21 BEST WORDPRESS SEO PLUGINS YOU NEED – SARMLife

As you probably know, SEO is the talk of the decade. While the end goal of most SEO strategies is to increase organic traffic to a website, there are several other reasons to optimize your website.

This is where plugins come in.

SEO plugins help you simplify SEO and save time. It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an SEO expert; plugins are necessary.

This post focuses more on plugins that are either created or compatible with WordPress websites, and this is because, when it comes to making your sites rank on the first page of Google, having a WordPress site takes you steps closer to your goal.

SEO plugins are your best bet for self-managing your website’s optimization, but how do you choose? This post selects the best WordPress SEO plugins you need for 2024.

wordpress-seo-plugins-sarmlife.

What are plugins?

Plugins, also called ‘add-ons‘ or ‘extensions,’ generally refer to a software component that is made to enhance or add to the functionalities of an existing computer program without altering the program’s initial function(s).

Basically, you can add functions to a computer program without affecting the program.

When it comes to SEO plugins, the main focus is to be able to assist the content management system by expanding its SEO functionalities.

SEO plugins are extensions installed in a browser, software, or content management system like WordPress that allows for an expansion of function or the performance of specific and technical optimization tasks that the program cannot perform.

How do plugins work?

Most plugins use a programming interface (API) to attach themselves to a computer program. 

This API allows the plugins to access and control functions on the existing program and carry out their specific functions.

However, plugins will not work without an existing program with which it is compatible.

What to consider when selecting a plugin

  • Compatibility: If you are downloading and installing a plugin, it is important to check its compatibility with your site or the version of your content management system. Some plugins might require you to update your CMS before it can function properly.
  • Easy installation: Most WordPress SEO plugins are easy to install and use. However, you need to consider if there is backup support for the plugin and the possibility of using that plugin without support.
  • Cost: If you are just starting out as a blogger, I will advise you to stick to free or low-cost plugins. There are several WordPress SEO plugins that are free and with enough functionality to help you scale your SEO strategies.
  • The Plugin function(s): This is very important because your active installed plugins should be relevant to your website and SEO goals. For example, you have no business with a WooCommerce plugin if you do not have an online store.
  • Technical knowledge: Stick to plugins that are on par with your technical knowledge or, at the very least, have 24/7 customer support for when you’re stuck.

Why WordPress?

Besides the tons of search engine-optimized themes available, it can load web pages faster and optimize for mobile devices. The SEO plugins in WordPress are specific to their platform. This means that you do not have to worry about the plugin being compatible with your website.

These WordPress SEO plugins help improve your SEO game without requiring you to be tech-savvy.  

Most of these plugins are easy to install, compatible with all kinds of websites (e-commerce, blog, vlogs, educational, etc.), and include paid and free versions.

Why do you need a plug-in for WordPress?

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There are several in-built features embedded in WordPress accounts that help to optimize your sites for search engines. 

However, there is a limit to their functionalities, and there might also be a need to add extra features depending on your optimization goals.

More powerful extensions can be added to your website to help carry out specific SEO functions.

It is possible to optimize your sites and rank well on search engines without plugins, but that also means that you are a step behind those who use a plugin.

The best thing to do is install a beginner-friendly free WordPress SEO plugin. This way, it doesn’t cost you capital, and you get to enjoy the benefits of an SEO plugin, albeit limited.

Aspects of SEO that you need plug-ins for

There are different reasons you’ll need WordPress SEO plugins aside from visibility and organic traffic.

You’ll also need SEO for:

  • Website crawling
  • XML Sitemaps
  • Media optimization
  • Snippet featuring
  • Broken link checking
  • Caching
  • Redirection
  • Backlinking
  • Social media SEO
  • Google AMP SEO
  • Others

These various aspects are like the SEO needs that you need to consider when selecting the plugin to use for your website.

21 Best WordPress SEO Plugins you need

Yoast SEO 

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This particular plugin is one of the most popular plugins among WordPress users, which helps with both on-page and off-page site optimization.

As effective and versatile as the Yoast plugin is, it is also beginner-friendly. This plugin is best for your websites to rank higher in search engines. 

