As the content world shifts to focus more on user experience, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is becoming increasingly competitive. Whether you are looking into improving your existing content or starting a new blog, the quality of your content will make all the difference.
Quickly, let us start from the basics, then I will share with you few tips to get going.
What is SEO writing?
SEO writing is the implementation of keywords and keyphrases within web content. Copywriters and marketers use SEO to increase their site’s organic visibility and SERP rankings. The best way to write for SEO is to pair high-quality copy with targeted search terms.
Key SEO terms, defined
- Long-tail keywords: A string of keywords or phrases, often 3-6 words long. Long-tail terms are more specific and are queried less frequently relative to high-level, generic terms. Think “basketball shoes” vs “2019 basketball shoes for sale Colorado.”
- SERPs: Search engine results pages. In other words, the Google page that contains all the results users can click on after a query.
- SERP position: The exact ranking in Google. For instance, Position 12 would refer to Page 2 of Google, since only 10 listings typically appear on Page 1.
- Anchor text: The words or phrases that are hyperlinked, directing traffic to other webpages.
- Meta description: A short summary of a webpage that appears in SERPs – often 160 characters – that can entice searchers to click a result.
- Title tag: The title of a webpage that appears in Google SERPs and as the text on browser tabs.
- Search queries: Words that users type or say into search engines.
- Search volume: The number of times a term is queried per month.
- Click-through rate: Percentage of clicks for a SERP result relative to how many times searchers saw that result.
- Conversion rate: Percentage of people who complete a desired action (a click, a purchase, etc.) divided by the total number of people who visited that page.
- Organic traffic: The number of users who found your site via a search engine under their own free will and not through paid ads or other sites.
- Structured data (schema): How SEO elements like metadata, keywords and HTML are formatted on the page. Data that is structured makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index pages.
- Ranking factors: The general components that search engine algorithms consider when deciding which pages should rank higher than others.
- Backlink: A hyperlink that directs traffic to another page, either internally or externally.
- Page and Domain Authority: A score that measures how “authoritative” a page or site is on a scale of 1-100.
- Pageviews: Number of times a page is viewed.
- Pageviews per Session: Number of pages viewed in 1 session by each user, before leaving the site entirely.
- Organic keyword difficulty: A metric of how easy or difficult it will be to rank for a given keyword in organic search, on a scale of 1-100.
Start with your goals
The foundation for any SEO content strategy is to know what you hope to achieve. Set measurable goals before you begin, so that copywriters, marketing managers and other stakeholders are all working toward the same KPIs.
Here are common metrics to measure:
- Click-through rate.
- Conversion rate.
- Organic traffic.
- Backlinks.
- SERP position.
- Dwell time.
- Page and Domain Authority.
- Organic keyword opportunity/difficulty.
- Pageviews per Session.
SEO copywriters should be given the data they need to succeed, so that each new page that’s created is tied back to a core business goal.
- Paragraph.
- List.
- Table.
- Image carousel.
- Local 3-Pack.
- Knowledge Graph.
- Sitelinks.
- People also ask.
- Top stories.
Be consistent over the long haul
If you write thousands of words in a guide or e-book, you need a consistent tone and well-organized content. Search Engine Journal pulls it off masterfully with its Illustrated Guide to Link Building.An e-book w/ thousands of words needs consistent tone & organized structure. @mikeonlinecoach #writingtipsCLICK TO TWEET
HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: 10 Harmonious Tips for Managing Tone of Voice for Maximum Impact
Don’t forget your part in video
Words appear in blog posts or descriptions of product features and benefits. But writers also can shine in video scripts along with set designers, actors, and filmmakers. Writers can take an otherwise dull topic and make it captivating.
Pay attention to readability
Have the Read-O-Meter handy when you write. It estimates how long it will take someone to read your article.
Many reference tools make your job a little easier and help improve your work. Among the best is the Hemingway app, which provides immediate feedback on content structure, including sentence formatting. With the website version, replace the default text with yours.
The Readability Test Tool scores your content, including the grade level and the complexity of words.
Other readability tools include the Readability Calculator and one from Microsoft.HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: How to Turn Your Content From Lousy to Memorable
Relate to Your Audience – Bridgetown Aesthetics
Bridgetown Aesthetics always focuses on the importance of relating to their audience.
The company knows how to connect with their reader and remind the reader that they can provide services they are interested in.
Here’s an example of how:
Know Your Target Audience and Have Them In Mind As You Write
In this Bridgetown Aesthetics piece, the writer had their viewers in mind.
They knew that if someone clicked on the page, they were most likely struggling with migraines and looking for relief.
In less than 15 seconds, the person reading this article can find the answer to their question.
Knowing your target audience—in this case it was people looking to get rid of wrinkles on their forehead—and creating content that is easy to relate to is key to developing engagement with your brand or product.
If readers aren’t engaged, they aren’t likely to stay on your website or buy your products.
Build Credibility – Power Wizard
Power Wizard is a company that helps Texas residents find the best electricity plans for their homes or businesses.
In order to build and strengthen relationships with their customers, PW understands that they have to show authenticity.
Let’s look at a content writing sample that helped Power Wizard build credibility by doing some simple research.
Do Your Research
Internet users are coming to your website looking for reliable information.
Think of yourself as an internet detective—a content writing problem solver.
Google users are searching for answers to their questions. In order to gain credibility, the facts you provide not only need to be valuable, but correct.
By doing your research and using credible sources, you will gain trust, and build your website’s authority.
Take this Power Wizard article, for example:
This article is answering the following question:
Can landlords turn off tenants’ electricity in TX?
