This is yet another mega-guide in a series of guides that I’ve put together to help those who are just starting out in Internet marketing.

So far we’ve discussed nearly every topic to do with starting and growing your blog, and if you’ve been following our blog, then you’re aware that content marketing is a major factor in your online business or blog’s success.

But it’s very hard (if not impossible) to achieve success in content marketing if you don’t create blog posts regularly. Each and every blog that is successful is built on a firm foundation of great content, but the consistency is what leads to success in the search engine ranking game.

Marketers who blog on a consistent basis are way more likely to get a positive return on their investment.

For instance, if I hadn’t been posting consistently on PlanetBizOp.com, you probably wouldn’t have ever come across this blog. It wouldn’t have shown up on any search results.

But in all honesty, writing a compelling post that drives lots of traffic to your site isn’t an easy task.

Churning out 300 or 500 words for some generic blog post is not hard, but it won’t really impact your search query needs (let alone grow the blog or business). What you need to do instead is to create some really epic content that is packed full of value.

With blogging as your main inbound marketing strategy, you can generate a lot of qualified leads. Recent statistical data actually reveals that those marketers who blog consistently get 125% more leads than the ones who don’t.

It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, you could set up a blog today and create high-quality content, but if you want great rankings in the search engines that drive more leads to your blog, then you need a bit more than that.

You must create a system you can implement consistently to help you build your brand and reach your ideal audience, as well as boost your search engine ranking.

So, in this guide, you’re going to learn the step-by-step method for creating posts that rank extremely well in Google (we’re talking first page here). This process is essentially the same for all kinds of blog posts whether they are short or long.

It obviously takes a lot more time and effort to create a 2,000+ word post than a 300-word one, but the post that is longer is obviously going to get a better ranking in the search engines.

So follow the steps below to learn how to write posts that get the best rankings in Google:

1. Understand What ‘First Page’ Blog Posts Look Like

A lot of the people who are successful in online marketing are those that have embraced blogging.

They have long realized that blog posts aren’t created equal and that well-planned posts could get solid ranking in the search engines as well as go viral and end up driving tons of referral traffic to your site.

Nothing can replace systematic quality blogging.

The underlying philosophy (concerning blogging) is to give massive value to your audience. Once you make that commitment, the rest comes easy.

I have personally seen the effect of having such an approach with regards to writing content, and no matter what topic or industry the content concerns, blogging, as an inbound strategy, works.

Since I started this blog, I have been committed to creating this kind of high-quality, in-depth content while following a plan that is proven. In the beginning, I didn’t get big organic results.

However, over time, the traffic grew and it continues to grow each and every month.

Of course, it helps that I target long-tail keyword phrases. It contributes immensely to the search results. But the main key to my blog’s success lies in the strategic blogging plan which I follow consistently.

Below is a representation of the way I structure my blog posts:

With each post that I create, I ensure that I identify exactly what it is that my audience wants to know more about. I determine the problem that they are looking to solve. In addition to that, I commit to producing only the best quality content that I can.

As long as that’s your number one priority, the search engine ranking that you’re trying to achieve will follow.

2. Understand the On-Page SEO Process for ‘First Page’ Blog Posts

Almost 80% of users don’t pay attention to paid search and focus only on organic results.

This is according to studies conducted by Search Engine Journal, and it means that when you do your on-page SEO correctly, it can improve the search result performance of your site in a powerful way.

Don’t worry, doing your SEO the way the pros do won’t take long to learn, and it will ultimately pay off in significant ways.

The most obvious way that you will benefit from this is that you will start to see a huge increase in revenue when you start driving more organic visitors to your site.

On-page SEO is all about the process of how you structure your content and optimize various elements on your page. It includes the content of your individual pages and also the HTML.

On-page SEO helps you to rank higher and to drive the right kind of targeted traffic from the search engines to your site.

One of the key concepts behind the current best practices for SEO has to do with the improvement of user experience. So when you’re optimizing your pages, the user has to come first.

Some on-page SEO factors that stand out are:

• Depth and value of content
• Use or repetition of the primary keyword
• Page user experience

It’s important to use your keywords throughout your content in ways that appear natural, but when you overdo it, it’s called keyword stuffing and it will actually hurt your rankings rather than help them.

Search engines now penalize for that kind of behavior so avoid it at all costs.

So now let’s dive deeper into keyword research, writing headlines, and preparing blog posts that will rank on Google’s first page.

Keyword Research

This is a vital step in on-page SEO, but don’t overthink this.

