Creating consistent blog content is important. You know you need to create a content plan and write your content in batches. But, scheduling your blog post doesn’t mean it’s done. Once the article is published there are a few tasks you’ll want to do to further optimize your content. Here’s what to do after publishing a blog post.
I like to break up my post publishing blog routine into four different categories. They are grouped into: site improvements, internal linking, social outreach, and SEO.
Post-Publish Site Improvements
After you publish a blog article there are a few places on your website that can be modified to help optimize the new post.
Disable and Redirect Any Outdated Version
First, if the article is an update instead of an entirely new article, make sure to disable the old article and add a 301-redirect. Of course, this only applies if the updated version is a completely separate page from the original version.
Embed Media
If there are any additional media sources that can be embedded now that the article is live, such as a podcast or YouTube video, then add them.
Add to Category Pages
Add the article to any relevant category or resource pages. It’s possible your site is set up to do this automatically. If not, just take care of it manually.
Post-Publish Internal Linking
Add Internal Links FROM Related Articles
Review any existing articles on your site that can be related to the new post. If there’s an opportunity to add an internal link to the newest article, do it.
Add Internal Links TO Related Articles
The opposite is true as well. Look at the new blog article. Make sure you are linking out to any existing articles wherever you have relevant content.
Use a tool such as Canva to create a graphic to use for a social media post. Whether your primary network is Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn; a nice graphic will increase the chance people will stop scrolling to read the post.
Schedule Social Media Shares
Schedule out as many social media shares as reasonable for the article. You don’t need to use as many social networks as possible, but schedule shares on the social networks that you have decided work for you and your audience.
The trick is to not share the identical post every time. Instead take a quote from the article, change the headline into a question, or share different subheadings. Find different pieces from the article to share. That way, you can share the same article multiple times, but it isn’t annoying for your biggest fans. And if someone wasn’t interested the first time, maybe they will resonate with a different part of the article and decide to click on a later post.
Space out the shares however you feel comfortable. I normally share about two weeks after the first post and then monthly after that.
Send to Email List
Make sure to send the new article to your email list. Either send it as a one-time blast or add it to a sequence. If you already have a sequence of content you use as your newsletter then add it where it makes sense in your sequence.
If it is timely content related to a current event or if you don’t have an email service provider that allows sequencing, then just send it as a one-time email.
Post-Publish SEO
Confirm Keyword Placement
Confirm the primary keyword appears in the Title, H1 tag, and first paragraph.
Write Meta Description
Confirm there is a meta description with the keyword included.
Track Rank
If you use a tool such as Ubersuggest to track rank, add your new keyword so it is easy to monitor.
That’s it, that’s the routine! Writing content can be time consuming. So, you want to make sure you’re getting as much value out of the content as possible. Following this post-publish task routine will help ensure your content starts ranking and bringing in traffic.
Do you want to listen to this article? Here’s the podcast episode:
You don’t have to spend much time researching SEO before you come across advice to create meta descriptions. But what is a meta description, how do I write one, and how does it affect SEO? Here’s how to write a meta description for SEO.
What is a Meta Description?
Before we can dig into how to write a meta description, we need to understand what it is. A meta description is one of the available meta tags that can be added to provide more information about the content. It is the snippet of text that appears below the title and the URL in search results.
It’s a short paragraph that helps explain what the page is about and tries to convince someone to click from the search results page.
How to Write a Meta Description
Explain what the Page is About
The meta description should answer the question “What is the page about?” It should describe what readers will learn when they visit the page.
Make sure the description is relevant to the content on the page. Don’t try to trick people. You want the meta description to create a clear expectation so it will attract the right people who stick around when they see your website.
Include Your Keyword
Add your primary keyword to the meta description. This way, when it appears in Google the keyword within the description will be bold. Including the keyword signals to both the search engines and readers that your site is a good fit for the query.
Include a Call-to-Action
Towards the end of the meta description include a call-to-action. This should be fairly subtle. It won’t be your primary call-to-action, but instead just try to get them to click. Make it clear how the page will benefit the reader.
