{"id":133347,"date":"2021-05-13T11:00:04","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T16:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=133347"},"modified":"2024-09-17T06:16:23","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T11:16:23","slug":"blog-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/blog-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog SEO: The Complete Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"intro-txt\">Since 2015, we\u2019ve grown the Ahrefs Blog from zero to over 600,000 monthly search visits.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s our secret? Consistency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve been using the same SEO strategy for the past six years, and it works&nbsp;well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this guide, you\u2019ll learn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#what-is-blog-seo\">What blog SEO&nbsp;is<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#why-is-blog-seo-important\">Why blog SEO is important<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#how-to-write-blog-posts-for-seo\">How to write blog posts for&nbsp;SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#optimize-blog-posts-for-seo\">How to optimize your blog posts for&nbsp;SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#improve-and-maintain-rankings\">How to improve and maintain blog post rankings<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>But first, let\u2019s make sure we\u2019re on the same&nbsp;page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"What is blog SEO?\" data-section=\"what-is-blog-seo\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is blog&nbsp;SEO?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Blog SEO is the process of writing and optimizing blog content to rank in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alternative-search-engines\/\">search engines<\/a>&nbsp;like Google. Common tasks associated with blog SEO include <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-research\/\">keyword research<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-writing\/\">content writing<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/on-page-seo\/\">on-page SEO<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/link-building\/\">link building<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Why is blog SEO important?\" data-section=\"why-is-blog-seo-important\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why is blog SEO important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Although there are many ways to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/increase-blog-traffic\/\">drive traffic to a blog<\/a>, search engine traffic tends to be the most stable and consistent. If you can rank for the keywords that people are searching for and maintain those rankings, your posts will attract consistent targeted traffic from Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many other traffic sources tend to result in an initial spike in traffic, but it\u2019s quickly followed by a sharp decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pasted-image-0-1.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How to write blog posts for SEO\" data-section=\"how-to-write-blog-posts-for-seo\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to write blog posts for&nbsp;SEO<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important to understand that you can\u2019t just create any old blog post and expect your post to attract thousands of visits from Google. It doesn\u2019t work like that. To stand the best chance of ranking, you need to do your research and <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-optimize-blog-posts-for-seo\/\">craft your blog posts for SEO<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how to do that in five&nbsp;steps<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#find-a-keyword\">Find a keyword<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#check-search-intent\">Check search intent<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#choose-winning-format-angle\">Choose a winning format and&nbsp;angle<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#create-data-driven-outline\">Craft a data-driven outline<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#write-the-post\">Write the&nbsp;post<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"find-a-keyword\">1. Find a keyword<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Each blog post you write should be optimized for one main keyword, and that keyword should be something that people are actually searching for month after month. After all, it\u2019s impossible to get search traffic to a blog post about a topic that nobody is searching for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you find keywords? Use a <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/free-keyword-research-tools\/\">keyword research tool<\/a>&nbsp;like Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enter a few broad \u2018seed\u2019 words or phrases related to your blog\u2019s topic, then check the <strong>Phrase Match<\/strong>&nbsp;keyword ideas report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if you have a food blog, you might use \u2018seed\u2019 keywords like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chicken<\/li>\n<li>Pasta<\/li>\n<li>Recipe<\/li>\n<li>Recipes<\/li>\n<li>Ribs<\/li>\n<li>steak<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2-seed-keywords.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Keywords Explorer finds over 14 million keywords containing one or more of these phrases, but it won\u2019t make sense to write blog posts about them all. You need to skim the list for topics that make sense for&nbsp;you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, it would make complete sense for a food blogger to write a post about \u201cchicken tikka masala\u201d but not \u201cchicken pox.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your blog is quite new, you might want to set the Keyword Difficulty (KD) filter to something low to focus on low-difficulty ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/3-KD.