How to Create SEO-Friendly Blog Posts: 15 Proven Practices for Improved Visibility

Most businesses start blogging for two reasons: to engage with their customers and to improve their website rankings. While some might think these goals contradict each other, in reality, they complement one another beautifully.

The first 3 rules for writing SEO-friendly blog posts

By creating SEO-friendly blog posts, you’re not only attracting more readers but also making your content more discoverable. Let’s break down the three key principles for writing blog posts that both people and search engines love.

To write successful blog posts you should follow three main rules:

1. Write genuine, interesting, and unique content; content that interests users; content that’s just great!
2. Write content with great format and structure; this will make your blog posts more appealing, easier to read, and more likely to be shared by your users.
3. Consider SEO best practices: your blog posts should be optimized and SEO friendly; this will make them appealing to search engines and will help to increase website rankings.

In this article, I will focus on this third main rule and I’ll explain how to make your blog posts optimized for search engines. Some elements listed in this article don’t directly affect SEO. But their usage could improve user experience on the webpage and we know that better user experience generally leads to better SEO.

Note that this blog entry mainly refers to the “on-page optimization” factors.  It doesn’t fully cover “off-page” aspects such as backlink profile, the authority of the linking domains, anchor text, etc.

1. Focus on 1 – 3 keywords per blog post

When writing for your blog, it’s important to start with a clear idea of which worlds you’ll be targeting in this article. The number of targeted keywords should be limited. This helps you stay focused on your post’s goal and gives you more time to optimize for just one or two keywords.

When targeting keywords for SEO, you can choose between short-tail and long-tail keywords:

• Short-tail keywords are broad, general terms (e.g., “running shoes”). These terms have high search volumes but are highly competitive and often attract less specific traffic.
• Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases (e.g., “best running shoes for flat feet”). While they have lower search volumes, they attract more qualified traffic—people who are closer to making a decision or have a specific need.

Focusing on long-tail keywords often yields better results as they align more closely with user intent, improving conversion rates.

2. Use the main keyword at least three times

Keyword density is not a ranking factor, but it is still recommended to use the targeted keyword from three to five times in the content.

Best Practices for Keyword Usage:

Of course, you also should:

• avoid keyword stuffing, multiple mentions of the keywords,
• write only reader-friendly content,
• use variation of the main keywords (secondary or long-tail keywords),
• put the main keyword in bold (<b> or <strong> tag) or italics (<em> or <i> tags) – we can only guess the effectiveness of this tactic, but I still recommend doing it, mainly because it helps readers to scan the content and to better organize your article (similar to the headings).

3. Place your target keywords strategically for maximum impact

To make your blog post SEO-friendly, your target keyword must be strategically included in specific elements of the page. This ensures search engines understand the focus of your content and helps you rank for relevant queries. Here’s where to place it:

• In the Content: Naturally, incorporate the keyword throughout the article to emphasize its relevance.
• In the Article Title (H1 tag) : Read more about it below
• In the Meta Title Tag: Add the keyword for search engines and readers to identify your post’s subject immediately.
• In the Meta Description Tag: Include the keyword to attract clicks with a compelling summary.
• In the URL: Optimize the blog post’s URL by including the keyword for clarity and ranking benefits.
• In the Image Alt Tags: Use the keyword in alt text to make your images searchable and improve accessibility.

By placing keywords in these critical areas, you help search engines and users quickly recognize the value of your content.

For example, let’s look at this blog article from SEM Rush that positioned in the top 3 Google results for the keyword “robots.txt”;

4. Add Keywords to the article title (H1 Tag)

Your H1 tag, which often doubles as the article’s title, is one of the most critical on-page SEO elements. Including your target keyword in the H1 ensures that both search engines and readers immediately understand the primary focus of your content. Note that most CMS would automatically apply an H1 tag on the title of a page or a blog post.

Why the H1 Matters?

• Search Engines: The H1 helps algorithms categorize and rank your page for relevant queries.
• Readers: A keyword-rich, engaging H1 sets clear expectations about the article’s topic.

Make your H1 concise, informative, and keyword-optimized without compromising readability.

For example, in the blog article from SEM Rush above, the article title (and also the H1 heading) is “What Robots.Txt Is & Why It Matters for SEO”, as we can see below: 

5. Always optimize the meta title tag

The meta title tag is a crucial component of SEO. Appearing as the clickable headline in search engine results pages (SERPs), it is often the first impression users have of your content. A well-optimized meta title can significantly boost click-through rates and improve your page’s visibility.

How to Write an Effective Meta Title? 

The meta title of your blog post should:

• Include Targeted Keywords: Place your primary keyword prominently to signal relevance. 
• Place the targeted keyword in the beginning of the tag (if possible).
• Keep It Unique: Ensure that every blog post has a distinct title to avoid duplication penalties.
• Stay Concise: The meta description should be no longer than 60 characters (or about 512 pixels) to prevent truncation.

