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How do I get the most from my blog posts?

May 20, 2025 by Peter Mahoney

On a web-front – I posted my first blog last night and it appears fine, but I was winging it with any tags, links, etc, etc.. so at some point I would appreciate a quick “how to” session on maximising the impact of these posts.

I’ve checked out the blog post and it’s great length wise, but other than that could be improved.

Here’s the break down for what you want for each post:

  • 300-500 words of text in paragraph format
  • At least one image (with file dimensions of at least 1200×600 pixels)
  • Have 2x subheadings (coded as ‘H2’); at least one of these should mention some important search terms for your site
  • The first sentence should function as a description of the whole article, (i.e. summing up the content first before getting into the supporting information)
  • Ideally that first sentence will have some words that you link to one of your primary pages on the site

So here’s where that blog post could be improved.

  1. You have two many sections. Just an intro, and 2x subheadings are all you’re after. The only exception to this would be if your article was something akin to “Top five reasons to…”. Then you’d use 5x sub headings. And don’t give your conclusion a subheading, that’s a hallmark of AI content.
  2. Your first paragraph would have been better as something like, “How your annexe fits into the surrounding landscape is a very important, but often overlooked, part of the garden room planning process. Whether your garden room is to be a peaceful office, creative studio, or energised gym — many property owners focus just on the building itself”. That way, the first sentence is the summation. And you could easily link from that paragraph the first use of ‘garden room’ to your ‘design and build’ page, and a couple of the use cases from the second sentence to the relevant ‘uses’ page.
  3. “Paragraph format” doesn’t strictly allow for text in bullet points to count towards the word count. A few bullets in an article are fine, but you’ve relied on them.

I hope that helps. I suspect this article is more or less right out of ChatGPT – which isn’t a bad thing per se. But if you ask it for an article and give it specifics, like 2x subheadings, etc., it will spit out something that’s ok – and be made really good with some simple edits from yourself.

Peter Mahoney
WordPress SEO Expert

Filed Under: SEO Emails Tagged With: ai, blogging, chatgpt, content, copy

SEO backlinks, what is Reverse Outreach linking?

February 4, 2024 by Peter Mahoney

Backlinks are SEO gold, but only if they’re legitimate. Essentially, all off-site SEO boils down to creating backlinks. Directory listings, local citations, they’re all much the same when it comes to it.

When I say legitimate, I mean someone genuinely appreciates your site and has a valid reason to link to it. Nearly any attempt to manipulate your link profile goes against Google’s guidelines, and they’re pretty adept at catching those who try, and dish out penalties accordingly.

Here is one simple (albeit time consuming) technique I have long recommended for building organic, useful links.

And Google loves this one, because it’s not just a nonsense URL in a profile or some other low status link – it’s authoritative content that adds to the usefulness of the web.

I’ve been recommending it for twelve years (it’s in my e-book people get when they start working with me) but has now become recognised widely enough it has it’s own proper name in the industry: reverse outreach.

It’s based around targeting journals and articles on high profile sites.

When a story appears in the mainstream press that relates to your industry, quickly write a post about it. Then find the story on news outlet’s websites (The Guardian, The Telegraph, etc.) and post in the comments section something similar to:

You know, I’m an expert in this industry, and have shared my thoughts here…

Then add a link back to your post.

The impact is twofold: an immediate boost in site visitors who see you as a field authority and a new relevant backlink from a major site.

Beyond instant gains, this strategy improves your page’s visibility when a similar story surfaces in the future, increasing the likelihood of your site being the go-to source for more information.

It’s a proven, enduring technique, valued by Google for its authenticity and contribution to the web’s usefulness.

 

Filed Under: Backlinks, Featured, Google, Hints & Tips, Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Tagged With: back links, backlinks, content, google, original content, search engine optimisation, seo, top tip

If there is one thing I’ve learned from…

March 22, 2013 by Peter Mahoney

If there is one thing I’ve learned from using Facebook Pages (and I’ve learned a LOT) it’s that original content is key.

Simply sharing other people’s content isn’t good enough–it makes you look like a follower, not a leader.

In terms of numbers, I reach about five times more people with my own writing than I do sharing others’ links.

SHARE THIS and help me prove my point. 😉

Filed Under: Nerd-stream, Uncategorized Tagged With: content, Facebook page, original content

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