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/low-competition-keywords\/\">How to Find Low-Competition Keywords for&nbsp;SEO<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"check-search-intent\">2. Check search intent<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-rank-higher-on-google\/\">Ranking high in Google<\/a>&nbsp;is the secret to getting consistent search traffic to your blog posts, but unless people are actually looking for blog posts when they search for your keyword, your chances of ranking are slim to&nbsp;none.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to understand whether most searchers are looking for a blog post or something else. This is known as assessing <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/search-intent\/\">search intent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To do this, type your keyword into Google and look at the search results. Because the entire point of Google is to deliver relevant results to searchers, its search results are a great way to identify search intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, take a keyword like \u201cpasta maker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You might assume that it wouldn\u2019t make sense to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-write-a-blog-post\/\">write a blog post<\/a> about this because people are undoubtedly looking to buy pasta makers. Yet if you look at the search results, most of them are blog posts reviewing the best pasta makers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/4-pasta-maker-serps.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/search-intent\/\">Beginner\u2019s Guide to Search Intent<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"choose-winning-format-angle\">3. Choose a winning format and&nbsp;angle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if searchers are looking for blog posts, you can\u2019t just write any old post and rank in pole position because searchers are often looking for something specific. You need to figure out what this is to develop a winning format and angle for your&nbsp;post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Choosing&nbsp;a winning format<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Most blog posts are written in one of these formats:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How-to guide<\/li>\n<li>Step-by-step tutorial<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/listicle\/\">Listicle<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Opinion piece<\/li>\n<li>Review<\/li>\n<li>Comparison<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you know what format searchers are looking for? Look for the dominant format in the search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, most of the results for \u201cdinner ideas\u201d are listicles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/5-dinner-ideas-serps.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet most results for \u201cribs on the grill\u201d are how-to guides:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/6-ribs-on-grill-serps.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Are things always this straightforward and obvious? Of course not. Sometimes there will be an even mix of multiple content formats in the results, as is the case for \u201cbeef&nbsp;ribs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/7-beef-ribs-serps.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In these cases, you have a few options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go with what the top-ranking page is&nbsp;doing<\/li>\n<li>Look for a commonality among the top&nbsp;2-3<\/li>\n<li>Make your best&nbsp;guess<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Choosing a winning angle<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s harder to quantify <em>angle<\/em>&nbsp;than <em>format<\/em>, but it\u2019s effectively&nbsp;the main selling point of your content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you figure out a winning angle?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You guessed it: look at the&nbsp;SERPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, people searching for \u201cflank steak\u201d clearly want a recipe that includes a marinade. If you want to rank, it\u2019s probably worth giving people what they want instead of just telling them to season with salt and pepper and throw it in a&nbsp;pan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/8-flank-steak-serps.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are a few common content angles to look for in the search results:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Personal experience<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2192 21 Best Online Marketing Tools That We Use At Ahrefs <br><strong>Best<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2192 6 Best Marketing Podcasts <br><strong>Expert commentary<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2192 33 Expert-Backed Decluttering Tips <br><strong>For beginners <\/strong>\u2192 17 Blogging Tips For Beginners <br><strong>Specific outcome<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2192 12 Quick SEO Tips to Increase Organic Traffic <br><strong>Tried and tested<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2192 26 Best Free Chrome Extensions for SEOs (Tried &amp; Tested) <br><strong>Freshness\u2192<\/strong>&nbsp;Content Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide For&nbsp;2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, there are plenty of SERPs where you won\u2019t see a dominant content angle. In that case, make your best&nbsp;guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"create-data-driven-outline\">4. Craft a data-driven outline<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Having some idea of what to include in your blog posts will make them much easier to write. But while you could come up with an outline based on gut feeling, it\u2019s always better to take a data-driven approach to understand what search engine users are actually looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s look at a few ways to do&nbsp;this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Look for common subheadings<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Subheadings often align with subtopics. If you see common subheadings across multiple top-ranking posts for your keyword, it\u2019s probably something that searchers want to&nbsp;know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, three of the top-ranking pages for \u201cflank steak\u201d have a \u201cwhat is flank steak?