12 Rules You Shouldn’t Ignore For SEO-Friendly Content Writing
SEO content writing is not a cup of tea for everyone, neither so complex to understand. There are no secrets to the best SEO writing. It is an art that any SEO writer can learn and must know. A new website without SEO-friendly & meaningless content will lead to nowhere.
Writing a web page, category page, product description, blogs, articles or anything else SEO-based writing is the key to opening the door for ranking and sales. It is important to inject the best SEO strategies, customer intent, customer query, and the right brand message into your content regardless of which business website you own.
For a beginner, SEO content writing can challenging but no worries we’re here to help you so you don’t struggle to write the best copy/content that your competitors wish.
Reading this blog, you’ll learn from scratch and unbox the points experts use to write the best-selling content. Every word in this blog has something to teach you. If you are here to sharpen your content writing skill, you are at the right place. Going word by word, you will master the SEO content writing hacks. Stay tuned.
What is SEO content writing?
SEO content writing is a professional content writing technique to rank on the first result page of search engines like Google. By implementing the SEO technique, you’ll get organic traffic to your blog. The purpose of SEO-based content writing is to answer the right query of the right audience at the right time and drive organic traffic.
Google uses its ‘spider’ that crawls through the website to know about the page. So, by using relevant keywords,
you make it easier for crawlers to access and absorb the content for indexing. Without SEO optimization, it is tough for search engine crawlers to identify the webpage, blog, or any other content and index. And when your content is not indexed, you won’t rank.
When you write content, keep your target audience in mind, the right intent, the query you are solving, and search engine guidelines to provide a better experience to both users and Google.
This practice will help you write quality content that Google and users both love. There are several essential characteristics that expert writers keep in mind while writing content which you should keep in mind too.
An SEO-friendly high-quality content has:
- Clarity
- Depth
- Usefulness
- Good Presentation
Why SEO content writing is important?
SEO-based content writing is the core reason for ranking better on search engines. It helps businesses get their online business visible on the internet, reach the right audience at a wider range and enhance their customer base.
It not only helps you rank well but also plays a vital role in building trust, brand and customer loyalty factor in your brand as the best content contributor as a business on the internet. This leads to not only an increase in visitors but also helps in converting them to permanent customers and makes you enjoy the high profit.
Essential Rules You Shouldn’t Ignore For Best SEO Content Writing:
● Define Your Goal:
To achieve any task it is important to define a goal. The same goes for SEO content writing. Writing content without a goal is like driving a car without knowing the destination. The main goal of the content writer is to build trust by providing engaging and informative content.
Without any purpose or goal, you won’t be able to write in-depth, well-written content. Write the content, considering user search intent so you’ll solve the problem throughout the content or provide a piece of information the user is looking for without hanging them in confusion.
● Good Keyword Research
A keyword is a vital element to rank on a search engine page. A good keyword research tool will help you get an idea of what the users are looking for. For your target audience, choose the right keywords to rank on search engines. https://answerthepublic.com/
Analyze competitors’ keywords to know for which keywords their website is ranking. Just look at the insights of the competitor’s keywords. To win the competition, use specific keywords considering user search intent. You won’t be at the corner or wander somewhere in the ocean of websites. Opt for the one which has higher clicks and lower competition. You can also do google to get the list of keywords.
You can take the help of platforms like ‘Quora’ or ‘Answer the public’ to know what people are searching for and what keywords they are looking for. You will know what their likes and dislikes are. Also, notice that longtail keywords get higher click-through rates than short-tail keywords. The best keywords are those, that meet the audience’s needs and cover the topic area.
For keyword research, experts do both manual and use tools these days to save time and speed up the process. It is recommended to use automated tools as they help you get types of keywords with more authentic detail. This will help you in deciding which keyword to target and what to write.
Some of the best tools experts use are:
- Ahref’s keyword generator and SERP Checker
- Semrush
- Ubersuggest
- Search word tracker
- Google Trends
● Finalize the most searched keyword
Now, this is the crucial step after keyword research. The right set of keywords will give you the potential target audience. Your content will reach them if your keywords are what the audience is looking for.
Go to Google and type the keywords you want to rank for and analyze top-
Results to understand search intent. Of course, no one knows this better than Google. Also, keep an eye on competitors’ keywords to identify which important keywords are the reason for their ranking so you won’t lose on those keywords.
Hence, Be strategic for keyword usage.