Here are some examples of call-to-actions for the end of meta descriptions:
Let’s dig into …
Learn more about …
We’ll go over …
Follow this guide to …
Write a Meta Description for Every Page
If possible, write a meta description for every page on your site. If this isn’t possible, prioritize the most popular pages on your site.
Keep Meta Descriptions Unique
Don’t duplicate your meta descriptions. Each page should have a unique meta description.
Keep Meta Descriptions Under 160 Characters
Make sure your meta descriptions are below 160 characters. This will help make sure they aren’t truncated in search results.
How to Add a Meta Description on WordPress
The easiest way to add meta descriptions on WordPress is with a plugin. There are several different plugins you can choose from. I choose to use the Yoast SEO plugin. Yoast adds an interface at the bottom of every page and post that allows you to create a meta description.
It even adds the same interface to tags and categories so you can create a meta description for those pages as well. And to add a meta description for the homepage you can navigate to Search Appearance under the Yoast SEO settings.
Do Meta Descriptions Affect SEO?
Meta descriptions don’t directly improve search ranking. However, they can play a role indirectly.
A persuasive meta description can increase click-through-rate (CTR). And CTR can impact rankings. So, you want to give people the information they need to convince them to click on the link to your site.
Warning: Sometimes Google Rewrites Meta Descriptions
When you go through so much effort to write unique meta descriptions on every single page, it can be disheartening to learn that sometimes Google rewrites meta descriptions.
Depending on the search query, Google may rewrite the description. It happens when the meta description doesn’t seem relevant to the particular search query. Instead, they use a snippet of text from the article. This happens more often with long-tail keywords (the longer more specific queries).
Google ends up rewriting about 60% of meta descriptions. But, meta descriptions are still worth writing for the other 40% of the time. Especially since when they do display meta descriptions it tends to be on the most popular pages ranking for broad terms with high search volume.
In Summary
Write meta descriptions that are clear, persuasive, and unique. Even though Google will sometimes rewrite them, they do play a role in improving search rankings. They improve the user experience in search results and in turn increase the chance of people visiting your website.
Do you want to listen to this article? Here’s the podcast episode:
So, here’s the problem. You’re doing all the things. You’ve done your on-page optimizations, you have a sitemap, you added internal links. But, you still have basically no traffic. Your numbers are embarrassing. How long does it take for SEO to start working?
The sad truth is SEO takes a while before you start seeing results. Of course there are several variables that can impact the speed but it’s important to be realistic about how long it should take going into it. As I outlined in the article about how long it takes to learn SEO, it can take anywhere from six months to two years to start seeing results. This can fluctuate quite a bit depending on how competitive your particular industry is, but this is a good estimate to go by.
Although it can take a while to start building some momentum, once it starts it generally continues. If you get a good routine down and regularly build content that creates a wonderful foundation. When you finally start seeing the traffic you want you just need to keep doing more of what you’re already doing.
If you are getting tired of waiting for your traffic to get to where you want it to be, here are a few ways you can speed up the process.
4 Ways to Make the SEO Process Faster
Revisit Blogging Frequency
Adjusting your blogging frequency is one of the best ways to adjust the length of time it takes to see SEO results. The more content you create, the faster you’ll see results. (Of course, this does need to be high-quality content.)
As a rule of thumb, you should aim to create weekly blog content. If you can’t, that’s fine! You can choose to post bi-weekly or monthly content. You just need to understand that it will take longer to see results. And if you already post weekly and want to see results faster then post even more often. Post daily if you can, or three times a week. Post as often as you can comfortably post high-quality content.
You have to find a balance between how much time you can find to spend on content creation and how fast you want to grow your website.
Perform Keyword Research
To grow traffic to your website you need to create content people are searching for. You need to perform keyword research. Find terms that have some traffic and are low competition. Don’t get too carried away about search volume. As long as people are searching for it and it isn’t crazy competitive it’s worth writing content for. If it starts ranking for that one keyword, chances are there are a handful of much longer phrases that it will rank for as well. So don’t get too caught up on low traffic. Those are just estimates and when you’re starting, low traffic is better than no traffic.
