A well-written blog can form an invaluable part of any marketing strategy, allowing you to interact with your target audience and share industry information, tips and expertise. By creating a regularly updated and informative blog, your business will be able to establish a reputation as an industry authority and in so doing improve overall brand awareness.

However, no matter how insightful and informative your blog posts may be if they don't show up in the search results, they are only ever likely to attract a handful of readers. So, what is the secret to optimising your blog? And how do you make sure that people convert when they read your posts? Let's start with the very basics, ideally, your blog posts will:

• Appeal to your target audience
• Rank highly in search results
• Invite your audience to complete an action

So, how do you make these things happen? We asked our SEO team to collate some helpful hints and tips about writing blogs to get you on your way to a successful blog. They understand the importance of creating high-quality content that will help improve a client's Google ranking and boost engagement. So, if you're considering adding a blog to your site, or if you want to optimise your existing blog, then just keep reading!

Determine the Purpose of Each Blog

So, where do you start? We recommend that you start by considering the purpose of your blog post. Having this in mind as you write each blog is essential, it helps you make sure that each blog is staying on topic and fulfilling its purpose throughout! There are thousands of reasons you might write a blog, here are a few common goals of blog writing:

• Attracting new customers
• Promoting a product or service
• Sharing important news related to your business or industry
• Answering a question that's relevant to your business

Or something completely different! Blog posts are great because they offer a blank slate for you to address current topics and engage with users in a very direct way. Whatever you choose to write about, make sure that your writing has a focus to avoid creating convoluted, unnecessary content.

Select and Use Appropriate Keywords

As with website optimisation, choosing and using the right keywords is incredibly important when it comes to getting your blog posts to rank in search engines. Firstly, to select appropriate keywords you need to consider two things:

• What keywords does your site currently rank for?
• What keywords do you want your site to rank for?  

You need to be careful not to cannibalise (use the same keywords) as other, more important pages on your site. Why? because you don't want a blog post to outrank an important product page, for example. You can check what keywords and queries your site is currently getting impressions and clicks for by taking a look at the 'performance' section on the Google Search Console.

Instead of targeting the same keywords over and over again, you should consider using your blog posts to target keywords that aren't already targeted on your site (despite being highly relevant). When choosing keywords for your blog posts, you want them to grab your audience's attention so consider this; what topics do your readers care about that you haven't already addressed somewhere on your site? You can use Google's Keyword Planner tool to find hundreds of relevant keywords & check search volume!

Writing your Blog Posts 

Once you've decided the purpose of your blog, selected some interesting and relevant keywords - you're ready to start writing. Your first few blog posts might take you a little bit of time to craft and perfect, but the more blog posts you write the more your personal writing style will develop.

Readers will return to your blog time and time again if they like your writing style, so don't be afraid to add touches of your personality as you go along.  

Besides writing content that your readers will love, you need to ensure each post is properly optimised. Here are a few tips to make sure that your blog posts always add value to your site:

• Be conscious of the keywords you are targeting and try to include them throughout the blog post.
• Choose a compelling title.
• Use sub-headings and bullet points to break up long passages of text.
• Add some quality links to high domain authority sites (ones you want to grab the attention of!)
• Include quotes from notable people within your industry.
• Write a clear call to action - this will increase the likelihood of readers converting.
• Optimise: Add a meta title & meta description.

Write Frequently to Maintain Engagement

As you build up a group of loyal readers, they will enjoy coming back to find new, relevant blog posts while - for the purposes of SEO, regular posting will ensure you're constantly targeting new keywords and will (hopefully) keep you high in the search engine results. But how often should you post?

Posting Every Day: 

Posting every day does have its benefits, it allows you to develop your writing style, engage with new readers and quickly build up lots of interesting posts on your site. However, writing and sharing blog posts every single day can be time-consuming and might even put your readers off.

Posting Once, Twice, or Three Times a Week:

Many bloggers argue this is the perfect blogging schedule. Having small gaps between blogs helps to keep your readers interested without overloading them with 'spammy' content. Giving yourself time to plan each blog properly will ensure you create in-depth and genuinely useful blogs, rather than blogs that don't add much value to your site.

Promotion via Social Media

Promoting your blog posts on social media will help maintain a steady flow of readers. We recommend setting a page or profile for your business on each of the following platforms:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram 
• LinkedIn

Each of these social media platforms is different in terms of the way the posts are structured and the type of audience they appeal to. Therefore, you need to tailor each social media post to suit the platform you're working with. For example, Instagram is largely image focused so is the perfect place to share pictures and blogs related to products or completed projects.

As well as promoting your blog on your own social network pages, encourage others to do some of the work for you by including Facebook and Twitter ‘share buttons’ in your blog. One of the amazing things about social media is that people will always be inclined to share things they find interesting with their friends - so take advantage of this!

If you'd like to find out how our search engine optimisation team could help you manage your social media, click here.

By following these blog optimisation tips you will find that your blog performs really well and helps to drive conversions. If you are interested in finding out more about our blog development services, simply click the button at the end of this blog. If you have any other queries, give us a call on 01446 339050.

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Our latest website project sees local dentistry practice Porthkerry Dental Centre, combine a number of their dental centre websites into one amalgamated site – Vale Dental Centres!

