Last week, we strived to make clear that Blogging IS NOT Dead. Not only are blogs one of the most common things on the internet, with more than 600 million blogs out there, but they are a great source of content and a great way to keep your audience updated and engaged while improving your overall SEO.
Why Does Blogging Still Matter?
Let’s think together for a second: if you search for something online, chances are, answers will come from a Blog. Do you need to know how to make a particular dish? You will probably end up on a cooking blog. Are you interested to know the latest celebrity news or gossip? Yes, news sites work pretty much as blogs.
Contrary to what half of Threads was going CRAZY about last week, blogging remains relevant: it goes beyond mere content creation; it’s a powerful medium for keeping your audience informed and engaged. Blogs are important for establishing a presence and showing your audience your knowledge, but, most importantly, blogs are a way of establishing authority.
What is Website Authority?
When we talk about website authority, we are referring to the strength and importance of your site: if I were to look you or your business up on Google, would you come up first? To put it in simple words, high authority on your site equals more chances of ranking higher on Web Searches.
The SEO Basics
Going back to the very basics of SEO, we can divide SEO into three big parts:
- Technical SEO
- On-site SEO
- Off-site SEO
Technical SEO
One of the first aspects of SEO is making sure that your site works and is accessible. According to a study from Imperva, 62% of online shoppers will wait 5 seconds or less for a page to load before they leave. Once inside your site, people should be able to navigate it easily and intuitively. The harder it is to navigate, find information, or checkout, the harder it will be for people to convert.
On-site SEO
Once you are SURE that your site works and is easy to navigate, the next step is optimizing the content. Optimizing the content on your site is not only about making it easier for site crawlers to study your site but also about helping your audience understand what your site is about, what each specific page contains, and if its contents are – or not – related to their search and needs.
A good example is this post: from starters if you see the link to this post ANYWHERE, the Title and Meta description will let you know this article talks about blogging and SEO. If you are looking for a new crochet pattern, you will know STRAIGHT AWAY is not the right place.
Off-site SEO
Making sure your content is clear and your site work is great and everything, but the task does not stop there. Building authority does require you to engage with others and perform actions that bring traction to your website: from posting to Social Media to building backlinks and features, all the actions you take to bring traction to your website are part of your SEO.
Having a healthy mix between all three areas of SEO will help your site rank better, translating into more visits, clicks, and, potentially, more clients.
What Does Blogging Have to Do With SEO?
The easy answer here is ✨EVERYTHING✨
Publishing blog posts has several advantages when it comes to helping your On-Site SEO efforts:
Search Engines LOVE Fresh Content
Launching and maintaining a blog keeps your site fresh and up-to-date. At the same time, it provides your audience – and the search engines – evidence of you still being in business.
Blog Entries Are EASLY Optimizable
Adding keywords, headings, and links (internal and external) and ensuring your content is relevant and easy to read can drive traffic and help you rank higher on search engines.
Blogging Helps ESTABLISH a Reputation
Establishing authority and credibility is something that comes with time. Improving your trustworthiness among users and search engines is a combination of knowledge and expertise along with sharing the right content and confirming your sources.
More Entries Equal More Pages to INDEX and RANK
One of the magical things about blogs is the fact that the possibilities are endless. Having different entries will allow you to optimize for different keywords and give you more opportunities to be in front of your audience.
Great Content Brings ENGAGEMENT and RETENTION
Yes, the first goal of your blog will be to attract visitors, but the real objective is to keep them engaged. A well-crafted blog post will be informative and compelling and will retain visitors to your site.
A Blog Post Can Be Great Social Media CONTENT
A well-crafted blog post has the potential to resonate across social media platforms, amplifying your reach and exposure. Besides that, long-form content – like a blog post – is easily convertible into shorter posts that you can share across platforms.
Blog Posts Have a LONGER Life
Unlike other marketing efforts, a blog post is evergreen. Once the blog post is live, unless you decide to remove it, it will remain live and keep attracting visitors. Over time, the compounding effect ensures a sustained presence and relevance.
All we’ll say is that Blogging and SEO go hand in hand. Not having a blog (or not updating it) is a missed opportunity.
Ready to take your site to another level? Reach out, and let’s discuss how to get your own blog started.
