Start with keyword research before you write. Pick one primary keyword with search volume between 100–2,000 monthly searches in Canada and a difficulty score you can realistically rank for based on your domain authority. If you're working with a new site, aim for KD under 30. Established domains can target KD 40–60. Use that keyword in your title tag (front-loaded), H1, first 100 words, and naturally 3–5 times in the body. Write at least 1,000 words, but only if you have something to say. Thin content ranks worse than no content. Structure it with H2 subheadings every 200–300 words to break up the text and signal topic coverage to Google. Answer the search intent completely in the first 200 words, then go deeper. If someone searches "how to SEO blog posts," they want the steps up front, not a history lesson on search engines. Internal linking matters more than most people think. Link to 2–4 related posts or pillar pages using descriptive anchor text. At Ottawa SEO, we see measurable ranking improvements just from adding internal links to older posts that already have authority. External links to reputable sources (government data, studies, industry tools) add credibility but aren't mandatory. Technical basics: Use a slug that matches your primary keyword or a short variation. Compress images to under 150KB using TinyPNG or ShortPixel. Add descriptive alt text. Set a meta description between 140–155 characters that includes your keyword and a reason to click, though Google rewrites about 60% of them anyway. After publishing, get at least one external backlink within 30 days. Guest posts, digital PR, or even a relevant forum mention helps. Google indexes faster and assigns more trust when it sees early signals. Track rankings in Google Search Console and adjust if you're stuck on page two after 60 days. Sometimes you need more depth, sometimes more links, sometimes a better title tag. There's no one-size-fits-all, but these fundamentals apply to 90% of blog posts we optimize.