Blogging for Customers + Search Engines

Blogging is hugely important to your SEO health, your website’s visibility and, ultimately, your business’ success.

And though there is a lot of information on the web about blogging dos and don’ts, tips and tricks, the truth is that most people are only covering half of the field.

Some companies blog for the humans, meaning that they are writing directly to their customers and speak and explain as if their only audience is, well, human. But how do your customers find your blog if Google isn’t ranking it, or if Google doesn’t understand it?

Some companies go the opposite route and blog for the robots, or Google, with keywords in the meta, headings, subheadings and throughout the text – even when it isn’t natural. This might work to help Google understand your topic, but it sure doesn’t help your readers enjoy what you’ve created.

As you can tell, both of the above ways of writing have their purpose, as of course, Google helps your customers find your blog, and therefore your site, and your customers are the ones supporting your business, not Google.

But what is the relationship between this pair, between the humans and the robots? And how can we write for two entirely different entities in one 700-1,200 word blog?

Let the blogging experts at JSL Marketing help straighten this out with our 3 overlapping tips for both customers and Google.

3 Tips for Blogging for Both Humans & Robots

Don’t Be Too Longwinded – or Typed

When people want to read a book, they read a book, not a blog. And when people want to read a blog, well, it shouldn’t be the size of a book, now should it?

This doesn’t just go for total length, it’s for paragraph length, sentence length and, in many cases, even word length.

So, don’t use a run-on sentence that will be confusing, winding or too long, as your customers don’t want to read it. Don’t use paragraphs that are bulky with intimidating 12-lines of text, and don’t use overly complex words just because you know how.

Instead, break up your page with line breaks, as we have above. It might seem strange, but isn’t this how we talk? And doesn’t the whitespace above make the total length of your blog seem more manageable?

Turns out, it does!

Both for your readers’ eyes and for Google.

You see, Google likes to see ‘whitespace’ around your paragraphs, and your customers like to be able to read something without it hurting their eyes or them losing their place.

This is a great example of how Google and customers agree.

So, hack those sentences down, break up those paragraphs, and for goodness sake, don’t be magniloquent, uh, I mean, just speak plainly.

Use Long-Tail Keywords & Synonyms

Google is becoming smarter, and though this might worry some of us who believe a technology revolt is nigh, most of us will actually benefit from more tech AI.

How?

Well, you understand that ‘Best Digital Marketing Company in Dallas, Texas’ is the same as ‘Best Digital Marketing Company, Dallas TX’ is the same as ‘Best Digital Marketing Company in Dallas, TX’, right?

However, do you know who didn’t always understand that everything above is saying the same thing?

Our good friend Google.

This means that a lot of companies were trying to say the exact phrase or keywords they wanted to rank for over and over again in their blogs, on their pages, and in their social media posts.

Unfortunately, that’s quite annoying for the human readers.

So, Google learned – or rather, had a series of updates that helped it understand synonyms – so ‘the best’, ‘great, and ‘top-rated’ are all understood under an umbrella, sort of like how we understand them.

If you aren’t sure what a long-tail keyword is, it simply means that people are more likely to search ‘what is the best digital marketing company’ more often than just ‘digital marketing’.

Post Regularly (But With Quality)

This is the final area that companies often trip over, but it shouldn’t be, as the humans and robots once again agree.

Google wants to see fresh content.

People want to see fresh content.

Google wants your posts to be quality.

People want your posts to be quality.

It’s really quite simple when it’s laid out like this, isn’t it?

Essentially, Google is trying to like the same things as its users. It is trying to rank the same things that its users would rank, this means there should be more overlap between humans and robots than division.

So, write what your customers want to see and read, but remember that someone else is watching and looking to understand, rank and place that blog too.

Reach Your Blogging Goals With JSL Marketing

The best thing you can do is help Google help you, and the best people to do that are your friendly Google-experts at JSL Marketing & Web Design.

Give us a call or check out more blogs here!

