How to Write an Optimized Blog Post

Learning How to Write an Optimized Blog Post Can Really Boost Your Sites SEO!

I’ve spent the past year and a half researching, digging, and learning everything that I possibly could in order to boost my websites google ranking. There is a LOT of info when it comes to search engine optimization, which can be overwhelming, but one thing has become abundantly clear . . . Content is King!

Or in other words, the more well written articles you have, the more Google will see your site as an authority. It’s that simple.

But writing a truly optimized blog post will give you that boost that you need to take your website or blog to the next level!

(Want the meat and potatoes? Scroll to the bottom for the infographic)

So how exactly do you write an optimized blog post?

I’m going to give it all to you right now. I’m a big fan of helping others, and I hope that this helps you. If you have suggestions on how to improve this list please let me know!

There are a few simple steps to writing an SEO optimized blog article, but there are also some crucial SEO tips that you’ll need to know as well. It may seem a little tedious at first, but I promise that if you do this every time you write an article you’ll be well on your way to ranking higher on Google.

I highly recommend copying these steps and using them as your posting checklist . . .

#1 Remember that content is king.

Write as many articles as possible. The more the better! 3-5 per week is a good cadence. Remember to write about what you love, what you’re passionate about, and something that you feel confident sharing. Finding and knowing your niche will help you do this. Writing for the sake of writing will get old REAL quick. So write from the heart!

Niche = Something very specific that you love and know. Avoid main stream topics such as “sports”. Instead get detailed, perhaps “football plays that convert” or “how to become a better volleyball player”.

We give you all the goods in our blog post how to choose the best niche (coming soon!)

#2  Pick the main keyword for your article.

Knowing your key words is just as important as writing lots of content. Content and Keywords are critical for SEO. So if you haven’t already chosen the keywords for your site, be sure to do that first. But don’t fret, keywords can change and adapt as your site grows, so don’t stress if you’re worried about choosing the perfect keywords the first time.

We lay it all out for you, based on personal experience, in our our blog post on how to choose the best keywords for my site (coming soon!)

Then pick 1 main keyword for your blog post that relates to your topic.

#3 Choose supporting keywords for your blog post.

Next, choose 4-7 supporting keywords that relate to your topic. These may be long tail keyword phrases with 5-7 words that help to describe your topic further.

#4 How many words should a blog post have?

This is an important one. The more words your article has, the more Google will see you as an authority on the subject. Be sure to write blog posts with at least 500 words. I highly recommend writing articles with more than 1,000 words when possible.

Just be sure to keep it engaging and natural.

#5 Do NOT stuff keywords into your article!

Keyword stuffing is a big no-no in the SEO world. Search engine bots that crawl our sites have become more intelligent than ever before. It’s important to strategically use keywords in your article, but in the proper way (which we cover in this article).

Basically, when you’re writing an article, be sure to write it naturally, to a human reader, and not a search engine bot.

#6 Always use catchy post titles!

I’m still learning this myself, it’s definitely a skill that comes with practice and time. Whenever you write a post title, be sure to address the solution to a question. When someone reads the title they should know exactly what you’re offering.

Your title should always be heading 1 (H1) which Google sees as more important. So be sure to ALWAYS put your main keyword for your article in the post title, and be sure that it’s natural.

TIP – Only use one H1 heading per article.

TIP – Keep your post title under 60 characters (we’ll tell you why shortly)

TIP – Write out 5-10 example post titles using your main keyword and then pick the one that you like the most!

#7 Use different sub headings in your article.

It’s a great idea to add at least a few different headings (H2’s and H3’s) to your blog post. Again, Google ranks these in order. H1 is the most important, H2 is next, etc. So be sure to place your supporting keywords in both H2 and H3 when and where possible. Again, ensure that it sounds natural when you read it.

TIP – Use sub headings that focus on the benefits and solutions that you offer.

#8 Write Epic Content! . . . and be sure to use your keywords too.

As you write your blog post, write from the heart, tell a story, and engage your readers! But, as you do, don’t forget to implement keywords that you’ve chosen where appropriate. This will help Google know what you’re writing about, and then send more readers and potential customer to your site!

TIP – Use your main keyword in the first and last sentence of your article. Use supporting keywords throughout.

#9 Check your Grammar and make adjustments.

Not much to say about this one, again, it takes practice. Check your grammar at least a few times. Read over your article, make adjustments, and then read it again!