Get Keyword Research tools that show you search volume, keyword difficulty score, and other metrics for SEO. They should also suggest potential topics worth going after.
Follow These Steps to Finalize SEO Keywords for SEO Content Writing:
- Come up with seed keywords which are also called broad keywords related to your niche. For example, shoes. In the below picture you can see Google showing results for shoes.
- Check traffic potential to know the search volume of the keywords.
- Content format for the keyword ranking according to business potential. Examples are how-to, list posts, etc.
- Matching search intent.
- Competition of keywords.
- Relevance
- Authoritativeness- ranking from high authority websites impacts the ranking of your webpage.
- Anchor text
- Rel Attribute
- Link Placement
- Ahref
- Ubersuggest
- SEMRush
- Search Wordtracker
- KWFinder
- There are many writers available online in the market but for your content writing work, you just need an exquisite SEO content writer. Choosing one ideal SEO writer is not easy. Follow these steps to hire a writer for SEO content:
- Decide whether you want a freelance writer or an in-house writer. It depends upon the workload you have, so choose accordingly.
- The writer must fulfil your requirement and possess a sound knowledge of SEO content writing.
- Depending on your niche, needs, and goals, look for a specific writer that best suits your need.
- Write a job description. Include details about your business and the type of SEO writer you are searching for to meet the requirement.
- Post a job description on the platforms like Freelancer, Fiver, Linked or any other platform to hire the writer.
- Filter out candidates and check their sample articles to gauge their skillset.
- Interview shortlisting the right candidates and question them about what inspires them for writing or their favourite writer or their writing process.
- SEO writing skillset
- Content writing experience
- Content Format
- Ability to empathize with the audience
- Focused keywords used in the content sample
- Writing style
After filtering down, chose the keywords with high search volume and low competition.
To break the ice, find out long tail keywords. These keywords get lower clicks but promise a high conversion rate.
For Example, instead of a broad keyword like ‘Shoes’ better will be ‘Best sports shoes for men 2022’ which is more specific. Those who are making buying decisions will search for this.
● Understand User Search Intent:
Search intent is the reason the user is behind the search, so provide the value. The ultimate goal of SEO content is to deliver the right information that users are searching for. Make sure you optimize the content for search intent. So, they land on the right page of your website.
Don’t miss any gap in what the user must need. Hook the reader till the end by providing solution-oriented in-depth content. Without knowing search intent, you can not write user-friendly content. It’s a question in the mind of searchers they need an answer to.
Answer in detail and proper manner for every question your user is searching. So, it is inevitable to understand search intent to meet the need of an audience.
There are types of search intent as below:
Navigational: The user is looking for a specific website or page.
Example: When someone is searching Amazon. They want this specific website to visit.
Informational: The user is looking for information about a topic. Many people looking for some information or want to know about a certain topic.
Example: How to grow tomatoes at home?
Transactional: The user is looking to buy something. People already have decided to purchase something and looking for that specific product or service to buy.
Example: Puma sports women’s shoes
Commercial: The user is looking for information to help them make a purchase decision. They don’t wanna buy something at the moment but in the future. Commercial investigation helps them search and compare to make a better decision for purchase.
Example: Best red women’s shoes
● Consider The Google Algorithm:
Without considering the google algorithm, you can’t rank your website on the google search engine. It is a complex system of retrieving data from a search index that delivers the best result for a user search.
When you understand better the ranking method of a google search engine, you can deliver better content. Apart from algorithms, multiple factors google uses to rank web pages relevant to search engine results pages.
Google has updated its algorithm for natural language processing technology to improve user experience to provide better results for search engine result pages. Make sure your SEO content mainly focuses on natural language flow.
Remember, poor quality content and irrelevant backlink will get you out from the SERP. Must adhere to these algorithm guidelines to rank your website. SEO optimization is required but refrains from over-optimization. Be careful about applying effective SEO techniques that get you a ranking on SERP.
Important Google Algorithm Update:
Panda (2011): Plagiarized, duplicate content, and keyword stuffing.
Penguin (2012): Irrelevant- spam links, over-optimized anchor text
Hummingbird (2013): Low-quality content and keyword stuffing
Mobile (2015): Poor usability of mobile
RankBrain (2015): Lack of user search intent
Medic (2018): Poor E-A-T (Expertise- authority- trust) factors
Bert (2019): Poorly written content, Irrelevancy of query and search results
● Write For Your Audience:
Ignoring what your audience is looking for will throw you out of this ranking game.
If you write the best content and miss out on the vital topics and questions of what your target audience is looking for, no matter how good the quality of your content is – it will never reach them.
Use question-answer tools like Quora and Reddit. These are the places where customers ask questions. You can easily find relevant keywords about the topic to cover.
Make a list of top keywords and questions of the audience to cover them in the content in detail. It will increase the views of the website page.
So, using any of these tools will give you an idea about the questions so you can answer the content. Keep in mind the below points to write for the audience:
Know Your Audience: It is required to know the age and preferences of your audience before you jump into writing. Who your audience is, their age, and choices – are the questions you must know the answer to before writing on it?
As an SEO content writer, you must know the purpose of your audience to write content that resonates with them. Make sure you’re reaching the right audience to get more visits.
If you’re not reaching the right audience, your content will not resonate with them, and you won’t get more visits. This unplanned effort will result in a lower ranking on the web page.
Simplicity is a necessity: Don’t beat about the bush. Make simple and short sentences. Simplicity makes things perfect and easy.
Your SEO content will be easy to go through. Anyone who opens the page will first skim through the content to know what value it provides.
So, use simple vocabulary that even a 12 years kid can understand. Don’t show off your expertise by writing a high level of vocabulary.
This showoff can be an obstacle to those who can’t understand and will leave the page leaving you will add to the bouncing rate.
Readability: Readability is a key factor in any content. A good readability score will get more views. Don’t write long sentences with fluffy language. When readers can’t understand what you’re trying to say, they will leave your page without finishing. That will increase the bounce rate. Make your writing digestible to make it easy to consume.
Write Like Talking: Don’t write like an essay or research paper. Make it conversational. Make your sentences clear and informal. Write like you’re talking to your audience so they can engage with your content. If you sound like a robot, it will bore the reader, and your bounce rate will increase. Remember, good content will always engage the reader.
Make Your Writing Interesting & Insightful: To pass through the competition, write something different (not about a different topic) that is more valuable, logical, and problem-solving to grab the reader’s attention. The audience is looking for something interesting that holds them longer. Make your content more insightful and unique with rich context.
Hemmingway Editor: Use the Hammingway tool to polish your writing. It is a useful tool that will show you the readability score and clarity of your writing. Plus, it will also show your mistakes and suggest improvements wherever needed. It will make work easier and save you lots of time.
● Incorporate SEO into Content:
It is essential to incorporate SEO into content to rank the page for specific targeted keywords. Follow these points to write SEO-friendly content:
1)Keyword Distribution:
Keyword placement is more important than keyword density. If you’re stuffing keywords in the wrong places, your content won’t reach to search engine result page. Add target keywords into the first line or first 100 words of the introduction. Moreover, in conclusion, follow by evenly spreading throughout the content. Include the targeted keyword in the heading tags – H1 to H6 tags.
2) Headlines:
Write catchy headlines that grab the reader’s attention. Add a specific targeted keyword in the headline that allows a search engine to crawl through a webpage. You can use a headline analyzer to create compelling headlines. Use numbers and emotional words in the headline that results in more clicks. Not only create clickbait but also deliver content that gives valuable information. Don’t be a promise-breaker. If you promise something in the headline then adhere to fulfilling the same. Otherwise, readers will feel of being cheated. And no one likes to be cheated, Right?
3) Subheadings:
Readers scan the subheading before diving into the main topic. Subheadings are the reader’s second chance after the headline. Typically, the appropriate subheading length is 70 characters. Make it intriguing and informative so that readers will be interested. A reader will read the subheadings to determine the utility of the text. The subheadings will provide in-depth information on high-quality content.
4) Images/infographics:
Images and infographics make content more attractive and SEO-friendly. Image optimization will speed up page loading. Readers can see and understand the images, but, for search engines, alternative text is important. The alt tag will help Google robots identify the image, crawl, index, and rank the image and page for the same. For good images and infographics, the ideal format and size are important. Unique and meaningful images and infographics will boost the ranking chances. JPG, PNG, and SVG files are the right formats for images.
5)Short Paragraphs:
Write short paragraphs rather than long ones. No one wants to read. Short paragraphs are easy to read and helpful to scan. The reader can easily grasp the information reading a short. Long paragraphs will compel them to leave, no matter how in-depth content you’ve written.
