How to Write a Simple SEO Excerpt for Your Blog Posts

Blogging for your interior design firm is one of the best steps you can take to improve your website’s SEO, making it easier for your ideal clients to find you online. While there are several ways to optimize the SEO of each individual blog post — titles, headlines, image tags, etc. — let’s isolate just one of these elements: the SEO excerpt.

What is an SEO Excerpt?

First, it’s worth mentioning that there is a difference between an “excerpt” and an “SEO excerpt.”

Excerpt: A short snippet that appears as a preview of your blog post. This excerpt can appear on your main blog page (where all your posts are listed), as a preview when you share the link to platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn, and sometimes as the preview that appears in search results. It depends how your website designer has set up the site.

SEO Excerpt: This excerpt is written solely for the purpose of helping search engines, like Google, categorize your blog post. It appears only within search results. If a specific SEO excerpt is not designated, Google will look at the normal excerpt. In my experience, if you write the normal excerpt with SEO in mind, that’s all you need.

Where should you add an SEO Excerpt?

In Squarespace: If you go to your blog post and click “Edit,” you can find the SEO excerpt section under the “SEO” tab of your blog post’s settings.

In WordPress: Depending on the version you are using, the excerpt section is either in the right-hand sidebar and/or at the bottom of your blog post. If you use the Yoast plugin, you will always find the SEO excerpt below the blog post.

 

What should you include in your SEO Excerpt?

Your SEO excerpt should…

• Be short, 1-2 sentences total

• Get directly to the point; low on fluff

• Include your blog post’s keywords

• Be inviting, if possible

Important Terms

Before I dive into these 3 examples I’ve prepared for you, let’s define a couple terms:

What is a “Keyword?”

These are word(s) that describe the main topic of your post and the terms you want your post to rank for. If this feels a little abstract, don’t worry — you’ll see what I mean in the examples below.

What are “Sub-Keywords?”

I don’t know if this is a technical term, but by my definition, these are keywords you’d also like to rank for, but they are lower in importance. These add additional specificity to your topic and help search engines further categorize your post.

Here are some examples…

Example Blog Post 1

Blog Post Title: How to Choose the Best Countertop Stone for Your Kitchen

Keyword: best countertop stone

Sub-keyword: kitchen

Excerpt: Renovating your kitchen? Here’s how to choose the best countertop material, from quartz to quartzite, soapstone to granite, and more.

Example Blog Post 2

Blog Post Title: 9 Creative Pendant Designs that are Lighting Us Up

Keyword: pendant designs

Sub-keyword: creative, lighting

Excerpt: I spy… 5 creative pendant designs that will transform any space in your home from drab to fab! Come see the latest in lighting trends.

Example Blog Post 3

Blog Post Title: How to Select the Best Flooring for Your VRBO

Keyword: best flooring

Sub-keywords: VRBO, Airbnb (synonym), rental property (synonym), durable

Excerpt: Here are the top 5 best flooring materials for your VRBO, Airbnb, or rental property. Durable. Long-lasting. Beautiful.

There you have it. Three examples that are short. Clear. Strategic. Intriguing. Done! No need to overcomplicate things. Need help remembering what to do for SEO each time you format a blog post? Download our complimentary SEO Checklist here or below.

Until next time,
Jaquilyn