Write a Blog Post with Surfer SEO

It's true! You can use Jasper to write a blog post that ranks! With Jasper, we integrate directly with our favorite SEO tool, Surfer SEO. You can learn more about Surfer SEO and the special deal that Jasper users get here.

You are the Editor

If you have not already learned the ins and outs of Jasper thinks, your first stop should be setting aside some time to learn and taking time to review the modules in our Jasper Jumpstart. This self-paced onboarding guide outlines everything you need to know before writing a blog with Jasper. 

Jasper can help you write excellent content that ranks with the help of Surfer SEO, but he still needs your help. Think of Jasper + Surfer SEO as doing the heavy lifting for you, and you become the editor rather than the writer. You will prompt Jasper with commands, direction, and edits throughout the blog writing process. Jasper will not write the entire article for you in one swoop. You'll want to ensure that you have the time to work with him to build SEO ranking content.

Understanding Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO is a powerful tool that helps you create excellent content that ranks on the first page of Google. It's packed with unique features that can help you plan and rank your content in any language. Surfer SEO is not included with your Jasper subscription - but to unlock the SEO potential of Jasper, we recommend using these tools hand in hand.

If you already have a Jasper account and a Surfer SEO account, make sure you follow this guide to get them integrated within your Jasper app.

To learn even more about Surfer SEO, watch this helpful 2-minute explainer video.

Build Your SEO Blog Post with Jasper

Here's a walkthrough of the steps to building your first blog post with Jasper. It's helpful to note that writing with Jasper is more of an art than a science. We are constantly learning and adjusting how we use Jasper to fit our needs based on the article we are hoping to write. If you have tips and tricks to add that work well for your blog post + Surfer workflow, please share them with us at hey@jasper.ai or within our Facebook Community.

Step 1: Research + Know Your Content

Before writing with Jasper, the best place to begin is by having your keyword research already done. You can use the keyword research tool inside your Surfer account. It would be best if you researched your topic before writing your content in Jasper so you can fact-check as you go.

Once you are ready to start writing content, make sure you log into your Surfer SEO account on the same browser as your Jasper app. Inside the Jasper app, select documents. Then open the blog post workflow.

Step 2: Open Blog Post Workflow

Using your keyword write a short content brief (sentence) about what your blog post will be about. Then fill out the Blog post workflow with the title and intro paragraph. Open in the editor.

Navigate over to SEO mode inside your document and enable Grammarly. This ensures the quality of the writing is better and typo-free.

Step 3: Inside Surfer Panel

Then inside your Surfer Panel, you'll want to follow these steps —

  • Paste in your keyword and click Create Content Editor
  • Check content score (you want to get to at least 72 but no more than 85)

Surfer does an excellent job prompting you with all the information you need to rank your article. This includes the number of words required, headings necessary, paragraphs, and images. The more you write and use the keywords, your content score increases. Familiarize yourself with what Surfer outlines.

  • Check the words you will need to write for your blog post to be optimized.
  • Read through the content editor information and familiarize yourself with the headings and keywords needed to be included in your post.
  • Click" OUTLINE" and use the drop-down to see the suggested headings.
  • Copy and paste the headings over to your document.
  • You can also paste the paragraphs and subheadings as well - make sure you fact-check these. Be aware that sometimes these are not well written. Make sure you make adjustments when necessary.
  • Go back to focus mode and begin to write with Jasper on the document using commands or compose.

Step 4: In Focus Mode

In Focus Mode, you'll hide the Surfer panel so you can focus on writing content with Jasper. You will also see all the components of the document editor for you to use, including integrations and styling tools. Here's a flow that will help you write in focus mode:

  • Update the sidebar with your content brief for the heading you are working on. You can also choose to turn off the sidebar at any time using the toggles you see.
  • Include any keywords you would like in your output. You will only be able to use up to 3 at a time. So you will want to make sure you change these out regularly.
  • Choose the length of your content Jasper writes. M will give you about 50 words.
  • Use the shortcode: *** above the heading you are working on to stop Jasper from reading the content above. This will also stop Jasper from repeating himself.
    1. If you are still having issues with repetition, make sure to toggle off your sidebar or see more helpful hints here.
  • Use the Jasper command "write a paragraph about the topic above" if you start content under a heading.
  • Then use compose to write more about the paragraph.
  • Edit along the way after running a command or composed with our Grammarly integration.
  • Write a few sentences in your voice about the topic so Jasper can learn your writing style/voice.

Continue the writing process using the Focus Mode tips and a blog post recipe for more guidance and help.

Sometimes it's important to note that you will need to tweak your Jasper commands to get more relevant content to your topic.

Try commands like:

  • Write an engaging paragraph about {HEADING}
  • Write a description about {HEADING}
  • Write about the benefits of {HEADING}
  • Answer the question: {QUESTION}

Step 5: Go back to SEO Mode

After you've written most of your content with Jasper, move back into SEO mode. Check your Surfer SEO score in the surfer panel.

To increase your score, go back throughout your document and add keywords where they fit based on the guidelines given by Surfer. Heads up, this is the most time-consuming task - however, if you add keywords back in this way, you'll notice that it is much easier to move the Surfer Content Score.

  • If you don't know where to use a keyword, select it on the Surfer panel, and it will give you ideas of how you could use that keyword in your content.
  • You could also run a command "write a sentence about {KEYWORD}" and let it read the paragraph above.

Step 6: Repeat the process until complete

Repeat the entire process of going back and forth between SEO mode and Focus Mode until you have a content score of 72 or above. Refresh your page to get an accurate score.

Step 7: Copy and paste in Hemingwayapp.com

You can make final edits to your document in Hemingwayapp.com. We recommend a grade level of 9 or below for good readability.

Other Tips and Tricks to Try

  • Headings will primarily get you to the content score you are looking for. Plan your content first by adding headers to your document and then adding content beneath the heading.
  • Use keywords in your headlines to boost your score quickly
  • Use Rephrase for facts to spin content to the tone of your article.
  • Split longer paragraphs into 2 to get more sections for an easier read
  • Use Power Mode to use the Jasper templates.
    • Blog Post Outline: creates great lists
    • Engaging Questions: creates awesome FAQs.
    • Blog Post Topic Ideas: creates engaging H2s/subheadings.

Simple as that! ✨ Got any tips and tricks to add? Message us over at hey@jasper.ai.

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