\u201d subheading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ScreenRecording2021-04-27at08.54.50pm.gif\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It would probably be worth including a similar section in any post targeting this keyword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to speed up the process of looking at subheadings, you can use the free on-page SEO report in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo-toolbar\">Ahrefs SEO toolbar<\/a>&nbsp;to see all subheadings in a&nbsp;post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/9-ahrefs-toolbar.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Look for common keywords<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the pages that <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-get-on-the-first-page-of-google\/\">rank on the first page of Google<\/a>&nbsp;for one keyword also rank in the top 10 for <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/also-rank-for-study\/\">hundreds of other keywords<\/a>. And some of these keywords will represent subtopics that you might want to include in your blog&nbsp;post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you find these keywords?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just plug a few top-ranking pages into Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/content-gap\">Content Gap Tool<\/a>, set the mode to URL, and leave the bottom field&nbsp;blank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/10-content-gap.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Hit \u201cShow keywords\u201d to see all the keywords that one or more of these pages ranks&nbsp;for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because there will often be a lot of keywords and noise here, it\u2019s worth using the intersections filter to find keywords that two or more of the pages rank&nbsp;for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/12-content-gap-intersections.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In this case, many of the keywords are just different ways of searching for our main keyword. But there are a few that map to subtopics like \u201cwhat is flank steak,\u201d \u201cflank steak marinade,\u201d and \u201chow long to grill flank&nbsp;steak.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/13-content-gap-results.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Check the \u201calso talk about\u201d report<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Plug your main keyword into Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a>,&nbsp;then check the <strong>Also talk about<\/strong>&nbsp;report to see frequently-mentioned keywords on the top-ranking pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we do this for \u201cflank steak,\u201d we see keywords like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>carne asada<\/li>\n<li>brown sugar<\/li>\n<li>red wine<\/li>\n<li>soy sauce<\/li>\n<li>olive oil<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/14-also-talk-about.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This pretty much tells us exactly what searchers are likely looking for and even gives us some ideas for the kind of marinade they\u2019re after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"write-the-post\">5. Write the&nbsp;post<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s finally time to start tapping away on your keyboard to write your first draft. The good news is that because you\u2019ve already created a data-driven outline, there\u2019s no need to concern yourself with \u201csprinkling in keywords\u201d or anything like that. Just write and fill the&nbsp;gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How to optimize your blog posts for SEO\" data-section=\"optimize-blog-posts-for-seo\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to optimize your blog posts for&nbsp;SEO<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the hard optimization work is already done by aligning your blog post with search intent and taking a data-driven approach to the content itself. But it\u2019s worth making a few more optimizations to give your post the best shot at ranking in Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a quick <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-checklist\/\">SEO checklist<\/a>&nbsp;you can follow for each post you publish to put the icing on the&nbsp;cake:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#include-keyword-in-title\">Include your keyword in the&nbsp;title<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#keep-title-tag-short\">Keep your title tag&nbsp;short<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#use-evergreen-URL\">Use an evergreen URL<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#craft-compelling-meta-description\">Craft a compelling meta description<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#optimize-images\">Optimize images<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#add-table-of-contents\">Add a table of contents&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#include-linkable-snippets\">Include \u2018linkable snippets\u2019&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#add-schema-markup\">Add schema markup<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#add-internal-links\">Add internal links<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"include-keyword-in-title\">Include your keyword in the&nbsp;title<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Most blogging platforms like WordPress will wrap your page title in an <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/h1-tag\/\">H1 header<\/a>, which is probably why including your keyword in your title is <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-basics\/\">SEO 101<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019ve read any of our posts before, you\u2019ve probably noticed that we include the keyword in most titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/15-ahrefs-blog.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Is this going to make or break your rankings?