While SEO was once driven by the publication of a high volume of links rather than the individual quality of each, the advent of content marketing has made this a thing of the past. In fact, the evolutionary metrics of SEO have come full circle amid a myriad of Google algorithm updates, with the relevance, quality and length of content now crucial in determining an overall ranking.

How to enhance SEO and online visibility in three simple steps

With this in mind, it makes perfect sense that blogging should subsequently have emerged as a key SEO and marketing tool. Utilising it to your advantage is far easier said than done, however, as adopting an unsuitable or poorly executed content plan can also have an adverse effect on your ranking. So, here are three simple steps to help you improve your SEO performance through blogging:

• Focus on longer and more in-depth content where possible

If you were to listen to Seth Godin, you would think that shorter and more concise blog posts had the most impact on readers. Conversely, a recent study by Orbit Media Studios recently confirmed that the average blog post length in 2015 was 900 words, representing an increase of 100 words and more than 100 on the previous year.

From this, you can surmise that it is important to instead prioritise the quality and structure of the content that you publish, allowing posts to evolve to their natural length depending on their individual nature and subject matter. While a preference should be given to longer and more in-depth pieces of content where the topic allows, do not be afraid to vary post length and diversify your strategy on occasions.

• Include links in your work

Google’s Penguin and Panda updates (among others) have sent many webmasters scurrying for cover, as they look to avoid including links of any description in their content in a bid to avoid potential sanctions. This is counter-productive in the extreme, however, as it is the cultivation of a natural and diverse link profile that enables you to develop your ranking organically. The key is to appraise links in relation to their anchor text and relevance to the content in which they are included, while you should focus primarily on the specific websites that link directly to your landing pages.

• Use blogging as part of an integrated strategy

In the modern age, no single marketing or SEO tactic carries much weight on its own, so it is crucial that individual elements are combined as part of an integrated strategy. This is particularly true in the case of blogging, which can only thrive if it engages readers, drives traffic and develops positive sharing signals through social media platforms. To accomplish this, you will probably need to partner with a reputable marketer like Ingenuity Digital, as such a union will help you to combine intricate SEO strategies within a single campaign.

So while blogging can be used to improve your Google ranking and traffic signals, it must feature as part of an overall campaign if it is to achieve its full potential.