By OLIVER ANDREWS
Are Blogs Good For SEO? Experts Share Their Thoughts, Experience, Tips and Tricks
We asked 68 marketing and SEO experts about blogging, marketing strategies, and the benefits of blogging to SEO. Here’s what they had to say.
Blogging has become a massive marketing strategy these days. While trends come and go every year, blogging has held on, delivering favourable results for websites. But the question remains – Are blogs good for SEO?
SEO isn’t blogging, and blogging doesn’t directly affect your ranking. However, maintaining a blog on your website can significantly impact how your site ranks in search engines and how it performs overall. Using blogging to draw traffic to your website, and more importantly, keep those readers coming back for more, is one of the reasons business owners and marketing officers choose to leverage this method of online reach.
We reached out to nearly 70 digital marketing and SEO experts, content managers, and company founders. Each of them answered three questions about the relationship between blogging and SEO. We received answers to these questions:
- Are blogs good for SEO?
- Do you have a blog?
- Do you implement blogging as part of your marketing strategy?
- What are the main SEO benefits you have seen from blogging?
Ready to take a look at what the experts have to say about SEO and blogs? Read on…
What we will cover in this article
Do You Have a Blog?
“We make our blog the cornerstone of our SEO strategy,” says Matthew Meier, founder of MaxTour LLC, maxtour.co. “It lets us target relevant keywords with highly relevant content.”
Blogging “is a large part of our marketing strategy to generate leads and gain brand recognition,” admits Brad Blood of BIS, Inc., bisok.com. He went on to say that blogging also “helps us gain brand recognition in industries or new markets that we are trying to sell to.”
John Frigo of My Supplement Store bestpricenutrition.com has a similar take regarding brand recognition. Blogging “allows us to establish and grow our brand,” he explained, going on to emphasize the importance of the organic traffic that blog posts can generate.
For Sam Rexford, Head of Content at CHILL REPTILE chillreptile.com, blogs are “amazing.” He credits his blog with the entire growth of his business. “If you imagine your blog is digital real estate, you’ll see the advantages pretty quickly.”
“If given one marketing strategy, I’d pick blogging,” admits Brian Robben, CEO of Robben Media robbenmedia.com. “No other marketing strategy offers the same key benefits.”
Evan Tarver, co-Founder and CEO of Selling Signals SellingSignals.com, agrees. “We generate the majority of our readership through organic SEO.”
“Blogging is probably the single most effective method of SEO for marketers,” says Milosz Krasinski, managing director at Chilli Fruit Web Consulting chillifruit.com.
Andrea Crook agrees. A web marketer at Digitalize Trends digitalizetrends.com, she states, “A blog entry today is an important article that helps the user tackle an issue, obtain significant information, or engage.”
Blogging is “a powerful opportunity to connect with your audience,” adds Emma Williams, digital marketing manager at Edge of the Web edgeoftheweb.co.uk.
JJ Lee, digital PR executive at Digital Funnel digitalfunnel.ie, agrees. “Blogs can hook people and ensure they stick around for a while, a hugely useful tool.”
The general consensus among our questioned experts was that blogs are not only beneficial for SEO; they are necessary.
How Does Blogging Help Your SEO Crawlability?
Keywords are the key when it comes to searchability on the web. Blogging allows you to make your website more “crawlable” through the use of keywords, specifically long-tail keywords.
One of the main benefits to SEO from blogging is creating content that targets those long-tail keywords. According to Jeff Stripp, Chief Revenue Officer of Zogics zogics.com, long-tail keywords “usually don’t have commercial intent but can be a great way to grow brand awareness and drive more traffic to your website.”
“Our blog is one of our top contributors of links and traffic,” admits Krista Neher, CEO of Boot Camp Digital bootcampdigital.com/. “Some of our blog posts have become the top SEO-driving pages on our site.”
Content Strategist Rhea Henry of Energyrates energyrates.ca, agrees. “Blogs, if done right, can bring a new audience to your website.”
“It helps you get consistent passive traffic to your content,” adds Abdulaziz, content strategist and writer at Digital Growth Boost digitalgrowthboost.com.
Blogging “can help boost a website’s ranking very quickly,” says Nick Chernets, CEO of Data for SEO dataforseo.com. He added that research is fundamental in helping writers to identify the best keywords to incorporate into the blog post.
