Blogging is fun, creative, and also essential for many types of businesses to create brand awareness and drive traffic. Whether you blog for personal pleasure or as part of a big marketing strategy, search engine optimisation should be one of your priorities. Here are several simple ways that you can use to optimize your blog with SEO:

Include Main Keyword in the Headline

If possible, write your headline with the main keyword. This is not necessary; but it will help in allowing stronger rankings for your site. Do not insert the keyword to a title unnaturally. If the title flows well with the keyword in it, go with it. If not, don’t bother. It’s more important to write a compelling and interesting headline than to jam keywords in it. However, if you can insert a keyword, then it will definitely not hurt.

Research the Right Keywords

Do not insert random trending keywords to your blog post. It’s far more important to choose relevant keywords that will compel your target audience to click. A keyword may generate 10,000 hits for another site. It won’t necessary replicate that success on your site similarly. So, you should spend some time researching the right type of keywords for your site. It can be sometimes hard to do on your own, especially if you lack the necessary technical knowledge. Bloggers who can afford to do so should definitely hire a third party expert, like an SEO company in Auckland, for keyword research.

Sprinkle Keywords in Body, No Stuffing

Do not include a keyword in every single paragraph of your blog post. You can include one or two keywords at most. Overusing keywords is called keyword stuffing, and sites do get penalised for this by search engines like Google. Keep the word flow of your text as natural as possible. Do not aim for keyword-insert sentences. Write naturally and that’s the best way to attract readers. Keep in mind that your ultimate goal is to attract more subscribers, and thus regular readers, to your blog. Keywords can drive traffic to your site, but they won’t result in conversions. High quality blog posts, on the other hand, do.

Use Inbound Links

Inbound link building is important for giving credibility to your site. Keywords are not the only SEO tool available in your arsenal. Inbound links from credible and popular sites can boost your site’s reputation, and thus the potential to attract more traffic.

Try Google Authorship

Google Authorship is a feature that is available to people who have Google+ accounts. This is a great tool to increase the click rate for your site. When you add Google Authorship to your blog posts, they come up on Google search results with an author’s photo. Your blog will seem more authoritative, which naturally leads to higher numbers of clicks. It’s also a great way to promote you as an established author. Google Authorship is not a necessity, but it will be a useful business tool for those who have Google+ accounts.

Don’t forget to link to other articles you have previously published as well, especially the popular ones. While driving traffic to your blog is important, it’s equally important to ensure that the traffic converts to regular readers and subscribers as well. So, remember that SEO is not the only important optimisation your blog requires. Conversion rate optimisation is important as well.