Search Engine Optimization (SEO) For Blogs

updated on May 22, 2018

This is the beginner’s guide to SEO for blogs in 2018. I’ll show you how to search engine optimize your blog and rank your content on top of Google’s search results.

You’ll love having more people discover your blog content in search engines. Search is the king of free and organic traffic. Unlike social media, you don’t need to spend money to promote your content and you don’t even need big influencers to share your content to millions of their followers.

Search helps get your content discovered by real people that care about it and that need it at the time of the search. Here’s how your blog can rank higher on Google.

What bloggers need to know about SEO and how Google algorithm works

Google crawls the internet, looking for new content, and it then indexes the newly discovered content in its search results where it feels is appropriate. Google discovers new content by following links, reading sitemaps, and seeing social media shares.

Google wants to please its users. If someone uses Google to search for something and quickly finds a satisfying answer, both Google and that user will be happy.

This means that Google strives to provide the value to its users by displaying the most relevant and reputable content on top of its search results.

Google is actually trying to answer the user’s query directly on the results page so the user doesn’t even need to click on any of the organic results and leave Google.

See how the search results page now includes multimedia elements, featured snippets and knowledge panels directly in the search results. First page of Google’s search results does no longer mean that you get to see 10 organic results. In many cases, you only see one to three organic spots.

So when I say you need to be on the top of the search results, that’s what I mean. If you’re not on the top, you’ll struggle to get many blog visitors from search.

Eliminating unsubstantial and useless content

So how does Google make sure to only rank content that its users want? This is done best by reducing and eliminating any unsubstantial and useless content. This type of content won’t make the users find answers to the questions they’re asking.

Google’s search algorithms extensively evaluate different aspects of the content. They’re looking at value and quality when choosing what to rank in their results. Google values trust and wants to rank trustworthy sites only.

This means that you need to build a site that people love and trust. Your knowledge and experience help you create great content that will get other people to take notice.

You want your blog to be a highly reputable place with relevant and useful content about the topic you’re covering in order to be considered for that coveted top spot.

There are no shortcuts and scams that can get you to the top of search results as some “experts” promise you. There are no easy ways and tricks that you can learn by buying their SEO products. Most of it is waste of your time and money.

It’s a long, hard way to the top of Google’s results and your main focus has to be on the production of quality content. Google is very clear on that