The plugin appears on each post and reviews your content while also giving suggestions on how you can improve each blog post for search engines.

These suggestions include keywords and readability and show how your page will appear on Google’s SERPs when uploaded on the net.

The fantastic thing about Yoast is that the free version contains all the necessary functions needed to have a fully optimized post.

Key Features of Yoast SEO plugin

  • Content analysis
  • Readability analysis
  • Schema blocks
  • Google preview
  • Automated technical SEO 
  • Automatic XML generator
  • Fast site loading speed

In addition to all these goodies, the Yoast plugin also comes with several extensions compatible with the free version, including WooCommerce SEO, Yoast video SEO, and Yoast local SEO, among a few others.

All in One SEO (AIOSEO)

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Prioritizing user experience, AIOSEO is the best plugin for higher rankings and increasing your site’s traffic. 

As the name implies, it goes beyond just optimizing your site but starts right from website set-up and into everything needed for search engine optimization. It also contains functions that help to uncover new SEO growth opportunities.

AIOSEO is an easy yet powerful SEO plugin that effortlessly integrates with other important tools and social media platforms.

It is user-friendly, beginner-friendly, and incredibly easy to install. When you install the AIOSEO, it automatically generates all the necessary features, which you can later customize in the settings.

Key Features of the AIOSEO

  • Easy installation
  • Comes with a marketing toolkit
  • Beginner-friendly
  • Optimized for several search engines
  • XML sitemaps
  • Optimized search appearance
  • Social media integration
  • Schema markup for SEO
  • Optimized SEO meta title
  • Optimized SEO meta description
  • 404 error page monitoring
  • Redirection management
  • Can integrate with other plugins, including speed and caching plugins

Rank Math

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Named the first WordPress SEO plugin to use artificial intelligence (AI) and one of the fastest-growing SEO plugins, it is also the plugin of choice to increase site traffic while saving time.

The free version of Rank Math offers more SEO features than any other plugin’s unpaid version and provides features that will otherwise be paid for in other plugins. The paid version also contains AI content analysis, which is peculiar to this plugin, alongside SEO rank tracking.

Using the Rank Math plugin, you can import data from previous plugins to avoid data loss when converting. This plugin can be used instead of AIOSEO and not together to prevent conflict plugin. 

Like the AIOSEO, it contains all the features necessary to have a fully optimized post and site on several search engines besides Google.

In a WordPress review, it was said that the features of Rank Math are so numerous that if you need any SEO function to optimize your site, Rank Math probably has it, i.e., they cover everything and anything SEO.

This is arguably one of the best WordPress SEO plugins ever!

Key Features of Rank Math

  • Easy installation
  • Simple and well-designed user interface
  • Ability to disable unwanted  modules
  • Loading speed optimization
  • Quick customer support
  • Add meta title and meta description
  • XML sitemap 
  • Schema markup
  • Google Search Console integration
  • Controlled access to features
  • Local SEO

SchemaPro

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SchemaPro is a plugin that allows you to add schema.org structured data markup automatically to WordPress sites in the recommended format. 

This optimizes your content and improves how Google presents it on its result page. This process helps sites to enhance their ranking and the way they appear on search engines. 

Although most plugins have in-built schema markups that provide the same function, you might want to consider SchemaPro if you need more variety of schema types.

The SchemaPro also simplifies adding schema markups to posts.

Key Features of SchemaPro

  • Easy to install
  • Runs in the background
  • Enable several schema types
  • Google Structured Data Testing tool
  • Recommended structured data markup by Google
  • Free plugin extensions
  • Compatible with several plugins

XML Sitemaps plugin

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When it comes to indexing your site, this plugin does it better. It creates a special XML sitemap that will help search engines index your site better.

It lets the crawlers get a complete and simplified view of your website’s structure and also retrieves this information completely and easily.

If you understand the importance of site indexing and how it makes it easy for Google to crawl and index your web pages, you will discover that this sitemap is one of the most necessary WordPress SEO plugins to have.