A popular dentist located in Barry, Porthkerry Dental branched out to a number of practices in and around the local area over the years with a total of 3 centres now under their ownership. Unfortunately for Porthkerry Dental, their online presence was a little confusing with a combination of websites for their different centres available and no clear indication about what services were available at each practice. That’s where we stepped in!

How did we help?

Porthkerry Dental approached us here at Designer Websites to help make the information on their dental centres and services easier to find and understand. In order to make their online presence clearer to their past and potential patients, we proposed creating a brand-new website that combined the scattered information under one new domain. To do this, we needed to collate the information that was already available on their centres and services and streamline it into one property that patients can visit.

After gathering this information, we were able to dissect it and create new, optimised pages that targeted a number of popular search terms related to the industry such as teeth whitening, orthodontics and emergency dental treatment, as well as establishing which practice each service is available at. In addition to each web page being optimised for search with new high-quality copy, the new site is also fully responsive, enabling patients to have the same fantastic user experience no matter which device they’re using – perfect for when a desktop isn’t handy!

The brand-new Vale Dental Centres website can be viewed right here - https://www.valedentalcentres.co.uk/ 

If you’re looking for a bespoke, professional-looking website for your business, please don't hesitate to get in touch with the team here at Designer Websites for a free, no-obligation web design quote.

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Established in 1990, South Wales Windows and Doors is the longest-serving family-run double glazing business in South Wales! Since then, they have built a profound reputation for excellence in both the products they offer and the service they provide. With nearly 30 years’ experience, they help homeowners in and around Cardiff, South Wales and the South West by supplying and installing double glazed windows, doors and conservatories of the highest quality, all designed to the customers’ specifications in an efficient and cost-competitive way.

How did we help?

Having helped with their last website redesign in 2016, South Wales Windows and Doors approached us again, as they were looking for another freshen up which reflects their current vision for the business. They tasked us with creating an updated website design that not only looked the part but was easier to use and navigate for their past and potential customers.

As a result, we were able to produce a fantastic looking, easy-to-navigate, responsive website that performs great no matter which device it’s being viewed on. We not only improved the aesthetics of the website, but we also created new copy for the whole site to ensure each page was fully optimised to rank highly in search engine results for industry-specific keywords. We amalgamated a number of website pages in order for the information on products and services to be streamlined and easier for customers to find, as well as creating new pages for services that have launched since their last redesign!

You can visit the new and updated website right here - https://www.southwaleswindowsanddoors.co.uk/

If you’re interested in a bespoke, professional-looking website for your business, please contact the team here at Designer Websites below for a free, no-obligation web design quote.

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Lawn & Weed Expert specialise in the maintenance and treatment of lawns in Cardiff and the surrounding South Wales area. They have over 20 years of experience in the lawn care industry and provide a range of services, including:

• Weed Control
• Disease Protection
• Lawn Scarification

One of the most interesting things about this company is that they are not just lawn treatment specialists - they’re also a lawn care training provider, offering you the opportunity to start your own lawn care business if you're so inclined. They provide all the skills tuition required, and students who then take up the opportunity to become franchisees are provided with everything they need to get started and become a successful business in their own right.

The company had a confusing website at the time they approached us - even we could not figure out what they offered in terms of services without further explanation from them. So, they wanted to create a website that was clear, easy to use, and a little more interesting than what they previously had...not hard to do, believe me! They wanted to make it easy for a new client to get in touch and request a survey, so they asked us for a complete redesign.

What did we do?

With the ultimate aim to drive more enquiries to the business, we created a responsive brochure-style website, with easy-to-use navigation and enquiry forms, with a professional and eye-catching design. The new website gives potential customers and business partners all the information they need in an easy to digest structure, and is, of course, user-friendly across any device.

We are delighted to announce that the new Lawn & Weed Expert site is now live!

If you think that your business could benefit from a bespoke, professional website, please get in touch with us for a free, no-obligation web design quote.

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Last updated 29th Aug 2019

Taylor Total Weed Control is a vegetation management company operating in South Wales and the South West. Their weed control experts have years of experience eradicating stubborn weeds, maintaining grounds and controlling moss growth, but their main speciality is Japanese knotweed removal.

You've probably heard about Japanese knotweed - it's an invasive, fast-growing plant that can be incredibly difficult to get rid of. This pesky weed can have a disastrous impact on the value of affected properties, and allowing it to spread into the wild is actually an offence punishable by law, so it's important to call in the professionals if you find this plant growing in your garden.

Taylor Total Weed Control asked us to completely redesign their old website, which was confusing and didn't truly represent their services. It was important to them that the new site would concisely explain their services to new and existing clients, which sounds obvious but was a significant issue with the old site.

Importantly, the new site would be the only enquiry generation for the company and so they wanted to ensure CTAs were obvious, services provided clearly understood, and enquiries easily made by potential customers.

What did we do?

We totally scraped their old website, including imagery and text, and created a simple, responsive brochure website to showcase their various weed control services. We developed user-friendly enquiry forms so that clients could easily arrange a free survey of their property. We also integrated a blog to allow the Taylor team to write about industry-specific topics.

If you are in need of a little weed control yourself then we would definitely recommend checking out Taylor Total Weed Control.

Does your business require a professional-looking bespoke website? If so, get in contact with our team and we will provide you with a free, no-obligation web design quote.

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