TIP – NEVER accept the first draft of an article.

TIP – If needed, consider using a free tool to help you out such as Grammarly (they also have a Chrome Extension)

#10 Always link to at least one other article on your site.

Keep readers engaged, and keep them on your site as long as possible, by hyperlinking to other articles on your blog. Again, Google likes this, the longer a customer is on your site, the more it will help to increase your site ranking.

TIP – When creating a hyperlink for other blog articles USE KEYWORDS. Instead of “click here”, make the hyperlink more detailed, perhaps use the article title.

#11 Add post labels and categories.

Not too much to say here, but be sure to ONLY use 1 label per post. This helps to avoid duplicate content. Every label you add creates a new URL path to get to your article (which is silly but it’s true), and Google sees it as duplicate content since the same article can have different URL’s based on how a customer got there.

For example by clicking on the tag vs the post title.

TIP – Avoid this by setting the canonical URL (which we show you later on)

#12 Use great images! And optimize them . . .

Always use a featured image, as well as images throughout your article. It’s a great way to keep your readers engaged, and is a cool way to increase your sites SEO.

Be sure to always do the following when adding an image to your blog post:

• Make sure it’s both relevant and high quality.
• Don’t just grab images off of Google, purchase them when possible.
• Download the image to your computer and rename the file itself using keywords for that article or image, and use dashes to separate each word. For example “strategic-football-plays.jpg”. Google reads file names, and is a little trick to increase optimization.
• Compressing your images will increase site speed, so do it every time. Use the Tiny PNG plugin, or go to the Tiny PNG site directly to manually compress your images. It is a must.
• If you have a WordPress site, or even Wix or Weebly, you can go into your image settings to create a custom image alt text and image description. Be sure to do this every time. It does not have to be perfect, but use keywords to describe your images. Again, Google reads these.

#13 Add cool media to your article!

Keeping a reader engaged can be a challenge. So do yourself a favor and add a video or infographic to your blog post! Readers and Google loves this. They don’t have to be fancy, as long as they are valuable and to the point.

TIP – Looking for an easy, free way to create a nice looking infographic? I use Piktochart, but there are others as well.

#14 Always ask your readers to take action with a CTA.

A CTA (Call to Action) is a great way to get your readers to stay engaged! It could be asking them to like your facebook page, enter an email address, comment, read another article on your site, or purchase a product or service.

Whatever it is, make sure that it’s relevant, and be sure to add a CTA to each and every post.

#15 Set your permalink to a simple to read version.

Google reads permalinks in a very specific way, so it’s important to ensure that they are written properly.

In WordPress you can edit this at the top of your edit post page. If you’ve chosen a good post title, it may not need to be changed, but here are a few tips for you:

• Keep it somewhat short. 10 words is definitely too long.
• Separate words with a dash – (which should be done automatically, at least in WordPress)
• Use keywords in your permalink every time (again, if you chose a great title, this will already be done)

#16 Create an optimized title tag and description tag.

If you use WordPress, be sure to install the Yoast SEO plugin. It’s a great way to adjust different portions of your site in order to enhance your SEO.

Writing an optimized title and description tag is absolutely crucial. But once again, if you’ve chosen a great post title then most of the work is done for you. Go to the “edit snippet” section of your Yoast SEO toolbar on the edit post page to access the title tag (SEO title) and description tag (meta description).

Here are a few tips:

• Always use your main keywords
• Keep it short and readable
• Keep your title under 60 characters
• Keep your meta description tag around 250 characters
• Separate your blog post title and website (or company) name with a pipeline |

#17 Set your canonical URL to avoid duplicate content.

Another quick and simple fix to Google thinking you have duplicate content is to set your canonical URL for each page and blog post. Simply do this (if you’re in WordPress) via your Yoast SEO plug in. Click on the gear icon (advanced settings), copy your permalink url, and paste it into the canonical url section.

Boom done.

#18 Post every single blog article to social media.

This should go without saying, but every time you write an article, post it to your social accounts such as Google + (always use Google plus which helps you rank higher), LinkedIn, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter.

TIP – Always add an image and the direct link to your article.

#19 A few extra SEO tips to help your article to rank higher.

If you’ve read our article on best SEO plugins for WordPress (coming soon!) you’ll know about caching and sweeping. Increased page speed is important for SEO. So, after every article, be sure to purge all of your cache, and run a site sweep.

