How to write a blog that ranks on Google
Writing a blog post can seem like an easy task. While the main purpose of writing blogs is to provide your website visitors with useful and relevant information that helps lead them towards making a purchase or an enquiry, they’re also a great SEO tool. A blog is one of the best ways to ensure your business is visible in when customers are searching for your products or services online.
So, writing a blog post that shows up in the Google search results requires a little more thought and consideration.
A successful SEO blog isn’t just an article with the relevant keyword stuffed into it. The most successful blogs answer a question, match what the searcher is looking for and makes the information easy to understand and digest.
Nothing can guarantee the number one spot on Google but optimising your blog posts gives them a much stronger chance of appearing in the search results and potentially driving new visitors to your website.
Here are our top tips on writing a blog that ranks on Google while still providing your customers with the information they need.
Can writing blogs regularly really help your business rank on Google?
Yes, creating regular content that enables you to answer the questions your potential customers are asking that might not fit naturally on your product or service pages. Adding optimised content to your website provides you with another opportunity to appear when someone searches for a problem, comparison or piece of advice connected to your products or services.
For example, an accountant might have a service page about self-assessment tax returns and publish a blog answering, ‘What expenses can a sole trader claim?’. The service page targets people searching directly for help with their self-assessment tax return while the blog reaches people earlier in the research process. Internal links can then be added to the blog to guide readers towards the most relevant service for their needs.
Blog writing is also a great way to demonstrate your expertise, answer objections and provide useful information that can be repurposed and shared through email or social media. The goal is to attract relevant visitors to the website who are actively searching for the products or services you provide.
How to write a blog that ranks on Google
Here are the key steps you can take to write content that appears in the Google search results and drives potential customers to your website.
1.Choose a topic your customers really care about
Before writing anything, think about the content your customers are going to care about. The most useful blog ideas often come from the questions people ask before buying, problems that repeatedly crop up in enquiries and subjects your customer service team explains during sales calls.
Sift through emails, enquiry forms, reviews, customer service conversations and notes from meetings. It’s also useful to ask your sales or delivery team which questions they hear most often. These are great starting points because they help you to understand the factors that might be preventing website visitors from converting.
A good topic should be something your audience is interesting, something your business has something useful to say about and supports a product or service you provide. You’ll also need to check that it’s a topic that carriers relevant search volume so you can maximise the chances of appearing in search results for relevant terms.
2.Find the right keyword
Once you’ve found your topic, research the words and phrases people use to look for it in the search results. Choose one primary keyword that describes the main subject or question included in your blog. Longer, more specific phrases often have lower search volumes but they can reveal clearer intent and can be more realistic for small businesses to target.
An easy place to start is Google’s autocomplete suggestions, related searches and the questions displayed in the search results for your chosen topic. If you have Google Search Console set up, you’ll be able to see the queries that are already driving impressions.
Before you start writing the blog, check whether your website already has a page targeting the same query. Two similar pages can confuse both readers and search engines so it might be better to improve and optimise an existing post rather than publish a new one.
3.Understand the search intent
Search intent is the reason behind a query. Someone searching ‘how to clean a coffee machine’ is looking for instructions. Someone searching ‘best commercial coffee machine for a small café’ is comparing the options available to them. Someone searching ‘coffee shop near me’ is looking for a local place to visit.
Make sure the format of your blog matches this intention. If you need help, search the target phrase and have a look at the types of pages that are already ranking. Don’t directly copy anything you see, your article should add something useful to make it unique. This might be a clearer explanation, original examples or a case study.
4.Write a clear title
The title of your blog should tell readers exactly what they should expect when they read your blog. Include your primary keyword naturally where possible. The page heading and meta title can be similar, but they do not have to be exactly the same.
The on-page heading (or H1) introduces the article, the SEO title helps to describe the page in the search results.
5.Answer the main question early
Don’t string the answer out for too long. Answering the question early helps to keep readers engaged and can also help your brand to appear in AI search summaries. Briefly acknowledge the problem your customers might be facing, explain how the article will help and then start providing the answer. If it’s a straightforward question with a straightforward answer, start answering it near the top and add the details afterwards.
6.Write for people first
Use plain English and short sentences to make your blog easy to digest, read and understand. Ensure you explain technical terms when needed and remove them when they’re not needed to avoid confusion or creating a blog that’s overly technical.
You should also make sure your blog is original. Try and add information that a more generic summary wouldn’t be able to provide. This might be common mistakes you see, a process you use, an example from your industry or a case study.
7.Use keywords naturally
Include your primary keyword and other relevant phrases in important places if you can add it in naturally. This includes places such as:
The H1
The meta title
The blog’s introduction
The URL
Relevant subheadings and body paragraphs
Be careful not to force the exact wording into every section of the blog. A few natural repetitions or variations is fine. Avoid stuffing keywords in as this can have a negative impact for both readers and search engines.
8.Add helpful internal and external links
Internal links help you connect the blog to other relevant and useful pages on your website. Linking to relevant product or service pages or related blogs helps both users and search engines understand the structure of your website and can help keep users on your site for longer, as well as improve search engine rankings.
External links are useful if you want to direct readers to authoritative sources, original research or official industry guidance. They help to support any claims you make and allow readers to find out more information if they want to. Only add a link where it genuinely supports your content and don’t just add links for the sake of it.
9.Promote the blog and help Google discover it
Once you’ve published your blog, the work doesn’t stop there. Link to the blog from as many existing pages as you can and share the article through the channels your audience is using.
This might mean sharing it in your email newsletter, on your LinkedIn page or on other social channels. Promoting your blogs can attract the first readers and could lead to useful mentions and links from other sources.
10.Measure performance and improve the post
SEO results take time. Monitor Google Search Console to find out which queries are driving traffic and whether the blog is receiving clicks or impressions. Your analytics platform should help you to see whether anyone is engaging with your blog and whether they’re taking meaningful actions after reading.
If your blog is driving impressions but not clicks, try tweaking the meta title and description. If it ranks for relevant queries but isn’t in the top results, try and edit the sections that don’t provide a complete answer and add more internal links.
Reviewing and tweaking blog posts is a great way to keep content on your site relevant and to help search engines see that your website is regularly updated.
Write for your customers, then make the page easy to understand and optimise for SEO
The best blogs for SEO are well optimised and provide your customers with a useful answer to their question. To start writing, think about the things that matter to your customers, understand what they’re trying to achieve and create a detailed, relevant and trustworthy resource that answers their initial query and helps them take the next steps.
Then include the primary keywords and phrases in the title, headings, links and metadata to make sure search engines understand what the blog is about.
Ranking is rarely immediate and you can’t guarantee that your business will make it to the top positions. But, writing consistently and creating useful content can increase your chances of appearing in the search results, demonstrate your expertise and guide potential customers towards your business.
Need help writing SEO friendly blog posts?
If you know you should be publishing useful content for your business, but you don’t have the time to research, write and optimise is, Rent a Marketer can help. Our SEO blog writing service gives you access to experts who can conduct keyword research and write, clear engaging content for your website.
Get in touch to discuss a blog topic or find out more about how we can help.
