When it comes to online web presence, many business owners care about one thing: that their business appears on the first page of a search. Furthermore, that their business is listed towards the top of the page in that search. Understanding the importance of ranking high in search results is step 1. The next step is devising a plan of action on how to achieve this goal.

To be clear, we are speaking about ranking in an organic search, not ads in a ppc (pay per click) campaign.

There are many factors that go into effective search engine optimization (essentially what allows your business to appear in search results), the most important of which is CONTENT.

Incorporating a blog into your web presence helps to provide fresh, relevant content to your audience on a consistent basis. Though every blog post should be different, there are certain components that must be present in order for your post to perform well.

When a Ferocious Media analyst sits down to write a blog for your business, they go through a series of steps.

The first is developing a clear understanding of the target audience. What do your customers what to know about? What topics will grab their attention? For example, if you are a plumber in Southern California targeting homeowners, you probably do not need to give them advice about what to do when your pipes freeze- chances are their pipes rarely (if ever) do this.

Next, the analyst chooses a topic. This normally starts as a general or vague idea. As sub titles and different bullet points are added, the post slowly works towards a title. After all of the information is on the page, the analyst will fine-tune the blog post. This includes organizing the content, fixing the format, and providing readers with a call to action such as “visit our website” or “like us on Facebook” (usually found at the end of the post).

Once the blog content is complete, the analysts will then go back and optimize the post for SEO. “Anchor text” is words that link to outside sources or other pages and are an integral part of search rankings. The analyst will carefully select keywords throughout the blog post and link them to another page. Search Engines take anchor text into consideration when ranking your business page for certain keywords. As a result, it is good practice to link keywords to credible, well ranked sources.

It is important to remember that while Ferocious Media social media analysts are experts in the world of social media, they are not expert plumbers or hair dressers or chefs, etc. As a result, research must be done to gather information necessary for creating the blog post. To avoid any copyright infringement, it is essential to give credit where credit is due and site the source of the blog. This is a common practice and should not be viewed as a detriment to your reputation as an industry leader.  In fact, by aligning your business with popular web sites and companies within your industry you are enforcing your position as an industry leader.

Sharing the blog post across social media channels also plays a major role in search engine optimization. Sharing content on Facebook, Google My Business, or Twitter for example, prioritizes your business in the ranking results.

There are many other factors that go into writing a blog post, such as visuals or the addition of statistics to support your claims; however those listed above are the most essential.

Check out the Ferocious Media blog to learn more about the digital marketing industry and see tips on how to improve your web presence!

For now, we bid you Happy Blogging!