#20 Ping your site or Fetch and Render

So now that you’ve written an incredible article for the entire world to see, what’s next? Well, we need to make sure that people can actually find it. Google needs to know that your article exists so that they can crawl it for keywords, and index it.

You can go into your Google search console under the “crawl” section on the left hand side, then “fetch as Google”. You can also ping your site at Pingler.com

If you don’t have a Google Search Console account or Google Analytics it’s time to take the plunge. Take a look at our article on Free Google Tools for SEO (coming soon!).

Now you know exactly how to write an optimized blog post! So what’s next?

Rinse and repeat. As I mentioned, content is king, and key words hone your content for SEO. So keep writing, and keep researching! Keep going, and don’t give up.

Organic search engine optimization (non paid) takes time, and work, but it’s worth it in the end!

*Guest post by OptimizerPros Web Design and SEO. http://optimizerpros.com/

Zim's Max Freeze Muscle & Joint Relief

Zim's Max is a company based out of North Lima, Ohio.  They have a dynamic line of naturally-based products that features different over-the-counter solutions.  Their formulas contain herbal ingredients for pain relief, skin care, diabetics and first aid. Having started over 60 years ago with their first product Zim's Max Crack Creme, their products can be found in nearly every major retailer in North America.

Muscle & Joint Relief

Having tried Zim's Max Crack Creme previously, I was very excited to have the opportunity to try and reviews Zim's Max Freeze muscle and joint relief.  This came at the most opportune time for me.  We were in the process of making our last and final move. We were having to load and unload a 26 foot UHaul, twice, as well as a van filled up to the max many times, and trailers being pulled by the UHaul.  Our backs, and every muscle in our bodies were certainly tried and worked beyond what we could imagine.  It was truly muscle saving to be able to apply Zim's Max Freeze to our sore and aching muscles.

Clear Greaseless Gel

It is a clear gel that readily and quickly absorbs into the skin.  It has a nice scent that does vanish fairly quickly, so you don't smell like a medicine cabinet at all.  It is greaseless which I also like.  No staining on clothes. It contains aloe, arnica, vitamin e and tea tree oil.  It is paraben and sulfate free.

Just this morning I needed to apply the Max Freeze gel to my lower back.  My muscles are still trying to build up to carrying 5 gallons of water in a bucket to water my fruit trees because we don't have enough hoses yet.  Within 5 minutes the pain had subsided.  It's been over 3 hours as of this writing and I'm still pain free.  My husband was quite impressed too at how fast and long lasting this gel works.  This does have a cooling effect.  I sometimes need to warm it up a bit on my fingers before placing on my back.  I highly recommend this product.

This product can be ordered online, but so convenient to find at nearly every major retailer in North America.  It sells for around $9.99 nationwide for their 4 ounce tube. This is quite reasonable in price, especially since it works so fast and lasts so long.

Next time you have sore aching muscles or joint pain, rush right out and pick up a tube of Zim's Max Freeze.  You'll be glad you did.

Cool Pain Relief Gel

Strange Lands: Heroes of Distant Planets Book 1 review

Strange Lands: Heroes of Distant Planets Book 1 book review

Genre: Fantasy

Plot:  Allen, the Boy has the whole world in his hands: well he at least thinks he does in his head.  However, when that world comes crashing down things seem to go from bad to worse, to scary.  When life is taken from him, Allen is left to fend for himself in a wheelchair and voiceless.  There is some good, Allen's Uncle becomes the reason he lives.  In this new quest to help and save his Uncle Allen finds a whole new world, Strange Lands, filled with fear, magic, and mystical creatures.

My Opinion:  Let me start by saying I'm not normally a sci/fi book lover.  It has to be the right type of fantasy book or right type of scientific book for me to want to read it, and then enjoy reading it.  I'm more of a historical fiction, Christian, hallmark happy story type reader.  So when I say that I like a fantasy book, that is big for me.  This book is written perfectly for ages of youth in their tween/ teen years.  It is easy enough to read and understand all the many new creatures, with new names, powers, their connection to Allen and his new life.  Strange Lands is a fun book, which is good, because I'm not a fan of deep dark scary books.  That said, it is a little too much fiction, and is a bit too wordy when descriptions are being used to really be fully enjoyed by adults...unless you enjoy fantasy whole and encompassing.