Craft meta titles thoughtfully to grab attention and align with users’ search intent. This tag is the reader’s first step in determining the relevancy of your blog article to their search query.

6. Always craft a compelling Meta Description

The meta description is a brief snippet that appears under your meta title on search engine results pages (SERPs). It serves as a concise summary of your blog post and plays a critical role in enticing users to click through to your site. Similar to the meta title, the meta description tag is used by search engines to provide explanations of the contents of web pages in the SERPs:

How to Write an Effective Meta Description?

The meta description of a blog post should:

• Make It Unique: Avoid duplicating descriptions across multiple pages. The meta description tag should be unique for every article.
• Include Keywords: Incorporate the 1-3 target keywords naturally in the meta description.
• Keep It Short: The meta description should be no longer than 155–160 characters to avoid truncation. But don’t make it too short either. 
• Focus on Engagement: Write compelling, action-oriented text that encourages clicks. Remember that you’re not only writing meta descriptions for the search engines, but also for the visitors. The meta description is a way to “market” your blog post in the SERPs and make it more appealing.

A well-written meta description not only improves your click-through rate but also helps establish the relevance of your content in the SERPs.

For example, when looking at the meta tags in the above-mentioned SEM Rush article, we see that the targeted keyword “robots.txt” is positioned at the beginning of the meta title and meta description. The meta title is the same as the title of the blog post:

7. Always use images and graphics to enhance SEO and engagement 

Visual elements like images and graphics aren’t just appealing; they also play a crucial role in SEO. Including at least two relevant images in your blog post can improve readability, break up text, and increase user engagement.

Why do images matter?

Images help illustrate the topic, making the content more engaging and easier to understand. They can also convey information quickly, especially when paired with infographics or charts.

How to optimize images for SEO?

To ensure your images contribute to SEO:

• Relevance: Use visuals that directly relate to your content or keywords.
• Alt Attributes: Always include descriptive Alt attribute (<alt=> tag) for each image. Alt text improves accessibility for visually impaired users and helps search engines index your images based on the keywords included.

8. Always optimize the blog post URL for better SEO

The structure of your blog post URL requires special attention. It is essential for both search engines and users. An optimized URL can improve rankings and make the link more user-friendly.

Best Practices for URL Optimization:

• Include Target Keywords: Ensure your main keyword is part of the URL.
• Keep It Short: While the technical limit is 2048 characters, shorter URLs are more effective and easier to share.
• Use Hyphens Instead of Underscores: Separate words with hyphens (-) rather than underscores or spaces for better readability and indexing.
• Avoid Overuse: But be careful with the excessive use of hyphens, as too many hyphens can be seen as spammy. Limit hyphens to maintain a professional, non-spammy appearance. You should do that even if it means to shorten the URLs or to use fewer words in it. 

A clean, keyword-rich URL boosts both SEO and user engagement.

9. Write longer articles

There’s no rule about the optimal length of a blog post and there’s no such thing as “perfect” length. But you have probably heard the expression “Short is better”. Well, that’s not entirely true …

Long posts are better for SEO.
According to research done by serpIQ, in 2012, the top 10 results from Google all have at least 2,000 words! The reason is that long posts give you more flexibility with keywords and you’re not limited to one or two specific keywords. The sheer variety of words is also an important factor that can improve your SEO.

Another advantage of long posts is that they are more likely to be shared. A research done by Neil Patel shows, that posts that are more than 1,500 words receive 68% more tweets and 22% more Facebook likes than the articles with fewer than 1,500 words.

Moreover, longer blog posts receive more backlinks. According to Moz experts, there’s a positive correlation between longer content and the number of links a post gained.

But all this doesn’t mean that you should always write long articles. An article should be as long as it needs to be. The length of your blog posts depends on its purpose. They should be as long as they need to be to serve their purpose.

When I’m asked, “How long a blog post should be?” I advise my clients to write at least 600 words for a blog article and at least 1,000 words for a landing page or a guest post.

10. Use headings and sub-headings in the body of the article

Adding a Table of Contents (TOC) to your blog post is a smart SEO practice that enhances both user experience and search engine optimization.

The TOC provides readers with a quick overview of the content, helping them navigate directly to sections of interest. This improves dwell time on your page, a positive ranking signal for search engines. Additionally, search engines may use your TOC to generate jump-to links in search results, making your post more attractive and clickable in the SERPs.

An excellent example of how to use Table of Contents (TOC) to improve user experience is seen on SEMRush’s blog posts, where they often use a sticky TOC in the sidebar.

This TOC stays visible as users scroll, allowing them to quickly navigate between sections without losing context. For instance, on their longer blog articles and beginner guides, the sticky TOC highlights the current section and provides seamless access to other parts of the article.

This design improves readability, keeps users engaged, and can positively impact SEO by reducing bounce rates.