Key Features of XML Sitemaps

  • It supports several WordPress-generated pages.
  • Notifies search engines of new content
  • It does not affect the website
  • Custom XML site sheet
  • Add or remove posts from the sitemap

SEOPress

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This is another plugin that must be included when talking about the best WordPress SEO plugins because it is easy, efficient, and powerful. It contains features similar to other plugins, including adding meta titles, meta descriptions, redirection, and XML sitemaps.

Installation is easy, and it is suitable for beginners and advanced SEO experts. If you are looking for a simplified plugin that addresses your SEO needs, you might want to consider SEOPress, although it has limited features compared to Rank Math, Yoast, and AIOSEO.

Key Features of SEOPress

  • Installation wizard
  • XML sitemaps
  • HTML sitemaps
  • SERP preview for mobile and desktop
  • Social media previews
  • Redirections
  • Content analysis
  • Google and Bing Instant Indexing
  • Optimized titles and descriptions
  • Image SEO

MonsterInsights

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Ever thought of being able to access your site’s analytics quickly on your WordPress dashboard? The MonsterInsight plugin allows you to easily install Google Analytics on WordPress and access it on your WordPress dashboard.

It shows all the details found in Google Analytics and includes eCommerce SEO which shows the progress of your products.

Personally, this is one of the active WordPress SEO plugins that I use for my website, and it has made SEO easy for me.

Key Features of MonsterInsights

  • WooCommerce Google Analytics Integration
  • eCommerce add-on
  • Easy installation
  • Real-time stats
  • Ads and Affiliate link tracking
  • Headline analyzer
  • Google Analytics AMP
  • Performance tracking

SEO Framework

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Are you looking for the best SEO plugin without ads? SEO framework focuses on increasing site speed and optimizing content for search engines. It is fast, lightweight, and visually appealing to its users.

The user interface is flexible and organized to make navigation easy for users and gives easy access to most SEO functions compared to other plugins.

Key Features of SEO Framework

  • User-friendly interface
  • Compatible with several extensions
  • Spam comments extension
  • Preconfigured SEO settings

Slim SEO

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Compared to other WordPress SEO plugins, the unique selling point of Slim SEO is in its automation. It can automatically generate meta tags, schema markup, redirections, and sitemaps.

The downside to Slim SEO is that it cannot do an on-page SEO analysis, but you can configure how your content will appear on social media.

Key Features of Slim SEO

  • Automatic generation of several SEO functions
  • Redirects for author pages
  • Modification and sharing option for contents
  • Easy configuration
  • Addition of custom codes to headers and footers.

WP Optimize

WP Optimize is an all-in-one plugin, unlike some other WordPress SEO plugins that helps you optimize your website for search engines. It helps you with website caching, database optimization, and even image optimization as well.

The WP Optimize WordPress SEO plugin also helps with deferring CSS and Javascripts for fast loading time.

This plugin works for WordPress versions 4.5 and above.

Key Features of WP Optimize

  • Database cleanup
  • Website Caching
  • Image compression

a3 Lazy Load

The main goal of this particular plugin is to assist with site speed, which can be hugely affected by large-sized images and the time it takes to load.

a3 Lazy Load is a WordPress plugin that helps you lazy load your images. This means that images will only be loaded when they are needed, which can improve your website’s loading times.

This plugin has over 100,000+ active installations and is compatible with WordPress versions above 5.6.

Key Features of a3 Lazy Load

  • support different image format
  • Support WebP images
  • Video lazy load feature
  • customizable loading behavior
  • Mobile-focused
  • Backup support

Ahref’s SEO Plugin

Ahrefs is a well-known SEO tool that can help you track your website’s backlinks, keyword rankings, and competitors.

The Ahref’s SEO plugin for WordPress allows you to integrate Ahrefs’ data into your WordPress dashboard.

It combines your website’s data from Ahref. Google Analytics and Google’s Search Console data show you how your posts are performing based on specific keywords.

If you are looking for one of the best WordPress SEO plugins that helps you with content and build your backlink profile, then this is for you.

