10 Ways Blogging Helps With SEO And Search Engine Ranking
Blogging is a fantastic way to increase the awareness of yourself and your brand, but did you know that it can even help out your website in a technical manner?
Adding a blog section on your website is a great way to increase SEO and rank higher on Google. This is even true for Ecommerce websites! Today I will be breaking down exactly how blogging helps your site with SEO, and why you should start a blog right now.
Disclaimer: Some of the links within this article are affiliate links and I earn a commission from qualifying purchases. However, I will never recommend a product or service I don’t have 100% faith in. Enjoy!
Content
#1 – Blog Posts Are Keyword Goldmines
Ranking on Google is great, but what if you could rank on Google for hundreds of keywords related to your website’s topic? This is exactly what you can achieve with a successful blog section. Whether your website is a business site, Ecommerce shop, or even medical page, a blog section can help put your site on Google’s radar.
Well-designed blog posts often range from 1100 – 2500 words (or more!). This is a great opportunity to use different keywords, keyword synonyms, sub-headings, and alt-texts for images (more on this later). If done correctly, efficiently, and appropriately, your blog post can end up ranking on Google for a ton of keywords and related synonyms. This can extend your reach within your respective field by a significant amount.
Additionally, you can elevate your keyword research game further by utilizing a keyword research tool. I didn’t know what I was missing until I started using such tools, and now I am so glad that I did.
How To Master Keyword Research
If the keyword goldmine sounds promising to you, I recommend learning more about keyword research. A blog section can help out with your SEO far more with the help of a keyword research tool. These tools can help your website rank on Google for many keywords. By searching a desired keyword on a program such as Serpstat, you can see how many search inquiries are made for it monthly.
Keyword Research Tools Can Give Your Blog A Big Advantage
Keyword Research Tools To Try
There are many incredible keyword research tools you can use, so I recommend starting with a free version or free trial in order to find the perfect match for you and your needs. You’ll need to upgrade to a paid version to really get your keyword research going, but a free trial is a great way to get a feel of the tool itself.
Keyword research tools are pretty expensive, and for good reason. They can elevate any blog or website to higher rankings all while saving you a ton of time. However, due to these high price ranges it can be quite intimidating to make the jump and start using a keyword research tool. This is why I personally recommend Serpstat to my readers.
Serpstat Is A Great Keyword Research Tool For Beginners
Serpstat is an affordable and useful research marketing tool that comes with a ton of useful SEO management tools. Through Serpstat I am able to do all of the great research and check the competition for any keywords I am interested in writing about. Due to their accessible pricing and SEO tools, I find it easy to recommend Serpstat to beginning bloggers.
Serpstat is an incredible and accessible keyword research tool, but in full transparency it isn’t perfect. If you want to jump straight into the best keyword research tool on the market, I would recommend Ahrefs.
Other Keyword Research Tools
If you have more money to spend, Ahrefs is an impressive keyword research tool and is often considered the industry standard. While Ahrefs is pricey, it earns its price tag due to its high quality interface and accurate statistics. I don’t have an affiliate link to share, but if you want to try out Ahrefs you can access their homepage by clicking here. Ahrefs doesn’t have a free trial, but you can test it out for one week for $7.
Regardless of which keyword research tool you try out, I couldn’t recommend it enough. I hope you find your perfect fit and get your blog ranking high on Google.
#2 – Blog Posts Are Easy To Optimize
I previously mentioned that blog posts are a great way to rank on Google for a ton of keywords. However it isn’t just about the quantity of keywords that makes blogging so great for SEO. Blog posts in particular are also incredibly easy to optimize. From my experience with Ecommerce websites and other non-blog related websites, it is often difficult (and sometimes impossible) to tick every box that helps with SEO. Fortunately a blog post can do it all, and it is quite easy to learn.
Optimizing a blog post for SEO includes utilizing your keywords an appropriate amount of times, having a sufficient article length (1100 – 2500 words is great in my opinion), using alt-text on all images (I will discuss this more soon I promise), utilizing your primary keyphase in your article title and first paragraph, utilizing inbound and outbound links and much more.
Is Optimizing Blog Posts Really All That Easy?
This can all sound a bit intense at first, but don’t worry, this is all pretty easy once you understand the core fundamentals of SEO. I recommend learning your SEO tips & tricks right off the bat, as setting up good SEO habits is a sure way to make sure your whole website is optimized. ]
I had a slow start with my blogging career, but that is because I took the time to learn everything I could about SEO and ranking on Google. Writing only took up only a small percentage of my work hours, as more of my time went to this kind of research. Despite this I still published over 200 articles my first year.
