How to write a blog post that actually ranks
Start from the search, not from what you want to say. A practical method for small teams who can publish one good article a week.
Most business blogs fail for the same reason: the posts are about what the business wants to talk about, not about what anyone searches for. A post titled "Our thoughts on the industry this autumn" can be well written and still get zero visits a year from now.
Here's a method that works for a small team publishing one solid article a week.
1. Start from a real question
Collect the questions customers ask you by phone, email and in person. Then check that people search them: type the start of the question into Google and look at the autocomplete suggestions and the "People also ask" box. Those are real searches.
Good targets for a young site are specific, longer questions ("how much does it cost to replace a boiler in a 3 bed house") rather than broad terms ("boilers"), which big sites already own.
2. Look at what's ranking before you write
Search your question and read the top results. Note what format they are (guide, list, comparison, calculator), what they all cover, and what they all miss. Your post should cover the essentials and add the thing they're missing: real prices, your own photos, a mistake you see customers make.
3. Answer in the first paragraph
Give the direct answer straight away, then explain. The reader came for the answer, and pages that make people scroll past three paragraphs of introduction lose them. It also makes your answer easy for Google and AI assistants to quote.
4. Structure it for skimming
- A title with the question or phrase people search
- Clear subheadings that follow the order a reader would think in
- Short paragraphs, lists where things are genuinely a list
- Specifics over adjectives: numbers, timings, examples
5. Show you've done it
Search engines increasingly reward experience. Mention jobs you've done, what went wrong, what customers usually ask. A photo of real work beats any stock image.
6. Link it in
Link from the new post to your relevant service page, and from one or two older posts to the new one. More on that in our internal linking guide.
7. Revisit after six weeks
Open Search Console and check which searches the post appears for. If it's showing up for a slightly different question than you targeted, add a section answering that question. Updating good posts is often worth more than writing new ones.