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Definitely not. But every little helps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just be aware that it doesn\u2019t always make sense to include your keyword exactly as it\u2019s written in your title. Sometimes it\u2019s better to use a variation for improved readability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, our keyword for <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-get-youtube-subscribers\/\">this post<\/a>&nbsp;is \u201chow to get more youtube subscribers,\u201d but we didn\u2019t use that exact phrase in our title because it\u2019s a listicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/16-get-more-youtube-subs.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"keep-title-tag-short\">Keep your title tag&nbsp;short<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/title-tag-seo\/\">Title tags<\/a>&nbsp;are important because they show up in the search results:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most blogging platforms like WordPress will set your post title as your title tag. That\u2019s usually fine, but if your title is particularly long, it might get truncated in the search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/17-marketing-ideas.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Is this always a bad thing? Not really, but it\u2019s often wise to nip it in the&nbsp;bud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can do that by creating a shorter version of your post title to use for the title&nbsp;tag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s what we did with this&nbsp;post:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/18-source-code.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"sidenote\"><div class=\"sidenote-title\">Sidenote.<\/div> We\u2019re using <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wordpress-seo\/\">Yoast SEO<\/a>&nbsp;to do this in WordPress. You could also use <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/seo-by-rank-math\/\">Rank Math<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/autodescription\/\">The SEO Framework<\/a>, or any number of other <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress\/\">SEO plugins for WordPress<\/a>. If you\u2019re using another platform like Squarespace or Wix, you should have the ability to change title tags out of the&nbsp;box.&nbsp;<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/title-tag-seo\/\">How to Craft the Perfect SEO Title&nbsp;Tag<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"use-evergreen-URL\">Use an evergreen URL<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever seen a search result like&nbsp;this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/19-video-seo.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The title says the post was published in 2021, but the URL says 2017. So which is&nbsp;it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we plug that URL into Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/content-explorer\">Content Explorer<\/a>, we get our answer: the post was originally published in 2017 but updated in&nbsp;2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/20-video-seo-content-explorer.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Because the author failed to use an evergreen URL when they originally published the post, the updated version looks old because \u201c2017\u201d remains in the&nbsp;URL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to use evergreen URLs that don\u2019t go out of date, and the easiest way to do this is to set your post URL slug to your target keyword. This also has the added benefit of keeping your URLs short and sweet to reduce truncation in the&nbsp;SERPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-friendly-urls\/\">How to Create SEO-Friendly URLs (Step-by-Step)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"craft-compelling-meta-description\">Craft a compelling meta description<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/meta-description\/\">Meta descriptions<\/a>&nbsp;often show up as the descriptive snippet in the&nbsp;SERP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/21-lsi-keywords.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By crafting a compelling meta description, you can entice more searchers to click on your blog post in the search results. That leads to more organic traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you craft a compelling meta description?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Look for commonalities among the descriptive snippets of top-ranking posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, all of the results for \u201csteak tacos\u201d talk about the best cuts of steak for the job, with Google even bolding terms like \u201cflank steak\u201d and \u201cbeef.\u201d So these are things you would also probably want to mention in your meta description.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/22-steak-tacos-serps.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For \u201cflank steak,\u201d all of the snippets are definitions\u2014so that\u2019s what you\u2019d want to write&nbsp;here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/23-flank-steak-serps.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/meta-description\/\">How to Write the Perfect Meta Description<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"optimize-images\">Optimize images<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You should optimize your blog post images for accessibility and to help them rank in Google Images\u2014which can send more traffic your&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, here\u2019s our blog traffic from Google Images for the past 3 months:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/24-google-images.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how to optimize your images:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Use descriptive filenames<\/strong>. Think cute-puppy.jpg, not IMG_95742.jpg.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Add descriptive alt text.