It’s not enough for companies to simply have a website these days. A search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is critical to distinguish yourself from competitors and rank well in search engines like Google for selected keyword phrases.

One of the more important aspects of an SEO strategy includes a blog, which provides a platform for new, individually indexed content that is attractive to search engines, drives new traffic, aids credibility and boosts authority.

While a blog plays well into numerous facets of PR and marketing strategies, here we’re focusing on its SEO impact, noting why the storytelling tool is essential for getting more eyes on your site.

  • It’s a Platform for Fresh Content –Google favors websites that have high-quality, regularly updated content. More fresh content will increase your ranking over time, in addition to providing visitors with knowledge, education, entertainment or guidance.
  • You Can Align Your Messaging with How Your Customers Search – A blog allows you to dive deeper into specific topics that your customers want to learn about. While the service and/or product sections of a website touch on key pain points and solutions, you can expand on these points and ancillary points further – answering questions that your customers are seeking answers to online. When brainstorming topics for your blog, conduct keyword research and think from the perspective of your potential customers (which may differ from what you want to directly promote). What would your customers type into search engines? Include these topics in your plan, and title each post in a way that mimics how someone would type their query into a search engine.
  • You Can Build Thought Leadership with Quality Content – Search engines don’t solely rank your content according to length or how many keywords you can pack into it. While popular considerations, today’s algorithms are astutely tweaked to identify and negate pages with “keyword stuffing” and other old school SEO tactics that once allowed companies to game the system. Search engines now favor so-called “quality” content. According to Google, quality content shows expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness without using sensationalism or overt keyword stuffing. The page should provide enough content for the visitor to get the information they need, and it should be written by an author rather than an anonymous alias. Quality content shows that you focus on your website users’ experience rather than simply throwing a few keywords on a page. A blog can help you beef up the quality content on your site, allowing you to regularly share your expertise with readers and develop thought leadership for key team members who author posts. Quality content builds your credibility with both search engines and your target audience – a win-win on the SEO and PR fronts.
  • Create Opportunities for External and Internal Links – A blog can be extremely helpful to increase backlinks – links back to your content from third-party sites. One of the best ways to increase the likelihood of backlinks is to create content that people want to share. You can share blogs on social media, in email newsletters and in other digital communications to increase the visibility of your content. As it gains popularity, other sites are more likely to value it as an authoritative resource and link to it.

SEO Pitfalls Derail Success

These days, search engines have caught onto the strategies companies have used to trick the system and artificially boost their SEO rankings. Engaging in questionable SEO behavior on your blog, such as keyword stuffing, clickbait, duplicate content and more can have a negative effect on your overall ranking. Check out our blog post on common SEO mistakes to ensure your strategy is sound.

SEO success has many moving parts, but a blog can be one of the most beneficial tools in your arsenal if used effectively. Keep in mind that you probably won’t see your rankings skyrocket overnight. Plan to consistently craft and promote the right content in order to see results.