Look at Impressions
It can feel discouraging in the beginning. It can also feel discouraging a year or two into the project. It feels discouraging the entire time you aren’t seeing traffic where you want it. When this happens, look at your search impressions. You can find this data in Google Search Console (not Google Analytics). Search impressions do not all result in clicks. The clicks are the site visitors that show up in Google Analytics. But before they clicked, they saw the result in Google, and that registers as a search impression.
Since you get many more impressions than clicks it is a much prettier metric to look at when your numbers are low. More importantly, it gives you an idea of how you are trending. If you only get a few visitors here and there it’s very difficult to figure out a trend. Since there are a larger number of impressions, you can see how you’re trending. If your impressions are improving that means you are going in the right direction. Next, clicks will improve and then you’ll start seeing the traffic in your Google Analytics account you’ve been wanting.
Leverage ClearPath Online
If you’re looking for an SEO shortcut, the ClearPath Online DIY SEO Tool can help. It’s pre-populated with digital marketing tasks so you can grow an organic audience – step-by-step without getting overwhelmed.
In Summary
SEO does take time to see results. Be patient. Work on creating a good routine for content creation and then stick with it. If you are consistent, you will start to see results.
Do you want to listen to this article? Here’s the podcast episode:
What is the difference between new and returning users in Google Analytics? What do these metrics mean and what should you do with that data? Here is everything you need to know about new vs returning visitors in Google Analytics.
The Difference Between New vs Returning Visitors
New visitors (or new users) are people who have never been to the website before. Whereas, returning visitors (or returning users) are people who have visited the website previously and have come back.
That’s the idea behind the metrics. Yet, there are times when the data may not be a perfect representation of new vs returning.
When the Data Could Be Wrong
There are four instances where the tracking could incorrectly assign a returning visitor as a new visitor.
User Switches Devices
If someone switches devices, such as laptop to mobile phone, it is likely the tracking code will identify both sessions as new visitors. GA4 has addressed this issue but it is still imperfect. It works best when people log into the website and are tracked with a user ID. In most cases, one person using multiple devices will appear as a new user for each device.
User Switches Browsers
Similar to switching devices, switching browsers will also cause Google Analytics tracking to assign a new user for each browser. Even if it is the same person.
User Deletes Cookies
This tracking relies on cookies. So, if people delete their cookies the next visit would count as a new user even if they had visited before deleting the cookies.
User Uses Private Browsing
If someone uses incognito mode or private browsing then no cookie is set. Because of that, each visit counts as a new visitor.
Other than these four instances that could cause the tracking to be off, there are a couple other discrepancies to be aware of.
These Numbers Aren’t Unique
The new vs returning visitors numbers do not equal the total number of unique users to the site. A person can count as a new or returning user many times in the same reporting period. This happens if they have visited the site more than once so there are multiple sessions for that person. One person can count in the new visitor metric, and then also have several sessions that count in the returning visitor metric.
These Numbers Likely Have Duplicates
It’s important to understand that some of those new users are likely duplicates. If any of the four scenarios above happened, people can count multiple times in the new visitor metric.
Where Can You Find New vs Returning Users in Google Analytics?
New vs Returning Visitors in Universal Analytics
In Universal Analytics, navigate to Audience > Behavior > New vs Returning.
You can also use segments at the top of the Google Analytics interface to view any of the Universal Analytics reports with the new and returning visitors user segments.
To enable the new and returning user segments:
Select the Choose segment from list box at the top.
Then, select System.
Then, select New Users.
Next, repeat steps 1-2 and then select Returning Users.
You can even remove the All Users segment to view the data with only the new and returning user segments.
New vs Returning Visitors in GA4
In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), this report has changed a bit. Like the majority of GA4 reports, it has improved. But, since it is different, there is a learning curve. If we’re coming from the Universal Analytics version of Google Analytics, we need to better understand the new report before we can gain insight from it.
In GA4, find the new vs returning visitor information under Retention. The Retention Overview screen has multiple charts that help to visualize new vs returning users. Google provides more information about each of the retention charts so you can become familiar with them and gain more insights.