“Blogs are a fantastic way to expand the keywords,” says Jessica Rhoades, owner and designer at Create IT Web Designs createitwebdesigns.com. “Both my customers and I use blogging,” Jessica added.
How Important Is Fresh Blog Content to SEO?
“Fresh, unique content is valued by search engines,” says Lacy Summers, Chief Marketing Officer at Crush the PM Exam crushthepmexam.com. Searchability is the key, and fresh content helps the website appear higher in the search results. “That is why you must maintain a consistent blog with new content every week,” Ms. Summers added.
“Blogging is the best marketing strategy,” asserts John Webster of Voyager Travel, voyagerstravel.com. “It keeps feeding content to your audience.”
Sam Stein, a search engine marketing professional at eSafety First esafetyfirst.com, also supports the idea that “keyword-optimized relevant content…will move pages further up the search engine results pages.”
Mudassir Ahmed, owner of Blogging Explained bloggingexplained.com, considers blogging to be the core strategy of building his online business, adding that “fresh and accurate information…makes search engine algorithms index your website often, keeping it on their radar.”
Rahul Vij, CEO of WebSpero Solutions webspero.com, states, “Blogging is a great way to build top of a funnel audience.” He added: “We have seen a 180% growth of organic traffic on our website in just the last six months” due to consistent blogging.
Fresh content also needs to be reliable. Stephen Pallas, Senior Marketing Lead at Supercharge Lab superchargelab.com, stated that they have a blog where they post frequently and on a regular schedule. “Our blog has allowed us to build authority on our areas of expertise,” he says, adding, “our business has grown faster than expected.”
“When people trust a blog, search engines follow,” admits Tihana Drumev, Senior Content Marketing Executive at Best Response Media bestresponsemedia.co.uk.
Accurate blogs “gain trust among the readers,” states Tadeusz Olewicz, who provides interesting and reliable content as a marketing specialist at Channels, channels.app. “You become a relevant source of knowledge. People start to associate the quality of your content with your brand.”
“Content that contains strong opinions, proprietary research, or helpful tools…are the ones that tend to gain backlinks and pass SEO authority up the hyperlink chain,” admits Jack Vawdrey, a freelance content marketing consultant, jackvawdrey.com.
“Good content,” says Yasir Shamim, digital marketing executive at PureVPN purevpn.com, “would be things very niche-specific as well as writing blogs in a way that is attractive and intriguing for readers.” Patrick Moore of CryptoWhat cryptowhat.com agrees: “The most important thing is to ensure that you provide valuable answers…One needs to create content that impresses from the onset.”
Blogging and Backlinks
Though it is a strategy that raises some eyebrows, “backlinks” are one of the main benefits of SEO and blogging, according to Daniel Foley, SEO manager at Halcyon School halcyonschool.com. “Quality links from well-known, well-respected websites will significantly improve your SEO scores,” Mr. Foley added.
“When it comes to proving yourself to search engines,” says Anna Lind, Chief Editor at Cryptoradar cryptoradar.co, “link building is essential.” She went on to say that the trick to successfully using backlinks in blogs for SEO is to “link content that complements what you’ve written in a blog post.”
According to Benajmin Rose, Co-founder of Trainer Academy, traineracademy.org, blogging is a simple way to increase the number of links to your website and material. “Links can help you gain more exposure,” he went on to say, “but they can also help you draw more users who are reading other industry-related websites.”
Andrew Ruditser MaxBurst, Inc maxburst.com. Lead technology Coordinator adds: “Implementing a blog within your site is a much easier way to link build as you can include multiple site links within your articles.”
Jozef Raczka, content executive at Twinkl Ltd. twinkl.co.za, suggests that blogs can be useful in the world of link building. “Doing outreach around blogs can have positive benefits in both directions: both through the sites you hyperlink to and gain backlinks from.”
Building Connections
Building connections with your readers, who may also become customers, is a huge benefit of having a blog.
“By writing relevant blogs, it becomes quite easy to directly connect with the readers,” answers Susan Thompson, digital marketing manager at Topp Casino Bonus, toppcasinobonus.com.
“Blogs create a great platform to share authentic stories about the company and team,” says Jole Whipple, account director at All Points Digital, allpoints.digital, adding that blogs can be shared on social media and drive clicks back to your site.