<\/strong>&nbsp;Describe your images in a few words to help visually impaired users that use screen readers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Compress them<\/strong>. Use a plugin like <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/shortpixel-image-optimiser\/\">ShortPixel<\/a>&nbsp;or <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/ewww-image-optimizer\/\">EWWW Image Optimizer<\/a>&nbsp;for this.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/image-seo\/\">Image SEO: 12 Actionable Tips<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"add-table-of-contents\">Add a table of contents<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A table of contents links to important subsections of your post and helps visitors find the information they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s an example from this very&nbsp;post:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-04-27-at-21.20.15.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Ours is custom coded, but free plugins like <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/easy-table-of-contents\/\">Easy Table of Contents<\/a>&nbsp;make it easy to add a table of contents to pretty much any&nbsp;post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides the UX benefits, a table of contents can also help trigger <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/sitelinks\/\">sitelinks<\/a>&nbsp;on posts in the SERPs\u2014which can potentially help you win even more organic clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s an example from <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/301-redirects\/\">our guide to 301 redirects<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/26-sitelinks.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>These are sections listed in our table of contents:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-04-27-at-21.20.54.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/sitelinks\/\">What Are Sitelinks? How to Influence Them<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"include-linkable-snippets\">Include \u2018linkable snippets\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Linkable snippets are pieces of information that entice people to link to your blog&nbsp;posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Getting more links is important because they\u2019re a known <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-ranking-factors\/\">ranking factor<\/a>. Google has told us this on many occasions, and we also found a clear correlation between backlinks and organic traffic in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/search-traffic-study\/\">our study of over one billion pages<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But how do you know what constitutes a \u2018linkable snippet\u2019 for your&nbsp;topic?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a simple method:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Plug the top-ranking page for your keyword into Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Go to the <strong>Anchors<\/strong>&nbsp;report<\/li>\n<li>Look for common reasons in the anchors<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>If we do this for one of the top-ranking posts for \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-techniques\/\">SEO techniques<\/a>,\u201d we see many people linking due to statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/28-anchors.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We can probably entice more people to link to our post on the topic by including similar statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we do this for one of the top posts about SEO copywriting, we see many people linking because of two unique concepts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/29-anchors.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If we wanted to get more backlinks to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-copywriting\/\">our post about SEO copywriting<\/a>, we should probably include a couple of our own unique ideas in the&nbsp;post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"add-schema-markup\">Add schema markup<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/schema-markup\/\">Schema markup<\/a>&nbsp;is code that helps search engines to better understand and showcase your content in the search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For blog posts, the main use of schema markup is to win <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/rich-snippets\/\">rich snippets<\/a>&nbsp;like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pasted-image-0-2.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Rich snippets can increase clicks and lead to more organic traffic to your blog&nbsp;posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So how do you know if you should add schema markup to your&nbsp;post?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a quick cheat&nbsp;sheet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/blog-seo.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading: <\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/rich-snippets\/\">Rich Snippets: What Are They and How Do You Get&nbsp;Them?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"add-internal-links\">Add internal links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/internal-links-for-seo\/\">Internal links<\/a>&nbsp;are links from one page or post on the same domain to another. They\u2019re important because they boost the \u2018authority\u2019 of pages and help Google to understand what a page is&nbsp;about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is why it makes sense to add relevant internal links to every blog post you publish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find relevant opportunities with Google. Just search for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><code>site:yourwebsite.com \"main keyword for your post\"<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if your blog post is about flank steak, then you would search for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><code>site:yourwebsite.com \"flank steak\"<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This will return the pages on your site mentioning your post\u2019s target keyword:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/31-site-search.