One of the main goals for every company with online marketing is to increase visibility. Blog posts are designed to bring in visitors who are searching for your product or service. Search engine optimization allows you to get in front of people with your blog post, so they can get to know you.

It seems like the rules change every time Google has one of its infamous updates. What mattered in SEO yesterday doesn’t make much of a difference today. So, how can you keep up with what works now and what doesn’t?
You may find it difficult to keep up with the changes or to know what you should be doing right now to optimize your blog. Here are a few key ideas to help you being improving SEO for your blog.

Choose the Right Long-Tail Keywords

In the old days, everyone stuffed as many keywords in a piece of content as possible. The end result was the blog post or article wasn’t readable and had no real value. Google made some changes in their algorithm and now it’s not about how many or how often you use the keywords as much as choosing the right ones. In fact, too many keywords will cause Google to penalize you.

Instead, focus on one or two long-tail keywords per post. Choose words that tell what your post is about so that searches for that subject brings visitors to your post.

Know Where to Use Keywords

Some people believe that using keywords in a blog post is all that matters, but where you place them is almost as important as which ones you use. The headline is an obvious choice, but you should also include it in the headers and throughout the body in a natural way. The URL should also contain one of your main keywords as well as the meta description.

If you have a long title, you should put the keyword at the beginning or at least within the first half. Include them in your headers, but make sure you can do so naturally. While the keyword should be found within the body of the blog post, you don’t really have to worry about it as long as the subject reflects your keywords. For instance, if your keyword is “car insurance” and your blog post is about how to choose the best car insurance provider, the keyword will naturally appear without any work on your part.

Be Mobile Friendly

More people conduct searches on their phones than on a computer. They are also more likely to read blog posts and other articles on their phones as they wait for an appointment or do other tasks. Make sure your blog post is easy to read on mobile devices.

Google also rewards sites that are mobile-friendly, so your blog will rank higher in searches if it’s optimized for mobile devices. Choose a responsive design for your website, and it will display well on any device because it adjusts to different sizes.

Optimize Your Meta Description and Images

The meta description is the line that shows up in searches that tells a little about the site. It’s an important part of a site for both people and search engines. Make sure you include your keyword and a description of what the page is about.

Search engines look at images differently than people. They read the text that goes with the image rather than seeing the actual image. That’s why it’s so important to include keywords in the text that accompanies the image.

Consider Your Tags

When creating tags for your post, make sure to include words that are relevant to the subject. At the same time, avoid having too many that are similar. Otherwise, you may get penalized because they are not truly unique tags. It’s best to use fewer tags and make each one special so that they don’t look like duplicates.

You don’t have to be a marketing genius to learn some of the basic methods of search engine optimization. If you take the time to put these tips into practice, you’re sure to see the results with improved rankings and more visitors finding their way to your blog.