Optimize Your Content to Earn a Featured Snippet<ul><li>Pick already high-ranking pages to optimize.</li><li>Find a question-based keyword & give a clear, concise answer.</li><li>Use lists & “step-by-step” blog writing formats.</li><li>Pay careful attention to schema markup.</li></ul>Optimize Your Headline for ConversionLonger headlines (10 - 13 words) can better uncover the idea of what the copy is about, & drive twice as much traffic & X1.5 more shares than shorter ones (< 7 words).Listicles get 80% more traffic than other types of articles. Craft your headline to convey that the content is laid out in a listicle format.

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Create a Process for Tracking the Blog Post’s Performance<ol><li>Edit your post, implement the recommendations of the SEO Writing Assistant, optimize it and publish! </li><li>Analyze whether you’ve achieved your content marketing goals with this piece of content, and how well the copy works as a part of your funnel. </li><li>Add the article to your content audit process — identify the content that needs to be updated — and keep it updated.</li></ol>

Define Your Reader PersonasThis will help you tailor your content to meet their needs & build trust.<ul><li>Demographics (age/gender, level of income, location, family status, level of education)</li><li>Professional status (job title, level, industry)</li><li>Psychographics (professional/personal goals, beliefs ,& values)</li><li>Pain points and challenges</li><li>Interests</li><li>Influences and information sources (preferred blogs, social networks, websites, influencers, events)</li><li>Buying habits (their role in the purchase decision-making process, potential lifetime cycle, what can stop them from making a purchase) </li></ul>

15 Essential Blog Writing Tips

Research the Topic from the Inside Out<ol><li>Explore Autocomplete Suggestions and “People Also Ask” in Google</li><li>Uncover the Questions that Arise Around Your Topic on Forums and Social Media</li><li>Use Tools to Automate Your Research</li></ol>Evergreen Content & Content Hub StrategyEvergreen content is content that drives & sustains traffic initially, & retains relevance over time. These are the topics that are constantly searched for. Сontent hub is an increasingly important concept that supports evergreen content creation - they are destinations on your website containing pages around a certain topic.

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Add Conversion PathsDecide<ul><li>What's the goal?</li><li>Which funnel stage does this content belong to?</li><li>What would be the next desirable action?</li><li>What is the CTA?</li></ul>Think about Your Backlinking and Sharing StrategyYou need to think about the hook to attract leaders in your field, e.g.: <ul><li>Unique stats</li><li>Trending topics</li><li>Quotes from influencers</li><li>Ultimate guides</li></ul>Your content must resonate to help you get new backlinks. Researching backlink opportunities in advance is crucial, so you can adjust the content for the right websites and influencers.

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Take the Best from Your CompetitorsLooking at SERP can help you understand search intent, & discover which content formats & headlines are used by your top rivals.Always Map Out the Blog Structure First> ½ of the posts with a complex structure are high-performing in terms of traffic & engagement. Posts containing at least one list per 500 words of plain text get 70% more traffic than those without.<ul><li>Add skimmable headlines.</li><li>Break up long paragraphs with bullet points, numbered lists, or graphics.</li><li>Make sure there’s enough white space in your copy.</li><li>Use Topic Research to map out the structure.</li></ul>

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Check & Optimize On-Page SEO<ul><li>Create a clear structure of H1 and H2 tags</li><li>Internal linking </li><li>Incorporate keywords in URL</li><li>Strong title tag</li><li>Compelling meta description (140-160 characters)(1-2 sentences)</li><li>Schema Markup</li><li>Load time best practices</li><li>Core Web Vitals </li><li>Google’s PageSpeed Insights</li></ul>Add Visuals to Your StrategyPosts with one image get twice as much traffic as posts containing text only; they also get 30% more shares and 25% more backlinks. Posts that don’t contain a video get 92% less traffic and 24% fewer shares than posts with at least one video.<ul><li>Reduce load times</li><li>Write alt tags</li></ul>

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Use Keywords to Your Advantage<ol><li>Make Sure Your Copy has a Good TF-IDF (term frequency — inverse document frequency). It is a way of determining the quality of a piece of content based on an established expectation of what an in-depth piece of content contains.</li><li>Gather a Set of Semantically Related Words. To keep the TF-IDF balance mentioned in the section above, you need to map out the semantically related keywords for each blog post. They can help the search engines understand what the content is focusing on and how deeply it goes into the topic.</li><li>Keep Mobile-Specific Keywords in Mind.</li></ol>

Understand Your Audience’s Search Intent<ul><li>Informational — looking for specific information on a topic</li><li>Navigational — wants to get to a specific web page or site</li><li>Commercial — wants to investigate their options </li><li>Transactional — wants to purchase something ASAP</li></ul>Come Up with a Win-Win Formula: Your Goal + Readers’ IntentIt’s important that your post is answering readers’ questions & satisfying their search intent so they’ll be more likely to accept your CTA.<ul><li>Set your goals prior to creating your content to track progress & determine success later.</li><li>Think about what will help you achieve this goal.</li></ul>

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How to position your blog post for success in 2021? Explore these blog writing tips to get more traffic and generate more leads with every article you publish.