📝 Optimizing Blog Content For Both Search And Social
Striking the right balance so that your content appeals to robots and humans
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Would you rather write content that ranks highly in Google Search or content that is shared heavily on social media?
On one hand, an article that is SEO-friendly will likely keep pulling in traffic over time. On the other, a socially-optimized blog post has the potential to be shared multiple times – which will also result in increased traffic.
So, why can’t you have the best of both worlds? It turns out that you can. Yes, it is possible to create content that strikes a balance between being SEO-friendly and socially-optimized. And it is not even difficult. In fact, you can achieve this goal by simply following the rules of good copywriting.
Related Article: SEO for Bloggers
Writing content optimized for SEO
SEO stands for search engine optimization. Whenever the term is mentioned, one is inclined to almost automatically think about keywords and search algorithms aka robots. But one of the first rules of SEO is to write content for people and not for robots. How do you do that? Here are the main things to keep in mind when optimizing for SEO:
Provide valuable answers to pertinent questions: SEO is about proving the relevance of your content as it relates to how well it helps people find help for problems they are facing. Someone searching for a pair of affordable but durable leather sandals will search for information that guides them to such a product. If you are in that field and you write content that provides some direction on how to acquire leather sandals, it is likely Google will help the intended audience to find it. With that said, you need to know what kind of information your audience is interested in, so you can answer their questions. There are a number of online forums, as well as Q&A platforms that can help you find out what people in your target audience want help with, and then use that information to create targeted, helpful content.
Use keywords wisely: Keyword placement is very important when trying to create content that is search-friendly. There are several places you want to include your main keywords: in the title/headline of the article, the sub-headings, several times in the content body, and in the meta description of the post. In recent times, many content marketers have touted the usefulness of having keywords in image file names, as well as the alt-text. While this is not seen as a huge ranking factor, naming images and alt text appropriately can enhance their ability to be found in search.
Long-tail and LSI keywords: Instead of using two or three words, people often search by typing in long phrases into the search bar or even entire sentences when using voice search. This is where long-tail and latent semantic index (LSI) keywords come in. These keywords are generally longer and have less search volume than your main keywords, but are more identical to the search intent of your target audience. LSI (latent semantic index) refer to words and phrases people search for that are related to your main keyword. For example, your main keyword may be “leather sandals” but people could be searching for the terms “leather slides” or even “leather flip flops” as well. You will find LSI keywords in the related searches section of the Google results page. Long-tail and LSI keywords make your content more relevant to the needs of a wider cross-section of people in your target audience.
Links: When there are other links pointing back to your content, Google sees this as a sign that your content is useful and will be inclined to show it to more internet users.
Optimizing content for social media
A good copywriter not only understands how to create content that is relevant enough for SEO purposes, but also knows how to make it social-friendly. Here are some of the things that will make a piece of content more readily shared on social media:
A catchy headline: Headlines are the first thing people see when they come across a blog post online. If the headline does not pull readers in, they won’t bother to read the content or share it. As such, time should be spent crafting a headline that is likely to invoke curiosity. Among the best practices when creating headlines include using numbers, using trigger words, using simple language, asking a question, and making bold promises. Adding parentheses, colons, and dashes can add more interest to a headline and save it from being bland.
Another tip is to include your main keyword in the first half of the headline. This lets the reader know exactly what the content is about from the get-go. Using the same leather sandals example, a great headline would be “5 Best Lightweight Leather Sandals That Are Good For Your Feet in 2021.” Here, the reader will not only have a great idea of what the article is about, but can also see a benefit (good for feet), as well as become curious as to what makes the subject different from those created before 2021.
Related Article: How to Write Irresistible Blog Post Headlines
Review for quality: Once you master the art of writing eye-catching headlines, the other main element of making the content share-worthy has to do with its quality. This ties in with optimizing the content for SEO, as described earlier, to make it relevant to the needs of your target reader. Ensure that the content answers the questions of your target audience really well. At the end of reading your blog post, readers want to feel they got something of worth, otherwise they will view your headline as clickbait and not bother to share it.
Image is everything: Most social platforms are optimized for images. Likewise, you should ensure images accompanying your content are optimally designed and of a high quality in order to influence clicks and shares. Research shows that text-based images and faces are among the most likely to be liked and clicked. But whatever image you use should properly represent what the article is about. For example, it would not be in your best interest to have an image of someone wearing a hard boot or sneaker if your article is about leather sandals. In addition, you want to use an image size that is large enough to display well in social feeds but not too big to slow down the load time when readers click to read the content.
Related Article: How to Create an Amazing Featured Image for Your Blog
Conclusion
Optimizing content for both social and search might sound like trying to do two opposing things. However, practicing good copywriting, as explained in the steps above, will help you to strike an effective balance between the two.
Until next time,