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When I first became interested in blogging, I researched everything I possibly could.

Being prepared is never a bad thing, right?

And through all my research, one word stood out: SEO.

Everywhere I looked, people were talking about it.

The problem was no matter where I went, nobody really explained how to use it.

As you can imagine, this was very frustrating.

So I did everything I could to piece together how SEO works.

And that is exactly why I made this blog post.

Whether you're in the same boat as I was, just trying to figure out what this SEO thing is, or if you already know and want to see how I use it as a blogger, this one's for you!

Let's talk about how I use SEO in my blog.

How to Use SEO Keywords in a Blog

The funny thing is, even though I put a lot of effort into my blog's SEO, it isn't what brings in the majority of my blog's readers.

Pinterest is by far the biggest source of my readers.

But that being said, I still use SEO.

I would recommend using the two, Pinterest and SEO, to bring in readers.

And just in case you didn't know, SEO isn't just for your blog.

I use it across my entire website.

It's something I'm very grateful I learned because I now know how to use it no matter where I am, blog or no blog.

Please know that I am not an expert, I'm just a blogger here to share what I've learned.

I also don't spend money on ads.

What is SEO?

We should probably talk about this before we go further.

SEO (or Search Engine Optimization) is when you do things to make your website or blog rank higher on search engine result pages (SERPs).

Basically, you do/use different things like keywords to drive traffic to your site.

It's especially important in blogging because it brings in organic traffic (which just means visitors who find your site through search engines like Google).

When someone searches for something online, search engines use an algorithm to choose which pages are the most relevant to their search.

That is why when you use SEO in your blog, you increase the chance your posts will show up on the first page.

I know that was a lot to take in, but I found it wasn't as complex as I thought it was.

I like to think of SEO as a bunch of little things you do/add to your blog to make your blog show up higher on search engine pages.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is something I now use all the time for many different things.

It doesn't only work for SEO, it works for other things too!

The sad part is that in all my research into their technique for keyword research.

So let's talk a bit about mine!

The goal of keyword research is to find terms and phrases that people are searching for.

The trick is that those terms and phrases need to align with your blog post.

And we aren't looking for any term or phrase.

I like to focus on longtail keywords.

These are more specific than short-tail keywords.

Here is an example of the two:

• Short-tail: SEO Tips

• Longtail: How to use SEO in a small business blog

Another example:

• Short-tail: Outfit Ideas

• Longtail: Black cargo pants outfit ideas for women

Now that you know what a longtail keyword is, let's get into how to find them.

1. First, I go into an incognito window.

2. Then, I go to the Google search bar.

3. In the search bar, I start typing in something related to my blog post. Put yourself in your audience's shoes, what would they search for if they were looking for your blog post? For example, when finding my keywords for this blog post, I looked up "how to use SEO in a blog" and checked out the recommended options from that. I do this a few times until I have the right amount of longtail keywords.

4. Then I choose the suggested longtail keywords that align best with my blog post.

5. I usually aim for between 8-12 longtail keywords.

Depending on where you have your blog, the place you enter your keywords may differ.

But for me, I enter them into the keywords section of my blog platform before scheduling a post.

How I Use SEO in My Blog Posts

As for SEO within my blog posts, I do the same thing every time.

Personally, I go for blog posts between 1500-2000 words.

It's what comes naturally without my blog posts having too many ramble moments.

Also, I do keyword research first before writing my blog posts.

One of the first things I do after outlining my blog post is choosing the first H2.

By that, I mean heading 2.

You should only have one H1, the title of your blog post.

But you can have multiple of the others.

So, for my first H2, which I always put right after the H1 and first paragraph, I pick a longtail keyword from my list.

As far as I know, this is supposed to help.

I also do what I can to add other longtail and short-tail keywords throughout the blog post.

I know it is recommended to add a picture into your blog posts, and I have done it before.

The thing is, it doesn't work for me scheduling-wise.

But if it works for you, great!

You can link it to a Pinterest post if you'd like.

I would also recommend adding a keyword to the alt text of the picture.

A Few More Tips

And here are a few more small things that either can help SEO or that I would recommend keeping in mind for your blog.

• Add links inside your posts. Do I know the science behind it? Not at all. But as far as I know, you're supposed to add links inside your blog posts to things like other blog posts of yours or products you have. For example, I would use this to link my productivity planner.

• Descriptions. I didn't do this for a while, but adding keywords wherever you can is a good thing. That's why I now pay attention to adding that in my blog post's description.

• Phone-friendly: A lot of people read my blog posts on their phones, so I've always kept that in mind when designing my blog. Bigger fonts and bolded text can help with that.

• How fast does your page load? I've heard this one, but I don't put too much thought into it personally. If you want to, go for it!

• Quality content. Something important that I learned very quickly is that your blog posts should be good. I always do my best to make them as helpful as possible with as much info as possible. If I know a blog post isn't hitting the mark, I take a breather and go back to it later.

Doing more research is never a bad thing.

I should know, I have done A LOT.

So if you're looking for more info on something I mentioned, research it!

Pinterest vs SEO

I've seen this before, but it isn't so simple.

Using both is a good thing!

Just because I get more traffic from Pinterest than SEO doesn't mean that will happen for you.

Are You Ready to Use SEO in Your Blog?

Thanks for reading this far!

I'm so happy to have found someone else who is interested in blogging.

If you want to chat about anything I mentioned in this blog post, I'd love it if you DM me on Instagram!

See you soon!

Isabella