Five Ways Your Blog Can Support Your SEO Strategy

In the early days of the internet, the term “blog” was coined as a website where individuals wrote about their opinions, ideas, hobbies and lives.

However, blogs have now become much more than an online journal for individuals, as many of the world’s biggest (and smallest) organizations now have their own blogs as well, speaking on topics daily in which their audiences are interested.

So why are blogs so popular today in digital marketing? Why does nearly every successful website have a blog? The answer is found in the following five ways blogs can help support an organization’s SEO strategy:

1. Blogs Can Rank Organically Too

A well-written blog post on a particular topic effectively targeting relevant keywords has a chance of ranking on Google just like any other page on your website.

For example, perhaps there is a specific keyword you hope to rank for, but the nature of the keyword doesn’t necessarily fit in the landing pages or supporting articles of your website. In these instances, the blog is an effective and convenient place to target certain keywords that perhaps don’t belong in your product or service pages.

2. Keep Your Website Up To Date While Maintaining Structural Integrity

To follow up on the previous point – I once worked for an organization whose website didn’t include a blog. Thus, whenever they wanted to post a new article, it had to be placed as a supporting article in the website navigation.

There are a couple of problems with this method: if the new piece of content was posted too far down in the navigation, it was hard to find; if it was posted too prominently, it would push more important articles down one spot in the navigation.

It’s very important to keep the integrity of your website’s structure in tact so users can easily find the most important pages of your website, oftentimes where you are promoting your products or services. At the same time, it’s important for your website to show Google it is active by staying up to date on internal news, industry news, opinions, and more – all of which belong in the blog.

3. Show Google You’re an Authority on a Topic

Let’s pretend you have a website dedicated to the 1990s, and you have done comprehensive research and written a great article about The Best Techno Albums of the 1990s. Up until now, Google has only viewed your website as a 1990s website, and not necessarily as a techno music website. This could make it challenging for that article to rank for “best techno music”-related keywords, as your website is just now entering this topic.

Your blog can be used to help show search engines that your website is indeed an authority on 1990s techno music. Continue writing blog posts about this topic, and continue linking to that “base” article for which you are trying to rank. Over time, your authority on that topic may increase, giving you a better chance to attract any audience looking for 1990s techno music reviews, news, message boards, etc.

4. Provides Content for Social Media

No doubt about it, in the world of internet marketing, blogs and social media are besties. Social media is a very effective way of informing your audience of your new blog posts, while at the same time your blog posts give your social media purpose with quality content to talk about and promote.

And, successful use of social media can absolutely be recognized by search engines. For example, as you begin posting more frequently about 1990s techno, and as your social media posts (with a link to your blogs post) continue to be liked and shared by an increasingly growing audience, once again your authority on that topic should increase, giving you a better chance of ranking for those keywords.

As all SEO’s know, in today’s world of internet marketing, a healthy social media effort is integral to overall SEO strategy.

5. Ability to Think Outside the Box

Today, we are all aware of what the term “viral” means, and we also know how unpredictable it is for something to go viral. However, there is often one characteristic found in all content that goes viral, and that is “uniqueness.”

For example, who could have predicted that the Chewbacca Mom would be an instant celebrity from one video, or that the white or gold dress debate would spread across social media like wildfire? But for all the content that exists on the internet, YouTube or social media, those two pieces were unlike anything out there. Thus, they became popular.

So, here’s what this has to do with blogs: Your blog is a place where you can let your creativity run wild. Now, we wouldn’t suggest filming yourself with a Yoda mask on, but we would suggest you take a topic of interest to your organization and put your own creative spin on it.

Perhaps you own a car dealership – why not write a blog post about the types of real-world cars you think the characters from Mario Kart would drive? Or what if you run a school psychology program – how about psycho-analyzing the cast of Sesame Street?

Clearly, you’d never want these somewhat silly topics prominently on your website – but on your blog and social media? Why not?

And remember – you don’t necessarily have to think “big” when it comes to your blog posts or content going viral. After all, the chances of your blog post leading the Today Show or TMZ are probably not great. However, writing a well-thought out piece on a unique topic might energize your audience, who may provide more likes and shares than normal.

And don’t stop at one unique blog post. Keep the momentum moving in the right direction, and soon not only will your audience grow but search engines may also view you as more of an authority in your industry than you were before.

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The frank Agency’s SEO and social media teams work collectively to get the most out of our clients’ blog and SEO efforts. Contact TfA for more information about using blogs in your SEO strategy!