Top 5 Blogging Terms to Take Your Writing and Blog to the Next Level

Last Updated on August 15, 2022 by coffeepo

So you’ve realized the benefits and opportunities of becoming a professional blogger. You got your grammar skills all set, your typing fingers all greased up, and your mug of strong coffee ready to kick you awake. But there’s one problem…

There’s so much more to blogging than just writing well.

One of those things is to write strategically, which includes knowing all the terms like long-tail keywords, anchor texts, meta descriptions, and tags. You’ve never learned these in school—not even if you took an English major in university.

Not to worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are the top 7 popular blogging terms you need to know to become a professional blogger. 

1. Meta Description: The Catchy Blog Summary

Remember the short description you’ll see below the title whenever you search for something on Google? Those are called meta descriptions. They usually contain 130 to 160 characters (including spaces) and are a great way to attract readers to click through.

Here are a few examples of titles with meta descriptions:

Want a Writing Career? Here are 3 Blogging Skills to Become a Profitable Writer

Your mom may disapprove, but writing can truly be a profitable career. Here are the essential blogging skills to turn your writing into an actual business.

5 Signs To Know If You’re On the Right Career Path

Ever felt unsure about your career that you ended up in a rut? It’s a terrible but avoidable feeling. Here, we list 5 signs to know you’re on the right track.

8 Best Side Hustles for Introverts

The most popular side hustles usually require constant human interaction like driving and delivery, but these could be a nightmare for introverts. Here are the best gigs for introverts.

As you can see, the best meta descriptions introduce the content of your blog while getting the attention of the potential reader. We suggest that you write in an active voice and include a call-to-action (CTA) such as “Learn it all here” or “Find out more.”

You’ll also want to include the long-tail keyword in both the title (or headline) and the meta description, which we’ll explain in the next section.

2. Long-Tail Keywords: Search Engine Optimization

Long-tail keywords are part of your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy, which is how you can take advantage of Google, Bing, and other platforms. Long-tail keywords are words or phrases that readers will use to search for more information on search engines. 

They are what’ll help the readers find your blog—if you address their needs.

For example, you probably searched “blogging terms” on Google and landed on this particular article. It was our usage of “blogging terms” as a long-tail keyword that helped you find our blog. 

Here are some easy steps for you to get started with long-tail keywords:

1. Figure out the topic or industry you want your blog to write about.
2. Use SEO tools to help you find relevant topics and their related keywords. There are many free options from Moz, Neil Patel, and WordStream. But if you’re willing to shell out some money, we recommend subscribing to BiQ, Ahrefs, or Semrush.
3. Whichever tool you choose, plug in your topic and look at the keywords. Each of those keywords will have its own details, where your goal is to use the most valuable ones. This usually means whatever is trending has a high volume and a relatively low CPC and competition.

Still confused? Here is an example to help you visualize. Let’s say your blog is about helping people handle any career-related problems. You sign into a platform like BiQ and type in the phrase “career problems.”

This is the result that you’ll see:

Based on this, you should write blogs with the keywords “career problems”, “day-to-day challenges at work”, “types of career counseling”, and “career development strategies.” These keywords relate to what people are looking for, and have a good balance of cost vs. competition.

Keywords will help you do the following:

• Get your blog out there and help readers find you
• Give you new, relevant topics to write about
• Encourage existing readers to continue reading your blog
• Increase the traffic to your blog or website
• Position your authority in the industry

In a nutshell, you’ll create high-value blogs that people are interested in. Plus, you’ll get the attention of businesses and brands looking to work with bloggers for their campaigns. 

You can read more about how to leverage on keywords in our SEO Tips article.

3. Anchor Text: Words With Hyperlinks

Now that your blog is armed with a good meta description and has the right keywords, your next step is to include anchor text in your writing. Anchor text is essentially the highlighted words or phrases with hyperlinks to other relevant articles on your own blog or other credible websites. 

