The Blog Writer's Dilemma: Should You Write for Google or People?

Business blog writers beware: Don't overlook the importance of being human when developing your blogging SEO strategy.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Long gone are the days where you could do some brief keyword research, bash out 500 words on your trusty MacBook and achieve prime position in a Google search.

Did you know that the first search result on Google usually gets the cream of the crop when it comes to search traffic, skimming more than a third off all user queries?

Don't despair if you aren't first, but if you aren't on the first page, you will have very little chance of your website loading on your target audience's browsers, as much as 92% of all search users won't look beyond page 1. 67% won’t even look beyond the first 5 results.

If your SERPS ranking leaves something to be desired, fear not. I have just the recipe to help you achieve SEO-success whilst entertaining, informing and engaging with real people.

1. Keyword research

Proper keyword research means climbing into the shoes of others - and in this case, you are mainly worried about your target audience and your competition. Research your competitors, find out which keywords they are ranking highly for, and rather than directly competing for the same traffic try tweaking your SEO to target similar user queries.

There are loads of free online SEO resources that will allow you to delve deeply into yours and your competitor's search traffic and find out just where they are kicking your butt on Google - so you can identify areas where you can kick equal butt.

But, remember. Traffic isn't your end goal, clients are. And large volumes of search traffic won't always translate to business for you. What really matters is quality, relevance, and conversions - not quantity. To achieve highly relevant, efficient web traffic you want to hone in on long-tail keywords. Serious browsers tend to understand that the more specific they are with their search queries on Google, the more likely they are to receive relevant results on page 1. The same principle needs to naturally apply to SEO. So make sure you are providing the answers to their questions, and increase your chances of being amongst those relevant results. Google wants to keep users happy - and since you want their money, I presume you do, too.

2. Now you know your keywords, use them wisely

Keyword stuffing will earn you a big fat penalty from Google's sophisticated algorithms, and there is a lot more to SEO than cramming as many keywords into a 500-word blog as you can.

Blogging is not just an SEO tool, it is an opportunity for you to add value to your readership, and for us all to behave as media owners, sharing our expertise, our wisdom and our questionable senses of humour with our communities.

Keywords work best when they flow naturally throughout the copy, and when you write genuinely and authentically about a subject, you often find you achieve perfect keyword densities effortlessly.

Content really is king, and it needs to deliver on so many levels. It needs to be relatable, interesting, readable, relevant and of value to your desired readership. It also needs to pack a punch for search engines, and for that good writing skills simply aren't enough.

Keywords should, where possible, feature in title headings, alt text and meta descriptions as well as in the first paragraph and regularly throughout the body text, but remember though you want to please the search engines, it's ultimately the judgement of humans that will affect your reputation. Do not be tempted to opt for SEO over substance, nor forget that you are engaging in content marketing for your business, you aren't features editor of your own broadsheet. Balance is key.

3. Build in links and evidence

No offence, but why should anyone take your word as fact? An unresearched and unevidenced opinion is hearsay. Research your topic, and prove your statistics with links to credible sources.

The credibility of the source really is key. Just as nobody has to trust your claims, nobody cares what Joe Bloggs’ Blog has to say about it either, but the Wall Street Journal and Forbes carry a bit more weight, as do academic sources and financial and medical institutions.

External links, when used very sparingly, can also improve your search engine rankings. But overdo it and you end up passing authority onto other sources, and sacrificing your own. Again, balance.

4. Build internal links into your copy

Internal links are fabulous SEO tools, and so much more reliable than external links. At the media owner, you know when your links are going to be broken, and you secure the longevity of your copy.

Internal links, or anchors, also help search engines crawl your website. This means they weave their way around the spidery network of pages and the journey users will be taken on when learning about the subject they are querying. Relevant anchors within your body text reinforce Google’s opinion of you and your website as an oracle of information about your given subject - a master of your digital field, if you like.

Again, that ‘b’ word is crucial. Don’t overdo it, and do ensure your anchor text is natural, relevant and of value. Google wants it to reinforce an idea, or provide additional reading or points of value. Make sure it does, or reap the bounce-rate and search engine penalties as consequences.

5. Search engines have longer attention spans than humans

I’m not even kidding. Research shows that generation Z, who have grown up with access to entertainment, information and communication at the touch of a screen are so accustomed to instant gratification that their attention spans last a mere 8 seconds. So, naturally, you would think that shorter blogs would be more easily digested.

But, Google loves depth, and if it is to identify you as a trustworthy source of knowledge and information on its users’ queries, you need to be putting the words in.

The answer? Longer content, with a high readability score, and that is easily skimmable.

What is way more important than body text for both these purposes are headings. Headings help humans AND search engines alike scan your post for the need-to-know details, and hone in on the relevant information.

There are different types and orders of headings that Google will use to build a picture for users, so there is an HTML element working behind the scenes as well.

The takeaway

Blogging is probably a bit more complex than you first imagined. 'How difficult can it really be?' you thought. Well, getting it right can be pretty tricky.

Blogs are multi-functional inbound marketing tools, if done correctly. It's also trickier than you'd think to overcome that self-conscious 'why does anyone care what I have to say' hurdle, and I have blogged about that concept before. But with so many elements to perfect, so much research required, and so many ends to tie into neat little SEO bows, you would be forgiven for thinking writing copy that appeals to both search engines and humans is an impossible task.

It’s definitely possible, but it is time-consuming.

With these tips, you really can get your blog working hard on your behalf. But, if like many business owners you are wondering where the 25th hour in the day is coming from to achieve all of this, perhaps investing in a blog writing service could be the secret for you unlocking the inbound marketing potential of your blog. If you would like to talk more about hiring a blog writer, I would love to speak to you, so please contact me. If you would prefer to go it alone, I salute you - and hope these tips have been helpful.