Does Blogging Help SEO? The Truth According To Google
You sit down at your desk. And you write.
Here’s the challenge, though:
- You aren’t confident that blogging will help SEO
- You aren’t sure what topics to write about
- You don’t have a strategy to write effective blog posts that engage your audience
So, you just… write.
And then you just… wait.
If we had to guess, you’re here because you’re tired of waiting and seeing zero SEO results. But that isn’t how it has to be.
In this article, we explain exactly how using blogs for SEO helps, how to write effective blogs for SEO (using a structured process); and other similar points. Scroll down to learn more.
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Contents
Blog Content SEO - What Is It?
A blog is a part of a website’s CMS (content management system). A blog doesn’t need to be written for SEO, it’s simply a platform to produce content.
For some content creators, a blog isn’t meant for SEO. It’s meant to push content out through their social media channels, or even for paid advertising on Google or other platforms.
However, blogs are often used as a platform for SEO. Why?
Well, to understand the correlation between blog posts and SEO, it’s important to understand how Google’s algorithm thinks about SEO.
How Do Blogs Help SEO (According to Google’s Playbook)?
While people don’t know exactly how Google’s algorithm works, there are some documents and resources that Google itself has released.
So, instead of listening to “blog SEO gurus” who claimed to know what they’re talking about, it makes more sense to go and read Google’s resources directly.
And Google has a lot to say about content and SEO.
Google Loves Relevant SEO Blog Content - Here’s Proof
There are two valuable resources to look at that Google has released regarding blogging and SEO.
#1 Google Webmaster Tools
Google Webmaster Tools has a particular section that speaks directly to bloggers.
Here is where it gets really interesting:
The very first tip that Google itself gives to bloggers is….
“Write well and often. A frequently updated site encourages people to return – as long as your content remains relevant and engaging. A useful post once a week is better than low-quality content published daily. A great idea is to search Google for subjects of interest in your field. If you can’t find a good answer, create a blog post about the subject – chances are that other people are searching for the same thing.”
Okay, got it.
But, that still doesn’t say anything about if a blog will help with SEO.
Let’s dig a little further with another resource.
#2 SEO Expert from Google
John Mueller is one of the most well-known employees that works on Google’s algorithm (AKA the SEO side of things). And here is what he says about blog posts and SEO:
“It’s not that blogging itself is something that makes the site rank higher or makes the content rank higher. It’s just you happen to have some new content here that happens to be relevant so we’ll show that.”
This is where it comes back to the fundamentals of SEO. Google itself has said that having high-quality content on your website will help your SEO.
The big question… Does blogging actually help your SEO?
The short answer, yes. A blog is simply a platform for producing content. If you consistently produce high-quality content that aligns with Google Webmaster Tools and their recommendations for best practices, then yes, blogging will help your SEO.
FAQs Around “Does Blogging Increase SEO”:
Below are some frequently asked questions that bloggers have when it comes to SEO.
Does Blogger Blog Embedded in My Site Help SEO?
Blogger.com is simply a platform for blogging. Basically, they host the content on their website. You just have the ability to produce content there.
While embedding a blogger.com blog on your website may have some SEO benefits, it’s much better to host the blog on your own website, instead of embedding an external blog.
Instead of producing your blog on blogger.com, start producing the blog content directly on your own CMS that is hosted on your own website.
Does Deleting Bad Blog Posts Help SEO?
Deleting bad blog posts can help your SEO, yes. However, it depends on the type of blog post that you were deleting. You want to make sure that you’re following Google’s best practices.
Bad blog posts can include:
- Content that is cannibalizing keywords
- Content that is duplicated on another page
- Content that does not add value to the user
- Content that does not align with your website’s industry – for example, a nutritionist writing blog content about “how to do math problems”
- And more
Does Having an Active Blog On My Website Help SEO?
Yes, having an active blog on your website can help. Google Webmaster Tools says to “Write well and often.” It is also known that Google’s algorithm likes fresh content. So, it is recommended to create content frequently.
If you have an old and outdated blog, in which you haven’t created content in months or years, it would make sense to write some fresh, up-to-date blog posts that add value to your readers.
Does Having Comments on My Blog Help SEO?
Yes, having comments on your blog can help with SEO. Google’s algorithm is trying to determine if users are engaging with your content. The more users that are engaging with your content, the more valuable Google is seeing your content.
Therefore, try to encourage your readers to leave comments on your blog.
Does Blogging Really Help SEO or My Business?
This question is really important.
Blogging can not only help your SEO, but it can actually help your business as well. How? Blogging can bring interested users to your site who may want to buy your products or services.
Therefore, don’t just think about your blog as a vehicle to improving your SEO, but rather a vehicle to improving your business.
Does a Blog Really Help With SEO? Here Are 3 Examples:
Here are three examples to prove that blog content can help your SEO.
Example 1: Silver Lining Scrubs
Silver Lining Scrubs sells medical scrubs online. They have an e-commerce store where they sell things like scrub tops and scrub pants.
The Situation
They were not driving organic visitors to their website. They were relying on paid advertising through Facebook and Instagram to get interested buyers to their website.
Not only is this expensive, it’s not evergreen. Meaning, the moment they turned off their paid advertising, the interested website visitors would disappear.
Evidence That Blogging Helped Their SEO
Our Portland SEO company writing blog content around topics that their target audience was searching for in Google. Things like “how to wash medical scrubs?” or “winter scrubs.”
We wrote comprehensive blog content that answered their target audience’s questions around these topics.
As a result, they increased their organic traffic from Google (AKA their SEO) from averaging ~100 visitors per month to having nearly 2,000 organic visitors just 3 months later.
Below is a screenshot:
The screenshot above was taken today on October 21st. There are still 10 days left in the month. They will likely break 2004 organic visitors from Google this month.
How is this possible?
The blogs started ranking on Google for relevant keywords that their target audience was searching for. The blogs ranked so well that users started to find the content and visit their website.
Below is a screenshot:
Example 2: Chiavaye
Chiavaye is an e-commerce website that sells women’s health products.
The Situation
Just like Silver Lining Scrubs, Chiavaye used to rely solely on paid advertising through Google and Facebook to get interested buyers to their website.
However, Google and Instagram changed their policies and started flagging her products as adult content.
Consequently, she could no longer advertise through Google or Facebook. She was generating thousands of dollars of profit each month through these paid advertising campaigns, and now they were gone.
As a result, we created four pieces of blog content each month to help with her SEO and drive interested buyers to her website.
Evidence That Blogging Helped Their SEO
Before working with us, Chiavaye averaged about 20 organic visitors to her website each month from Google. Not many visitors at all.
One year later, and she now has close to 10,000 organic visitors to her website. And this was strictly done through blog content creation.
See the screenshot below.
Example 3: In Motion O.C.
In Motion O.C. is a physical therapist and fitness training center in Orange County, California.
The Situation
They were dominating the Google rankings when it came to physical therapy related keywords. However, they had not figured out how to rank for fitness-related keywords.
They were spending close to $1,000 every month creating blog content that nobody saw or read.
Evidence That Blogging Helped Their SEO
Our Portland SEO agency began producing one blog post every week around fitness-related topics that their target audience would be searching for in Google.
As a result, they more than doubled their organic traffic from Google for these fitness-related searches.
See the screenshot below:
How is this possible? They increased their organic traffic from Google because they started ranking better for very valuable keywords. See the screenshot below:
Joey Randazzo
CEO of Becoming Media
