Do you spend hours upon hours writing amazing blog posts but only have five people reading them? Maybe you have a large number of readers but your reader growth has plateaued. Having a blog requires constant work, and there is always room for improvement. Our last roundup included our top five content marketing posts. This time around we are adding a little SEO into the mix – I bring you our five favorite resources for a successful blog: SEO edition. Now you can become the blogging superstar you were born to be! (Apologies for the overwhelming corniness, I couldn’t help myself).
The Beginner’s Guide to SEO
SEO can be a really scary beast to tackle if you’ve had little to no experience with this term. You can be the best writer in the world, but if you aren’t spending time focusing on your SEO strategy there’s a good chance all that great writing is going to waste. With so many different SEO websites and blog posts about SEO, it can be tough to find a good place to start. When I first started on my quest to learn about SEO, I took to Google to search “SEO for idiots”. Luckily, I found what I consider to be the very best beginners manual to SEO – Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO.
- SEO is an integral part of your blog’s success, but can also be very intimidating. Moz’s beginners manual is an outstanding resource to keep on hand for your SEO questions.
Considering that this guide has been shared over one million times, there’s a good chance that a lot of you have already read through it. However, there is an equally good chance that some information has been forgotten or that it simply went over your head the first time around. Consider this a little reminder of an amazing resource that would do you good to revisit. You’ll thank me later 🙂
How to Maximize your Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is the gift that keeps on giving. It’s the blog post that is not time sensitive, remains relevant, and continuously gets searched for. More importantly, it is the post that continues to bring organic traffic to your blog with little to no effort – and isn’t that what we all want?
Evergreen content is a magical thing, much like this majestic My Little Pony.
If a successful blog is your goal – which, if you’re reading this post I’m assuming it is – then evergreen content is an idea you should start considering sooner rather than later. With that said, before you get started on attempting to write the most amazing evergreen post mankind has ever seen, I recommend checking out Jason Acidre’s post on maximizing your evergreen content. This awesome resource covers practically everything you need to know about evergreen content, including actionable steps you should be taking to make the most out of your blog. If you’re new to blogging or a seasoned vet, I’m certain you’ll find this post interesting (I pinky promise).
How to Write Attention Grabbing Blog Post Titles
If you’ve read a number of my blog posts before, you already know how I feel about writing titles – they are by far the most torturous part of the writing process. In the past (meaning like a week ago), I put off coming up with the title until the very end, not much sooner from when I hit publish. However, in my attempt to avoid writing that dreaded title, I made the writing process SO much more difficult. First, without a title to keep you on track, it’s very easy to change the direction of your post and lose sight of the original point you set out to make. Second, thinking of a title forces you to consider keywords, which you should be doing long before you set out on your blog post writing journey.
A lot of thought goes into creating a headline. Put in the effort, shortcuts don’t work!
After finally building up the courage to face my blog post title fears, I set out on a journey to read more about title writing than you would care to imagine. Along this journey, I found one post in particular that I feel is a really great resource. Angella Stringfellow’s post on Unbounce’s blog clearly states what makes a great headline, while considering SEO. What really makes this post stand out are the awesome examples of ” the good, the bad, and the ugly” headlines. After reading this, you will know exactly what a superstar headline looks like.
How to do Keyword Research the Smart Way: Targeting Interest and Intent
I briefly mentioned earlier the importance of keyword brainstorming early on in the writing process, (i.e. before you even begin to write your post). Savvy content marketers should be researching keywords to discover what topics their audiences are most interested in reading. More importantly, they should be researching keywords to discover what phrases to use when writing.
Keywords are an integral part of your content marketing strategy. If blog success is what you want, then keyword research is what you need.
If you’re confused about keywords, or if you just want to expand your knowledge base, I’m going to direct you to one of the best blog posts on keyword research that I’ve come across. Beth Morgan’s post on KISSmetric’s blog covers the right way to research keywords. It is detailed, concise, to the point, and stellar. Check it out, I dare you!
22 Top Blogging Tools Loved by the Pros
I’ve already mentioned that blogging takes a lot of work and a lot of time. Thankfully, there are a million tools that both simplify the blogging process and save time. On the flip side, the overwhelming number of tools out there can be a bit intimidating. A great place to start on your tool searching adventure is Cindy King’s post on Social Media Examiner!
Having a great set of blogging tools can save time and make the process easier.
Cindy asked 22 blogging experts what their favorite blogging tools were and why. The post includes a brief description of each tool, why it’s loved, and a screen shot of the tool in action. While there are a variety of different tools featured, the first few listed focus on keywords (which you now know are a very important part of SEO). I have yet to try a lot of these tools, but I’m definitely going to start diving in – you should too!
There you have it; 5 awesome resources for a successful blog. Let me know what your favorite resources are, I’d love to learn from you!