Or, even if you don’t feel the need to seek out SEO services just yet, remember our takeaways to make your next blog post a success:

  • Write with whitespace – because everyone likes that
  • Write naturally and with understandable keywords or synonyms
  • Write often enough to stay current, but sparsely enough to give yourself time to create something of value and quality

Happy writing (and happy Thanksgiving, too).

5 Simple Steps to Securing your Website and Online Presence

The World Wide Web is a wonderful place, a new adventure, new frontier and portal to anywhere in the world. How amazing, right?

Well, yes, absolutely, but with all this freedom and adventure comes more than a few risks. And though cybersecurity is trying to keep up with technology the best it can, there are a few things that everyone should be doing in order to ensure their own safety, their website’s safety and even their company’s safety.

Are these steps difficult? Are they overly technical? Are they time-consuming and labor-intensive?

Surprisingly no. All of the tips outlined below are actually things that anyone, and everyone, should be doing. That’s why they’re simple steps.

We at JSL Marketing want you to be safe, whether we’re the ones monitoring your website or not, we want to make sure that your business is secure and protected from those who might want to do it harm.

Read on to learn how you can protect yourself and the top 5 quick, easy and simple steps you can take to get you to cyber-security bliss.

Know That Cyber Security is a Real and Powerful Thing

Most people do not know how to hack into a website, most people don’t know how to create malware or a virus, and therefore, many people assume that these skills are rare or that ‘no one really knows how to do this’ or ‘no one would want to do this to my site’.

This is simply not true.

Many people know how and very well might want to use their shadow-skills against you or your website.

As strange as it might seem, the very first step in cyber safety is to acknowledge and accept that there are security threats everywhere and yes, it can even happen to you.

Keep Up With Your Accounts – All of Them

All of them? What do we mean by that? You only have the one website, right?

Unfortunately, that idea is wrong and could end up being damaging to your online security.

Your business LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, even email can be hacked, and each can give the hacker sensitive information that you or your clients do not want on the general web.

This means you should not just be monitoring your main business website, but all connecting sites as well – all accounts, all the time. We recommend using software that can protect your computer but also your websites.

Or you could partner with an agency who can provide extra layers of protection and security for all of your accounts and monitor them consistently as well as making sure your host is secure. In addition, an agency partner should scan your website for vulnerabilities, errors or warnings throughout the month both for SEO and security.

Back Everything Up and Often

This could be seen as a no-brainer, but sometimes little saves like this can get away from us and suddenly we don’t have a copy from the last three months.

This tip helps two fold, first it guarantees you always have what you need, but second, it can help you stay up to date with your anti-virus software or malware detection software.

Having a copy of your website ensures that no matter if you break something, your company does, or you get hacked, you have duplicates you can fall back on if needed to restore order quickly.

Choose a Password Worth Having

Contrary to what many websites or accounts require, eight characters just isn’t enough.

Practice good password creation and management and don’t use the same password for multiple sites. Also, never share your password with others, don’t write it down, email it, keep it in your smartphone unprotected or leave it on your desk or monitor.

No, not even on a sticky note. Because the truth is, not all hacks come from the outside, so, please practice safe password measures when you are home, at work, and everywhere in between.

You don’t need to be paranoid, but you do need to be aware and take needed measures to protect yourself and your customers.

Go for HTTPS

This not only adds a security feature for your customers’ peace of mind, it is also free.

And if added security and happy customers aren’t enough, HTTPS sites also make Google happy, as any non-HTTPS site after July 2018 is getting seriously docked in their rankings by Google.

If you encrypt your login pages, payment pages and others which could have private data, then anything any potential hackers do glean will be meaningless and unusable. Poetic justice, no?

Need Help on Your Next Steps?

JSL Marketing and Web Design has a squeaky clean track record when it comes to keeping our clients safe and their websites secure.

We scan for errors or warnings, can set up your HTTPS site, recommend secure hosting sites, keep your website clean, help with password creation, manage your accounts, always keep our software up to date and even backup your data.

That’s everything you have to worry about – poof – gone and in our capable, careful hands.

So, if adding some extra website security sounds like your next step, connect with us at JSL Marketing and see what we can do to make your website happier, healthier and safer.