You can also create a table that resembles the data you would see in the Universal Analytics version of Google Analytics.
To create a new vs returning visitors table in GA4:
Go to Explore.
Then create a Free form report.
Under Dimensions select New / established.
New / established is like new vs returning. Instead of new meaning it is the first visit, it means the first visit is within the last seven days. And established is like returning. It means the first visit was more than seven days ago.
Select any Metrics you’d like to measure. I’d recommend Sessions, Conversions, and Engagement Rate.
Drag the Dimension into Rows and the Metrics into Values.
Look at the table to view and analyze your data.
View the video clip below to see how to create the New vs Returning report in GA4.
What to do with the New vs Returning Visitor Data
Okay, so now we know what new vs returning users are, and we know where we can find the data, but what insights can we learn from looking at this information?
Does your navigation have a learning curve?
Do new visitors spend more time on your site than returning visitors? If so, you’ll want to confirm that your navigation doesn’t have a learning curve. You want to make sure people are spending their time effectively and not spending extra time trying to find what they’re looking for.
To dig into the specific cause behind the difference in times you’ll want to leverage conversion optimization tools such as session recordings. The Google Analytics data can help you identify there could be room for improvement. Session recordings let you confirm and gain insight into that suspicion.
Do returning users convert higher?
If returning visitors convert higher, make sure you’re doing what you can to get more of your visitors to return. Revisit your lead magnet strategy. Make sure the lead magnet is bridging the gap between a new visit and completing the primary site goal. The lead magnet should help a new user get over a hurdle stopping them from converting. It should also be something that does not feel too overwhelming. A lead magnet should be a simple step onto the bridge that eventually gets them to the end goal.
If you can get more new users to sign up for your lead magnet, that will allow you to get in their inbox. Once they’re on your email list and become familiar with your brand, they are more likely to move into the returning users bucket.
Do returning visitors have a higher bounce rate?
Are new visitors more engaged than returning visitors? In Universal Analytics, check to see if returning visitors have a higher bounce rate. In GA4, check to see if new visitors have a higher engagement rate. If either of those are true, revisit your content strategy. Your audience could be learning with you and they could now be ready for more advanced topics.
Do new or returning visitors come from particular sources?
Check to see if there are particular traffic sources that bring in new or returning visitors. In Universal Analytics, use the segments on the Acquisition > All Traffic > Source / Medium report to view the data. In GA4, add the Dimension of Source / medium to the free form report. Then add Source / Medium to Columns.
If you notice a particular source brings in a particular type of user, you can try and create content to cater to that user on that channel. For example, if a particular social network only brings in returning visitors you can create content on that network that speaks to someone familiar with your brand.
Are new or returning visitors attracted to particular content topics?
Review content reports to see who’s looking at what content. In Universal Analytics, go to Behavior > Site Content > All Pages and use the segments to view the data by new and returning users. In GA4, add a Dimension of Page Title to the free form report. Use Page Title for rows and New / established for columns. If there are particular content topics that attract a specific type of user you can use that information to improve your content strategy.
In Summary
New vs returning visitor data can help you better understand how your website caters to different types of users. Google Analytics can help you identify some key differences so you can improve your site and adjust your strategy. That way you can move more new users into returning visitors.
Do you want to listen to this article? Here’s the podcast episode:
SEO isn’t something you can learn in one night. And although it can take several years to become an expert, there’s a lot of space between knowing nothing and knowing everything. So, how long does it take to learn SEO? Or, more specifically, how long does it take to learn enough SEO to grow an audience for your own blog?
Start with an Online Course to Learn the Basics (2-4 weeks)
To start off, take an online SEO course. This is a nice way to introduce yourself to the topic and get an overview. That way, you’re more familiar with the terminology and the basics so you can start putting some skills into practice. It also can help you understand what specific aspects of SEO you want to dig into deeper.
ClearPath Online offers a free How To Do SEO Yourself course. It is completely self-paced. There are ten lessons that come out each weekday. So, it’s at least two weeks. However, if you implement each lesson before proceeding it will take more time. Expect it to be about a month to complete the entire process.
