Written by: Catherine Hills
Do you want to start publishing articles that attract traffic to your website but don’t know where to start? You’re not alone – ranking high on Google isn’t easy. We’ve put together this handy SEO guide to help you write high-quality, high-ranking content that draws the best leads to your site.
Sharing your thoughts, insights, and expertise with the world via a blog post or an online article is exciting if you’re a busy entrepreneur, thought leader, or business coach. Who knows what possibilities could come from the right person reading your content at the right time?
It’s essential that your article is a smart investment of your time and achieves the maximum results by ranking high in Google. We’ve put together a guide to help you optimize your content for search engines, but before we dive into all things SEO, let’s first assess what it means to ‘rank high’…
Achieve high website traffic and quality leads by using SEO to land on page 1 of Google
Did you know that Google answers 5.1 billion searches every day? If you rank high on Google or another search engine, a person sees a link to your website on the first results page after typing in a topic or a question into the search bar. That’s an opportunity you don’t want to miss out on!
Getting your content onto that elusive Page 1 will potentially get you high visitor numbers on your website for months or years after publication.
Getting high traffic to your article doesn’t just result in new organic leads – it can earn you new social media followers, email subscribers and much more, depending on your marketing goals.
SEO is about giving your content the best possible chance of ranking on Google.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about making a page on a website as optimized as possible for ranking high in search engine results. SEO is about consistently doing everything you possibly can to help Google find your website, understand what your business does, and consider it a high-quality listing that its users will want to discover.
There isn’t a secret hack or a unique formula for fast-tracking your content to the top of Google’s search results. The exact number isn’t known, but it’s thought that hundreds of different factors can affect how the algorithms detect, assess, and categorize your website.
You can follow some best-practice tips to give your articles a strong chance of ranking high. Our step-by-step SEO process makes everything as easy as possible, from planning and structuring to keyword research and links…
Step 1: Pick an article topic and headline based on what your audience wants to read, AND what you can compete with in terms of search volume
What exactly do you want to get found for on a search engine? Start with a brain-dump exercise and write down a list of relevant topics that your potential customers might find interesting. Think about questions that are asked most frequently during sales calls or the kind of problems that your business can solve for people.
Next, it’s time to research and assess which of your topics are most suitable for SEO. Being selective about your subjects is essential because you only want to publish articles that can compete for space on that first page of Google. If many competitor businesses are also writing about the same thing as you, it becomes harder to get onto Page 1.
At the same time, it’s also vital to cover themes and issues that people regularly search for. To get the right balance, determine which topics have a high search volume but a low keyword difficulty percentage (KD%).
Don’t panic – some great tools on the market can help you research this information. Using a tool like the Keyword Magic Tool on Semrush, you can run a quick search on your topic ideas.
Watch this video (between minute 1:44 - 5:30) and learn how to navigate the Keyword Magic Tool by Semrush. Semrush usually offers a free trial or even a certain amount of free searches per day.
For example:
If you are a Business Coach, your list of potential article subjects might look like this:
How to start an online business
How to build a sales funnel
How to use organic outreach to get leads
How to get high ticket clients
How to get started with ads
How to have a work-life balance when you’re a business owner
How to scale my Business
To start with, you might research the topic “How to start a business”, – which has 90,500 searches on Google on average each month, so this is a popular topic according to the data. The keyword difficulty (KD%) on this search term is 97%, which is a high percentage and means there is a lot of competition from other businesses, so it will be harder to get onto the first page.
Instead of writing an article titled “How to Start a Business”, you could instead choose “5 Ways To Start a Small Business Without Money” or “10 Organic Marketing Ideas To Get Leads Without Buying Ads”, which might compete better on Google. These topics are more niche, creative and specific, so they tick all the boxes.
TOP TIP
We recommend aiming for a KD% of 60% or below, with a search volume of at least 500-1000.
If you don’t have the time to use a research tool like Semrush, you can still try to choose topics that have the right balance of being specific and niche, but not so obscure that no one will ever type the question into Google.
Step 2: Research strategic keywords to include throughout your article and improve your SEO
Now that you have your article topic, it’s time to assess which searched keywords to include throughout your article. If you only do one thing to optimize your article for search engines, take note of this section and include SEO keywords in your writing!
A keyword is a word or phrase that tells Google what your article or website is about. Think of keywords as a single word or phrase someone might type into the search engine if they are looking for your content.
For example, suppose someone is looking for ways they can improve their relationship. In that case, they might type keywords such as “communication skills”, “how to relight the spark in a relationship”, “relationship advice”, and “resolving arguments” into the search bar.
If you are a relationship coach writing about “Success In A Long-Term Marriage”, you would want to include those same keywords in your article to help Google match your content with their search. Here is an example of an article published in Brainz Magazine about 'How to Articulate Thoughts into Words - If You’re Introverted or Don’t Know How to Speak Eloquently' where the writer has included many strategic keywords like “Being articulate”, “Thoughts into words”, “Speak eloquently”.
Try writing a list of all the possible keywords and phrases your ideal reader might type into Google to search for your article. Keep this list to hand as you begin to write both your main copy and your sub-headings (we discuss sub-headings in Step 4).
PRO TIP
Use the Semrush Keyword Overview tool to run an in-depth keyword analysis and find the ones that will work best in your article. Semrush will show you variations of the keyword and how the keywords are used in search questions. Again, you want to look at keywords with a good search volume and a low keyword difficulty based on their competition.
At the end of Step 2, you should have a subject to write about and keywords to include throughout your article. It might feel like you’ve put a lot of effort into things so far, but you’ve approached things strategically and laid the foundations for true SEO success!
