When it comes to online marketing, blogging is one of the ways you can bring additional traffic to your website. A well-maintained blog can increase traffic to your site, then further convert that traffic into monetary revenue.

Many businesses know they should have a blog but don’t know how and where to get started with it. Blogs used to be a form of virtual storytelling; now they can be used for marketing purposes.

The only way it will be useful, however, is if your blog is SEO-friendly. When your entire website, including your blog, is optimized for SEO (search engine optimization), your website will rank higher on search engines.

If you’re only getting started with your blog, there are several practices you should familiarize yourself with to help make your blog SEO-friendly. While SEO is complex and takes time to learn how to do properly, even familiarizing yourself with the basics can increase organic traffic.

Are you ready to learn how to better use your blog for marketing purposes?

Figure out what keywords to use

The right keywords will boost your posts. To find these keywords, do keyword research. If you’re just getting started, this could mean looking at what common words others in your industry are using and incorporating them into your posts. However, be careful not to spam your blog with keywords. Search engines will penalize blogs that are full of spammy content. Try to write engaging content and naturally work keywords into it.

Structure blog correctly

After you’ve figured out what keywords you want to use, you’re going to want to work them into the structure of your blog posts. Not to mention, a well-structured blog post is easier to read. Headers throughout your post create distinct sections. Users can skim these sections to find the ones relevant to them. And if you structure those sections with keywords, you’ll be able to boost your SEO.

Increase the readability of posts

Search engines read your site similarly to how a person would. The more readable your site is, the higher the chances of your blog ranking highly. In addition to structuring your blog posts correctly, you’ll also want to pay attention to how you’re writing. Focus on writing short paragraphs that are easy to digest. Also, make sure to watch your vocabulary! Try to avoid using complex, technical terms when writing.

Include internal and external links

If you’re not using anchor texts within your blog posts, you’re going to want to get started! Internal links to your own site allow you to place value on certain parts of your website, increasing the odds of those pages appearing on search engines. Linking to external authority sites helps to establish credibility on your own site. If you’re strategic about what links you’re using, you can boost your SEO.

Don’t forget about your images

Many people forget that they can include descriptions in the alt-text with their images and videos. Using keywords within these descriptions can help you rank higher on search engines. While you shouldn’t keyword stuff descriptions, using one or two keywords in each description is recommended. WIn addition to alt-text descriptions boosting your SEO, it can also make your website more user-friendly! If images ever break, users can read the alt-text.

Promote on social media

While social media isn’t a ranking factor for search engines, promoting your blog posts on social media can still help boost your SEO. This is because you already have an established audience there. By promoting your posts there, you have a chance someone will click over to your blog and then link to your post. If that post gets promoted on other sites, you will see a boost in SEO.

Make sure the blog is responsive

By now, your website and your blog should be responsive to all devices. This means that it automatically resizes based upon the screen size of the device that is being used to access the blog. A website that isn’t responsive can lower your SEO. if your website and blog aren’t currently responsive, it is time for a website redesign; use this checklist for SEO for website redesign to get started.

Final thoughts

If you have a blog for business purposes, make sure it is SEO-friendly! If it isn’t, there is little reason to have a blog. Incorporating SEO practices into your posts will allow you to rank higher on search engines and receive more traffic. Once you’ve mastered SEO basics, you’ll want to look into more advanced techniques.