, consumers often research first, especially if it’s a big purchase. Having informative blog content helps your target audience in the early stages of their buying process.

In fact, 60% of consumers find reading blogs important, and small businesses with blogs generate 126% more leads than those without. 

Build trust through blog articles by:

• Creating informative and educational content
• Using blog articles to help your customers overcome their challenges 
• Making buyer personas to understand your audience better and target content specifically for them 

3. Tap into Organic Search Traffic

There are some serious SEO benefits to blog content. 

Increasing organic traffic is often the top reason why businesses add a blog to their website. However, there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into optimising an article for search to get it in front of the right people. 

If you want blog content that drives and amplifies traffic to your site, it must:

• Be relevant and valuable
• Include suitable keywords in the correct places
• Written for your audience first, then optimised for Google
• Have the optimal headline
• Include a call to action to convert your traffic into leads

4. Stamp Industry Authority 

Stamp authority within the industry by using blog articles to address consumer concerns. Not only does this establish your brand as an industry leader, but it’ll help boost sales by positioning your business as knowledgable, approachable and personal. 

High-quality blogs are a tool to share your expertise and tackle key issues. When you create content your audience relates to, you make your brand more memorable and boost engagement, which ultimately leads to results.  

5. Create Content to Utilise 

Blog articles give you useable content you can use across multiple platforms. Instead of reinventing the wheel each time, feed your social media funnel with educational information and reuse those delicious words for posts. If you’ve invested in web copy or you post regular blogs, turn snippets from each page and article into quick tips for informative posts. 

Share the full article on your social platforms or find 3-5 key points your audience will find valuable to break up and post, tip by tip.

Your story page? Use a snippet as an intro post to welcome new followers. Your FAQ page? Write a Q&A post to target your customer’s pain points. Your service pages? Create a post about what you offer and how it can benefit your target audience. 

6. Humanise Your Brand

Transparency creates likeability, which leads to trust. 

Regular blogging humanises your brand by sharing business news and valuable content that’s not always about selling. Have a brilliant case study that showcases a happy customer? Share it as a blog article with real results. Interviewed an industry expert for the latest tips or trends? Add it to your content schedule. 

Your blog should:

• Connect with customers on a personal level and show them you’re human too
• Never underestimate the power of good storytelling 
• Make your customers the hero of your story
• Highlight what your business is up to and how this can benefit your audience
• Go behind the scenes 
• Discuss current trends and topics related to your industry 
• Be engaging and audience-specific 

What’s Next?

If you’re thinking of adding a blog to your website, the answer is yes!

But don’t start without a plan. 

Blogging takes effort and creative energy. To get the best return on investment, invest in a blog writing service that can take your brand’s voice and write content that speaks to your people. It doesn’t have to be difficult to start – learn how I can help below.

The post 6 Reasons Why You Should Add a Blog to Your Website appeared first on the little typewriter.

The Coronavirus has pushed the world into a new digital era. The number of remote workers has exploded, and more time is being spent online by consumers and business owners. It makes sense many businesses are now transitioning digitally and adapting their products and services to stay afloat. 

While everyone still remains in the grip of COVID-19, there are options to ensure your business stays workable today and on the other side of the crisis. 

One of the best ways to drive online success is through a small business blog. Regular content on your website brings more readers and potential customers to you. But not just any blog will do. To encourage people to find your content, you must create SEO-friendly articles. After all, if it can’t be found, what’s the point in writing it? 

If you want to hit the ‘publish’ button on the next stage of your business, it’s important to keep a regular blog. Businesses with active blogs produce 67% more leads and get 55% more website visitors than those without.

Learn how to get the most from your blog with these tips and grab your free checklist below.

This article will cover:

1. Strategy and Keyword Research

Before you create, you need to plan. 

Part of a successful content strategy is keyword research, which is the process of finding what keyword phrases your audience is searching for, so Google can measure relevance for each search query and you can target content to what readers want. 

Before writing any website content, invest time into SEO keyword research and topic research. 

Your chosen keyword phrases should consider:

1. Relevancy (how relevant the keyword phrases are to your products or services)
2. Frequency (number of searches)
3. Competition (how many websites are trying to rank for them, the higher the competition, the more time and effort you’ll need to put in)
4. Search intent (what web content people expect to see, for example; if someone searches ‘Thai food’ they may want anything to do with Thai food, but, if they search ‘takeaway Thai food near me’ or ‘Thai food recipes’ it’s very clear what they’re after

Keyword phrases are crucial indicators of how people search. Once chosen, they should be strategically placed (not stuffed) in your article title, content body, Meta descriptions and image ALT text. 

For a small business blog to bring results, there also needs to be a consistent flow of articles. Plan content in advance with a schedule you can stick to. A three-month plan is a good starting point and allows for seasonal blog content, industry news and articles around the search terms your audience are using. 

2. SEO-Friendly Formatting 

A coherent blog structure is an integral part of SEO to improve readability and climb organic rankings. 

Without a set text structure, your content will appear disorganised and unreadable. This puts readers and Google off, as Google prioritises user-friendly web content. 

