If you’re looking to rank well in Google, it helps to know where to focus your efforts. Content marketing expert Chris Taylor shares 17 tips to help you write better SEO copy. From choosing keywords to creating longer posts, here are some things to keep in mind when writing for search engines.
What Is SEO Copywriting?
When it comes to SEO copywriting, you need to write for both search engines and human readers. The main goal of SEO copywriting is to increase traffic from organic search. You can achieve this by making sure your content is highly relevant for the search intent of the user. This involves creating text content that includes keywords and phrases relevant to a particular topic. In other words, your content should include keywords that match the search query.
However, it’s important to maintain a good balance between quality and quantity. Try implementing these SEO copywriting tactics to improve your website ranking.
SEO copywriting can improve your search engine ranking
Google uses Natural-Langauge Processing (NLP) to help them better interpret user queries and determine which pages they want to show up when someone searches for something. As a result, there’s a lot of interest in understanding exactly how it works.
Over the years, NLP algorithms have become much smarter. They’ve learned how to pick up on things like spelling mistakes, grammar errors, and even sarcasm. But, the challenge is to make sure the content meets the user need.
This is why an SEO copywriter can really give your business an edge over your competition.
You might have written a great article. But if it doesn’t answer the search query or meet a user need it is unlikely to rank for your target keyword. Your SEO copywriter will create content (for your website) that corresponds to the search query or is relevant to the search query.
Try these SEO Copywriting tips to see if your ranking improves
The best content will always be written with users in mind. In addition to being useful to readers, well-written content can increase traffic to your site and boost your rankings. However, there are strategic choices that writers can make to help crawler bots better understand their content and rank it appropriately.
Here are some SEO copywriting hacks to keep in mind when writing content for search.
1. Create High-Quality Content
Content creation is an art form. It requires skill, talent, patience, persistence and most importantly time. If you want to produce great content, you need to put in the hours. However, creating high quality content is more than writing words.
It’s about understanding your audience and knowing what they want. It’s about creating a better user experience by making connections between ideas and emotions. By creating a story that engages your readers by making them feel something.
You’ll also find that when you focus on storytelling, you naturally become much better at crafting content. This is because you’re able to connect with your reader on a deeper level. You’re able to empathise with them and relate to them. And ultimately this means that you’re able to communicate more effectively.
To make sure your content stands out, start by asking yourself some questions: What makes this content different from others? Why does it matter to the reader? How can I provide value?
The most successful SEO writers have learned that creating high-quality content requires hours of researching topics, writing, editing, and testing. If you don’t put in enough effort up front, your content won’t stand out. And if you aren’t willing to invest the time to produce the best content possible, you shouldn’t expect to see much success online.
Your goal is to produce content that helps your target audience solve problems or learn something new. Make sure you’re providing value. Learn how to improve your SEO copywriting with these 13 tips.
2. Keyword Research
Researching your topic is essential to writing great content. Researching your topic means finding out who your target audience is, what problems they face, and what solutions you offer them. This will help you create content that resonates with your audience and makes sense to them.
But how can you do that?
Before you start writing, you need to do some keyword research. This helps you understand what people are searching for online and how it relates to your product or service. There are many keyword research tools available that are designed to make this process easier. Check out this article to learn how you can do keyword research.
Keywords are one of the most important aspects of SEO copywriting. They help define what words and key phrases people use to find information online. If you want to rank well for certain terms, you need to understand the context (or search intent) behind those terms.
Once you’ve found your topic (keyword), you’ll want to understand its nuances. What words should you avoid? What words should you include? What words should you emphasise? These questions help you craft a clear message that resonates with your audience.
Always keep in mind when researching your topic that you should be able to answer these questions:
- Who are you writing this for?
- What problem does this solve?
- And what are the benefits?
If your content provides answers to those questions, then you’ll be well on your way to creating valuable content that ranks. Learn how to do keyword research for SEO.
3. Use keyword research to find subtopics
If you want to rank well for a specific topic, you’ll need to understand the different ways people use the internet to look up information about your subject. You might assume that if someone searches “how to make money,” they’re looking for general information about making money online. But that assumption could be wrong.
In fact, there are many different types of people searching for information about how to make money. They might be looking for personal finance advice, or maybe they’re trying to figure out how to start a business. To help you better understand where your audience is coming from, check out the following three types of queries.
1) Main topics: These are the most common terms people type into a search bar, such as “make money.”
2) Subtopics: These are words used within the context of the main topic. For example, if someone searched for “make money,” they might include additional words like “online,” “from home,” and “fast.”
3) Related terms: These are similar words that aren’t directly related to the main topic. For instance, if someone typed in “make money,” they’d likely add words like “business,” “startup,” or “investing.”