IMP Note: The best practice is to end the paragraphs in 3 to 4 lines max.
6) Meta Title:
The meta title is also called the title tag. It is a text written between the HTML syntax in the coding section of the website to help Google understand what this page is about. On the other hand, it tells Google what the page is about to search engines and visitors. The meta title shows the purpose of the topic as concisely as possible. The length should be 60 characters or less to convey the actual message of the page.
● Avoid Keyword Stuffing:
Inserting unnecessary keywords on a page will make the content dull. In the eyes of Google, this is considered a poor practice of inserting keywords. Plus, it will tell the search engines that you’re trying to manipulate Google just to rank.
Earlier, Google was supporting inserting a maximum number of keywords to give a better user experience to its users. Moreover, it was also a key factor to give a ranking. However, with time, Google has become smart. It has updated its algorithm and completely works in real and logical intent.
Poor practices of keyword stuffing are:
· Repeating the same keywords unnaturally and uncommonly throughout the text.
· Phone number lists without any added value.
By performing this poor practice, you ensure a negative user experience that affects the ranking. Also, it can cause a penalty. SEO content is useful and informative to users without keyword stuffing.
Keywords should be used naturally with the flow of content. Google doesn’t like keyword stuffing but value-oriented engaging content. Implement SEO into content to make it result-driven.
● Write a Longer Post:
The length of the blog post is always controversial for SEO content writers. According to a study, 2000 to 2500 words is an ideal length for an SEO blog post. The minimum length should be 300 to 500 words so it won’t be considered thin content to rank on a search engine page.
The more high-quality and in-depth content you write, the more it increases user experience and ranking. However, Google prefers quality over quantity to rank the web page. So, make sure your SEO content has high quality and reveals the expertise of your topic in content.
● Write Engaging Content:
Without knowing the purpose of the content, it’s not possible to write compelling and engaging content. With a goal, you can create a better SEO content strategy. Hook the reader from the beginning of the content and provide helpful information. Be original and think out of the box to stand out from the crowd of competitors.
Solve the problem your audience is facing, and give the answers they are looking for. Ensure the content is authentic and based on the facts. Otherwise, you’ll lose the audience resulting in a lower ranking for your website. And this is because google won’t accept poor-quality content that doesn’t benefit the reader. The more engaging the content is, the more spike in visitors you’ll see.
● Avoid Content Redundancy:
When you use more words to convey the message, the reader will lose focus and may not understand the content. Adding words that are not necessary for writing will make it complex. So avoid filler words and repetitive phrases that are not useful in writing.
Words like exactly “same”, “basic”, “absolutely important”, etc. are considered repetitive.
Some others are red, 8 in numbers, big in size, and period, which are the words you should avoid to remove redundancy. By removing redundant and filler words, the content will be good at readability and meet the SEO content writing standards.
● Avoid Repetition:
Don’t repeat one thing again and again. Avoid explaining one topic more than once. Repetition will affect the quality of the SEO content and will create a bad impact on the readers. As a result, you will suffer a lower ranking because of a negative user experience.
● Add Alt+ Image:
Alt tag images provide the “why” of the image. It allows search engine crawlers to index the image for ranking. Alt text is a key to SEO content writing. Failure of alt tag will not allow search engine crawler to index. Keep your alt tag descriptive and precise.
Use only one or two keywords. Ensure that your image text conveys the purpose of SEO content. With the help of alt tags, search engines better understand the image on the page and provide a better user experience.
● Link-building:
Link building is one of the strong techniques of SEO to rank on SERP results. Back-links and hyperlinks are the terms used in SEO content writing. A relationship with other relevant site owners is a process of link building. This mutual effort helps you and the other site owner to get a push in ranking.
Link-building is important because a premium back-link on a page indicates a high level of authority. Ranking for competitive keywords is difficult, as they are the most commonly searched queries that drive more organic traffic to your website.
Link-building is significant because “Page-rank update” was created by Google in 1998. It determines the page worth by examining the number and quality of other pages linked to it. And it is a relationship of links that exchange value and relevancy.
You may suffer with rankings even if your content is outstanding. To establish trust, you will need an authoritative website link that will boost your chances of ranking on search engines. Obtain links from authoritative and high-quality websites to increase your website’s authority. Back-links can be obtained from a competitor’s website, through guest posting, or through social media advertising.