Key Features of Ahref’s SEO Plugin

  • Content auditing
  • Backlink tracking
  • Rank monitoring
  • Competitor research
  • Performance score
  • GA and GSC integration

Broken Link Checker

Described as the “fastest and most accurate” broken link checker on WordPress, this SEO plugin helps you find and fix broken links on your website.

Broken links can negatively impact your website’s SEO, so it is important to fix them as soon as possible. The 700,000+ active installations for this plugin show how necessary this plugin is.

Key Features of Broken Link Checker

  • Automatic scanning
  • Detailed broken link reporting
  • Advanced search filtering
  • Select link-checking engines
  • Email notifications
  • Edit or unlink broken links

WPSmush

WPSmush is one of the most important WordPress SEO plugins that help you optimize your images for the web. WPSmush can automatically compress your images without sacrificing quality, convert your images to WebP format and also resize your images.

All these can help to improve your website’s loading times and SEO.

WP Smush has over 1,000,000 active installations on WordPress and has won the Plugin Madness Champion awards twice.

Key Features of WPSmush

  • Gutenberg Block Integration
  • Automatic image optimization
  • Built-in lazy loading
  • Background optimization
  • Image format conversion
  • Image size reduction
  • Incorrect Image Size Detection
  • All media optimization

Elementor

Elementor is the best WordPress page builder used by over 5 million people. It allows you to create beautiful and responsive websites without writing any code.

Key Features of Elementor

  • Drag-and-drop interface
  • Wide range of widgets (40+)
  • Responsive designs
  • Template library
  • Multiple language support

Imagify

Imagify is a WordPress plugin that helps you optimize your images for search engines. Imagify is an advanced plugin that allows you to optimize your images with a single click and just like the WPSmush plugin, it does not sacrifice quality as well.

Key Features of Imagify

  • Bulk image optimization
  • Image compression
  • Image resizing
  • Image file format conversion
  • Automatic image optimization
  • WebP conversion

JetPack

Jetpack is a WordPress plugin that includes a number of features to help you improve your website’s SEO security. It also helps to grow your traffic and back-up your website.

Jetpack also has features that support quality website performance, including image optimization features, site speed, and eCommerce features.

Key Features of JetPack

  • Automatic site security
  • Automatic backup
  • Site change details
  • Examine incoming traffic
  • Anti-spam features
  • Sitemap generation and submission
  • Social sharing buttons
  • Automated-Related posts display

LuckyWP Table of Contents

LuckyWP Table of Contents plugin automatically generates optimized tables of contents for your blog posts/pages.

This can help to improve the readability of your posts, and it can also help to make them more scannable for visitors.

Key Features of LuckyWP Table of Contents

  • Automatic & optimized TOC
  • Customizable TOC
  • Color themes
  • Smooth scroll

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that allows you to create an online store and customize it to fit your brand’s aesthetic and purpose. It also makes it easy to sell and buy products/services online.

Key Features of WooCommerce

  • Customizable storefront
  • Product catalog management
  • Payment processing
  • Integration with payment platforms
  • Shipping option configuration

Contact Form by WPForms

Contact Form by WPForms is a contact form builder plugin that allows you to create contact forms and other types of forms on your website.

Key Features of Contact Form by WPForms

  • Drag-and-drop form builder
  • Wide range of form fields
  • Customizable templates
  • Mobile friendly
  • Spam protection

SEO Squirrly

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SEO Squirrly is one of the few WordPress SEO plugins that are good for SEO beginners willing to optimize their content for search engines.

This plugin assists you in writing entirely optimized posts by giving suggestions as you write.

Key Features of SEO Squirrly

  • Real-time keyword optimization
  • Competitor analysis
  • Keeps data from previous plugins
  • Sharable content reports

Final Thoughts

A list that contains the best SEO plugins for WordPress can be relative because it may vary from individual perspectives and experiences. However, as earlier stated, there are some factors to consider when selecting your plugins.

It is also important to note that when using SEO plugins for your website, it is usually best to limit them as possible without compromising your SEO needs.

Why?

To avoid plugin conflict

When you have a bunch of plugins installed on your website, it can reduce your site’s loading speed. This doesn’t speak well to search engines and will make your website slip down in search results.