Anchor texts help with internal and external linking, which are good ways to:

• Increase your digital footprint
• Increase your reach
• Have better user experience
• Have readers spend more time on your blog
• Improve your overall SEO strategy

Here are the two main types:

1. External Linking: This is where your anchor text links out to other credible, authoritative websites in your chosen industry. These could be links to a study you referenced, a service you’re reviewing, or anything that adds more information for your reader.

You probably did the same thing in your thesis paper before, where you cited your sources in a bibliography—except that was a written list instead of modern hyperlinks.

2. Internal Linking: This is where your anchor text links to other posts you’ve already published on the same blog. These could also be links to your “services,” “contact me,” “about us” page, or even the products you have (e.g., e-books or webinars).

If you’ve noticed, we’ve included a hyperlink to our SEO Tips article in the earlier section. That’s exactly what internal linking is all about—getting readers to browse through your blog more.

We suggest that you include 2-5 external and 4 internal links for a long blog post (more than 1,000 words). For anything shorter, use around 2 external and 2 internal links. This is because “link stuffing” can impact your SEO ranking.

So, be sure to never overload or “stuff” too many hyperlinks (and keywords) in your blog, but try to include them in a natural way to increase the blog’s value without distracting the reader. Always remember that your goal is to make your blogs informative and easy to read.

4. Alt Text: Description of Your Content

Have you ever tried to load a blog post using a really bad internet connection? The videos and images included in the post usually won’t load properly. In these times, it helps to have a short description to know what you’re missing out on.

Alt text (also known as alternative text, alt attributes, or alt descriptions) is the string of words that describes the content of your blog. These are used for 3 primary reasons:

1. Accessibility: For those who are visually impaired, screen readers will read aloud the alt text on your images to them.
2. Connection Issues: In times when videos and images cannot be used or displayed, these descriptions function as an alternative. 
3. SEO: These descriptions also help search engines like Google know what the video or image is about, so your SEO improves overall.

You may not be familiar with writing these descriptions. So, here are a few tips:

• Be specific and concise 
• Never start with “Image of…” or anything similar
• Don’t write alt text for decorative images
• Don’t repeat what you’ve already said on your blog
• Only include keywords if they make sense

It’ll take some time to get used to, but creating these alt tags and alt texts will eventually become second nature. Instead of saying “A picture of a casual businessman with his hand in his hair and frustrated staring at a computer with tons of stickers on it,” you’ll shorten it to just “A young professional struggling and looking at a laptop” for this particular picture:

5. Call-to-Action (CTA): The Final Step

A Call-To-Action or CTA is the last bit in your blog that asks the reader to take action. The action may be to click a link, purchase a product, signup for your email newsletter, and more. Because of its nature, CTAs are usually instructive or directive, encouraging the reader to perform an action after reading.

Now, the more information you provide, the higher the chances are that they’ll follow through. Aside from the main blog content, you can also let them know what to expect when they perform the CTA, and  address whatever objections they might have:

Here are a few more tips to craft the perfect CTA in your blogs:

• Start with a strong command verb like buy, shop, order, download, or subscribe.
• Use words that will provoke enthusiasm or emotion like saying, “Find the career you’ve always wanted!” when asking them to download your e-book.
• Give them a reason to take the desired action, such as telling them how the ideal job will make them happier, feel more fulfilled, or earn more money. This will tie in with your value proposition or Unique Selling Point (USP). It’s also best to be industry-specific here.
• Take advantage of FOMO or the fear of missing out by mentioning any sale or promotion. If they’re the first 100 people to tap the link, for example, they’ll get a limited 10% discount.

In other words, put yourself in your reader’s shoes to see what will push the right buttons. You always want to promote high value with low risk—whatever the CTA is asking the reader to do.

Write Smart, Not Hard

You may be overwhelmed with these new terms. But keep in mind that your goal is to understand what they mean, why they’re important, and how you can apply them in your blog. As long as you get those things down pat, you’ll be well equipped to start writing professional blogs for writing success.

It doesn’t stop here, either! There are other blogging terms that you’ll need to master. Still, these first 5 should give you a headstart. And if you need more help, check out our other articles on blogging platforms to use, blogging communities to join, and blogging niches to enter this year.

You’ll be a professional blogger in no time. See you in the winner’s circle! 🙂