Samantha Russell agrees. “When it comes to getting your unique voice out there, including a blog on your website is one of the best ways to do this,” says the Chief Evangelist of Twenty Over Ten twentyoverten.com.
Accessibility is also important. “Blog posts create new pathways for users to get to your site,” Derek Gleeson, lead analyst of Workshop Digital workshopdigital.com, states.
“The ultimate target is to create a colourful catalogue of content that draws people to your site, and finally to your product,” asserts Kerry Lopez, marketing analyst at Incrementors Web Solutions incrementors.com. “Blogs can be powerful tools when they’re used perfectly.”
Part of the connection lies in your brand and your unique voice. “Whether yours is polished or more informal, chatty or academic, humorous or snarky, it is a way for your personality to come through,” Paige Amof-Fenn, Founder & CEO of Mavens & Moguls, mavensandmoguls.com, says.
Promoting your blog to social media and other platforms helps to boost those connections. “Bloggers increase their visibility, credibility, email list, and sales via content marketing on Pinterest,” states Laura Rike of laurarike.com.
What Are the Main SEO Benefits You Have Seen from Blogging?
“The main SEO benefit from blogging is that it is a long-term way of capturing leads or clients,” replies Lora Bovie, SEO editorial associate at Choosing Therapy choosingtherapy.com.
Richard Garvey, CEO of Different SEO differentseo.com, says one of the main benefits for his company is building a reputation. “Blogging helps us position ourselves as a premium agency, which allows us to thrive in the age of commoditized SEO services.”
“Blogs are one of the best forms of owned media, where we can share our expertise in an unfiltered, unabridged way,” states Zoltan Bettenbuk, CTO at Prerender prerender.io.
Simon Elkjær, avXperten.dk CMO, agrees, adding that blogging “lets you showcase your expertise and value to your target audience as well.”
“With blogs, the process of ranking certain keywords become easier,” the CEO at invideo.io, Sanket Shah, replies, adding: “You can have better exposure and increased visibility on a search engine with the help of blogs.”
Increasing rank is an essential component of blogging, and James Pollard of theadvisorcoach.com credits blog posts with attracting his customers, adding: “[Blogging] allows you to increase time-on-page, which is a ranking signal for Google” and “gives you more opportunities to include internal links, which can also help you rank.”
Mehvish at Zen Media zenmedia.com agrees. As an SEO content writer, Mehvish says blogs are “a great way to stay relevant and make a huge difference in website performance.”
“[Blogging] allows you to connect with other people and increase off-page SEO,” says Miguel Gonzàlez, digital marketing executive at Dealers League dealersleague.com. He suggests cross-blogging, guest blogging, and collaborations as examples of this off-page SEO.
Chloe Brittain, owner of opaltranscriptionservices.com, sees a surprising benefit in her blogging: “One of the most surprising benefits I’ve seen from blogging is in the area of recruiting… I regularly receive applications from freelancers who discovered me through one of these posts.”
The best part about SEO and blogging? According to Natalie Sullivan of Cooler Air Today coolerairtoday.com, it is reaching customers without badgering them. “[Blogging] acts as a marketing tool without it being overt,” she states, adding: “It’s kind of like convincing your boss that the idea you want them to choose was their idea all along.”
Tips For a Solid Blogging And SEO Relationship
“Formulate the blog marketing plan, including content and frequency of posts,” suggests Harriet Chan, co-founder and marketing director of CocoFinder cocofinder.com. “And be sure to respond to comments from readers.”
“If you’re answering someone’s problem, then Google will make sure that you get plenty of traffic in return.” – Samantha Milner, CEO/Owner of Recipe This recipethis.com.
“Blogs can be great for SEO but ONLY if you know how to structure your blog posts,” states Abby Herman. The director of strategy at Snap Agency snapagency.com went on to add: “You need to up that conversational tone and write like you’re writing to a friend.”
Timothy Haynes, head of content and SEO at Clara Agency clara.agency, says that “Google rewards informational, correct, relevant, and straightforward content. Google does not reward spammy, meandering, irrelevant, or especially plagiarized content.”
“Website traffics, authority, trust.” – Thomas, 12-year SEOer at WigsMaster.com.
