How to Write a Great Technical Blog that Ranks

You can be a great developer, and maybe an excellent writer, too... but that doesn't mean your blogs rank well on search engines. The latter requires a great deal of practice, user research, and most of all... trial and error.


Before I teach you how to write great technical blogs that also rank well on search engines... you need to know this:


This blog isn't going to make you a great technical writer, nor is it going to give you a template to rank better for your target search terms. I won't discuss link building or promotion either, that's up to you.


What I will do is teach you how to fine tune your blog topics so that they have the potential to rank well; how to research said topic; and guidelines for how to write about the topic in a way that answers searcher intent.

https://hackmd.io/@alexaa34/B1GyAVin-e

https://medium.com/@alexharris59600/how-to-write-a-great-technical-blog-that-ranks-cee8c10761ed

Searcher Intent

What is searcher intent? Only the most important thing in your universe, right now. Searcher intent is the driving force behind a search engine query. It could be a problem that needs to be solved, curiosity about a subject, a search for validation... I mean, think about it. Why do you use Google and other search engines?


If you really don't know, take a look at your activity.


Now take one of the last search queries you made, and type that into your browser again. Which one of the ten links did you end up clicking on? (hint: if you're on the same device, it will be purple). Why did you click that link? Did you find your answer there? Or did you click more than one?


Hopefully, you got lucky and didn't have to click anything and you were able to glean an answer from the featured snippet... lucky you.


Choose a Topic

Let's start by choosing a topic. This is actually the hardest, longest step, so take your time and don't be hasty.


You shouldn't be pulling your topic out of thin air, there should be a "need" for this topic. Or as we mentioned earlier, searchers should be asking their search engines about your topic.


If you are writing for work, check your support system. Don't have one? Check wherever you get client feedback.


Already have a topic? Great, let's put it to the test.


All you need is a single word, or maybe a few words, like:


  • DNS
  • Failover not working
  • Secondary DNS
  • DNS not resolving


I work for a DNS hosting company, so I'll be using examples from my own work when I write technical blogs and articles for our website.


Make Sure Your Idea Hasn't Been Done Already

Run a quick Google search for your topic, it doesn't have to be a full sentence or even a question. If you are using more than one word, wrap it in quotes. Are there already blogs, articles, or forums that explain what you're looking for?


Since we're talking about technical content, forums are usually your gold mine. Here you can find people talking about your topic in their own words. Read both the question and the comments, because you'll usually find the question asked multiple ways or at least links to other similar questions.


Forums are you most valuable resource, because you'll find people talking about your topic in words you never would have thought of, or put together in that order.


Write them down, because that's your searcher intent right there.


If you answered yes, there's already content on your topic? Then maybe you shouldn't write about that... just kidding! First, ask yourself these three questions:


  1. Are they good articles? Do you have to go to more than one article to fully answer your question? This could be an opportunity for you to combine a couple of articles together to make one awesome blog.
  2. Are the first five sources Wikipedia, a news organization, ServerFault (within the last two to three years), or another authoritative source? This does not include other providers or personal/tech blogs. Reddit doesn't count either. If you said yes, then maybe you should choose another topic.
  3. Are you seeing a wide variety of articles about your topic that are completely unrelated to each other? Maybe you need to fine-tune your topic a little more...

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