How To Write Awesome Blog Posts That Consistently Rank On Google (Step-By-Step Guide)

1. Keyword Research (Free tools & Paid tools)

Don't let the term "keyword" confuse you. Essentially, keywords are single words or phrases that let Google and your readers know what you are writing about in your post. The search engines that you use all focus on keywords.

So, when readers type in "life tips," Google brings up every post that was written with that keyword. Most search engines will bring up results that are similar to the keyword you entered like "life tips for women" or "life tips quotes."

Google is getting a lot smarter at figuring out what readers are looking for.

There are plenty of blogging tools for searching keywords. Ahrefs and Keywords Everywhere are good places to start, but there are actually free keyword tools to help you start writing a blog post.

Remember, if you want to write a blog post that ranks on Google, then having the right keyword is vital. Having a blog post rank on Google without the right keyword for your niche becomes a near-impossible task. So, let's start here.

Finding the keywords for your blog post for free

Using Pinterest, begin to look for the keyword you are interested in. For example, if I was looking to write a blog post on "7 Essential Life Tips For Living A Happier Life," then I would start by searching "life tips" in the search bar of my Pinterest homepage.

From there, I would be able to see what people on Pinterest are searching for and have a great example of topic ideas. Just put "life tips" and press enter.

Pinterest should show you which additional keywords that are popular across the top of the page. These are other great words/phrases to include in your blog post.

Write down the first 2 to 3 search engine results that you see and we can go from there. In this blog post example, I will take "healthy life tips" and "life tips for women." I will be sure to add these keywords when optimizing my blog post.

However, notice that Pinterest does not show you the volume for each keyword, nor the competition level. That is where Paid search engine optimization tools come in handy.

Finding Keywords for your blog post (paid)

As mentioned previously in this blog post, there are plenty of keyword tools out there to help you get started writing a good blog post. However, I will be discussing one that I use.

I started using Ahrefs earlier in my blogging experience after the tool was mentioned by a few of my blogging coaches. It isn't the cheapest keyword search tool out there, but from my experience and the research I've done on keyword tools, it is the most effective.

If you desire to write a good blog post, and you have the extra resources, Ahrefs is a great blogging tool to have. Understand that any money or time that you invest in your business will pay dividends later on.

There's a quote that I remind myself of each time I am faced with the sometimes difficult decision of investing in tools for my blog: "Scared money don't make money." I remind myself of this constantly and remember my WHY for beginning my blog in the first place.

I built my blog because I want to build an online business that replaces my full-time salary and allows me to work from anywhere in the world. My blog is the beginning of a life with time and location freedom.

Do you remember why you wanted to start your blog?

Creating your outline

When you have the keywords that you want and have their headlines established, you can move on to the outline portion of creating post.

Creating the outline isn't 100% necessary, but I find that when I do send an outline over to my freelance writer, I get back a more polished article with all of my initial ideas listed.

2. Getting Post written (outsource strategy)

When you are first starting your blog, most likely you will fulfill every role.

You are the keyword researcher, writer, editor, and outreach specialist! However, because content and links are the most important things to consider as a blogger, you might want to think about bringing in some support as early as possible.

You don't have to be the best writer to write the best blog posts. You just need the right tools. An increasing number of bloggers have invested in AI tools like Suffer SEO and Jasper to help them create blog posts that rank on Google by focusing on SEO.

In fact, I am using Suffer SEO to help me write this blog post!

However, if you have the resources to invest in a freelance writer from Fiverr.com, then I highly suggest this route. I hire a writer to write the first draft of each blog. I give them my keyword and headline and they create the 1300-word first draft for me.

From there, I upload my post to Suffer SEO and include even more keywords and use Grammarly to check for mistakes.

3. Optimizing Post in SufferSEO

It's impossible to know how well your blog posts will rank if you have zero knowledge of where to start. To be honest, you don't even have to have the most well-written blog post to rank on Google.

Google just needs to know that it exists, and with tools like Suffer SEO, you will be able to see how your written content compares to other articles with the same keyword.

