SEO writing is a crucial element in any SEO strategy. Without it, you won’t rank in search engines. However, producing quality content can be challenging because it must be fine-tuned to the constantly changing algorithms of search engines.
More importantly, SEO writing is all about your audience, aka the MVP and the VIP. Whether you hire an SEO consultant or do it yourself, it won’t hurt to get some tips on how to produce your best content this year and gain a strong ROI. Here are seven.
Write for Your Desired Audience Using Targeted Keywords
Without targeted keywords, your content won’t reach your desired audience. Targeted keywords are key terms and phrases that your audience niche actively searches for. To identify these terms, you need first to answer the following questions:
- Who is your brand’s audience?
- What type of information do they need?
- Why do they need that particular information?
- Which keywords do they use to find the information?
To answer these questions, you must do the following:
- Audience Research. First, identify the audience that you think will need or want what you are offering. Then go to where they gather online. Talk with them and survey them. Find out their preferences, habits, stats, and demographics.
- Keyword Research. Find profitable and relevant keywords that relate to your products and services, your expertise, and the search intent of your audience.
- Topic Research. This is the part you come up with topics for your content. You base the topics on the targeted keywords and on what your audience desires to learn or know.
Make it Readable
Having readable content means your audience will want to stay on your site and read it. To be readable, your content has to convey information in a way that is understandable. When your content is understandable to more of your audience, more of them will stay longer on your site, which will boost your rank on search engines, particularly on Google. This is because your content will signal that your page is relevant to the users’ search queries and they found their needed information.
The signal is known as dwell time. Dwell time is the amount of time that passes between the point a user clicks on a search result and the point of return to the results page. Readability adds to longer dwell times. The qualities of a readable piece of content are clarity, logic, simplicity, and organization.
Create In-Depth Content
A big trend in SEO is to create content that delves deeper into a particular topic. Deeper content contributes to higher rankings because Google is focusing more on content quality. How do you create this type of content?
- Write blog posts with 2,000 words or more.
- Create ultimate guides.
- Explore topics with different angles and facets.
- Go beyond basic research. Instead of simply searching on Google, you can try researching on Google Scholar or industry publications for new studies and data.
Get to Your Point
SEO writing is about creating relevant content. After all, relevant content is what Google places at the top of its organic results. Relevant content is about matching keyword intent and pertinent content. One effective way to prove your content is pertinent is to place your main keyword early in the copy.
Insert High-Quality Visuals
Articles with relevant images have been found to enjoy more views compared to articles with no images. Take note though that the impact of high-quality images in your content is greater than placing some overused and random stock photos. With well-designed visuals, your content will look professional and more cohesive and authoritative. Thus, it’s wise to invest in them for more effective SEO.
Do Away with Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is excessively targeting your keyword to try to boost organic search performance. It is an outdated type of search engine “optimization” and you better stay away from it because Google penalizes the use of such a tactic. Another reason to refrain from doing it is it leads to a terrible user experience. No one wants to read content that is obviously written for an algorithm. Keyword stuffing will just drive away your users.
Spend Time on Your Headline
If the headlines of your content are bad, no one will click through to you your site or read the rest of your content. This is why it’s important to spend time brainstorming headlines. When your organic CTR and page views shoot up, you definitely won’t regret it. One great pointer when writing headlines is to establish your authority in the subject that you’re discussing.
In SEO writing, considering the current Google algorithm and zooming in on the needs and wants of your audience will yield fruitful results. Use the essential tips in this article to help you achieve your SEO goals.
