This article intends to be a guideline for content writers on how to write a blog which is quickly approved by the SEO team.

A lot goes behind content that ranks. An ideal blog should follow some SEO guidelines so that Google finds it worthy of ranks. Guidelines that make the blog more relevant, engaging and crisp. Only such content has the ability to rank and survive on the internet where 1.6M new blogs are posted daily.

Before penning your thoughts down, you would need a keyword and a topic. A content writing request raised by an SEO Specialist will have a keyword and the topic. The keyword is selected by doing extensive keyword research and that is then used to brainstorm for a topic. Once both these things are in place you use the keywords in your content and start writing your article following these guidelines.

Content Guidelines: 

The KISS Approach:

Keep It Simple Stupid! You don’t have to channelise your inner Shashi Tharoor for the content. Try and have a conversation with your reader, like I am speaking to you right now. Yes, a blog should sound like a conversation. Your readers are on the internet and not reading a newspaper article.

I know what you are thinking, KISS is subjective to everyone; something simple for you could be complicated for me and vice versa.
Let me introduce you to Flesch Reading Score: it’s a score that determines if your English is too Basic, Mediocre or Shashi Tharoor.
Use this tool for checking the Flesch Reading Score.

Satisfy the STA (Searcher Task Accomplishment):

You know how you Google something and keep opening websites until you have a satisfactory result? You would want to be that last website for your reader, i.e., the website that satisfies their STA.
To write STA worthy content, take a hard look at the keyword and understand the searcher’s intent. Ask yourself: if you were the person searching for this, what would you be looking for? Your ultimate goal is to satisfy the ‘Searcher’s Intent’.
For example, with the keyword ‘How to lose weight’, your approach should be answering this question in brief paragraphs, and not with sub-headings or tips, the user is looking for one way to lose weight.
Another example, with the keyword ‘Ways to lose weight’, your approach should be providing the user with multiple ways to lose weight and one of the ways could be a product or service you sell.
In both cases, the searcher’s intent differed and hence content should be approached accordingly. Rand Fishkin’s (Moz) latest experiment proved how Google is giving importance to STA over all other SEO parameters.

Catchy Headline:

Your users judge you by it. A good headline gets better Click Through Rate(CTR) and Google loves above-average CTRs.
See some kickass samples here.

Content should follow Active Voice

Because it is easy to read and understand. That’s it.

Outlinks to facts and surveys taken from high authority websites

Just how I just gave out two links to some good authority websites here. These websites genuinely will add value to your content while giving out a signal to Google that you care about your STA and not just having them locked in your website. A content writer has to ensure they embed outlinking opportunities in their article.
For example, if you are mentioning ‘Keto Diet helps you lose 10 kgs in a week’, you should outlink it with a research paper or source of this information or you could simply outlink it to the website which is going to help the user get more information on the topic.

End with a Call to Action

Direct your users to a product or another blog. Basically, encourage them to take some action. A good CTA is like a desert after a great meal: you’ve given them information and they loved it. Now direct them with the next steps to finish the full course meal that you just served.

That’s all folks!

Oh wait, I almost forgot, I am supposed to give you a CTA, so I will be a good writer and give you one.

Since you are pumped about SEO content, keep this Blog Optimisation Checklist handy, it will help you churn out 100% SEO optimised blogs.

Let me know your views in the comment section below.