A lot of advice floating around the internet is based on data on medium and large companies. Our copywriting clients are small businesses. Often they’re solo entrepreneurs who need an SEO strategy that makes sense for a staff of one, not 100. Blogging is the most practical and effective way for small businesses to build authority and drive web traffic. A few surprising lessons from our highest ranking blogging clients can help you succeed in connecting with your dream clients.

A Blogging SEO Strategy for Real Entrepreneurs

We’ve collated data on our most successful blogging clients’ rankings and analyzed it to see what they have in common. We came up with three key takeaways that illuminate the reasons for their success.  

3 Key Takeaways for Blogging SEO 

1. Publish regularly.

All of our blogging clients who are ranking highest and seeing the most conversions publish consistently. What that means varies a bit from business to business, but blogging weekly has been a good SEO strategy for most. You’ll see big digital marketing agencies recommending that you blog eleven times a month. If you have capacity for that, power to you! In our experience, it’s not necessary for most small businesses targeting less competitive keywords.

Still not convinced that blogging is a good move? A study of Google’s 2022 algorithm update showed that publishing regularly accounts for 26% of the algorithm. That’s the single biggest factor of over 200 variables the algorithm considers. This is also why you’re better off blogging once every week than eight times every two months. (Just schedule it out, y’all!)

2. Give a post at least three months to rank.

An initial high comes with hitting “publish” on an incredible blog post. Once that wears off, you may start to wonder how long it actually takes to rank on Google. A study by Ahrefs showed that pages can take over a year to rank. Such a long wait might intimidate small business owners. In our experience, a smart keyword strategy and regular blogging cut down that time significantly. Our highest ranking blogging clients, who publish most consistently as we mentioned, typically start ranking between three and six months. As their domain authority improves, the timeline speeds up depending on how competitive the keyword is.

For all of these reasons, we suggest that your SEO strategy include blogging to promote launches well in advance of any actual launch dates. Do you plan on photographing holiday mini sessions in October? Blog about it in May. Your post will have time to climb the Google rankings. (Side note: This also gives time for any images you Pin to gain traction.) Instead of listing exact launch details in your CTA, use it as a chance to build your email list. Inspire folks to join your list by giving them first pick of session times.

3. The bells and whistles make a difference.

Optimized copy is critical for an SEO-driven blogging strategy, but you can make a lot of small adjustments to make a blog post go the extra mile. Alt text, geotagging, meta descriptions, and slugs give blog posts an extra edge. These steps are important for getting found on image searches as well. If you want a better chance of ranking for a keyword, don’t skip the little things. 

Creating Your SEO Strategy with Brandcendent

Each of the clients whom I’ve discussed here are long-term blogging clients on our Full Service package. They’ve invested in outsourcing blogging with Brandcendent because we specialize in on-brand, SEO-driven copy that gets results. The Full Service package ensures that they can publish regularly and get all those juicy extras. Think optimized images, alt text, and even geotagging. Curious how this package could transform your SEO strategy? Reach out for the details!

If you’re new to blogging, you should know that it takes about 24 blog posts for Google to start ranking your posts. We’ve designed Your First 24 to get you six months of optimized blog content that will lay a strong foundation for your SEO strategy. Learn how Your First 24 could get your blog off the ground so you can start connecting with your dream clients.