On-site content remains a cornerstone of any search engine optimization campaign, and the web at large. Blogs sometimes get a bad rap for being centered on self-benefit, but the fact is that blogs can provide an unmatched opportunity to reach your audience by offering well-written, highly shareable content. The trick is knowing how to optimize blog content, which ultimately boils down to using both metadata and quality keyword usage

1. Identify the target audience for your blog.

Identify the primary audience that will be reading your content. Understanding who these readers are and what you want them to do when they click on your article will help you create a strong strategy.

Using buyer personas is an effective way to target your readers with content they are interested in. This will help you increase the number of people who click on your content.

2. Conduct keyword research.

Once you’ve planned what content you’ll cover, it’s important to choose which topics your readers want to read about. Researching keywords is a lot more manageable as part of this process.

3. Add visuals.

Search engines like Google value imagery for certain keywords. One of the most common things you’ll see on the search engine results page is a pack of images and videos. If you want to achieve a coveted spot in an image pack or video snippet.

Alt text is a major factor that determines whether or not your image or video appears in the SERP and how highly it appears. Alt text is also important for screen readers so that visually impaired individuals have a positive experience consuming content on your blog site.

4. Write a catchy title.

The title is the first element a reader will see when they come across your article, and it heavily influences whether they’ll click or keep scrolling. A catchy title uses data, asks a question, or leads with curiosity to pique the reader

5. Include an enticing CTA.

The purpose of a CTA is to lead your reader to the next step in their journey through your blog. The key to a great CTA is that it’s relevant to the topic of your existing blog post and flows naturally with the rest.

Buttons, hyperlinks, and widgets are the most common types of call-to-actions, and they all have different purposes. A button is great for a prompt purchase, whereas a text link is often better to drive website traffic.

6. Focus on the reader’s experience.

Most writers and SEO’s will tell you that there are four things a blog post must have to be effective. Those are readability, formatting, page speed, and a title that makes sense. If you’re using a content creation company to produce your content, check on the following before you sign a contract: