SEO in content writing is the practice of creating content that is optimized for search engines. This includes using keywords, formatting, and creating content that is relevant and helpful to users. SEO content writing can help businesses to rank higher in search engine results, thereby increasing visibility and driving more traffic to their website. Additionally, SEO content can help to build trust and authority, as well as improve conversions and boost revenue.
Why You Need More Than Just Content
An crucial point to understand when it comes to writing online (especially for business), is that if nobody is searching for the terms you’re writing about, you will get no results. Nobody will read your piece of content & your efforts will be wasted if you don’t align yourself with collective thought or desire.
That’s not to say you can’t ever write about topics you truly care about, but if you want results, traction, and to further your business, then a data driven approach is a must. Furthermore, while creative writing might be more engaging to read, or a technical directive more accurate to your product or service, the efforts should include what people already want & are already searching for.
Bottom line is, when it comes to online content, SEO is a must in order to get the highest return on your investment. Writing without clear search intent is not enough. Hiring a writer without knowledge of search engine optimization is not enough.
Importance of Content Writing In SEO
Content writing versus backlinks. It’s a debate that’s as old as the internet. Some say you can’t rank higher without backlinks, other say they’ve managed large website with only content. The fact of the matter is that you need some form of content to rank in the first place.
How we see this, is internal versus external. Backlinks are not really in your control & can be taken away or penalized. Content that you have on your website is internal, it’s yours, and you are in full control of what you do with it. Sure there are pros & cons to all of this but the sentiment is that with content, you hold the cards.
So why is content so important? it helps to attract new visitors to your website, encourages them to stay longer, and helps to boost your visibility in the search engines. Not only that but with internal linking, you also power up your webpages in a similar way to external links, you just need more. If you want to go further into the benefits of seo content check out this article.
5 Tips For Learning SEO Writing
If you are short on funds or are willing to put forth the effort to create your own content, here’s a few tips to get you looped in. If you start here, we can almost guarantee you will cover a big chunk of what there is to know about content writing for organic search. After this, we’ll cover 10 tips to maximize your efforts that will put you ahead of the competition & move you up the search rankings.
1. Understand The Goals of SEO Writing
The goal of SEO writing is to rank #1 in organic search. Its secondary goal is to also make content that’s useful & engaging to your audience. Both important but priority #1 is getting seen. Furthermore, the more your write about a topic in general, the more articles, the higher your topical authority. With higher topical authority you will begin to see a snowball effect on your whole site as you become the “go-to” resource for that topic.
2. Understand Keyword Research
SEO is rooted in keyword research. What are people finding valuable? What are they searching for? How can we provide a useful answer? This all boils down to observing what the collective is doing. Find the keywords that are like gems, with low competition (hidden) but with higher search volumes. There is untapped potential everywhere if you just poke around related terms to your website.
3. Start With Keywords In These 4 Places
A big portion of SEO in terms of on-site optimization can be boiled down to just placing your researched keyword in these 4 places:
- Meta Title Tag – This is your meta title & can include your meta description. This is seen by the search crawlers & is what appears on the SERPS when your site shows up on Google for example.
- H1 Title Tag – This is the main heading/title of your article or page. It’s not just to make text bigger, an H-tag is for determining structure & importance on a page.
- Paragraph – You want to include your keyword in the first paragraph & if natural, include it in another header such as an H2 or H3.
- URL – This is the web address your page will be found under (YourSite.com/ThisIsTheURL). We recommend only changing this on a NEW page.
A word of warning as mentioned in the video below, do not change your URL slug on an existing page if it’s already ranking & doing well. Changing the URL will essentially create a new page, so any backlinks, established trust, or authority built up on that page will be lost. If it’s a new page, it’s no big deal since its new but gives you an opportunity to 1-up your SEO optimization.
According to Kyle Roof who is an expert in the SEO field, if you do these 4 things, you’ll have knocked out 60-70% of your on-page SEO optimization.
4. Resources
Here are a few resources you can tune into if you want to learn more in-depth information on optimizing content:
YouTube
Blogs
5. Track & Measure Results
Be sure to install some sort of tracking to measure your results. You can set up Google Webmaster Tools & Google Analytics for free. There’s also countless plugins available out there depending on what platform your website is built on.
Overall though, you want to be able to see what content is working & what isn’t. Most of all, you have to remember to be patient as SEO can be slow to take effect, especially if you have a new website that’s less than a year old.
10 Tips For SEO Content Writing
Below are just a few rapid-fire pointers you might want to consider if you’re trying to implement content wiring into your SEO strategy. If you want to go further in depth & what we recommend, check out our other article that includes 5 in-depth SEO content writing tips
- Start with keyword research (low competition with high search volume is best).
- Determine the search intent for your chosen keyword.
- Observe what the top 5 ranks in google are writing about. Use info to clarify your direction & gain ideas.
- Include your keyword in the meta title/description, h1 heading, in first paragraph of your article, and in the URL slug (but only on a new article)
- Optimize images and videos with relevant titles, descriptions, and tags.
- Use internal and external links to other relevant pages.
- Make sure your content is well-structured and easy to read (skimable).
- Include a call to action with each content piece (comment, sign up, read more, follow on social, etc.)
- Track your content with analytics such as Google Webmaster tools
- Refresh content that is not doing so well after several months
Where To Hire An SEO Content Writer
As mentioned, SEO content writing is important for any website to grow in organic search traffic. This is because keyword research is required to maximize your efforts instead of writing about random topics. The topic choice needs to based on facts & figures.
If you are looking to hire a content writer who’s versed in SEO, you can consider going through a hiring process on websites like Upwork.com or go a shorter route & just pick someone off of Fiverr.com
If you need someone who’s versed in e-commerce, Shopify, with copywriting skills, then consider contacting us for more information. We have content & other small business marketing packages to set you up for future success. Benefits include increased search volumes, higher online visibility, better conversion rates, & more!