Everyone wants their product and website to show up on Google when a potential customer searches for something. This is why search engine optimization (SEO) copywriting is a highly important digital marketing tool used by businesses in a variety of industries.
SEO has proven to be a great way to get noticed as you will be creating content found by the right people at the right time. However, you want to make your articles appear on people’s Google searches organically, and not in a random, unhelpful way. Great content, when optimized properly into SEO campaigns, can help businesses succeed rapidly.
Digital marketers with years of experience understand the importance of content that achieves engagement and traffic. Search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo! have algorithms that any business owner needs to understand well before creating an SEO campaign.
Other than the marketing techniques used, a lot of work must go into the writing process itself. You want to build a steady audience who can turn into paying customers influenced by the content you’re putting out.
Here are seven writing tips to help you optimize content for your business’s SEO campaign.
1. Get Into the Minds of Your Readers
To write clickable content, you need to be able to understand what exactly the reader is going to type into the search bar. What are they looking for? What words are they going to use to search for it on the internet? This can become very specific. For example, what would a student looking for online essay writing assistance search? Or what would a pet owner looking for a grooming service for their pedigree pet search? This principle applies to nearly all products and services available – the first step is to know who you’re selling to and what their goals are.
No matter what aids, tricks and shortcuts you use to get more clicks, attempting to understand the needs of your target audience is the best way to sell a product. Try to think of the situation from their point of view, put yourself in their shoes and write content that they need for their problem.
2. Use the Right Keywords
Keywords are important for any SEO writing campaign. For example, using a keyword like “heating pad” may be too wide or generalized for the search engine algorithm to recognize. Your business can use a bunch of terms including the brand name to create a long-tail keyword (3-7 words) that is search engine optimized. An example is “[Brand name] heating pad for stomach cramps.” There can be different variations of the same keywords depending on your needs.
3. Come Up With a Powerful Title
The first thing that readers notice while looking for specific information online is the title. What’s more, search engines analyze and rank your blog post based on the title you come up with.
Google, for example, ranks you on the results page based on the relevancy of your article, determined by the title, description and content itself.
The title, in particular, is critical because it directs readers to either click on the post or scroll past it to find results that suit their needs better.
An effective title has:
- The promise to give information
- The main keyword
- A solution to the reader’s problem
- An idea of what to look forward to after clicking on the article
4. Optimize Secondary Elements
An important thing to keep in mind while writing content for an SEO campaign is to create URLs that add to your SEO efforts. Optimize your URLs to inform the search engines of the type of content you have written. This will lead to a higher ranking on the search page in terms of relevancy to the topic. Add your main keyword to the URL if that is possible.
Images are also crucial secondary elements of content writing, as they usually carry alt text that gets scanned and ranked by search engines. You can edit the alt text of the image – include your main keyword and a short description.
5. Appeal to Local Searchers
A great way to rack up engagement on your website is by writing content that stands out to local audiences. If you run a niche business in an area without many competitors, the best way to communicate it to your customers is by mentioning your location in the content you write. You can add phrases and slang words that set you apart from other businesses as well.
6. Stick to a Unique Style
Originality plays a huge role in marketing a brand’s products efficiently. For example, you do not want to sound like every other small business selling a heating pad to customers with chronic pain. You want to take on a personal voice and offer solutions that no one else can. Your tone of writing and the concern you express regarding solving your customer’s problems creates a long-lasting impression on readers’ minds and helps you retain customers for longer. Sticking to a unique style also communicates to search engine algorithms that your content is original, leading to a higher ranking.
7. Improve Your Blog’s Readability
Last but not least, improving the overall readability of your blog post or article is a great way to create SEO content to promote your business. Google takes direct data from your website’s engagement metrics that further affect the general ranking of your website. Make sure you write easy-to-read content with short sentences and paragraphs. You can also use headings and subheadings to clearly define the outline of your article. Remember to use the active voice and effective transition words to sufficiently engage your readers. Altogether, these tips greatly improve the readability of your content.