Blog Content: Make It Easy For People To Find

Written by Andrew Rondeau in blogging guide | 14 Awesome Comments - Add Yours?

page not foundNo matter how diligent you are about setting up your blog brilliantly, and then posting up killer posts to encourage people to keep dropping in, you won’t succeed as a blogger until people know where you are.

With the millions of blogs out there today, we need to be savvy when it comes to letting people know about you, your writing, and your services.

It may seem like an impossible task to pop your head above the parapet of mass blogging and get noticed.

However, there are a few things we can do to improve our chances of getting spotted and revisited when it comes to writing your blog.

First off, it’s worth bearing in mind that you are actually writing for two audiences – the Search engines, and your readers.

The trick is to satisfy both.

Search engines are programs that cannot see the page graphics or layout, with the job of indexing the page and identifying what is important on the page in order to put in the right spot on a search engine.

Visitors quickly scan pages for content, and are usually looking for something specific. That’s why good web-friendly content can be tricky to write.

How to grab the attention of the potential readers

Your main objective when writing for searchers is to persuade site visitors to take action on a page by highlighting the best features and selling the experience.

Keep your posts focused.

This is a personal opinion and others will disagree (but we are all different, aren’t we?):

It is better to write shorter posts than have long posts that your visitors need to scroll down and down and down.

Blog posts should be between 300 to 800 words long, as a rule of thumb.  If longer is needed, separate it into several posts linked together.

Since readers scan most blog posts, you may still want to break them up with headings so visitors can easily find specifically what they are looking for.

Make your headings bold or larger than your normal page font. You can also use bullets and numbering to make your pages more readable.

Also, make sure you edit your grammar and check for typos.

Here are some things to bear in mind:

  • Keyword Strategy

When developing copy, concentrate on the primary keyword first, and then rotate usage of the other phrases throughout the page. Don’t try to optimize for more than three keyword phrases per page so that your results are focused. A great tool for this: Search Engine Optimization made easy

  • Copy Length

Optimal page length for the search engines is 300 to 800 words.  This length allows repeated mention of keywords while maintaining focus.

  • Meta tags and Titles

As a general rule, the title should be 60 characters long because that is the length of a Google search title. The meta description should be less than 165 characters long for the same reason.

  • Deep Link

Hyperlinks to other pages within the site – or ‘deep links’ – help boost search-engine rankings, especially when the links contain full or partial keyword phrases. Using the Insights plugin makes this easy.

  • Places for Key Word Phrases

Title, meta description, tags, headings, bold print, text links, first two paragraphs of text, last paragraph, and alt tags for images.

  • Keyword Density

Strive for between 2% to 5% keyword density. Here is a free keyword density tool for existing pages: http://tools.seobook.com/general/keyword-density/

What do you do to get your blog posts noticed and read?

Please share your views in the comments below. Thanks.

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14 Responses to Blog Content: Make It Easy For People To Find
  1. Alex

    Nice tips but in my opinion if you want to be find you must get backlinks.
    This is the only method that worked for me.
    Getting backlink and improving serp
    Alex recently posted..Polar BoarMy Profile

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  2. TrafficColeman

    Personally Andrew I’m a guy who writes for the people and at the same time give enough effort to please the search engines.

    Your right when you say you must break up your head lines, this really helps the reader.

    “TrafficColeman “Signing Off”
    TrafficColeman recently posted..Justin Germino Fantastic Blogging Tips – Content InterviewMy Profile

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  3. Kelly

    Great advice. On my main blog, I really started out just writing as a way to keep touch with my family – but was amazed at how much some of my keywords started getting traffic. Now I make more of a concentrated effort to put those keywords in my posts, and I’ve seen huge growth in search traffic.
    Kelly recently posted..GUESS Boots – Women’s Black Knee High BootMy Profile

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  4. Jason from Affiliate Marketing Blog

    I only right for people :) but when it comes to search engines, I only do it through mentioning the top keyword on the URL, title page and once or twice in the body copy. Then it would be all up to my off-page efforts. Well, that’s my take when it comes to content building. But what I really like with what you have shared here, is the word count, I really don’t have much take on this, but of course I as well don’t much enjoy super long posts.

    By the way, do you have any post about how to find contest sponsors? just curious about what you’ve suggested :)

    Thanks Andrew.

    Reply
    • Andrew
      Twitter:

      Jason,

      I do almost exactly the same as you re: search engine writing. I do use ScribeSEO as a tool…and that helps.

      Plus I find the vast majority of the long posts just don’t grab my attention.

      They can be full of theory.

      Re: context sponsors. I don’t but a subject to put on the list!

      Thanks,

      Andrew
      Andrew recently posted..Blog Sponsors- How To Get ThemMy Profile

      Reply
  5. Joella

    Excellent and easy to follow tips for creating an article that is both user friendly and keyword rich.

    Some people feel that their writing is compromised by having to include keywords. But it’s really just a matter of adjusting your attitude. When you blog you are writing for two audiences. The readers are your prime concern, but how will they find you in the search engines if you don’t optimize your articles?

    It’s just common senses.
    Joella recently posted..As a Blogger- How Do You Measure SuccessMy Profile

    Reply
  6. Dennis Edell

    People first – my SEO gets done afterward, during the proofreading phase.

    What’s cool is, I do have some personal experience to back up a point above…

    People are people indeed, and they are all different.

    On my last, yet first real marketing blog before moving everything, I had an awesome little community.

    Almost all of my posts were pretty long to really long; not many under 500 or so words. No real “headings” to speak of, but broken apart with paragraphs, bolding, and so forth.

    Yet, I still accomplished nearly 8000 comments on a mere 200 or so posts. Not spam, awesome comments.

    When I first moved things over to DEDC, I was all over the place, lost some of my community but still writing the same way…the comments weren’t happening.

    When i switched things uo again, talking about the blog network I was creating, things got a little better; not a lot…..and I was building the community again, lots of new people.

    Not to long ago I finally started understanding and using the H-tags to break things up – BINGO!

    This community, some old some new really appreciate it. So far we sit at 153 comments on 8 posts. :)

    i expect that to rise exponentially once I really get back to business. :)
    Dennis Edell recently posted..Twitter Weekend part1 – Now Would be a Good Time to Follow MeMy Profile

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  7. Patricia

    If the post is interesting then those who want the information will come read and tell others. I have done things you have suggested Andrew and have found other lavender lovers who have their blog in other niches come back again if the post is what they want to read.
    Having small paragraphs and lots of white space seems to work for me. I bold my introduction now so people will take note from the beginning what the post will be about.
    As always;great practical tips for us to heed. Thanks
    Patricia Perth Australia
    Patricia recently posted..Relaxing With LavenderMy Profile

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