Keyword research is mainly used for determining what your ideal audience is looking for and to find out their intention. That is, whether they’re just browsing, comparison shopping, or if they’re ready to purchase and so on.

Your audience’s search query is often your starting point.

Try to see everything from their perspective when conducting your keyword research. Doing so is the quickest and easiest way to create posts that are useful and relevant to your audience.

For instance, say you blog about ‘Forex Trading’ and you’re trying to craft a post that will rank high in the search engines for that topic, you would go about finding long-tail keyword phrases to optimize your post in this way:

• Use Google AdWords Keyword Planner
• Type the main keyword (eg. Forex trading) in the search box
• Click ‘Get ideas’

You will be given a slew of ideas that you can make use of, and now that you have those keywords to target, you can use them in your headlines.

For instance:

• How to Get Started in Forex Trading – 3 Simple Steps That Work
• Forex Trading Strategies You Should Definitely Try Right Now
• Forex Trading for Beginners
• The Truth About Forex Trading and so on…

After you’ve included your keyword in the blog post headline, it’s time to optimize the post with that same keyword.

But, this time you need to make sure that the keyword is included naturally in a way that doesn’t appear stuffed or disrupt user experience.

You also have to use that keyword in the page meta tag or meta title. It makes it easier for the search engines to categorize your post according to search query phrases.

These are some of the elements that you should pay attention to when doing your on-page SEO:

• Title tag
• Meta tag
• Content of page
• URL
• Image alt text

When you can communicate your particular topic to both your audience and to Google in the above-mentioned sections, then your on-page SEO battle is as good as won.

The bottom line is this:

Your optimization should always be at your users’ service. You have to focus on writing epic posts that solve your readers’ problems or answers their questions.

This is what is called ‘search user optimization’ which is the new SEO.

3. Craft Epic Blog Posts Packed Full of Practical Value

If you want any of your posts to truly deliver value to your audience then you have to make them extremely practical. Your audience is sick and tired of reading mediocre and generic posts.

That’s what they get everywhere they turn, and if you’re wanting to stand out then you have to offer them something totally different.

Give them something that is relevant and extremely useful.

Create posts that not only solve their problems or answer their questions but also inspire them to immediately implement the things they read.

A simple but effective tactic that is used by some successful bloggers to make sure that the posts they create are addressing the right topics consistently is the Blog Editorial Calendar (there’s a post on our blog that talks about how to create an editorial calendar in detail).

This will ensure that your blog is stocked with posts that are valuable even when you’re not there to run your blog for any length of time.

The more actionable and unique your blog posts are, the more powerful your blog will be when it comes to pulling in traffic. Your search traffic will increase, and so will your engagement levels and your leads.

Being able to rank in Google’s first page won’t happen overnight, but if you keep at it and consistently produce great content and follow SEO best practices, you will start to see the improvement in the search engine rankings of your pages.

Start Your Blog Post With an Introduction That is Strong

This is an important part of your post that just cannot be ignored. Make your introduction strong and ensure that it’s relevant to user search query phrases.

Your opening paragraph will be your one and only chance to draw your readers into your content. Use it to assert a point that will hook your readers and make them want to find out more.

If you fail to make a good impression there, chances are that they won’t bother scrolling down to see more.

A good introduction should:

• Warm up your readers and tell them what they will gain from reading your post
• Assert a point or make a thesis (summarize what the entire post is about)
• Re-state the problem (or the solution) mentioned in the headline – this shows the reader that you really understand their problem
• Stimulate the readers’ interest (the longer they stay on your content the better for your rankings)

An introduction can be used to engage your readers in the following ways:

• Ask a question
• Show statistical results
• Make a comparison
• Identify a debate
• Clearly explain a situation
• Describe current problem
• Quote expert or authority
• Cite typical examples

End Your Blog Post With a Great Conclusion

The conclusion of any post that you write is just as important as the introduction because it brings together the ideas you introduced at the beginning of the blog post.

The introduction and the conclusion together form the vital ends of the information bridge that propels your readers from the starting point to the finishing point.

As you are probably aware by now, I’ve been creating a series of guides that cover all the major topics of online marketing.

This article is no different, which means that it’s going to be a massive 4,000+ word monster that we have to break up into two parts. So stay tuned for the next post in which we are going to continue where we left off.

Feel free to post your comment below.  An email address is required but it will not be shared with anyone, put on any list, or used for any kind of marketing, just to alert you if there are any replies. Thanks and happy hunting!

PlanetBizOp.com

->Steven

Updated: Originally published July 6th 2018Quote expert or authority