Each course you find will vary. With the ClearPath Online course it will be about 2-4 weeks until you start to learn and understand the basics. When selecting a course make sure it’s self-paced so you can take the time you need to digest and comprehend the lessons.
Actively Maintain a Blog to Improve Skills (6 months – 2 years)
After you take a course to introduce yourself to the basics, start putting your new skills to use. The best way to learn is to do it. If you want to learn SEO, create a blog and optimize it.
This does more than help you learn. It allows you to identify when you have reached a point where you understand SEO enough to grow an organic audience. You can do this by using digital analytics data, such as Google Analytics. Digital analytics allow you to gauge how successful your efforts have been. Instead of making guesses, Google Analytics data will allow you to see the exact number of people you’ve been able to reach from search engines. Additionally, you can see if those people are converting and making a positive impact towards your goals.
While you’re learning, leverage the ClearPath Online DIY SEO Tool to guide you through what to do and how. The tool provides a pre-populated task list that you can follow to grow your organic audience. The tasks are staggered out so any given day doesn’t feel overwhelming. And you can click on each task to see how to do it. This is helpful when first learning, but also helpful as a quick refresher when it’s a task you don’t do often.
To see results from SEO efforts it can take anywhere from six months to two years. It often starts out slow, but once you start to get traffic it picks up momentum. And once you see good traffic numbers, stick with it. It will only continue to improve. You’ll want to blog for at least six months to two years to see the results. At that point, you’ll know you understand SEO and can grow an organic audience. But, once you have good results keep building that momentum and continue to post regular blog articles.
Stay Current on SEO Tactics (Ongoing)
One of the tricks to learning SEO is understanding that SEO is always changing. You have to stay current on new SEO trends. A true SEO expert understands that there are no SEO experts because the game is always shifting.
This is another area where the ClearPath Online DIY SEO Tool can assist. The digital marketing tasks are current with tactics that work today. That way you aren’t stuck repeating tasks that worked when you learned them, but may not apply today. Instead of a constant guessing game wondering if you’re wasting time on outdated SEO tactics, the DIY SEO Tool allows you to stay current. And without having to spend hours researching SEO every week.
In Summary
It’s possible to learn the basics of SEO in as little as one month. It can take years to become fluent in SEO and it will be a topic that you will always have to stay current on. If you’re looking for a shortcut, that is where the ClearPath Online DIY SEO Tool can help.
No matter how you choose to learn SEO, make sure you have a plan in place to put some of these lessons to use. That way you can improve your SEO expertise and see exactly what you’re capable of.
Do you want to listen to this article? Here’s the podcast episode:
Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics are two completely different tools. They don’t rely on each other. Yet, they do work well together when you choose to use both. Here’s the difference between Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics.
Let’s first understand how these two tools work on their own.
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a software tool that tracks website data. It gives you visibility into what’s happening on your website. It allows you to see how many people visit, what pages they go to, and how long they look at each page.
What is Google Tag Manager?
Google Tag Manager is a Tag Management System (TMS). What that means, is it puts an empty container on every page of your website. Google Tag Manager provides you an interface that you can use to control the code that appears within that container. That means, someone other than a web developer can change the website within that specified container. That allows marketers and website owners to be able to add and modify tracking codes. And they can do that without having to dig into the code or bother a web developer.
How are Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager Better Together?
In order for Google Analytics to collect data, it needs a tracking code added to every page of the website. This code can be manually added. It doesn’t need Google Tag Manager or any other TMS to add it.
Although it isn’t required, adding Google Analytics tracking using Google Tag Manager simplifies the process. Since they are both Google products, Tag Manager is already set up to add Google Analytics tracking with the click of a button.
And configuring Google Analytics tracking isn’t always a one-time process. To get the most value out of Google Analytics you’ll want to set up events and goals. Depending on how you want to set up your account you may find you want to customize the tracking code. The easiest way to add customizations is with Google Tag Manager. That way, you can make custom edits using the pre-built interface instead of writing custom code. This makes customizations as easy as drag and drop.
