Blogging is one of the most effective marketing tools for any business. In the short-term, it keeps your brand relevant for existing followers. And if it’s done right, your post will continue to generate site visits and paying customers month after month.

Writing a blog takes time, patience, and (usually) a rather painstaking editing process. So make sure your hours of edits and coffee refills pay off in the form of a long-term SEO boost for your business.

For maximum SEO value, be sure to do our top three things while you plan and write your next post.

1. Choose a specific topic.

If you go too broad with your topic, your audience won’t know what they’re getting out of it. Plus, you’ll have to compete against many more pages ranking for that same subject.

Instead, address a specific problem or question your customers have. (Hey, now you know why the title of this article is so long!

Also, make sure you choose a topic that’s relevant to your customer base. To make it easy on yourself in the future, set up an “FAQs” Outbox in your email where you can save your responses to customer questions. When you’re at a loss for ideas, check out your folder for inspiration and re-purpose that content for your blog. This way you’ll always have a collection of relevant topics ready to go.

2. Pick a focus keyword.

Choose one or two closely related keywords that you want your post to rank for. Keep in mind that you have better chances of ranking for long-tail keywords (terms that are at least three words long).

Also, you may have to do a tiny bit of research. (Sorry – can’t say we didn’t warn you!). Try to choose keywords that have high search volumes, but low competition. You can install the Keywords Everywhere extension, free for both Firefox and Chrome, to automatically see volumes and competition metrics for any search term you type in the Google bar.

3. Use lists to organize information.

Bulleted lists draw the eye, and break up your content. They also make a long post easier to read. (Hence the ever-popular “listicle” format.)

But here’s the best part: lists or numbered instructions improve your chances of making it into Google’s coveted featured snippets: the short portions of text that show up at the top of certain search results. Google is looking for ways to serve relevant information directly within the search results page, and easy-to-read lists are often favored over long paragraphs.

Blogging has so much SEO potential for your website – but it doesn’t just happen automatically. Incorporating these elements into every post will help you maximize potential search traffic – even years after you click Publish.

If blogging is a key part of your marketing strategy, you’re in luck because we’ve put together a nifty tool to help you earn more site visits with every post. Simply click below to download our “How To” White Paper and keep it on file for easy reference throughout the year!