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s then simply a case of linking these words and phrases to your new blog post where relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also find internal linking opportunities for free using <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a>&nbsp;in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/a>. Just go to the <strong>Link Opportunities<\/strong>&nbsp;report and add your target page:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/32-internal-links.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\n<\/p><div data-mode=\"normal\" data-oembed=\"1\" data-provider=\"youtube\" id=\"arve-youtube-ewjtcpzgqwy\" style=\"max-width:900px;\" class=\"arve\">\n\t<div class=\"arve-inner\">\n\t\t<div style=\"aspect-ratio:500\/281\" class=\"arve-embed arve-embed--has-aspect-ratio\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"arve-ar\" style=\"padding-top:56.200000%\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<iframe allow=\"accelerometer 'none';autoplay 'none';bluetooth 'none';browsing-topics 'none';camera 'none';clipboard-read 'none';clipboard-write;display-capture 'none';encrypted-media 'none';gamepad 'none';geolocation 'none';gyroscope 'none';hid 'none';identity-credentials-get 'none';idle-detection 'none';keyboard-map 'none';local-fonts;magnetometer 'none';microphone 'none';midi 'none';otp-credentials 'none';payment 'none';picture-in-picture;publickey-credentials-create 'none';publickey-credentials-get 'none';screen-wake-lock 'none';serial 'none';summarizer 'none';sync-xhr;usb 'none';web-share;window-management 'none';xr-spatial-tracking 'none';\" allowfullscreen class=\"arve-iframe fitvidsignore\" credentialless data-arve=\"arve-youtube-ewjtcpzgqwy\" data-lenis-prevent data-src-no-ap=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/eWJtcPzGQWY?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"505.8\" loading=\"lazy\" name referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/eWJtcPzGQWY?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" title width=\"900\"><\/iframe>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/internal-links-for-seo\/\">Internal Links for SEO: An Actionable Guide<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How to improve and maintain blog post rankings\" data-section=\"improve-and-maintain-rankings\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to improve and maintain blog post rankings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Blog SEO isn\u2019t a one-time thing. You can\u2019t just write and optimize a post and call it a day. Getting your blog posts to rank high in Google and maintaining those rankings over time is an ongoing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s look at a few tactics you can use to improve and maintain blog post rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#update-posts\">Update your posts regularly<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#optimize-for-featured-snippets\">Optimize for featured snippets<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#create-content-hubs\">Create content hubs<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#build-links\">Build more&nbsp;links<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"update-posts\">Update your posts regularly<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019ve been following the Ahrefs Blog for a while, you\u2019ll know that we update and republish our blog posts almost as often as we write new&nbsp;ones.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/content-explorer\">Content Explorer<\/a>, we\u2019ve republished around \u00bc of our&nbsp;posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/33-republished-pages.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason we do this is that rankings rarely last forever. Our posts often grow stale and outdated over time, which leads to a drop in rankings and organic traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s precisely what happened to our post about the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/top-google-searches\/\">top Google searches<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-04-27-at-21.27.35.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>How did we solve this problem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By updating and republishing the&nbsp;post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can tell when we did this as there\u2019s a big traffic spike on the&nbsp;graph:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/34-top-google-searches-traffic.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We also often rewrite and republish posts where we misjudged search intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, we published an <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/on-page-seo\/\">on-page SEO<\/a>&nbsp;study in 2016 but it never ranked particularly high or got much organic traffic because searchers didn\u2019t want a study. So, in 2018, we rewrote the post as a guide and republished it under the same&nbsp;URL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This resulted in a huge and consistent spike in organic traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/35-on-page-seo-traffic.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/republishing-content\/\">Republishing Content: How to Update Old Blog Posts for&nbsp;SEO<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"optimize-for-featured-snippets\">Optimize for featured snippets<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/featured-snippets\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/find-featured-snippets\/\">Featured snippets<\/a>&nbsp;are short pieces of information that appear at the top of some search results. They\u2019re usually pulled from one of the pages in the top 10 and aim to provide a succinct answer to the searcher\u2019s question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/36-featured-snippet.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By optimizing your blog post for the featured snippet, you can sometimes shortcut your way to the top position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s the simplest way to find featured snippet opportunities for your&nbsp;posts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Plug your blog into Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Go to the <strong>Organic Keywords<\/strong>&nbsp;report<\/li>\n<li>Filter for keywords with featured snippets that you don\u2019t rank&nbsp;for<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/37-organic-keywords.