It will be challenging to select specific plugins as the best because your SEO needs can differ, so these explanations should help make your selection process a bit easier. 

READ ALSO: SEO writing | 10 proven tips on writing blog posts that rank on Google

SEO writing | 11 proven tips on writing blog posts that rank on Google

“What is the use of writing great blog posts that won’t rank on the first page of Google’s SERPs and people won’t see?” – Ruth Adeyemi, founder of SARMLife.

Have you ever wondered how bloggers are now able to grow their blogs without investing in paid advertisements or how organic traffic seems to roll in after just a few posts? It’s all in SEO writing.

Beyond writing valuable content for my readers, I always ensure the content is fully optimized for search engines. To do this, I follow a strict SEO writing process that has never failed me.

Over the years, I’ve had to upgrade these processes to match Google’s algorithm updates and recent SEO changes. For example, long-form content is no longer as essential for SEO ranking as it was.

This post contains my thoroughly explained SEO writing process that will help you create fully optimized blog posts that can rank on the first page of Google.

Beyond writing valuable content to my readers, I always make sure that these contents are fully optimized for search engines using my SEO writing process.

What is a blog post?

A blog post is a single piece of published content on a blog site accessible via the World Wide Web. The content is majorly written content that may or may not be supported with images (images are a MUST for optimization, though) 

For instance, what you are currently reading is referred to as a blog post.

What is SEO writing?

Simply put, SEO (search engine optimization) writing is creating and writing content optimized for search engines. 

Blogspot defines SEO writing as writing content to rank on the first page of search engines such as Google.

Optimizing starts with the content creation process, from the topic ideas to the writing and the images; this content is deliberately created and organized to ensure it fits the baseline requirements of search engine optimization and even goes beyond it.

Features of an optimized blog post

The features of an SEO (search engine optimized) blog post are pretty direct but also easy to miss, especially when you are batch-creating content. We created an SEO checklist to ensure you don’t miss anything while creating optimized content for your website or clients.

For you to write what counts as an optimized blog post, it needs to have these features:

·   A good, compelling headline

The headline is the title of your blog post; it is the first sentence any searcher will see. An important tip to note when creating your headlines is that they need to give your reader a brief overview of what your post is about.

Your headline should be compelling but straight to the point. Do not use sugar-coated words, as they send a red flag to the reader.

·   A good introduction

Some blog writers are a little lax about what they put in their introductions. The introduction is the first impression your reader gets, and it also determines whether the reader will continue the blog post or leave. You want your introduction to explain to the reader exactly what value they will get from the post. It is similar to the abstract of a research paper (a concise summary of the main work).

Advisably, the words you use in your introduction should be simple, sincere, and straight.

There are different types of introductions you can use for your blog posts, as explained in one of our Instagram posts.

·   An organized, paragraphed layout

Did you know that long paragraphs reduce readability and prevent your readers from scanning through the entire post? Research has discovered that most readers scan the whole post before deciding if it is read-worthy or not. 

If your blog posts contain long paragraphs, more than half of your readers will bounce out and not likely return.

Break down your paragraphs into smaller, digestible chunks.

·   A long-enough and valuable content

The content of your blog post has to answer the reader’s questions, and this is where good research comes in. You need to identify the pain points of your target audience and give them content that is beneficial to them. Your content should also contain verified facts and visual engagements.

All these features are determined during your research, i.e., the headline, the outline, and the content.

·  Links to authority websites

You might think that having an external link in your blog post will make you lose originality, but this couldn’t be more wrong. Having external links to authority websites in your niche will make your content more credible to your readers. However, please do not make it excessive.

When you talk about verified facts and statistics, you want to ensure your readers know the source.

Plus, can I mention that it is good for your SEO?

SEO writing process

Many writers have been stuck with SEO writing, or as some people call it, SEO blog writing and the frustration can make you question your writing skills. Maybe you own a website, or you hope to take your SEO content writing game to the next level as a freelancer to land high-paying clients. 

Whichever class you belong to, I’m here to guide you step by step and show you how to write a compelling, fully optimized blog post.

