Having great content or blogs on your website is just a piece of the puzzle when it comes to making gains in your search ranking, or SEO. In order to really work for your, you need to rock it when it comes to optimizing content for SEO.

This absolutely genius blog on Search Engine Journal by the incredible Nathan Chan does a perfect job of breaking down exactly how to optimize your content for search. Read their blog, or read on for a Coles Notes version of how it’s done.

And, don’t forget to read further into how to structure each blog to truly get the most out of your blog content’s SEO with this blog by the team here at Legendary Social Media.

How to optimize content for SEO

Choose one keyword per blog

You’ll want to have a solid list of keywords your business’ website is targeting. Then, create a content strategy to identify which blogs should target which keywords. Choose one keyword per blog, and optimize its content for SEO, relating to that keyword. For more information, read our blog about how to structure each blog post.

You can also add a few related keywords to each main keyword. For example, if you want to optimize for “Vancouver realtor”, you may also want to include the phrases “Vancouver real estate” and “Vancouver homes for sale” in your content.

Optimize your file and photo names

Rather than naming your blog’s image “blog pic1.jpg”, add some keywords to the file name. Go with “vancouver-realtor-real-estate-blog.jpg” instead. Also, don’t forget to add alt text to each file or photo you use in your blog with the same keyword you’re optimizing for.

Categories, tags and topics are opportunities to optimize content for SEO

Google looks at the names of the categories and tags you add to your blog posts when it ranks your site. Ensure your categories, tags and/or topics use the keywords you’re targeting, and keep them relevant to the post.

Optimizing content for SEO on social media

Using keywords strategically shouldn’t end when you push the “publish” button on your blog. When you share that blog on social media, keep using those keywords in the description for the post. Since Google looks at your business’ social profiles when it ranks your site, ensuring you’ve optimized with keywords everywhere possible will only do you big favours in the end.

Legendary Social Media tip: Which social sites are most important?

Google looks at almost all social media sites that link to your website when it ranks you, but it tends to look at some sites more than others. Google+ and YouTube are your best bets for sharing your content for SEO wins, since they’re owned by Google see page. But Google also prioritizes LinkedIn and Facebook heavily. After that comes Twitter. Sharing your content on all of these platforms is a great idea for SEO, as long as it’s worthwhile for your business – you should only share content to networks where you’ll actually interact with the people who care about the content you publish.

Have questions about optimizing content for SEO? Write them below or send us an email!