If you take the time to learn SEO right, you can carry this information with you in everything that you produce for your website. I don’t have a specific source to share regarding learning SEO, but I learned through independent resources and utilizing countless sources of information.
Perhaps one day soon I will compile everything I know into one place for all of you great readers out there. For now though I recommend taking in any valuable information you can find on Google, Youtube, and through Yoast SEO’s own guidelines. Having a diverse assortment of educational resources is a great way to open up your mind and learn from many different sources.
#3 – Developing A Backlink Catalog
Another crucial way that a blog section can help the SEO of your website is through a backlink catalog. Blogging is the easiest and fastest way to start developing backlinks for your site. For those who don’t know, a backlink is a “do-follow” link that links directly to your website or webpage.
Publishing educational articles is an easy way to gain references back to your website. These references can act as backlinks, which improves the SEO of your website. Other websites are far more likely to reference your website if you have content that contributes to your field of interest.
Having this shareable type of content isn’t the only way to use a blog to develop your backlink catalog though. Another powerful tool for growing your backlink catalog is through guest writing.
Guest Writing Is A Great Way To Grow Your Backlink Catalog
In addition, a blog section is perfect for welcoming guest writers. Guest writing is one of the best ways to grow a backlink catalog, and through a blog it is easy to grow and maintain a community that helps with this task. It is common for guest writers to swap websites and write an article for each other’s website.
This is a mutually beneficial exchange where two different writers bring their experience and expertise to another website’s readers. This is a great practice because you offer your contributions to a whole new group of readers all while growing your own backlink catalog which will help with ranking on Google and SEO. Within your contributing article as a guest writer, you will likely have the opportunity to link users back to your own website. This is a wholesome and effective way to legitimately grow your backlink catalog.
#4 – Using Alt-Text For Images
Blog posts are often full of tons of images related to many appropriate keywords and keyword synonyms related to the topic of your website. Fortunately these images do more than just look pretty. Thanks to Alt-text, you can turn each and every image into an opportunity to increase SEO and show up in Google Images searches. This is true for each unique image and each keyword related to them.
By utilizing Alt-text within images, I have had even new websites rank in the top five image results for a competitive keyword. More images on Google Images means more views, and more views typically means more clicks. Now clicks aren’t everything though. What is more important is that this can help with increasing opportunities for site indexing. I will discuss site indexing more soon!
*Note that having too many images can slow down your webpage and hurt SEO. Use images wisely and optimize them accordingly in order to prevent this. I advise that you convert all images to Webp files to lower file space. Webp images can often be half – or even a quarter – the size of even Jpeg images.
#5 – More Opportunities For Internal Linking
Sending current readers to other educational articles on the internet is great and helpful, but you know what is even better? Sending current readers to more of your own educational articles on your website! A blog section is a fantastic way to increase the amount of internal links on your website. This also can help retain readership and keep readers on your own webpage.
The best part is that internal links are great for SEO! Think of Google as a spider, and each link is a string of web. It is easier for the spider to crawl through your website if it consists of many different strings of web that all connect back to each other. Each and every connected post strengthens this connection and helps Google easily crawl your website. This is exactly why internal links are so important for SEO.
But What About External Links?
External links are important too of course, and it is good to continue gaining and maintaining relationships with other blog writers by linking to their content. It helps that this is also useful for SEO and your website’s spiderweb. That’s right, Google can crawl through your site through external links too, so it is important to utilize them as well. The solution is to find the perfect balance between using internal links and external links. This comes naturally with practice, and my only piece of advice would be to just be mindful of using both internal and external links throughout your content.
#6 – Blog Posts Are Made To Be Shared
Previously I mentioned that blogs are great for building up legitimate backlinks, but did you know that even article shares on social media can help with SEO? While the benefits mostly indirectly help with SEO, there is a significant correlation between social media shares and Google ranking.
This is due to all of the value gained from social media attention. These benefits include increases in clicks, post shares, conversations and comments, brand awareness, indexing opportunities, and more! So while social media shares don’t directly account for some sort of SEO boost, many factors that indirectly come from high social media attention do.
Blog Posts Are Perfect For Social Media
So what makes a blog post different from any other post that can get social media attention? Blog posts are made to be shared.
Not everyone will share your product or service willingly online, but blog posts are typically written in a manner that encourages readers to share and discuss the valuable information with their friends and colleagues. By contributing value to your industry of choice, you’ll grow your brand beyond the point of just being a product or service.
You can increase the opportunities for social media shares by adding social media links and widgets into your blog posts. I highly recommend doing this as even a simple social media icon can put the idea into a reader’s head. I know I am more likely to share something when it is convenient like that!