Interesting Details: Swimming is key to this whole book.  Allen is a great aquatic athlete in the very beginning, and he continues to swim throughout the book.  I found that very endearing and fantastic, because it reminds me of my youth: swim team, life guarding, swimming with my friends, siblings, parents, etc.  Allen is full of fear, he opening cries, and yet is constantly finding himself building up his courage, bravery, and confidence.  Something all tweens and teens are doing in real life.  A great example.

Amazon Link: You can buy the book here through the link below.  It is not an affiliate link, but the direct link to Strand Lands: Heroes of Distant Planets Book 1 on Amazon.

To comply with the Federal Trade Commission's regulations, I must mention as part of every review; that the publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of the book, through Amazon, in exchange for an honest non biased review. There are no affiliate links, nor payments made for this review.  I have posted a review on Amazon as well.

Wild Orange - Essential Oil Smoothie!

Wild Orange is the new Green . . . 

When it comes to smoothies that is! For a while there is seemed like everyone was drinking Green juices, or Green smoothies. Vegetables and fruits in a drink of sorts for health and fitness reasons was a super popular idea. One, I admit, that I totally got caught up in. It was fun and fresh, and even more than all those vegetables, I got sucked into the magic of beautiful flavors from yucky foods!

However, after a few experiments with adding more fruit (because the Hubby and Kids complained about too many vegetables, especially the leafy ones) I found that Green smoothies can actually be any color in the Rainbow. What's even more wild? Rainbow is the new Green. 😊 After a LOT of experimenting, and trial and error, I have learned how to make them taste just as good as the beautiful colors I create.

Discovering Essential Pleasure...

Have you heard of them? Essential oils have become a huge deal! Have you been invited to like a million parties like me? I have, by all my friends and even those people who are acquaintances on my social media. I don't normally buy into fads. BUT SERIOUSLY!!!! I love my Essential Oils, like a ton! Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint are my favorite for health, baths, and using with my kids, and they love it too!

However, recently I found a great way to use another essential oil, and it's my pleasure to share it with you all.   Normally I focus on making healthy kid friendly smoothies with vegetables, essential oils, legumes, and plant protein powders. So when I say kid smoothies, I have to get really creative sometimes in how I "hide" the healthy stuff. This recipe I'm sharing below, doesn't have a lot of vegetables, because sometimes its also nice to just have a fresh fruity blast of goodness.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do!

Welcome to my newest favorite essential oil: Wild Orange.  Most people add a drop or two to water for taste, or to an air freshener for the freshness, I found a way to add to the flavor oranges in a smoothie and it is essentially pleasurable.  ~Enjoy~

Wild Orange Smoothie

(made with essential oils from doTerra)

8oz Orange juice
4 drops of Wild Orange Oil (we got ours from doTerra)
1 cup Papaya (canned is all I could find at the store, so I drained it)
1 cup Mango (canned is all I could find at the store, so I drained it)
1/3 cup carrots (steamed)
1/2 cup Greek Coconut Yogurt
2 tsp Chia seeds (ground)
2 tsp Flax seeds (ground)
1 cup Pineapple (fresh frozen)

*Blend until smooth.  This will make 2 servings, you will get a really good taste of the wild orange and the pineapple flavorings.

*DISCLOSURE - Anytime you plan on using essential oils in a recipe or for ingestion you must first consult the manufacturer. DoTerra very clearly marks their bottles with whether or not they can be ingested, and instructions on how to do so. NEVER ingest essential oils without first consulting a trusted source.

Click Here! for an informative Ebook on how to use Essential Oils!

Thanks for reading. If you have other cool Essential Oil Recipes or cool ideas, please share them with us by commenting!

You should also check out our awesome review of Lavender Essential Oils!

Curse Breaker: Enchanted Book Review

Curse Breaker: Enchanted Book Review

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: Boy with special powers is trying to live his life, help his brother, and keep a secret protected, but he works for a powerful man and an odd group of people.  The people who he works for care about him and want to keep him safe from bad people, but they've broken his trust and can't get him to talk to them.  Something bad happened in the land, and magic has called to the boy, now the ghosts from that incident are also asking for the boy to help them, their only issue is that they can't talk to him.  Can he solve the mystery before he runs out of time?  Can he solve the mystery, keep his secret, and help his brother into collage?  The boy has a really rough life, with too many people asking too much of him, but can he endure and come out conqueror in the end?

Sexual Content update: Though I put that there is some sexual content let tell you what I mean.  There are no sex scenes, which is great for me, because I'm not a fan of those.  However the main character is drawn into sexual thoughts about a beautiful woman.