To create an SEO-friendly blog format include these key elements:

• Use correct headings and subheadings (h1 for your main title followed by h2, h3 or h4)
• Make your content skimmable with small blocks of text, bullet points and whitespace
• Break text up with images and blockquotes
• Use transition words and clear paragraphs 
• Include an introduction, content body and conclusion 
• Have a distinct focus (1 niche or topic per blog post)

Format your content using the readability analysis in the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin. Both the free and paid versions offer insights into how user-friendly your blog post is. Don’t forget to check how your article looks on desktop, tablet and mobile before publishing. 

Bonus Tip: Run your title heading (h1) through CoSchedule, a free tool that teaches you to write better headlines by balancing the essential factors needed for an attention-grabbing title. The Hemmingway app will also help refine your text and give a readability score. I like to keep mine above 70.

3. Data and Detail

Readers love data. Use facts and statistics from trustworthy sources to build trust with your audience and back up what you’re saying. 

Quality content also has enough detail to satisfy readers and is optimised for an appropriate blog length. Web content should be at least 400 words to perform. Generally, longer blog posts rank better. But not if it’s full of fluff. The aim is to meet the searcher’s needs with comprehensive content that offers value. A mix of short and long-form content will help your business blog perform. 

4. Internal and External Links

Relevant internal and external links within your blog content are good for SEO. 

Why?

1. They establish hierarchy, giving the most important articles or pages more link value than others
2. Encourages good linking structure on your site
3. Creates relationships between content, which helps users and Google follow links and find other pages/posts that cover similar subject matter
4. Points your readers to other relevant content where they can find more information 
5. Spreads your ‘link juice’
6. Increases time spent on your website and pages per visit 

Use internal links to connect posts or pages on your own website and external links to connect your content to other websites. The Yoast SEO plugin will recommend popular or relevant posts and pages you could link to in the right-hand sidebar in WordPress too.

Bonus tip: Make sure external links open in a new window and internal links open in the same window. 

5. Proofreading

Avoid badly written content by proofreading posts before you publish. 

Even the best writers need to edit. After I write a blog article, I find it better to let it breathe for a few hours before editing. Then I sleep on it. Writing is more concise when it’s left to simmer. The fresh perspective of moving away and coming back allows you to see your content differently and find things you would otherwise miss. Edit multiple times and read it aloud. Better yet – have another set of eyes look over it for you. 

6. Metadata  

The snippets of text that show up in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) tell people what your content is about. In particular, Google looks at the title tags to determine where to show your site in the results. 

How to optimise Meta titles

• Accurately reflect what your post is about in 50-60 characters 
• Include the keyword phrase you’re trying to rank for (preferably at the beginning) 
• Add your business name at the end

How to optimise Meta descriptions 

Meta descriptions are keyword searchable. While they aren’t a ranking factor, they do entice readers to click through and visit your site. Be creative and transparent. 

• Accurately reflect the content on the page in 50-160 characters 
• Include the target keyword phrase
• Add a unique call to action
• Use an actionable, active voice

Bonus Tip: Write unique Metadata for every web page and post. I use SEOMofo which previews how the title, description and URL will look.

7. Image ALT Text

Use at least two images in your blog article to break up text, illustrate points and ensure your content is visually appealing. Ideally, your copy, graphics and branding colours will work together to encourage your audience to stick around. Eye-catching images also help when promoting the post. See point 9. 

Adding ALT text to images allows the visually impaired to understand your graphics using a screen reader. They’re also necessary for Google to crawl and display them under Google’s image search.  

Make sure you:

• Use the ALT text to clearly describe what each image is about (under 125 characters + separated with hyphens)
• Add ALT text to every image
• Include your targeted keyword phrase in at least one relevant image
• Name the image file before uploading 
• Aim for small file sizes, without losing image quality (under 100KB is ideal)

Bonus Tip: Optimise images to avoid slowing down your website. Free tools like Optimizilla and Website Planet will help.

8. Clear Call to Action

A powerful call to action tells your readers what you’d like them to do after they finish reading. 

It’s not used to sell – the purpose of a small business blog is to direct readers to valuable information and connect further with your brand, not bombard them with sales talk. Instead, use your call to action to tempt people to read more of your blog articles or see how your services may help them. You could also ask for their email address in exchange for exclusive content or a free downloadable document. 

Bonus Tip: Stick to one call to action as multiple choices confuse and lose readers. 

9. Promotion Plan

After you hit the publish button, tell your audience you have new content with a promotion strategy. To help blog articles rank higher, Google wants to be sure readers will love it – and this requires traffic and clicks. 

• Share on social media
• Add the new article to your email signature
• Include social sharing buttons (I use Social Warfare)
• Create Pinterest-worthy images 
• Add to your newsletter
• Encourage other websites to link to your content by reaching out to anyone you think may be interested – the more relevant links back to your article, the more popular it is in Google’s eyes 

10. Ongoing Optimisation 

Now your article is live and shared, it doesn’t mean the work stops there. SEO is an ongoing task to monitor and improve your content for the best results. Use tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console to analyse, optimise and tweak blog content monthly. 

Business blogs are an effective tool to attract a wider audience, establish trust, gain credibility and increase engagement.

If you want to tap into the daily 3.5 billion Google searches, a well-written article isn’t enough – you need to optimise it for user search and publish consistently. 

Need help managing your business blog? I’m a Perth copywriter and creative storyteller who specialises in digital content. Contact me today to find out how my experience supports you.

Grab your free copy of my SEO-friendly checklist.

The post How to Get the Most From Your Business’s Blog appeared first on the little typewriter.