“You have commercial and info content,” states Jován Medina Caro, co-founder and writer for TheWisePup.com. “Commercial content is the one that will make you money, while info content will drive traffic to your site and ultimately help you move up the much-coveted top three rankings.”
“Emailing our newsletter subscribers about any new posts, and also announcing on social media,” suggests Keith Enniex, President of Renew Alliance renewalliance.com, when asked for tips on improving reach.
“Do proper keywords research. Create proper content plan/structure according to the keywords.” – Tayyab Akram, digital marketing manager at WPBrigade wpbrigade.com.
Your blog “needs to be exceptionally well-organized, precisely planned, structured and must contain unique, valuable, and SEO-optimized content that users will find relevant,” asserts Greta Simeonova, SEO specialist and content writer at PAN Digital Marketing pandigitalmarketing.com.
“Quality of content is of absolute importance!” Shiv Gupta, CEO of Incrementors SEO incrementors.com, went on to add: “Don’t go making low-quality pages or articles just for the sake of gaining your quantity of URLs.”
“Blog posts…need to be informative, thorough, and fully address the users’ needs,” replies Adam Rowan, content manager at Twelve Three Media digitalmarketingcompany.com.
“Blog posts need strong visual attraction to work – photos, videos, and infographics are all keys to the success of any online marketing.” – Malcolm Hills, Splento Ltd splento.com.
“Get in front of the prospect with a piece of helpful content, and start building that relationship. Think about it as customer service online.” – Sasha Matviienko, Director of Digital at growth360 growth-360.com.
Rahul Gulati, founder of GyanDevign Tech Services LLP devigntech.com, agrees: “More you educate them, higher chances of you winning high ticket sales.”
Matthew Lally, founder of TheGiftYak thegiftyak.com/, suggests that industry and vertical are essential considerations. “Not all brands can find relevant keywords to rank for in SEO past their core terms.”
Anatolyii Ulitovskyi, founder of SEOtools.TV, agrees: “Search for topics with a lack of quality content but have traffic.”
“It’s important that we track the user retention…” says Savannah Scott, content and editorial lead at Supergreat supergreat.com. “We look to behaviour analytics to see with [sic] site pages users are most going to.”
Conclusion
The consensus among the experts was that blogging is not only a valuable marketing strategy, but, in the words of Mitch Harad of Expert Opportunities expertopportunities.com, “blogging should be the foundations for all small to medium businesses.” Blogs are an excellent vehicle for expressing the personality and brand of your company, and doing it in a way that is accessible for a wide variety of people.
While blogging doesn’t consistently generate customers, it does help your website to stay in a ranked position for a longer period of time. As Ekta Swamkar, owner of tiasays.com, expressed it: “It brings new targeted visitors every single day.” That organic traffic is vital.
“Organic traffic means you get long-term traffic on autopilot,” Melissa Giroux adds. The blogger at A Broken Backpack abrokenbackpack.com continues: “You don’t need to promote your content on social media if your SEO is strong.”
Creating a successful blog requires many elements, beginning with a solid plan for what you want to achieve. Knowing your brand is critical, as is perfecting a tone and delivery that will appeal to the broadest demographic while also targeting those who will most appreciate your product or service.
Keywords are critical when building a blog, but be careful not to over stuff. Instead, focus on long-tail keywords and current trends to help build traffic. Links and backlinks are also vital to build traffic and enhance credibility and trust in your website.
A quality-written, well-researched blog that is frequently updated, weighted with just the right amount of keywords, and reflects the personality and brand of your website, product, and company goes a long way toward boosting both short and long-term SEO success.
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This Post Has 3 Comments
Hello Oliver, Mitch Harad makes such a great point at conclusion- blog should be the foundation and core marketing strategy for any online business. Apart from that, there’s a lot of helpful advice in this roundup and this is indeed a handful resource for aspiring business owners out there. I feel honored to be among so many talented creators here, thanks!
Just followed you on Twitter and shared it there.
Great post! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Oliver,
A well-stocked, properly-optimized blog does wonders for SEO for all reasons listed above. Self-hosted, WordPress dot org blogs rank consistently on page 1 because entrepreneurs have no better tool for organically driving Google traffic. Google demands trusted resources to appear on page 1; blogs dripping with targeted value gain trust like no other tool online.
Ryan