The writer could have responded with a simple yes or no.
But a reader would then likely leave Power Wizard’s website to go find out why.
Instead, the writer provides a Texas law that states what landlords can and cannot do. Now, the person reading the article not only found insights they were searching for, but they know why.
By providing reliable sources, Power Wizard builds authority with potential customers while adding tremendous value.
Let’s assume Power Wizard embedded a link into the text that leads to the law, this would also increase their authority with search engines.
Take extra care with headline writing
CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer looks at tone, grammar, structure, and more.
Size up headlines with the Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer.
BuzzSumo evaluated 10 million articles shared on LinkedIn. One insight revealed that headlines with “how to” were among the most popular.
Get more tips from CMI’s article How to Write Headlines That Get Your Brand What It Wants [Checklist].
Know when you’re responsible for SEO
Sometimes writers create content with multiple purposes. They have the burden of blending SEO into the content. I frame it as a burden because it’s one more variable to deal with. If you have a knack for SEO and goals you can measure, it’s not a burden.
Unfortunately, you sometimes don’t know what realistic keywords to pursue. Aim too low and you use rarely searched keywords. Aspire for something too competitive and the content won’t rank.
How are you evaluating keywords? Learn how to find your sweet spot with keyword selection (and how to appear on the first page of Google).
Identify potential keywords that you should consider by using tools like:
Moz and SEMrush can help with keyword rankings. I also use SEOCentro for quick checks on Google rankings.
Understand fair use
As a writer, you sometimes reference other content. It’s not always sufficient to just add quotation marks and cite the source.
Fair use depends on several factors, including the content’s purpose and its potential impact on the market value of the copyrighted work.
While a lawyer would have the best advice, I have my own general parameters. For example, quoting 150 words from a 300-word article would be too much. In that case, I would limit my use to 25 words. I would be fine quoting 250 words from a 175-page book. I cite poems and song lyrics as little as possible because they’re often short. You should have legal counsel from your fair-use parameters.HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Avoid Legal Action: Take Proper Steps to Own the Content
Refine ideas with others on your team
Use tools like these to get feedback on ideas and to draft some content:
Get writing right
Good grammar is a necessity; you want to get everything right to satisfy readers (and bosses). Try out Proofread.GrammarBase and Grammarly.
Keep a handy, growing list of common mistakes. I like the advice at Grammar Girl created by Mignon Fogarty, founder of Quick and Dirty Tips.
I like its advice on “do’s and don’ts” and its inclusion of options:
What Should You Do? Unless your editor wishes otherwise, if you write books, spell it dos and don’ts; and if you write for newspapers, magazines, or the web, spell it do’s and don’ts. If you’re writing for yourself, spell it any way you want.”
Use parallel construction in writing. It organizes the text and allows your readers to understand more easily what you’re saying because they don’t need to expend mental energy piecing together your thoughts.
For example, this mish-mash list is not parallel because the sentence structures vary.
- It could be time to look over your business software contract.
- Consider the best products.
- If you want the product to benefit your company, include others’ point of view.
In this example, the list is parallel because every sentence starts the same way – with a verb.
- Review your business software contract.
- Shop for the best products based on features, costs, and support options.
- Ask key members of your team for their perspectives, including productivity barriers.
Avoid split infinitives. However, go for conversational over grammatically correct structures. If a sentence reads awkwardly, it’s OK to split the infinitive.
Vary sentence lengths. Don’t force readers to think too much.
Be reader friendly. You’re not writing a doctoral thesis. Don’t use a $10 word when a $1 word will do.Don’t use a $10 word when a $1 word will do, says @mikeonlinecoach. #writingtipsCLICK TO TWEET
Flee the jargon. Turn to Unsuck It to rate your content and find alternatives.
Be conscious of antecedents: When you’re using pronouns, make sure it’s clear what the pronoun refers to.
Read aloud. If your content doesn’t flow verbally, it may not work well for the reader. Pay attention to when you take too many pauses or pause in places where no comma exists. Adjust your text – add a comma or break the sentence into two.
Don’t overuse words. Redundancy bores readers. To figure out whether you’re committing this sin, paste your text into the Word It Out tool. The word cloud reveals those used most frequently:
Similarly, WordCounter detects whether you’re using the same words too often.
Use Thesaurus.com to find alternatives.
Use active instead of passive voice. With active voice, your subject does the action. With passive voice, the action happens to someone or something.
Active: The company’s sales team rolled out a new product.
Passive: The new product was rolled out by the sales team.
Content Marketing Samples by Industry
As we’ve already discussed, content marketing is so dependent on industry.
If you’re doing photography SEO and writing content for your blog, then your tone, style, and design should look VERY different than a lawyer’s blog.
Lifestyle Content Sample:
Here’s a great lifestyle content sample from Epic Gardening.
The screenshot below is from their blog post about how to grow sunflowers.
Why is this so great? It’s INCREDIBLY easy to digest. And that’s what users want!
Professional Content Sample:
Here’s a great professional content sample from Flexbase.
The screenshot below is from their page about Lien Waivers in Texas (seems boring, huh? Just wait for it!)
Why is this so great? While it’s professionally written and speaks the “language” of construction companies, it’s also easy to digest and comprehend. It’s not hard for the user. They understand what Flexbase offers very, very quickly.
Conclusion
WordPress is a great platform for creating content for your site. But creating good quality content can be difficult. If your content isn’t performing well you could be missing out on potential visitors. Fortunately, there are plenty of different options available to help you create the best SEO optimized content possible.