Step 3: Start with a great preamble that includes your primary keyword
Put your title at the top of your page and write your preamble. Also known as ingress or prelude, this should be a couple of snappy sentences that describe what your article is about and tempts people to read your work. It acts as an introduction and highlights the main focal point of your writing. You should add it to the top of your article in italic or bold font.
Include your all-important keywords in the preamble.
Avoid using too many ‘meaningless’ or ‘filler’ words, as you have limited space to make an impact.
Choose powerful, meaningful, concise terms that inform your readers exactly what they can expect.
Mention the value that your readers will get if they read your piece.
Step 4: Avoid feeling overwhelmed by structuring your article with subheadings
Building the structure of your article first helps you in several ways. It enables you to maintain focus as you write, but it also acts as a guide, stops you from diverging off-topic, and ensures the article flows correctly.
Subheadings are also crucial from an SEO perspective. With subheadings, Google can further understand what your article is about, what questions and problems it answers, and whether the content matches the headline.
Make sure your subheadings are not overly vague and still share value for your busy readers who want to scan your article and still get their questions answered quickly.
Step 5: Begin writing high-quality copy and include your keywords
The quality of your copy can make or break your article - as anyone who has had to read their way through a dull, unimaginative blog post will know. The last thing you want is for readers to switch off when reading your article because they won’t take any further actions on your page.
If your readers don’t believe they can get the answers they are looking for on your website; they’re more likely to click back to their search engine results and look elsewhere. Google measures this as your’ bounce rate.’ In other words, your article needs to be well-written, original, engaging, and packed full of helpful advice!
Make sure you use your well-researched keywords throughout the article but don’t cram them into the text for the sake of it as Google is very efficient at detecting ‘keyword stuffing.’ Add in your keywords wherever they fit in naturally.
Here are some other writing tips:
Don’t plagiarize or use duplicated text.
It’s normal to look to other writers, journalists, and bloggers for inspiration but avoid copying other people’s work at all costs. Google can detect if your copy is used elsewhere on the internet, which will negatively affect your article’s search engine ranking.
Grammarly has an excellent plagiarism tool that checks whether your copy is the same as another website.
Don’t make your articles too short.
We recommend that your articles are at least 300 words as a minimum. Longer content does tend to rank better because it contains more information on a topic. A longer article will also help your reader stay on the page, improving your website’s ‘dwell time’.
Step 6: Include a Call-To-Action at the end of your article
Congratulations, you now have a finished piece that is well-researched and optimized for search engines to discover! Sign off with a call-to-action statement so your reader knows how to find more information about your business and take the following steps if they are interested in what you can offer them.
Your call-to-action statement depends on your unique sales funnel and the steps you want your potential leads to take. Typically, CTA’s prompt readers to sign up for a lead magnet such as a free e-book or a free downloadable course and a clickable link. Try to avoid using a call-to-action that focuses on something that has a set sign-up deadline, such as ‘join my masterclass next Friday’, as this will get outdated fast.
Step 7: Add both internal and external links throughout your article
If you want to take your SEO skills to the next level, our next PRO TIP is to add internal and external links to your article:
External Links:
Include at least one or more links in your article that lead to an external, relevant, high-quality website. Choose websites with a High Authority Domain, which means they are considered trustworthy. An example of a high authority website could be a university research website or a news article. An example of a low authority website could be an unknown blog or an out-of-date website.
Google sees that you are linking to High Authority domains, and this helps show its algorithms that your content is legitimate and is referenced using reliable sources. Remember where we mentioned how many Google searches are carried out each day at the beginning of this article? That was a great example of a relevant, external link that connects this page to a website with a High Authority Domain.
Internal Links:
Including links to other pages of your website helps Google find and crawl through your other content. They also help show semantic relations between your content, which tells Google which page on your website is the most relevant to the search query. Try to include 2-4 internal links in your article.
If you’re adding many links to your article, double-check they are all in good working
order once you are finished.
Step 8: Get ready to publish your article by running a final spell and grammar check
Before you upload or submit your content to your intended website, blog, or digital magazine, thoroughly proofread your copy and check for spelling, grammar, punctuation, country-specific spelling and jargon, and tone.
Grammarly is a fantastic tool for this.
Pay special attention to locations, names, brands, and other nouns that spell checking tools could miss. Don’t forget to check headings and sub-headings, and if you used numerical bullet points, make sure all the numbers are correct and in order.
It’s also helpful to ask someone else to check your work or return to your article after a break, so you read it with a fresh pair of eyes.
Step 9: Choose the right images for your article
Using images can make your article seem more appealing from a visual perspective, but did you know they can also help your SEO? An eye-catching main image can grab the reader’s attention and make your article stand out from your competitors, so avoid using a standard stock image.
If you don’t have any original photos, then it’s better to find a high-quality, unique stock image relevant to the subject you are writing about than no image at all. Avoid using photos of yourself unless your piece is an interview or Q&A style article.
Make sure your image dimensions are the right size for your platform, as large images result in a slow-loading web page. Finally, edit the image file name to include your primary keyword before uploading it to your website.
More than anything, it’s essential to deliver a great article to your reader. SEO is about letting Google’s algorithms know just how great your article is, so you can give your website a good chance of getting onto the top 10 search results.
Brainz Magazine is a global digital magazine that invites influential Entrepreneurs, Coaches, and Business Experts to share their knowledge and stories with the world. Our readers come to us for thought-provoking articles and interviews that cover a range of topics, exploring business innovations, leadership mindsets, aspirational lifestyle and much more.
Can you provide expertise or valuable insight within the areas of Business, Personal Development, Leadership, or Lifestyle? Then you might qualify for the opportunity to get published as a guest writer in Brainz Magazine. Register for our guest writer database here!
