How Long Does It Take To Write An SEO Optimized Blog Post?

While a quick online search can tell you how many blog posts you should have, how frequently you should publish, and how to write a compelling blog post, finding helpful information on how long does it take to write an SEO optimized blog post is another story.

So, I'll answer that question today, and, spoiler alert, it may take a while!

Why Should You SEO-Optimize Your WordPress Blog Posts?

Optimizing your blog posts for SEO allows you to increase search engine traffic to your WordPress website consistently.

Because search engines are often the most important source of website traffic, this can be highly beneficial to your blog, online store, or small business website.

If you simply publish your blog posts without optimizing for WordPress SEO, you will limit the amount of traffic and money you can make.

Factors Affecting Blog Post Writing Time

Several factors influence how long it takes for a blog post to go from concept to publication. The blog writer generally takes charge of all or most of these aspects. 

Several factors can influence how much time bloggers spend writing, and I've listed a few of them below.

Blog Post Length

The time it takes to create content is heavily influenced by the expected length of the blog post. On average, writing a blog of more than 2,500 words should take longer than writing a blog of fewer than 800 words.

The length of the blog post alters the writing dynamic as well. Research time increases when a writer aims for longer-than-average articles and structural complexities emerge.

Conduct research

In-depth research serves as the foundation for crisp, engaging, and rich content. Even if a project has a low word count, quality content will require the writer to spend more time searching for new ideas.

Research involves exploring reliable sources such as websites, news channels, books, research, etc., and studying competitors' blogging websites to understand the market better.

Keyword research can also influence how much time a writer spends on a given topic. Keyword research will direct the writer's attention to substructures to naturally incorporate the required terms.

Difficulty

A blog post will only engage readers if it contains relevant content.

Authenticity cannot be compromised even when a blogger focuses on weaving strings of more complex ideas into a blog post. As a result, the decision to present complex ideas will result in more time spent on content creation.

The complexity of an article can be determined by weighing how challenging its ideas are and how well they have been woven into a central narrative 

Coverage

Another critical factor influencing how much time a freelance writer takes to generate content is sketching out the blog post's content.

After determining the target audience's interests, bloggers must decide whether to delve deeply into a single aspect of the topic or whether a broader approach is more appropriate.

As the number and variety of sub-topics grow, so will the amount of time spent writing.

Media Production

In addition to the narrative, readers' attention can be captured by graphs, images, and videos.

Media creation is an essential aspect of blog writing and takes time. Writers must look for social media posts, statistics, videos to embed, and even the right font!

Bloggers are not only writers but also marketing teams, and each of the five factors listed above will influence how much time is spent writing articles.

If you want to write your own blog posts, ensure you have the time to do them correctly. If you intend to hire someone to assist you, make sure the fee you pay is proportionate to the time it will take to create the post and the quality of the content.

SEO Optimized Blog Post Writing Guide

Here's how to approach the blog creation process, whether you're going it alone or not. This should hopefully help you create great content and save you time and money in the process.

Create a Good Blog Post Topic

What will you be writing about? If you don't already have a blog, Google calendar, or any editorial calendar, I strongly advise you to create one right away.

It will reduce the amount of time you spend every time you sit down to write brainstorming blog post topic ideas.

It can also help you decide whether to focus on individual blog posts or a series of articles exploring a theme. This is critical for the next step.

Conduct Research on the Subject

No matter how great a writer knows about a particular subject, research time is involved before they begin writing the blog.

Whether a topic expert searches for competitors' posts to ensure the post they write is better or the expert searches for current statistics to include in the post, the truth is that quality content is rarely written without some type of Research.

For inexperienced bloggers or topic experts, Research could take hours.

Determine how well the writer understands the Subject.

If the person writing your blog post isn't already an expert with authority on the Subject, the process will take longer.

Always consider the writer's experience level in terms of the post topic and blog writing in general, as both affect how long it takes to write a blog post.

Before assigning more complex work to your writer, make sure they have written a few posts for you.

Create an SEO strategy

Search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for all websites and is a top priority for some.

Every blog post should be written with SEO in mind, necessitating time spent researching and selecting keywords, links, image Alt-Tags, and formatting strategies to ensure Google includes the post in relevant search results.

Create an outline and write the post

After you've completed all of your prewriting tasks, it's time to outline a structure for your post based on blogging best practices. That means you must divide the topic into sections and subsections that can be formatted with H2 and H3 headings. This will shorten the time it takes you to write a blog.

You should plan to start your post strong and concisely, using short sentences and paragraphs so that mobile audiences can easily read your posts.

All of this is handled for you by expert bloggers during content creation, but if you're the one writing your own blog posts, you'll need to handle all of these elements as you write your blog content.

Create a Title

After you've written the post, it's time to write the headline, which is crucial for increasing traffic to your post. Bloggers are not uncommon to go through 10 or 20 headlines before settling on a final version, and prominent blogs with large budgets invest in and test dozens of headlines for each post before deciding on the best one.

Don't underestimate the time it takes to write a good headline.

Include Internal and External Resource Links

Locate, design, and upload images

Images have grown in importance in recent years as the internet has become more visual, and people actively seek out visual content.

As a result, take the time to find high-quality images that you can legally use on your blog or website.

If you're designing images, make sure the style and colors fit your brand image and are consistent with your brand identity.

When it comes to images, don't forget about SEO. To increase search traffic to your posts, use keyword-rich image file names, descriptions, and Alt-Tags.

Format the Post with Tags and Categories

With all the pieces in place, it's time to format your post according to blogging best practices.

This includes using H2 and H3 headings, bullets and numbered lists, short paragraphs, and previewing the post to ensure it looks good.

Few people will read your post if it isn't visually appealing on desktop and mobile devices.

Check the Post for Errors

Finally, proofread your post to ensure there are no grammatical or spelling errors. We're all human, so mistakes will happen if you don't have an editor on your team. Don't be concerned. Instead, apologize and correct the error.

Once your post looks great and contains no errors, click the Publish button!]

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this article has provided some helpful information on how long does it take to write an SEO optimized blog post and the steps you can take to approach each piece methodically.

As they say, sound planning is half the battle! Some writers will spend more time researching than writing, whereas others will create content after only an hour of research.

Blog writing is not easy and takes hours of dedication. However, the more blog posts you write, the more you'll learn about what works and doesn't. Use this opportunity to improve your writing and research abilities. Although planning is half the battle, it is still only half!