When you read a long-form blog post, you are usually in awe of the knowledge the writer has. Long-form content is not only liked by readers but Google as well. What comes to your mind when we say long-form? It’s not 1500-2000 words. Long-form content can range anything from 3000-6000 words. Yeah, it’s a lot of research and a lot of writing!
To begin with, make sure if you personally write your blogs that it’s not only figures and numbers, there should be solid theory to explain the matter at hand. Secondly, if you’re not a writer, but own a blog then make sure that you give your writer enough information to make the content long enough with substantial knowledge. This will make your readers know that you are an expert in the field.
Search engine optimization includes a lot of things like keywords, on-site optimization, site speed, mobile-friendliness, crawlability, etc. Amongst these there are a few, that can help you with a better SEO reach for your long-form content.
Researching the Right Keywords
Well, we all know this is very basic when it comes to SEO. KEYWORDS. Now not only do we have to research the correct keywords, but we also have to make sure that these keywords are not very competitive.
Before you start writing it is important to be prepared with your list of keywords. Now your question is where can you find this list of keywords?
There are tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs, which help you find keywords. They will be available in all types, from competitive to lower competitive ones.
Now while we are on the topic of keywords, you can also use related keywords. You know words that are synonyms of your targeted keywords.
Many search engines use synonyms to comprehend the text at hand. For example,
when you Google something, and at the end of the page, it shows related searches, well those searches are your keywords. So when you search for a pastry chef, the related keywords are displayed below. These can be used as a reference for your keyword search.
Long-tailed keywords
Many of us forget that long-tailed keywords are how people actually make searches on any search engine. Not only that long-tailed keywords are very important for voice searches. Not only are long-tailed keywords easier to rank, but they also drive a highly specific audience to your website. There are various tools available to find long-tailed keywords.
https://keywordtool.io/long-tail-keywords
https://papayasearch.com/ppc-keyword-generator/
https://www.wordstream.com/keyword-generator
All you have to do is put in your targeted keyword in the search and they formulate long-tailed keywords for you.
Use the correct H1 tag
By definition, an H1 tag is, “The <H1> HTML tag is the first header tag visible on a page. It is used for the title of a page or post. When viewed in HTML code, the H1 value is enclosed in <h1></h1> tags.”
If you ever write your content in a Google Doc, you will understand easily what an H1 tag is. The sidebar in which the document shows you your various titles and subtitles, well, your title is basically your H1 tag and is used highly in search engines.
A well-optimized H1 tag will enable the search engines to better index your content.
Preferably, your H1 tags should:
- Should be short and to the point.
- They should provide a clear idea of what the blog post is about.
- Have a long tail keyword (your target keyword).
Once your headings have these qualities, you’re good to go.
Backlinks are your best friends
Backlinks are links you get from other websites when they link to you or your product. Backlinks are a major part of SEO and so crucial that without any backlinks it’s impossible to rank higher on any search engine. You know how in the real world your goodwill is based on how people talk about you or your business to other people? Well, in the internet world, the goodwill of your website is based on how many people refer to your work and link it to their own work. Building backlinks is a process. You have to begin with generating content that is high quality that people will want to refer to. Once that is done, you can slowly develop backlinks from quality websites in your niche.
Use shorter URLs
It has been stated that shorter URLs are easier to read by search engines. It lets the search engine know what you are talking about in your post. Also, don’t forget to include your keyword in the URL for a better ranking.
Link your article
We have already spoken about getting backlinks from other websites, but what about links you incorporate into your blog?
Well, there are two types of links you can add to your blog, internal and external.
As their names state, internal linking is when you have in detail written about a certain topic and that topic is included in your new blog. Make sure to link it.
Secondly, it is important to link to sites that you gather information from or any kind of data, or even if you are just mentioning them. For example, if you have data like how many millionaires are in the world. So, if you pick up this information from Wikipedia, make sure to attach a link to that information.
SEO friendly Meta description
Meta descriptions are the two lines that appear on a search engine below the H1 tag.
It’s a 160 character snippet that summarizes your whole page. An optimized meta description should:
- Have a focused keyword
- Brief wording
- Be clear and descriptive
- Be captivating to make the reader click on the page
Images
Just like children, even adults enjoy a few multimedia when they are reading. Try to include images, charts, screenshots, etc., to round out your article. This not only reduces bounce rate but also increases time on site.
Long-form content can look scary in the beginning but with the correct information and properly optimized SEO, it should be a cakewalk. Make sure that people recognize your expertise in your chosen field.
