SEO Expert Advice from Yoast to Grow Your Blog

If you’ve spent any amount of time blogging, you’ve probably heard about SEO (search engine optimization) and how important it is for improving your blog’s ranking on Google. But how do you make SEO work for you now and in the future? We’ve got the SEO expert advice you need.

On today’s episode of The Ultimate Blog Podcast, we interviewedCarolyn Shelby, a Principal SEO from Yoast, to break it all down. Carolyn is sharing Yoast SEO basics, simple tips to improve your ranking and get more readers, and how we can arm ourselves for the future to make a blogging business that lasts.

Meet Carolyn Shelby

Carolyn Shelby is a Principal SEO at Yoast, specializing in technical SEO, enterprise strategy, and the evolving role of AI in search. With decades of experience in digital marketing, she helps businesses and bloggers optimize their websites for long-term search success. As a speaker, consultant, and advocate for accessible SEO, Carolyn is passionate about making high-quality optimization strategies available to everyone.

The Technical SEO Expert Advice Every Blogger Needs

Here are a few technical must-haves for your website:

A Proper Sitemap: A sitemap is like a roadmap for search engines. It helps them crawl through your website efficiently and understand what’s on it. Yoast automatically creates and updates your sitemap, saving you the headache of doing it manually.

No-Index Setting Check: Some bloggers accidentally set their site to “no-index,” which basically tells search engines not to show their content. Carolyn jokes she could buy a fancy Starbucks latte for every site she’s seen with this issue – so be sure to double-check this setting.

Strong HTML Structure: This includes using H1 tags correctly and adding descriptive alt text to images (great for accessibility and SEO). A solid foundation helps Google’s crawlers understand your content.

Default Settings in Yoast: One of Carolyn’s favorite Yoast features is the ability to set default meta descriptions and titles. For example, you can tell Yoast to automatically use your post excerpt as a meta description if you forget to write one yourself. It’s a simple way to make sure nothing is left blank.

SEO Expert Advice: Making the Most of the Yoast Plugin

For those of you who use WordPress, you’ve probably noticed the Yoast box at the bottom of your blog posts. But what exactly should you be doing with it?

Carolyn explained that this is where you can customize your SEO title, slug, and meta description for each individual post. If you don’t fill these in, Yoast will use the default settings you defined earlier. But taking the time to write something custom can really help Google understand exactly what your post is about.

Setting a Focus Keyword

Another common question: Should you set a focus keyword?

The answer: Yes – but not because Google reads it. Yoast uses your focus keyword internally to give you feedback and advice on how to improve your content. It helps Yoast assess things like keyword usage, sentence length, and readability. So while it won’t directly affect how Google ranks your post, it’s a guide to keep your writing SEO-friendly.

Carolyn also mentions that not everything has to be green. If your readability isn’t green because your sentences are too long and complex – but you know your audience is expecting more complex sentences – then that’s fine. It’s advice, not a requirement.

How To Demonstrate Your Authority

It’s not enough to just share information. You need to clearly demonstrate why you’re qualified to share it. This is where your bio, credentials, and personal story matter.

For example, if you’re writing about animal care but don’t have formal veterinary training, highlight relevant experience:

Did you grow up on a farm and care for hundreds of animals?
Do you have decades of hands-on experience?
Have you been published or quoted by reputable sources in your industry?

Make sure your bio reflects these qualifications. Google’s algorithms (and readers) want to see that the person behind the content has real expertise.

AI Overviews: What They Mean For Your Website Traffic

If you’ve recently Googled something and noticed a big AI-generated answer block at the top of the page, you’re seeing what Google calls AI Overviews. These summaries pull information from various sources and give users a quick, consolidated answer – often without needing to click through to the actual websites.

These AI overviews are now appearing on nearly 74% of search queries and are pushing organic search results farther down the page – sometimes even off the first page entirely.

What does this mean for content creators?

You’ll likely see less organic traffic from search engines alone
Being featured as a citation within those AI summaries requires a strong authority signal
If your content is generic or repetitive, you’ll struggle to get noticed

How To Future-Proof Your Revenue Streams

If your blog relies heavily on ad revenue, now is the time to rethink your strategy. The decrease in organic clicks could significantly impact income from ads alone.

Here are some ways to diversify and protect your business:

Build Your Email List

Capture the visitors you do get and stay in touch with them through valuable email content. You can monetize your list through affiliate offers, sponsored content, or direct product sales. There are many reasons we recommend focusing on email marketing, you can read more about why here.

Offer Unique Products or Services

Think eBooks, digital products, online courses, or consulting services. Turning your expertise into something tangible adds additional revenue streams.

Expand Your Brand Beyond Blog Posts

Consider speaking at conferences, launching a podcast, or creating video content. The more visible and reputable your brand becomes, the more likely you are to get cited and trusted.

In this episode, we covered:

What technical SEO setups you need for your site
Tips to be unique, add value, and improve your ranking
How to make the most of the Yoast plugin
How to rank in more competitive niches
How to demonstrate your authority
What AI overviews mean for bloggers
How to future-proof your blogging business

We hope you loved this episode with Carolyn on simple strategies to grow your blog! Please leave us a comment and let us know your biggest takeaway from this episode!

SEO Expert Advice from Yoast: Simple Strategies to Grow Your Blog