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Then it\u2019s just a case of adding or reformatting the information needed to be eligible for the snippet to your blog&nbsp;post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\n<\/p><div data-mode=\"normal\" data-oembed=\"1\" data-provider=\"youtube\" id=\"arve-youtube-tutmlbbnlg0\" style=\"max-width:900px;\" class=\"arve\">\n\t<div class=\"arve-inner\">\n\t\t<div style=\"aspect-ratio:500\/281\" class=\"arve-embed arve-embed--has-aspect-ratio\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"arve-ar\" style=\"padding-top:56.200000%\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<iframe allow=\"accelerometer 'none';autoplay 'none';bluetooth 'none';browsing-topics 'none';camera 'none';clipboard-read 'none';clipboard-write;display-capture 'none';encrypted-media 'none';gamepad 'none';geolocation 'none';gyroscope 'none';hid 'none';identity-credentials-get 'none';idle-detection 'none';keyboard-map 'none';local-fonts;magnetometer 'none';microphone 'none';midi 'none';otp-credentials 'none';payment 'none';picture-in-picture;publickey-credentials-create 'none';publickey-credentials-get 'none';screen-wake-lock 'none';serial 'none';summarizer 'none';sync-xhr;usb 'none';web-share;window-management 'none';xr-spatial-tracking 'none';\" allowfullscreen class=\"arve-iframe fitvidsignore\" credentialless data-arve=\"arve-youtube-tutmlbbnlg0\" data-lenis-prevent data-src-no-ap=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/TuTMLbbnlg0?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"505.8\" loading=\"lazy\" name referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/TuTMLbbnlg0?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" title width=\"900\"><\/iframe>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/featured-snippets\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/find-featured-snippets\/\">How to Optimize for Google\u2019s Featured Snippets<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"create-content-hubs\">Create content hubs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-hub\/\">Content hubs<\/a>&nbsp;are interlinked collections of blog posts about a particular topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They consist of these three&nbsp;parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>A \u2018hub\u2019 post<\/strong>&nbsp;about a broad&nbsp;topic.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sub posts<\/strong>&nbsp;about parts of the broad&nbsp;topic.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Internal l<\/strong><strong>inks<\/strong>&nbsp;to and from the hub page to sub&nbsp;posts.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pasted-image-0-2.png\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Many SEO professionals believe that creating a content hub from blog posts will improve rankings for all posts in the hub. There are a few reasons for this, but the main theory is that it helps Google see your site as an authoritative source of information about a&nbsp;topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of creating a content hub, you can either create one from scratch or create them from blog posts you\u2019ve already written around a similar topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-hub\/\">Content Hubs for SEO: How to Get More Traffic and&nbsp;Links<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"build-links\">Build more&nbsp;links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Because there\u2019s a clear correlation between backlinks and rankings, you\u2019ll probably struggle to outrank posts with significantly <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/high-quality-backlinks\/\">more high-quality links<\/a> than&nbsp;yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you know how many links competing pages&nbsp;have?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check the SERP overview for your target keyword in Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/38-serp-overview.jpg\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can then dig deeper into their link profiles to check the quality of their links and get a better sense of true ranking difficulty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-difficulty\/\">Keyword Difficulty: How to Determine Your Chances of Ranking in Google<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Blog SEO is all about consistency. You need to write, optimize and update search-focused blog posts consistently. It takes time and rankings won\u2019t appear overnight, but it\u2019s pretty much the only way to drive consistent search traffic to your&nbsp;blog<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your blog is new and you lack \u2018authority,\u2019 it may also be worth starting with <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/low-competition-keywords\/\">low-competition keywords<\/a>&nbsp;that are easier to rank&nbsp;for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about how to start and grow your blog to 100K monthly visitors and beyond in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/academy\/blogging-for-business\">our free blogging for business course<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Got questions? Ping me <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshuachardwick?lang=en\">on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What\u2019s our secret? Consistency. We\u2019ve been using the same SEO strategy for the past six years, and it works&nbsp;well. In this guide, you\u2019ll learn: What blog SEO&nbsp;is Why blog SEO is important How to write blog posts for&nbsp;SEO How to<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":133355,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[335],"tags":[],"coauthors":[336],"class_list":["post-133347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-seo","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Blog SEO: The Complete Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We&#039;ve been using the same blog SEO strategy for the past six years and it has helped us grow the Ahrefs 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