The SEO writing process can be tasking, but it is achievable when you follow a laid-down template.

The SEO writing process:

  • Identify your audience
  • Know your content bucket
  • Come up with topic ideas
  • Optimize the topic ideas
  • Research the topic ideas
  • Research keywords
  • Research content around the keywords
  • Create your headline
  • Create your SEO outline
  • Write your content
  • Insert visual content 

Since SEO writing skills go beyond just blog writing, most of what makes your blog posts optimized is the research you put into it before typing away at your keypads, just like I’m doing right now.

·  Identify your audience.

I cannot emphasize this enough!

If you check out our blog post on How to make money blogging in 2024 – the ultimate guide, I wrote there that one of the most significant milestones that any blogger can cross is the ability to recognize and know their target audience. Why is this important?

Your target audience is the one interested in your content and will want to click open that blog post because it addresses either their curiosity, fears, or pains. If you don’t know your target audience, you cannot create content relevant to a specific group of people. 

You end up with no niche and no audience.

When you know your audience, you begin to find out about their pain points by doing surveys, checking out the posts of others in your niche, checking out commonly searched words, and direct interaction with people in that niche.

·  Know your content bucket.

A content bucket is a segment of the entire content you want to relay to your audience. Each content bucket should address various aspects of your business while also reflecting your overall message as a brand/business.

Content buckets are vital because they help you narrow down your ideas and distribute content across your audience.

For example, if you are a fashion blogger, your content bucket might include accessories, dresses, color combinations, or even make-up.

When you want to write a blog post, you select the content bucket and find topic ideas around it. Check out Topic ideas for different niches HERE

·  Come up with topic ideas.

This particular process might not need you to go online because you can develop topic ideas based on your experience, expertise, and interactions with people. Otherwise, you can check other similar websites and get inspiration from their content; it is entirely legal.

I recently wrote some ideas for a friend in a different niche from mine. At first, I had no idea what topics were good and not-so-good, but I ended up checking other blogs in the same niche as hers. The summary is that the content was created while also maintaining originality.

If your content bucket of choice as a relationship expert is breakups, you might think of topic ideas like:

  • Why new couples breakup
  • How to avoid a breakup
  • How to maintain long-distance relationships
  • What ladies/men do after a terrible breakup

Mind you, these are JUST ideas and have not been verified yet.

·  Optimize the topic ideas.

For search engine optimization, you want to ensure your topic ideas are relevant to people’s interests.

This is where you use https://www.answerthepublic.com 

This site gives you a compilation of all the questions people are asking about a particular keyword.

Now that you have a topic idea, log on to the site, type in your keyword of choice (1-3 words), and watch the magic!

Take, for instance, that your keyword of choice is simply ‘breakup,’ you’ll see a screen similar to this:

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Now, you have dozens of options, and all you have to do is pick one.

The above image is just a part of the result page. You don’t have to be worried about coming up with relevant topic ideas anymore. You have over a hundred ideas in a single content bucket. Imagine having up to five content buckets! Mind-blowing!

·  Research the topic ideas.

You now have a verified idea you can use. The next step is to run that idea through Google.

From answerthepublic.com, your idea might be ‘how to break up with someone you love’ – this is what you type in Google search.

Why?

You want to compare them with existing blog posts, and you do this by checking the similar keywords used by the top-ranking websites. In addition to the keywords, you also check the headline structures and the meta description.

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From the above example, you can see that ‘break up with someone’ is the keyword frequently used by most top-ranking websites.

Let me also share a tip with you. 

One of the points in my SEO checklists is that your focus keyword should be part of your headline and URL. To fully confirm what focus keyword others use, you can check these two places and then research that keyword.

Any website with its focus keyword in both places is knowledgeable in SEO writing, and you should visit these websites for content inspiration.

Now, you have a keyword to verify.

·  Research keyword(s).

This part is so exciting! Ubersuggest is the best keyword research website out there, in my opinion.

When you upload your keyword on ubersuggest, it analyzes that word. It gives you real-time data, including search volume, cost per click, SEO difficulty, other keyword ideas, and content ideas you can use along with the keyword you entered.

