Content is the fuel that powers your blog. There are millions of blogs and millions of articles being published every day. Without a strong content creation strategy there is no point in driving traffic to your blog.
Millions of blogs are competing for the same consumer base, even if you did succeed in driving traffic, without high quality content, your visitors will take a cursory glance and bounce.
Content should be created with your ideal reader in mind, assume a reader persona to remove personal bias from your content. Create content that is valuable and shareable, content that naturally earns inbound links, likes, shares, tweets and so on.
On-Page SEO:
An amazing article is a great start but it won’t guarantee traffic, the content needs to be optimized for it to be easily found when a search is initiated that is relevant to the content found on your blog.
For the content to be found, it needs to be optimized around your targeted keyword(s). Your main keyword should be in the META title and description. It should also be in the title and the first paragraph of your article.
Main keyword should also be in the URL and alt-text of any images. Write the rest of the article as naturally as possible, remember long-form content (1500+ words) is your friend, as it will allow you to use natural variations of your main keyword without over optimizing.
There is a difference between SEO optimized content and over optimized content. Over optimized content is where you take your target keyword and repeat it throughout the article.
Keyword Stuffing was a popular Blackhat SEO method during Google’s infancy. However Google’s detection algorithm has evolved and continues to evolve, so attempting such tactics now would be foolish.
Speed and Mobile Friendly:
Google’s bias towards fast loading and mobile responsive websites is no secret. This means in the modern era, a fast loading and mobile responsive website is a necessity.
User experience is another metric that is used by Google to rank websites. Websites which don’t render well on mobile devices and those which are slow to load, contribute to a poor user experience and hence get demoted in Search Rankings.
The following tests can help you check for any issues:
Website Speed Test:
Website Speed and Performance Optimization
Google Mobile Friendly Test:
Mobile-Friendly Test – Google Search Console
If an issue is identified, you can try and fix it yourself with the help of Quora or hire a Web developer.
Summary:
Create great quality content and optimize it around your keyword(s). Follow all the On-Page SEO best practices as described above and you will be well on your way to success.
Finally, think of your content as a savings account, the more you put in, the more you get back. Each piece of content contributes towards building your credibility and raising brand awareness. The more “content rich”, your blog becomes, the easier it is to attract visitors