My Opinion:  Let me start by saying I'm not normally a sci/fi book lover.  It has to be the right type of fantasy book or right type of scientific book for me to want to read it, and then enjoy reading it.  I'm more of a historical fiction, Christian, hallmark happy story type reader.  So when I say that I like a fantasy book, that is big for me.  Now for the cliche' I really did enjoy this book, I was constantly finding ways to sneak in and read it during my days over the Christmas/ New Year's holidays.  One of the reasons I really enjoyed reading is because there was a wonderfully well planned history of where Sarn (the main character) lived, his back story, and why things were the way they were.  However, this backstory was interwoven into every aspect and chapter, so you don't get the whole picture until the end, just puzzle pieces throughout the book.  Melinda's characterization is very much in the same level as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.  You get to know each Ranger who works with Sarn, their individual quirks, ticks, and cares on thejob.  Sarn's world is divided into when he's on the job and when he's off the job, so when the author mixes the two into one, she is very successful!  The ghosts mentioned in the plot summary are my favorite characters of the whole story, they frustrate me, I like them, feel sorry for them, and wish I had power to help them communicate with Sarn while I was reading.  When an author captures your own imagination and sucks you into the story as a character, you know they are very talented, and have worked hard at their skills.  My only issue with the book, that kept me from giving it a 5 star rating, is that Sarn is a really rough life, too rough to be realistic in my opinion.  I feel like there was so much bad happening to him that when something good did happen, it was glossed over just a little bit.  Much like Harry Potter, my issue is the same; so much bad happened to Harry too, but he had those periods of regular life too, just not enough to make it realistic.  I would have liked to see more good, or at least longer periods of time between each trial that happened to Sarn for my own personal reasons.

Interesting Details: This book review is from the ebook version.  It is totally worth getting, because you can read it so much faster, and anywhere you go, easier than carrying a book around.  I used the Amazon Kindle Unlimited app on my phone to read this ebook version.  It was perfect.  It automatically kept my book mark whenever I stopped.  It also let me know how far along I was in each chapter and in the book as a whole, so that I knew how fast I was reading.  The auther Melinda Kucsera has an amazing imagination.  The way this novel is detailed it can compete with Lord of the Rings and even Harry Potter in the way that as you read this book comes to life.  You are thrown into the book as a character shadowing the main character, but are able to float around watching those whom the main character Sarn interacts with.

To comply with the Federal Trade Commission's regulations, I must mention as part of every review; that the publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of the book, through Amazon, in exchange for an honest non biased review. There are no affiliate links, nor payments made for this review.  I have posted a review on Amazon as well.

DoTerra Essential Oil - Lavender Magic!

So you've more than likely heard about Essential Oils by now. And you're probably wondering if they work, right? 

I remember growing up on natural remedies. Do you remember something called "Sun Rider"? Well I do, it stunk like something awful, and burned a little too. But you know what? It seemed to work on a sore throat! Crazy. And maybe it was a placebo affect, who knows, but in the end I felt better. Natural remedies have been around for thousands of years, and even though a lot of them may not match the potency of modern day medicine, they make a difference.

So with all the buzz lately, my husband and I decided to do our own research using DoTerra Essential Oils. Is it really all that it's cracked up to be? Do they make a difference? Based on our experience, the short answer is yes, but we're not yet sure if they do absolutely everything they promise to do.

But for now let's focus on the positive with a good story. 😄 Not too long ago my husband was helping me in the kitchen with some cooking and somehow managed to accidentally grab a super hot casserole dish, that he didn't know was hot! haha Needless to say it left a nasty mark and burned his right hand pretty good. Based on a book that we purchased on when to use certain oils, we found that DoTerra's Lavender Essential Oil would supposedly help with mild burns, so we decided to throw some on. Why not?! Because we all know that burn creams are dodgy at best.

So we grabbed the bottle and put a couple drops on his hand, and low and behold it worked almost instantaneously! The burning sensation went away within a minute or so, with no blisters, and no scar. Needless to say we were SUPER surprised and pretty impressed.

So as we continue to learn and grow with Essential Oils we'll be sure to post them here.

So there is a quick review for you based on a real life experience, and we hope to post a lot more!

Feel free to comment below and share your experiences with us! In the meantime here is a little video we found on YouTube explaining some of the benefits of Lavender.

Check out another one of our articles on Essential Oils