The most successful online marketers know how to incorporate keywords into their content. Use these additional keywords and phrases as subheadings. Not only will you create better content that offers more value to the reader, but you’ll start to rank for long-tail keywords.
4. Learn the user intent behind search queries
Search intent is the most important element of keyword research. If you can identify what your target audience is searching for, you can then produce content that is relevant and valuable to them. This should help improve your search engine ranking and conversions.
This is why understanding user intent is crucial for writing effective SEO copy.
Learn more: What is search intent and why is it important for SEO?
5. What type of content should you create?
Google primarily ranks content based on what it thinks you want to see. So, the types of content that Google considers most important include those that fall into one of these categories:
- Blog Posts (News/Articles/Information)
- Product Pages (Buying intent/Research a purchase)
- Landing Pages (Researching a service)
- Videos (Entertainment/Informative)
- Learn how to write a case study for your business to boost your SEO.
When you create content, it’s important to use the correct content type for the search intent.
6. Which format should your content take?
The term “content format” refers to the type of content you publish on your site. This includes things like blog posts, podcasts, videos, infographics, and much more. You might use different types of content depending on what your audience wants to read or watch.
It’s important to use the correct format that’s relevant to the search query.
7. What’s your angle?
This is all about context. This will be your main objective for your article or web page. Typically, you’ll be able to see a dominant angle on the SERPs.
8. Your customers are real people, not algorithms
Content marketing experts agree that there is no substitute for good content. In fact, according to HubSpot, 84 percent of marketers say that creating useful content is one of the most important factors in determining success online.
This makes sense because many of us are aware that there are millions of potential customers out there looking for exactly what we offer. But if you really want to attract new customers, you have to make sure that you’re providing compelling content for both humans and search engines. Otherwise, you’ll just end up losing traffic to competitors who do care about both audiences.
So how do you write that perfect piece of content?
Focus on developing high-quality content that addresses specific needs and solves problems. The best way to stand out from the competition is to provide unique, helpful information that helps solve real issues.
- Write about topics that people care about.
- Use keywords strategically.
- Be specific.
- Don’t forget to include images.
- Create a call-to-action.
- Make sure your content is easy to read.
If you want to build an engaged audience, you need to write meaningful content. But there’s another reason why you need to write good content. When you write good content, you’re providing value for your audience. This increases trust, builds relationships and helps you earn respect.
Learn what a content brief is and how it can benefit your SEO copywriting.
Is there a standard SEO Copywriting process?
The process of writing good SEO copy is different from traditional writing processes. Here are some tips to help you write better SEO copy.
Take your time and craft a compelling headline
If you want people to read what you write, make sure it stands out. You don’t need fancy words, just use plain English, and keep it short. If you do use jargon or acronyms, explain them in the text. Your headline is the most important part of your blog post; it needs to grab readers’ attention and compel them to continue reading.
The best way to craft a great headline is to ask yourself one simple question: What does my audience care about? Then, you need to figure out how to convey that information succinctly in the headline itself.
To start, think about the key benefit you offer your audience. Is it something they really need to know? If so, why? Once you understand why someone might want to learn more about your topic, you can begin brainstorming ways to communicate that idea in a clear, concise manner.
Here are some examples of headlines we found online that grabbed our attention:
1. “How To Get More Leads With Email Marketing”
2. “Why I Use Facebook Ads For My Business”
3. “5 Ways to Make Money Online Without Investing A Fortune”
All of the best content is well structured
I’d always recommend following a content brief. You do this in advance and this gives you a pretty good structure for your article. You’ll still need to tweak it though, but it also helps to prevent writers block.
What is a well structured article?
Quite simply it is an article that is easy to scan and read. You would include headings and/or images to break up the flow of text and to guide the user. Ultimately, this creates a better reading experience.
Try to include subtopics in your subheadings as these will help to improve your SEO.
Learn how to structure a blog post for SEO.
Use the ‘People also ask’ section in the SERPS
If you search for something in Google you’ll often see a special SERP feature called ‘People also ask’ (PAAs). PAAs are questions people ask that help you understand what others might be looking for when searching for similar topics.
They’re regular search queries, but they show up in the search results for your keyword. For instance, if you search for “true wireless headphones,” you might see a question asking whether or not it’s worthwhile to buy such products.
Use these for inspiration for subheadings and as part of your keyword research.
Include CTAs (Calls-to-Action)
Calls to action are used to help users complete a task or achieve a goal. There are many different types of calls-to-actions, including:
- Call To Action – Prompting a visitor to perform some action like signing up for email newsletters or downloading a white paper.
- Take Me Here – Promoting a link to another page.
- Go To – Moving a reader to a specific URL.
- Get In Touch – Providing contact information.
- Buy Now – Offering a purchase option.