The best part about Suffer SEO is the content editor feature. With this, you will be able to see the content score of the top-ranking articles AND how many words they have in their post.

The interface is truly intuitive as well.

I can truly say that I wouldn't have been able to get a single post to rank on Google without using this tool. If I did, it would have taken A LOT longer.

You can write a blog post that ranks on Google in no time when you are aware of the competition.

4. Uploading Post To WordPress

When your post has been fully optimized in Suffer SEO (I recommend having a score above 75), then you are ready to upload your content to your WordPress website.

To do this, simply copy your post from Suffer SEO and paste it into a new post.

Choosing the best headlines

Make sure you have the right keyword to help you get started. Here, you also want to make sure your meta description is included and that you have the right headline.

I usually check the SEO score of my headline using https://headlines.coschedule.com/. However, if you download the free Yoast plugin, it will rate your headline as well.

The chosen headlines can make or break a well-written article. Think about it, which headlines grab your attention the most? Do you chose headlines that speak to you? Do you choose articles where the headlines and images match?

For example, your headline should include your keyword and a few emotional words that could persuade readers to click on your post.

Never use a clickbait headline or readers will have a difficult time trusting your content.

Readers need aesthetics

You may have noticed that your first blog post wasn't the easiest to create. Or that you didn't have as many readers as you anticipated. Do not fret, there are ways to make sure future posts are easier to create when you write your blog.

Your readers will have the chance to read your writing once it is uploaded to your website. Make sure your readers have well-written content that is easy to read by downloading the Thrive Architect plug-in.

5. Editing Post With Thrive Architect

Thrive Architect is hands-down one of the test blogging tools I've invested in when it comes to consistently writing and editing posts on my website.

They have a yearly subscription that pales in comparison to what this tool is worth.

What I love the most about writing with this tool is that I can see EXACTLY what my readers will see when I am writing.

With the traditional WordPress editor, it is almost impossible to see what your readers see until after you publish your post. I learned from my first blog post, that writing a blog post with the traditional editor provides some challenges.

I thought, there has to be an easier way to see what my readers are seeing before publishing my post.

Writing blog content isn't always easy but it becomes easier when systems are created that prioritize the readers.

Create templates that save time

When writing blog posts. you can save so much time by creating templates in Thrive Architect.

To do so is also simple. Once you download the plugin on your website, open the settings tab and choose "save template."

For example, you can have an overall post template or you can create a call to action using the many built-in call-to-action templates Thrive Architect has installed.

Your readers will thank you so much for optimizing each blog posts with this tool. You can still add images with Thrive Architect, but now you'll be able to see what those images look like to your readers.

If you still need to learn how to write a blog post using this tool, I have an example on my YouTube channel.

6. Indexing Post On Google Search Console

The process of indexing your newly-written blog on Google is very, VERY simple. Indexing your posts on Google will help readers find your posts a lot sooner and builds your audience in the process.

Once you publish your blog post on your WordPress website, you will need to copy the URL of that blog post and paste it into the "URL inspection" tab on the Google Search Console website.

Keep in mind that you will have to make an account and connect your WordPress website in order to complete this step.

However, once the indexing has been initiated, it will take 1-2 days for your article to show up on Google. You will be notified of any errors if necessary.

Once your post is indexed on Google, your target audience will have more chances of finding your content.

7. Scheduling Pins With Tailwind

Incorporating a social media strategy into my blogging strategy early on has been extremely beneficial. Not only has my Pinterest account grown, but I have increased my website page views over time.

With anything blogging-related, understand that blogging is a marathon. Nothing grows overnight, so you have to be willing to remain consistent with any proven blogging strategy that you implement.

Additionally, having a SIMPLE social media strategy is important. You do not have to focus on every single social media platform when you are starting. Focus on 1 or 2.

I started with Pinterest, and it has been my number 1 focus. Using Tailwind, I only have to spend a few hours creating and scheduling Pins each month.

I make sure to have a great headline that speaks to my Pinterest audience and use images that are similar to the Pinterest themes.