Getting organic traffic is an important part of any digital marketing strategy. And the best way to increase your traffic is to get better rankings on Google. A solid SEO strategy will help you with this, but there’s more to it than simply implementing on-page and off-page SEO rules on your blog. SEO writing is crucial to ensure that you prioritize user experience on your web pages. This is vital because page experience significantly impacts your search engine rankings.
What is SEO
SEO writing involves crafting content to achieve a high ranking on search engine results pages, particularly Google. This is achieved by researching relevant keywords and creating optimized content that responds to user intent. For example, Google uses “spiders” that crawl content to see what it is about. During this crawl, they learn a lot about a web page through the language used on it.
SEO writing optimizes the content on the page so that search engines can crawl its content more easily and judge it favorably. When it is judged more favorably, it is ranked better in the SERP. When content is developed without considering SEO, it might lack search engine friendliness, making it difficult for crawlers to understand the page’s relevance.
Also Read- Copywriting vs Content Writing: Understanding the main Differences
Why SEO is important
The purpose of SEO writing is to improve a website’s visibility on search engines like Google by optimizing content to align with relevant keywords and improving its ranking in search results. If the content is not optimized, it will fall several pages behind in search. A study revealed that the likelihood of receiving clicks on web pages is not only influenced by appearing on the first page of search results but also by securing a prominent position within that page. The first result on the first page is clicked by over 28% of people who search. After that first result, the percentage decreases with each position on the page. So you need to make your site one of the first results people see.
Writing for SEO is also important because it is a marketing technique that continues the life of your website. Many people do well with PPC advertising, but if they stop paying for that ad, it will no longer bring in traffic. Good SEO content continues to work for your website, no matter what you do to market your site.
The Basics of SEO
There is no magic formula for ranking best in search engine results, but there are several parts of the Google algorithm that we know about. The content should be written keeping those aspects in mind to rank better. Using appropriate keywords is crucial in SEO writing. This means knowing what people are looking for when they look for sites like yours. The SEO copywriter must conduct keyword research to compile a list of relevant words and phrases to incorporate into the content.
It is also important to use related words in the content. This means words that match the researched keywords well. To make sure what the content is about, Google looks at whether there are a lot of terms related to the main keyword. Using these related words is called latent semantic indexing, and it helps a lot with SEO. Crawlers also assess whether the content is written for the audience or just for SEO. This is why SEO copywriters need to avoid keyword stuffing – or inserting the same keywords over and over again so that the content becomes meaningless to human audiences.
The content has to maintain a balance to attract human readers as well as search engine spiders. Using complex language can hinder search engine crawls. If the language is very simple and uses very few unique words, it is not evaluated as having high value. SEO writing should flow well and be complex enough to provide a lot of information on your topic while using language naturally.
Also Read- The 10 Most Effective Content Writing Tools Free for SEO
Essential for SEO writing
Studying how other brands and websites achieve their SEO goals can provide valuable insights into effective SEO writing strategies. That said, here are some examples of excellent SEO content writing specifically to inspire you and your content production team.
Terrific Readability
Everyone knows what it’s like to visit a particular webpage in search of information, only to be immediately overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information presented. This is often all it takes to motivate a visitor to go elsewhere for what they need, even if the first site can answer their questions. This example from Clarity Council demonstrates the significant impact that writing for readability can have on SEO. The content is not only clear and concise, but it is also formatted in a way that is easy to read, read, and digest.
Appropriate Tone
When you’re writing SEO to connect with a particular audience and show why your product is the solution they need, the tone always matters. But it’s especially important when crafting highly personalized products that serve as answers to consumer prayers. This content example from Chiave helps establish brand trust when it comes to treating the symptoms of sensitive health issues like IBS, endometriosis, and others. The voice behind the writing reassures the reader that not only are they not alone, but that they have come to the right place for understanding and real solutions they can trust with their health.