#7 – Extended Site Indexing
The more pages and posts on your website, the more strings on your website’s spiderweb. Blogs are a great way to expand the foundation of your website. As touched upon earlier, Google has bots that index websites and make connections through internal and external links. A blog section is the perfect opportunity to add more content to your website and build more opportunities for site indexing.
As Google notices your website, you’ll find it easier and easier to rank on Google. The purpose of Google is to answer search inquiries, and Google tends to promote posts that contain high-quality answers that individuals are searching for (more on this next). By creating blog posts you are building a ton of useful connections that Google may take a liking to. This directly puts your website on the map, and makes it more likely for Google to rank your website above other competitors.
In summary, more blog posts equals extended site indexing opportunities. A blog section is a great way to add fresh content to your website that keeps you on the top of Google Search.
#8 – Answering Search Inquiries
I mentioned last point that Google is a search engine that seeks answers to search inquiries. This is exactly why a blog section can add value to your website and help with SEO. There are countless products and services being advertised across the internet, and it can be difficult to break through and get noticed. Fortunately there are other ways to get potential buyers to your website beyond a product listing. This is exactly why blog posting is great for capturing new leads and readers.
By answering common search inquiries with your blog posts, you are able to attract new readers that may not have ever found your products or services. The best part is that each and every blog post increases the likelihood of this happening. Blog posts don’t just go away, they stay around as long as you want them to. Once your blog section has a couple hundred helpful articles, you are likely to see thousands of daily visitors you never would have had otherwise.
Google loves educational and helpful articles, and by contributing to your field in a meaningful way, you are likely to land on Google’s good side. This directly helps with SEO, as the more Google prefers your website, the more often you’ll rank high on Google search.
How Do I Know What Is Being Searched For?
This is exactly what keyword research tools can do for you. By utilizing a keyword research tool, you can look up your keywords of choice and check for search activity.
This is a huge timesaver and an incredibly useful tool, as you can get a fair estimate of how many page visits you could achieve from a ranking blog post. If you are interested in giving it a try, click the link below and check out the free version of Serpstat.
I previously went into more detail regarding keyword research tools earlier in the article, so click here if you want more information or just a refresher.
#9 – Blog Posts Bring In Unique Visitors
In the previous point, I mentioned that Google likes websites that answer search inquiries. Now I will discuss further SEO benefits your website can obtain by answering these search inquiries.
Another way blogging helps SEO is by bringing in unique visitors that would likely never visit your website otherwise. This reason is much more indirect than most points mentioned in this article, but it is an important one nonetheless. Research suggests that traffic helps with SEO. Well what better way is there to get new visitors than through a well-optimized blog section?
I saved this tip for the bottom-end of this list because several of the other mentioned benefits in this list are enhanced by increased traffic. Increased traffic can lead to more external links, more web page shares, more site indexing, and so on and so on.
How Does A Blog Attract Unique Visitors?
So how exactly does a blog section bring in unique visitors? Well a lot of traffic from your blog will be in response to search inquiries. These visitors will likely be unique visitors that wouldn’t have discovered your website or brand otherwise.
I have talked about this concept a couple of times within this article, but I want to nail it in because this is a big reason to have a blog section on your website. By gaining these unique visitors, you are increasing your reach on the internet and your brand awareness. In fact, these new readers could become customers or fans! All of their interactions with your brand and website here on out will indefinitely contribute to increased SEO and higher ranking on Google.
#10 – Blogs Keep Your Website Active And Alive
We have made it to the final point on this list. Does that mean your website is now fully finished and perfect? The answer is always no. A website is never finished if you want to maximize your SEO. This is another reason why having a blog section is great for SEO. By frequently updating your blog, you keep your website relevant and alive.
New blog posts increase the frequency and opportunities for continued site indexing from Google. As mentioned previously, site indexing is valuable for SEO, so I highly recommend you remain active on your blog.
How Often Do You Have To Blog To Be “Active”?
Conclusion
Blogging can help with SEO in many ways. Whether blogging directly helps with SEO by increasing your website’s opportunities for site indexing, keyword ranking, or external links, or indirectly helping your website go viral and get shared across the internet, blogging is a useful tool that any type of website can benefit from utilizing.
I hope this article could help convince you to get started with your blogging career. If so, check out my previous article where I highlight common blogging mistakes and reveal how to conquer them. Click here if you are interested in reading.
For you experienced bloggers out there, did I miss any ways that blogging helps with SEO? Let me know down in the comments.
New To Blogging?
Are you new to blogging and want to avoid some common mistakes? Check out my article on 12 amateur blogging mistakes to avoid and how to solve them. By the end of the article you should know everything you need to step up your blogging game! Thank you, and enjoy!
