If you are considering making money online, then you need to know how to write a high-ranking blog post using Yoast SEO plugin which is the most popular SEO tool for professional bloggers.
The goal of every blogger or any online business owner is to expand their customer base and reach out to people as many as possible.
Also, for anyone to get their businesses into the faces of their customers, they have to rank high on search engines because that is where over 90% of internet users go to when they need a service or product.
For you to be able to create a high-ranking blog post, you have to first understand what is called SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of web traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. There are two types of traffic, Unpaid traffic, and Paid traffic. SEO targets unpaid traffic rather than paid traffic.
There are 3 major steps you have to follow to write a blog post that will rank high on google or any other search engine. These include:
1. Keyword Research
2. Install Yoast SEO Plugin
3. Optimize your page
Now, let’s look at the steps one after the other
1. KEYWORD RESEARCH
First, you will consider what search terms you want to be found before you start creating your content. Then, for each page or post, you should optimize it for a single keyword.
But how do you figure out which keyword you want to be found for? You’ll need to conduct keyword research to find out.
You should ask yourself questions like “What terms do I want to rank for?” Is it realistic to expect me to rank for these terms? “What are the words or phrases people who need my content are typing on google?”
Below are the 3 most popular keyword research tools that will help your post rank high on the google search engine:
– Google Trends
Visit Google Trends and insert some words or phrases around what you want to write about. Google Trends has a provision for the country of your target and the duration of the period you desire to fetch the data. You can also compare between different topics.
So after imputing the key phrase, scroll down to the section where you see Related Queries. The phrases you see there are the keywords you are going to use in your post. Because those are the keywords your customers are searching for. As you can see in the image below.
– Answer the Public
Here too, you visit Answer the Public and you will see a space where you will insert the topic which you desire to write your post about.
Pick the keywords that best suit what you want to write your post about and use them. In the image below, I searched for affiliate marketing. See the results that have been displayed. You will see questions, prepositions, and comparisons in different sections.
– Soovle.com
This is another amazing keyword research tool that will help your blog post rank high on google or other search engines.
When you visit Soovle.com , type in the topic you want and you will see a lot of results from different search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon, and even YouTube). Pick them and use them in your posts such that when people search for them, your content will also show up. See the image below.
2. INSTALL YOAST SEO PLUGIN
The Second step in how to write a high-ranking blog post using Yoast SEO Plugin is to install the plugin itself.
Installing Yoast SEO is easy, just follow these simple steps:
– Log in to your WordPress website and lick ‘Plugins’
– Click on ‘Add New’
– The search for Yoast SEO
Click on ‘Add New’ near the top of the screen. Type ‘Yoast SEO’ in the search bar.
– Install and activate
Searching will give you a page of search results. Our plugin should be visible now. Click the ‘Install Now’ link to start installing our plugin.
Once the installation has finished, click the ‘Activate’ button. It has appeared where the ‘Install Now’ button was previously located.
– You’re all done
You can now go and configure the plugin
3. OPTIMIZE YOUR PAGE
Here, pay attention to these 5 steps in order to write a high-ranking blog post using the Yoast SEO plugin.
– Your Page Title
One of the most essential variables for ranking well in search results is the title of each page — the contents of the HTML <title> tag. It’s not only the tab or browser window’s literal title, but it’s also the first line in the search results. It serves as an advertisement for your page, describing what it is about and encouraging users to click.
The default format for posts and pages on many websites isn’t always the best approach for SEO. “My blog » Cooking » Carbonara recipe” is less appealing than “My 20-minute excellent carbonara recipe | My Blog.”
Although most WordPress themes get the basics correct, make sure your design uses a <h1> tag for your post title and that you don’t use <h1> tags anywhere else on your page or in your article content.
The content of your article should then ‘flow’ naturally; for example, large, important headings should use <h2>tags, subsections should use <h3>tags, and new sections should use <h2 tags.
– Your Meta Description
A meta description is used by search engines to explain your page in the search engine results, usually below the page title. Even if you’re not at the top of the search results, tailoring and writing a detailed meta-description can persuade consumers to click on your results. It’s a commercial, and it’s your chance to make a good impression.
It is a great practice to write appealing, informative descriptions of your page content for each page on your site since this will help you attract more visitors. While writing descriptions for each page and post may seem time-consuming, it is well worth the effort.
If you don’t give a meta description, the search engine will try to discover the term searched for on your website and create a string around it — which will be highlighted in bold on the results page. Google may produce its own meta description for you in some instances.
– Images and Media
Managing your photos, videos, and media content is an often ignored aspect of WordPress SEO. You should think about how you name and format your files so that search engines can interpret them. Make sure you choose the correct format for each photograph and optimize it. Also, examine whether you can use next-generation image formats such as WebP. Writing meaningful, accessible text descriptions for your pictures helps to make them more intelligible and can considerably boost your performance. As an added bonus, you’ll be assisting readers who use assistive technologies such as screen readers.
– Tags
Tags are useful for visitors who want to learn more about a topic, but they’re frequently misused. It’s crucial to avoid using too many tags or using them more than once or twice. Remember that you should categorize your information rather than simply give it a description.
Now, you may be asking about the ideal length for a blog post. From research conducted by Wix.com they’ve discovered that “the ideal blog post length is between 1,500 – 2,500 words, with a sweet spot right at 2,450. When you stay within this average, your articles are more likely to rank higher on search engines, and get more social media shares and backlinks.”
– Insert a Focus Keyphrase
Yoast SEO provides a section where you insert your focus keyphrase from the ones you have gotten from google trends, Soovle, and the rest.
– Follow Yoast SEO Improvement Suggestions
In the process of writing your blog post, Yoast SEO displays a number of suggestions as shown in the image below. It is categorized into two: Readability Analysis and SEO Analysis. When Yoast SEO shows a red, angry face, know that there are errors that need to be fixed.
Follow the suggestions until you see a green face (avatar) without the errors listed. See the image below.
Now, you can go ahead and publish your post.
After publishing your post, you can go ahead and submit the URL on google search console so that it can be indexed easily.
If you wish to know more on how to write a high-ranking blog post using Yoast SEO Plugin, you can take a where all the strategies and tools are well explained.
Thank you
Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday. It will always be helpful to read content from other writers and practice a little something from other websites.