Eye-catching Titles
Each piece of SEO writing you create for your site should be able to stand out in a sea of other options. As said, your headline is a potential reader’s first taste of an individual piece of content. You must do your counting all correctly. Clickable titles are concise yet informative. They are also interesting enough to entice the reader to see what else the paragraph might say. An example of an effective headline technique is to use specific numbers in your headline. The numbers prime the reader as to what to expect, assuring them that they will get organized information that will include a particular number of solutions.
Follow these rules for the best SEO writing
Write for Humans
SEO copywriting is a part of SEO. Another important part is backlinking. The content you write should attract backlinks from other sites to improve your SEO. Therefore, the copy you write should first be written for a human audience. If it seems too robotic or filled with keywords, few sites will want to link to it later.
Understand the Google Algorithm
Understand Google’s latest algorithms. As the largest search engine, it’s crucial to understand how to increase traffic to your blog. They change their search algorithms regularly so that the best-quality pages rank more highly. Google is concerned with making sure the search engine is as effective as possible.
Find Keywords
You need to know how to do keyword research and how to choose the best keywords for the content you are writing. This includes being able to assess how popular a main keyword is and how to choose long-tail keywords. Often, the main keywords of a topic have a lot of competition for the first few places in search engine results. This makes it necessary to choose keywords that have low search volume. An SEO copywriter must assess the competition level for each word or phrase and choose the most suitable option to utilize.
Write long content
The Google Panda 4.1 algorithm update was put in place to reward longer, more informative content and penalize thinner content. A good rule of thumb is that each page should contain at least 1,000 words of high-quality content. Small pages may not have enough complexity for current algorithms. Writing longer content also gives you the freedom to present information in multiple ways, such as lists and tables. You need to pack a lot of information into each page, and having a few diverse ways of presenting information can be helpful to both people and search engines.
Make Every Sentence Unique
Search engine algorithms all reward unique content. If parts of a page are copied from another web page, it may be marked as spam and given poor rankings. Using sites like Copy scape can help you ensure that every piece of your SEO copy is unique. If you find any duplicates, rewrite those parts while keeping the original copy.
Use related words
The latest algorithms look for common words that co-occur with the keywords you use. This lets search engines know that the content is actually about that topic. It is usually not necessary to research which related words to use, as they are usually basic words that some people would use about that topic. If you’re not sure how to use these companion words, study latent meaning indexing and use that knowledge.
Link to high-quality sites
Using links for information citations is a common method to indicate the source of information. However, your site should not use information from low-quality sites. If you have links to spammy sites, the information on your page will also be considered spammy. The primary objective of search engines is to make valuable information universally accessible. When you link to good sites, you show search engines that you are linked to other sites and get your information from useful sites.
Use varied content types
A great web page can include many different ways of providing information. These often include other types of media to back up and expand on the information given in the text. Excessive amounts of gray text can pose readability challenges for individuals. Breaking it up makes it flow better and makes it easier to read.
Write Meta Information
Meta tags and meta descriptions are crucial for every piece of content. This allows search engines to display a brief description of the content you create. A title tag is essential as it is displayed as the title of the page. It should not exceed approximately 70 characters. This is the maximum range allowed by Google for titles. Meta descriptions should be limited to 160 characters or less. If you’re not adept at basic HTML, learn some of the basics so you can create these valuable pieces of content for your website.
Use plenty of subheadings
No matter how narrow your topic is, it can be broken down into subheadings. This allows you to place your keywords where they matter most. In SEO writing, subheadings serve to break up text and facilitate easier navigation for readers. It’s important to align them with your strategy goals and consider search engine ranking factors. However, writing content is more a process of meeting user demand than SEO needs.
Conclusion
Finally, SEO writing is important to improve your website’s visibility on Google. By understanding the basics, such as using proper keywords, writing long-form content, and ensuring readability, you can attract more organic traffic. Remember to write for humans first, use relatable words, and include a variety of content. By following these guidelines, you can increase your online presence and reach a wider audience effectively.
