Now that you’ve got your website up and running, downloaded the essential plugins and connected to Google, it’s time to create that content. And though your goal for your first website isn’t likely Internet domination (but hey, it might be!), it is helpful to have an understanding of how Google works and how websites get found. This post is the final installment in a 4 part series on How To Build a Website. Part 4 focuses on how to create a post with good SEO! If you’re interested in jumping around, here’s what else is covered:
- Create A Website (Questions, Definitions, WordPress, SSL Certificate)
- Customize A Website (Themes, Plugins)
- Connect A Website to Google (Analytics, Search Console, Breadcrumbs, XML Sitemaps)
- Create A Post with Good SEO (Writing, Keywords, Yoast)
Write Your Post
The most important thing when writing a post is that you don’t change your voice to try and meet some mysterious, ever-changing SEO requirement. People don’t want read a watered-down version of you. Don’t hold back from putting your authentic personality into your posts. You’ll enjoy writing it more and people will enjoy reading it more!
In summary, the best tip for how to create a post with good SEO is writing a really good, detailed post that shares fully your unique point of view!
Picking Your Title and Keywords
Your post is addressing some sort of need. What would you type into Google to find your post? What past Google searches inspired your post? Whatever you would type into Google should be in the title of your post and should be a part of your keyword or keyphrase.
Keyword Planners
If you are interested in picking the optimal keyword or keyphrase for SEO, you can look into using a keyword planner. Keyword planners tell you how often a keyword is searched for on the Internet along with how often similar keywords are searched. For example, you could learn that the keyphrase “things to do in Huacachina, Peru” gets 0-10 monthly searches while just “Huacachina” gets 1,000-10,000 monthly searches. This would allow you to tailor your post to a potential audience size.
Google offers a keyword service called Google Keyword Planner that is a part of their GoogleAds platform. By creating a free account, you will get free access to Google Keyword Planner for about a month or two. Eventually, you will not be able to log into it anymore until you start paying for GoogleAds. Use this time to see if a keyword planner is right for you.
Although touted by many bloggers as an essential cost of a website, I currently do not use a keyword planner. The goal of my writing is not to reach the largest possible audience but instead to address specific questions that I have asked before. By using keywords or keyphrases that are contained in your past Google searches, you are bound to find other people interested in what you have to say.
If you chose to use a keyword planner for you blog, there are about a million paid and free ones out there. Unfortunately, I do not have the expertise to recommend one to you. But if you find one you like, let me know!
Yoast SEO
Once installed, Yoast offers tips on SEO and readability at the bottom of every post. To learn how to use this great tool, we’ll walk through a post about how to make cold brew coffee.
SEO
The most important thing to Yoast is your “Focus keyphrase.” If possible, your keyphase should be a part of what would get typed into the Google search bar. For a post on cold brew coffee, “How to Make Cold Brew Coffee” is a good keyphrase.
The next section is the Google Preview. By clicking on the box, you can update your post’s SEO Title, Slug and Meta Description. Your SEO title is what will appear when you post appears in a Google search. The slug is the end of your post’s URL (www.mywebsite.com/slug). The meta-description is the post description that will appear under your post title on Google. Make sure your keyword or keyphrase is at least partially included in all three!
Under the SEO analysis tab, you’ll see the criteria that Yoast is looking for. Most of them are fairly straightforward. You need to get a green light on most of them (but not all) to get an SEO green happy face! If possible, get that SEO green happy face!
Image Alt Attributes
It took me a while to realize what image alt attributes were and why they are important. Image Alt Attributes in human language are a couple words of text to describe an image. If a visitor’s WiFi is slow, Google will display this text in the place of the image until the image loads.
Updating an image’s alt attributes is easy. After you insert an image, click on it to open up a side-bar menu on the right-hand side. In the alt text box, type the text to describe the image. If possible, try to include your post’s keyword or keyphrase.
Post Length
Yoast recommends a minimum post length of 300 words. The Google algorithm prefers longer posts with quality content over a bunch of short posts. If you can’t get over the word count threshold, combine your idea with another post!
Readability
Yoast also gives some pointers on readability. If you click on the “eye” icon on the right-hand side, yoast will highlight specific sentences for you to review. The goal here is a green happy face as well but in my opinion it is not as important as getting the SEO green happy face. Don’t compromise your writing style!
Google Search Console
Finally, once you have written a post, checked the SEO, and published it on your website, you need to tell Google that it is there. At the top of your Google Search Console page, there is the box that says “Inspect any URL.” Copy and paste the URL for your new post into this box and click enter. Once prompted, click request indexing.
Even if you forget to do this step, Google will eventually index your new post. Copying and pasting your new post’s URL into Google Search Console just speeds up the process.
There you have it, the How To Create a Post with Good SEO post and the end of the 4 part series on How To Build a Website! Hope you’ve found some useful tips! We’re looking forward to seeing/reading what you create!