Link to relevant content
Google uses quality signals like anchor text, internal links, and external links to determine how much weight each piece of content carries. So, make sure that you use high quality and descriptive anchor texts; don’t just throw keywords into them. You’ll see better rankings for longer pieces of content that include multiple links.
Include rich media in your content
Here are some examples of what you could include:
- Include video in your posts to give visitors something interesting to watch while reading your post.
- Use images and infographics in your articles to make them visually appealing and provide context about what you’re writing.
- Create interactive experiences like quizzes, polls, and surveys to encourage users to engage with your content.
- Ask questions in your blog comments to prompt discussion among readers.
Edit
Editing is one of the most important steps in the SEO copywriting process. It’s crucial if you want to create a great piece of content.
The goal of editing is to ensure that what you write is clear and concise. If you’re doing this yourself, think about ways you can condense the content by removing unnecessary words. You will also need to correct any basic grammatical and spelling errors. You could ask a friend or colleague to proofread your copy before you publish it. This stage is to catch any errors like spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and typos. They may even suggest alternative words or phrases to replace certain ones.
If you’re working alone, you don’t have to do this all yourself. You could tweet out your article to see if anyone picks up any mistakes. You could also ask for help on LinkedIn. Of course, this is not the most professional approach, but what it will do is help you find and fix any errors quickly.
Monitor your SEO performance to elevate your rankings
If you want to understand how well your pages are perform, it helps to know what types of keywords people use to find your site. You can do this by looking at your Google Analytics data.
By tracking organic traffic, you can learn about your audience’s behaviour and what they do. You can see how many unique visitors come to each landing page, and whether those visits lead to conversions, such as leads, sales, or registrations.
To determine which landing pages convert better, you can look at organic goal completions. This refers to the percentage of organic sessions that resulted in a conversion. For example, if a visitor came to a page selling a product, added it to the cart and checked out, this counts as a successful completion.
The final piece of the puzzle is to identify which queries produce the highest amount of organic clicks. This will give you insights into which landing pages drive the most traffic. A high volume of organic clicks indicates that a landing page converts well. Conversely, a low volume of organic clicks suggests that the landing page needs work.
Google Search Console will also show where your site is ranking for your keywords. It will also show you how often your site appears in search results.
Use as much of this information as possible to gain insights into what changes you need to make to improve your performance.
Discover why SEO copywriting is essential for businesses of all sizes.
Optimise Headings, Meta Title, and Meta Description
The SERPs include your page title and a brief description. It’s your opportunity to persuade someone to click through to your website. Experimenting with your headers, meta tags, and descriptions can improve your organic click-through rates and increase page views. Here are some tips to keep in mind.
It’s important to optimise the SEO Title
The most important thing about meta titles is that they match the keywords you want to rank for. They’re what people see when they type into the browser bar. When someone searches for something, they don’t know whether it’s in the body copy or the title tag. So, if the title tag is too generic, it won’t help you rank well. If the title tag isn’t specific enough, it could send searchers away without ever finding what they wanted.
Use a descriptive title. Write the title for the audience that will actually read your content. For example, “How to Make Money Blogging,” rather than “Make money blogging.”
Include keywords in the title, but be concise. Don’t overdo it – keep it short and relevant.
Be creative. Think outside the box. Come up with something unique and memorable.
Avoid click bait titles. If you promise something in your title that isn’t true, you could lose credibility with readers.
Meta Description
If you want to rank well for certain queries, it’s essential to include relevant keywords in your headers, meta title tag, and meta description. Keywords are basically labels that help search engines understand what your content is about, so including them helps your site stand out among others.
You’re limited to 160 characters, so it pays to be creative with your meta description. If you find you’re not gaining traction with your meta description, don’t be afraid to change it up. Your meta description should persuade the reader to click on the link. So, you need to make it punchy and compelling.
H1 Header and Sub-headers
Headlines are one of the most important elements of a web page. They are what people read first and decide whether to keep reading. If you want to rank well in Google, you must make sure your H1 header is optimised.
A good headline is concise and clear. You don’t need to use long sentences or complex words. A good headline uses simple language and focuses on the main points.
Sub-headings follow the same principle. Make them relevant to the section and most importantly make sure to answer the question or provide value.
SEO Copywriting: Improve your ranking today!
Are you not sure how to write effective articles that will drive potential customers to your website?
Do you need to improve your website’s conversion rate, and generate more leads and sales, but you don’t have the time or resources to do it yourself?
Highly.Digital are experienced SEO Copywriters who know how to craft the perfect article for your audience.
In addition to creating great content, we can optimise your website for search engines. This includes crafting effective titles and meta descriptions that will help your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
We can help improve your website’s conversion rate by writing more effective calls to action and headlines. We are a team of professional copywriters who know how to write for the web. We’ll help you increase website traffic and conversion rates with our proven copywriting techniques. Book a call today and find out how we can improve your ranking.
