If you are a new blogger, you may be wondering how to make your blog posts appear at the top of Google search. This article will outline 6 copywriting tips that will make your posts rank high.
But before that, let me tell you this straight – if you are serious about ranking on Google at all, then you must be willing to publish a valuable blog post every week for a whole year at least. That is the minimum level of consistency you need.
If you are not mentally prepared to make that commitment at the very least, then you will not be consistent enough for Google to rank you at all. If you can afford to, delegate or hire someone. Sometimes, when I am very busy with both my full-time job and my freelance duties, I hire a writer to do work for me so that I maintain consistency.
Now that you are still here, it means you are serious about blogging. So let’s begin:
6 Copywriting Tips to Rank Your Blog Post on Google.
1. Define Your Target Audience.
In order to write with focus, it is important to find out who your specific reader is. Make a mental profile of your ideal reader, and write for that person. When you write for a specific reason, your message will be more focused and you will prevent the use of unnecessary language or keywords that could hurt your ranking.
On this website for example, I write blog posts mainly to promote my copywriting services to small business owners, and to provide simple SEO tips to any individual or business owner who is interested in making a bigger presence online. Other times, I write some blog posts just because it’s fun. See here 🙂
2. Use Search Engine Techniques.
Once you have identified your audience, the next thing is to find out what to write about. Granted, there are highly efficient tools out there such as SEMRUSH and Ahrefs that show you questions that your audience are asking about. But Google is still an unbeatable FREE tool that does the same job.
Make use of Google’s ‘Auto-Complete’ and ‘Related Searches’ functions. In the example below, by simply typing ‘how can I rank higher…’ you can see a list below that shows you what other people are asking. Now you can write blog posts that answer the questions that your audience needs answered.
Also, let’s say you would like to create content around email marketing tips for small businesses, if you use Google related searches , that may give an idea on what to include in your content.
3. Research your Keywords to Match your Target Audience’s Needs.
Since your goal is to give great content and rank higher on Google, you need to tailor your content to match your audience’s needs.
How: Once you have decided what blog post you want to write about, use a keyword tool to find examples of key phrases that you can tailor your content around. Keyword tools are very useful because of their analytics. They can provide several alternative keywords from just one word or phrase, and they also show you the level of online competition for certain keywords.
Free Keyword tools such as Google Keyword Planner are very useful in helping you rank at the top of Google searches. To learn more on how to choose keywords properly, read here.
4. Write Catchy Titles and Headlines.
People always see the headlines first on the Google SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), hence it is wise to invest some time to think of a headline that will interest your reader and get clicked.
To create headlines that stand out:
- Add numbers to inform your audience what to expect.
- Be specific.
- Use Question words if possible – How, Who, Where, When, What.
5. Collect Original Data.
Having original data will help you generate backlinks. Backlinks help blog posts rank higher on search engines like google.
How to get the original data:
- Ask your friends and/or followers on your social networks about their preferences. Set up polls as their responses may help you gather very useful information.
6. Add Clear CTAs (Calls-to-Action)
If you want your audience to take a certain action, i.e., buy a product, donate or visit a certain page, then make it very clear in your blog post. Including CTAs such as links and visible buttons will go a long way to making sure that your CTA is responded to.
Also, use firm language such as ‘Click Here’, or ‘Buy Now.’ Do not be squeamish and use ‘Please Click Here’. A clear call-to-action will improve both the ROI of your content and improve your page views. This will allow Google to pick up your blog post to rank it higher.
Also, remember to use the CTAs strategically throughout your blog because your audience might not read the entire post.
In conclusion, create quality content with the right keywords, catchy headlines, research your data and understand your audience. These will increase your chances to rank higher on google.
