If you write it, they will read – Best practices for blog content

Today’s digital marketing strategy usually involves some type of content marketing or blogging. It takes time and resources to create your content. How do you make sure that people are actually finding it? We’ve all heard the saying, "If you build it, they will come." This also applies to new content on the web.

There are several easy things you can do to get your content crawled and indexed by Google. Following these best practices for promoting your content will most likely improve your SEO, organic visibility and traffic to your website.

Best practices for promoting your new piece of blog content:

1. If you haven't claimed and verified your site's property on Google Search Console, start there. Login https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/home?hl=en and click "Add Property" and follow the steps. While you're at it, link the property to Google Analytics. 
2. If your site uses WordPress, install a reputable SEO plugin. We recommend Yoast SEO. With Yoast SEO, you can optimize your content and the technical aspects of your website. 
3. For each blog post, think about the keyword phrase you are targeting. What is the main topic? Determine your focused keyword and weave it into your SEO title, slug and Meta Description. Be sure to do it in a natural way. The example below is optimized for the keyword phrase “Promoting Blog Content.” 
4. Once you publish the post, go to Google Search Console and click "Fetch as Google" under "Crawl." Crawl the specific blog post URL. This will almost always get the post indexed quickly. 
5. Sharing the post on social media and other sites can also help improve your SEO and overall organic visibility. Read more about the best times & methods for social media posting »

It’s not enough to simply write new content. In other words, if you write it, they will most likely NOT come. Be sure and complete the extra steps so your content gets found, read and enjoyed.

More on optimizing your content marketing:

• Ten things to do before and after you hit publish
• Tips for blogging – whether you like to write or not
• The best and worst times to post on social media
• Keeping your social media content relevant