In Summary
Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager are two very different tools with unique use cases. When you leverage both tools together, Google Tag Manager makes it faster and easier to customize and configure Google Analytics.
Do you want to listen to this article? Here’s the podcast episode:
Adding hashtags to Instagram posts helps to increase the reach. It makes it easier for people to discover the content. The trick is to use the right hashtags for each post. That means, use the hashtags that are popular but not so popular that your post gets lost. And keep it relevant, don’t reuse the same hashtags for every post. Instead of choosing random hashtags, create a strategy to increase discoverability chances. Here’s an Instagram hashtag system you can follow.
To simplify the hashtag system, you can download the free Google Sheets template below.
Step 1: Generate the Hashtag List
The first step is creating a list of hashtags you would want your posts to rank for. Add any ideas you have to your list. Your list will have more hashtags then you end up using. This allows you to track hashtags and adjust your system as trends change in the future. (We’ll talk about that more in step 3.)
To generate ideas go into Instagram. In the search screen click on Tags. This allows you to search hashtags. Start typing in any ideas you have and then the search will autosuggest hashtags. Add any relevant suggestions to your list.
If you downloaded the template above, the ideas will go on the first tab labeled Hashtags.
Document the Number of Posts
Displayed under each hashtag in the Instagram search autosuggest dropdown are the number of posts using that hashtag. (You won’t see the number of posts there if you’re following that hashtag. In that case, the number displays at the top of the hashtag screen when you click on it.)
When you add the hashtag to the spreadsheet, also document the number of posts currently associated with that hashtag. This doesn’t need to be an exact number, instead document the range this hashtag is within. That way it’s easier to group hashtags by popularity.
There are six different buckets you’ll want to group your hashtags into. These are all based on the number of posts within the hashtag.
Bucket 1: Under 20k
This bucket contains hashtags that you can ignore for now. There isn’t enough interest to focus on them right now but you want to keep them on your list. That way you can watch them in case trends change.
Bucket 2: 20k – 49.9k
These are okay terms to focus on. They have some interest and if they are relevant you should use them. If you are at your max number of hashtags already you can leave these off though because they are low priority.
Bucket 3: 50k – 199.9k
These are good hashtags to focus on and these will likely account for the majority of hashtags you use.
Bucket 4: 200k – 499.9k
This is the sweet spot. These are the best hashtags and if you can include one or more, start with those.
Bucket 5: 500k – 2m
These hashtags aren’t worth focusing on. They are so popular that they get crowded fast. That means there are less opportunities for people to discover your post.
Bucket 6: 2m+
And these you want to completely stay away from. No one will see them. These hashtags are far too congested and there is little opportunity to stand out.
Step 2: Assign Hashtags to Post
Once you have your hashtag ideas in place use them to add hashtags to Instagram posts in a strategic manner.
How Many Hashtags to Add
Instagram allows no more than 30 hashtags on each post. When selecting the hashtags to use on your post don’t stress about using all allotted hashtags. Select the hashtags that are most relevant. If you only have 3-5 relevant hashtags, then stop there. Don’t add more to have the most possible.
You do need to be aware of the maximum number of hashtags. That way you can make sure you don’t exceed the amount. If you do, make sure you remove the hashtags in the buckets with the lowest number of posts first.
How to Select from Your Hashtag List
Organize your list of ideas based on the six post number categories. Highlight the rows with buckets 2-4 so it’s easy to identify the hashtags you want to focus on. Go through the hashtags one-by-one starting with the most popular hashtags (bucket 4). Work your way towards the less popular hashtags until you’ve selected all relevant hashtags.
Once you’ve made your selections you want to confirm you have 30 or less selected. If you’re using the template click on the second tab labeled Summary. Look for where it says # of Hashtags and make sure that number is 30 or less. If you aren’t using the template, count them up instead.
The Summary tab on the template will also include an easy way to copy and paste your hashtags. All the hashtags you selected are in one cell already spaced out with hashtag symbols. Copy that one box with the hashtags and then paste it into Instagram.