Link-building Strategies:
There are ways to get links like creating them, buying them, or earning them.
Google hates when you buy links just to get ranking. Not only the website rank will fall but will lead to a penalty on the top of the cake. So better stay away and use these strategies for getting backlinks.
Typically, people find your website and link to it through word of mouth.
However, this could be inconsistent and ineffective. Building trust takes time.
Factors that create back-links good:
● Add Keywords in Meta Description:
A meta description is also known as a meta tag. Meta tags are the little snippets that will show below the title and URL of the webpage on the search engine result page. It is short content that tells the search engine about the webpage. Google suggest the meta description should be between 140 to 160 characters to remain visible to Google. In these few words, your message needs to be powerful to attract users to your web page to get clicks. It is an essential part of ranking on SERP. Make it SEO-friendly so you get more clicks.
Here are important tips to make it SEO-friendly meta data:
(1) Include the target keyword.
(2) It must have a meaningful description.
(3) Target an emotion.
(4) It should be relevant to the web page.
(5) Make it unique and different from the other competitor.
(6) Keep it short to one to two sentences.
(7) Add a call to action.
● Write A Satisfactory Conclusion:
People who skim the content are more curious to know the end first. They might skip the introduction part but would spend time reading the conclusion. It is important and maybe the only chance to convince them to read the entire blog post.
The conclusion is the summary of your entire content that includes the essence and final takeaway for readers. It should answer why to read your content. A satisfactory conclusion is the main ingredient of SEO-friendly content. If you miss here, you might miss the chance of ranking on SERP.
However, it is recommended to write quality content that keeps the user engaged right from the beginning.
Adding focus keywords is the key to an SEO-friendly conclusion. Place the targeted keyword in the first line of the conclusion and keep it related to your content. In a nutshell, keep it simple, valuable, and concise.
Even if the content is well-written but lacks Search Engine Optimization, it won’t rank on Google or any other search engine. It is the responsibility of the SEO content writer to find and fix the errors for SEO in content to reach the right audience.
Thus, the above are the rules that any SEO content writer should know to offer exclusive SEO content writing services for potential brand owners. Hope you’ll find this article helpful to improve your SEO content writing skills.
FAQs:
1. Why SEO is important for content writing?
SEO is important for content writing to rank the website page organically on the search engine result page. It helps to drive more traffic to the web page, increase views and convert visitors into potential customers.
2. What is the difference between SEO writing and content writing?
SEO content writing uses specific keywords for the targeted audience to rank on the search engine result page while normal content writing focuses on the content topic to write well-researched original content.
3. What are the best SEO tools?
Google itself is the best SEO tool for keyword research. However, other best SEO tools are available as given below:
4. What is an SEO content writer?
SEO content writer considers the target audience and uses the keywords the audience is looking for to rank the page on the search engine page. They write search engine optimized content which is relevant and compelling enough to convert prospects into long-term customers.
5. How do you write SEO content writing?
Begin with good keyword research. Insert keywords according to your targeted audience’s needs. Keep it related to the audience and follow google algorithms. Short and simple sentences, easy to read and understand. Create unique and high-quality content. Write in-depth content with clarity that is easy to digest for readers.
6. Is SEO and copywriting the same?
The ultimate goal of SEO is to create keyword-focused content that boosts the opportunities to rank on the first page of the search engine result page. On the other hand, the main goal of copywriting is to convert prospects into customers with the help of a sales funnel. SEO is used to enhance organic traffic while copywriting is used to convert leads.
7. What are SEO keywords?
SEO keywords are “queries or keyphrases” that users search on the search engine to find their specific query’s solution. SEO keywords are the phrases that people look for on search engines and how they search for them. You can find SEO keywords by keeping in mind user search intent and competitive keywords.
8. What is SEO content?
SEO content is a type of content optimized for keywords to rank on search engines like google. The purpose of SEO content is to reach a specific audience via a search engine.
9. What is SEO copywriting?
SEO copywriting is a tactic of search engine optimized content with appealing words that entice readers for a specific call to action. Examples are web copy, email copy, etc.
10. How to choose the right writer for SEO content?
11. When to hire an SEO content writer?
When your goal is to attract more users, manifest your expertise by displaying well-researched and in-depth content on the internet and drive organic traffic to your website, you will need to hire an SEO content writer. However, you should make a decision based on the project and the goal you want to achieve.