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From the above example, you’ll notice the keyword overview, which consists of:

  • Search volume
  • SEO difficulty
  • Paid difficulty
  • Cost per click

Scrolling down, you see the keyword ideas, which give you statistics on other keywords you can use.

It shows the trend for each keyword and the top-ranking websites for it, alongside the keyword overview statistics for each keyword idea.

After this is the content ideas segment, where you see existing content with that keyword; in this case, the keyword is ‘break up with someone.’ 

The fantastic thing about this content idea segment is that it shows you the monthly estimated visits to that website and the keywords that bring this organic traffic. It also shows the number of backlinks, so you know if the website is really credible, and the number of social media links (Facebook).

You know what? You get this much information for free and even more information when you subscribe to the paid version.

The paid version, among other features, provides breakdown statistics on which device generates the highest search volume (mobile or desktop).

·  Research content around the keywords.

This is the same step as researching the topic ideas from AnswerthePublic. The only difference is that you have specific keywords to type in Google search.

In this case, your focus keyword can be ‘when to break up with someone’ or ‘break up with him’ because the search volume is 1,900 and 1,600, respectively. Also, you can still go with the focus keyword ‘break up with someone,’ which has a search volume of 1,000.

Or you can use all these keywords while deciding on one focus keyword.

For example, ‘when to break up with someone’ can be my focus keyword, while the other two can be my other keywords.

Note: One of the best SEO writing tips to hold on to is using a medium tail keyword as your focus keyword and long tail keywords as your other keyword ideas. All your keywords should not be more than five (5) or less than three (3).

If your focus keyword is ‘when to break up with someone,’ you use Google search query to find content related to that query, noting the headline and content structures.

·  Create your headline.

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From the above SERP of the focus keyword ‘when to break up with someone,’ you can see several headline structures around the keyword.

As earlier stated, you need to have a compelling headline that will make the reader want to click on your page. Sharethrough Headline Analyzer is a good, free, and accessible platform for writing a compelling headline, and you can also use it to verify the viability of your headline.

The platform analyzes your headline’s engagement and impression scores and suggests ways you can make it better. 

Before you write out a headline, note these points for SEO:

  • Your focus keyword must be in your headline with no added word(s) in between. Use any of the formats below:
  1. Prefix, (focus keyword), suffix.
  2. (Focus keyword), suffix.
  3. Prefix, (focus keyword).
  • Your headline should not be too long to avoid being cut off like the ones below.
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  • Use context words.
  • Use numbers, preferably odd numbers.

Run any headlines you come up with through the headline analyzer, follow these rules, and ensure your scores are above average.

·  Create your SEO outline.

To create your outline, check out the top-ranking websites from the Google search query you carried out.

Compare at least five (5) different websites and note their content structure.

Afterward, create your outline and include a new point that is relevant to your content. OR

You can elaborate on a point mentioned briefly in other posts.

The endpoint is to ensure you give your readers added value; that will be the reason your post is preferred to others.

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SAMPLE SEO-OPTIMIZED OUTLINE

·  Write your content.

You have your keywords, outline, and content inspiration. All you have to do is write.

However, it is important to know that writing isn’t just writing. When it comes to an optimized post, you have to be intentional and a little bit technical, especially when it comes to the placement of your keywords, links, images, and even your subheadings.

Here are my favorite SEO content writing tips to keep in mind when writing your optimized blog posts:

  • Go straight to the point.
  • Use simple English (8th grade English).
  • Include your keywords in your sub-headings.
  • Allow sentence flow between paragraphs.
  • Build from the basics.
  • Include relevant internal and external links.
  • Use the right formatting style.
  • Use AI minimally.
  • Integrate keywords naturally.

·  Insert visual content.

Your SEO blog post isn’t complete without visuals. Make sure your images’ sizes are small to reduce your site’s loading speed.

Also, add Alt texts to your images; this is very important for SEO.

If you follow these SEO writing processes, your blog posts will be sure to make the front pages.

If you need me to assist you with your SEO writing, or you need more detailed and vocal coaching, you can set up a meeting with me HERE or check out our SEO writing services.