Where to Add the Hashtags in Your Post
Whether you post in your first comment or add a separate comment with hashtags doesn’t matter. That’s a personal preference. It doesn’t impact the algorithms or change the number of hashtags you can use. So choose a method that works for you and go with that.
Step 3: Maintain Your Hashtag List
To continue to get a benefit out of your hashtag system, you need to keep it updated. Trends will change and new hashtags will begin to be popular. Every quarter (every three months) review your hashtag list. Update the number of post buckets for the existing hashtags. And go back to the Instagram hashtag search to see what new ideas appear in the autosuggest list that you can add to your spreadsheet.
If you need help staying on top of this, you can use the ClearPath Online DIY SEO Tool. It’s pre-populated with tasks just like this so you don’t have to worry about remembering when it’s been three months and you need to updated your hashtag list again.
This will keep your hashtag list current. And it will provide new hashtags to improve Instagram discoverability.
Do you want to listen to this article? Here’s the podcast episode:
To see growth from SEO, you need a strategy. Understanding SEO basics and focusing on your target audience is a great start. But, to see growth you need a strategy that keeps you focused. Here’s how to make an SEO strategy with five easy steps.
Step 1: Set Your Goal
The first step in determining your SEO strategy is understanding your goal. What is the end goal? Do you have a paid course you want people to register for? Do you have a book you want them to purchase? Do you have a SaaS (software as a service) tool you’d like visitors to sign up with?
Figure out what the primary goal is for your SEO efforts. What are you hoping your site visitors will eventually accomplish on your website?
Step 2: Create a Lead Magnet
Next create a lead magnet. The lead magnet should be a bridge between your free content and your end goal. The lead magnet should help the reader overcome a hurdle that is stopping them from completing the end goal on your website. This should be a downloadable cheatsheet, a resource, or a guide that helps prepare them for your primary goal. It can even be a course if that makes sense for your website and goal.
Instead of a dollar amount, the lead magnet should be paid for with an email address. This allows you to start to communicate with the person on a regular and deeper level.
The lead magnet information should be available on all of your blog articles. Remember to prioritize the user experience. Instead of setting the lead magnet to pop up as soon as someone visits, add it at the end of the page. That way, people who read the whole article now have information to learn more and connect at a deeper level. There will be less people that read the article than load the page, but they will be more likely to be your target audience. Don’t worry about attracting everyone, worry about attracting the right people.
Step 3: Perform Keyword Research and Create Content Calendar
Once you have your goal and lead magnet in mind, start doing keyword research. Your keyword research should align with your goal and lead magnet. That way, someone who comes to your free content from search engines would be more likely to sign up for your lead magnet and eventually convert.
Once you’ve done your keyword research and found relevant content ideas, create a content calendar to make a plan. This will make it easier to know what to work on when and will help hold you accountable.
Step 4: Blog in Batches
Once you have a plan, create blog content in batches. Set some time aside to create all of the blog content you have planned for the entire month. Whether that is one, two, or four articles, get them done at the same time so you aren’t stuck doing nothing but blogs all month. You want to blog, but you don’t want it to consume all of the time you have available for your business.
Step 5: Perform Daily Digital Marketing Maintenance
Once you have your blogs scheduled out, spend some time each day performing digital marketing maintenance. These tasks can range from social, organic SEO, monitoring data, and making conversion improvements. For a shortcut, you can use the ClearPath Online DIY SEO tool. It’s prepopulated with prioritized digital marketing tasks. And it’s already set up to stagger them out so you have a short list each day based on your personal digital marketing needs.
In Summary
Creating consistent content that is focused on the needs of your target audience is the best strategy for long-term SEO success. To also see your business grow you need an SEO strategy in place. So, set your goal, create a lead magnet, do keyword research and create a content plan, blog in batches, and then take the time to conquer the digital marketing routine outlined in the ClearPath Online DIY SEO tool.
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Multitasking lowers productivity by 40%! Batch tasks for efficiency, especially in blogging. Boost productivity with our step-by-step guide to batch your blog content creation.Read More
