When SEO content writing comes up in any discussion people assume it can only be done by a specific group of people. I assure you that is not the case. It takes a lot of practice and research just like any other specialization but in the end it can be done if you put in the effort and time. As an upcoming online content writer, your goal should be to write content that gets traffic and engagement. With that in mind, this article will act as your guide in ensuring you attain that goal. But before that, let us begin with an introduction to bring you up to speed.
What is SEO Content Writing?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. As you know there are different search engines on the web such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Baidu, Yandex and others. So what we mean by SEO content writing is planning, curating and optimizing content with the primary goal of attracting search engine traffic. I will get into detail later on how to do this.
Who needs to know about this?
If you intend on starting a blog or venture into content writing and management, familiarizing yourself with these strategies would be your first step at becoming a pro. The best thing about a great SEO strategy is that it will ensure that even through times when money is tight, you will be able to rely on your organic search results to bring you traffic and new customers. Once your website is up and ranking all you need to do is expand your SEO efforts with an SEO Content Writing Strategy.
Why is SEO Content Writing Important?
The higher a website ranks on Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Baidu, Yandex the more traffic and engagement your website or blog will get, which is the ultimate goal. More visitors means more sales or just more readers. The worst thing that can happen is publishing a blog which took you hours to write and it gets zero engagement.
Types of SEO Content
- Blog Posts
- Articles
- Product Pages – Used for e-commerce sites
- Lists
- Guides
- Glossaries
- Videos
- Infographics
- Contextual Backlinks
- Social Media Content Sharing
- + 100s More
Developing SEO Content Writing Strategies
Generate a list of Topics
It is important to come up with topics that your target audience cares about. Therefore, understanding who you are writing this content for and what they like is important as it will make your work easier. One way you can do topic research is by using Q&A tools such as Reddit or Quora to find out what questions your audience is asking online. This way you can answer their questions using your content. Another platform you can use is Wikipedia. The table of content section can give you ideas on topics to write about.
Use these topics to find Keywords for your Content
Keyword research is the most important part of SEO content writing. Keywords are search phrases people type in when they are looking for information on the web. The right keywords can either make or break your content. There are a number of tools one can use to get keyword ideas such as Ahrefs, Keyword Explorer, Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, Keyword everywhere extension and much more. These tools highlight important data that one should look out for such as search volume, cost per click and ranking difficulty. These data helps you determine whether a topic is worth settling for or you should proceed with more research. You could also check out keywords that top ranking pages are using are ranking for so you can rank for them as well.
Ensure your Content Matches the Search Intent
Search Intent means the reason as to why the person made the search. Could it be to learn something, to make a purchase or are they looking for a specific website? One way to find out your topic or keyword search intent before creating an outline for your content is by firstly searching the topic on Google or any other search engine and take a look at its result page. If the structure of the content on the result pages is a blog or guide, ensure you follow that format.
Write a Draft
It’s finally time to put your ideas on paper. A trick you can use is write as you speak. It’s important to write you content in an informational tone. Remember to include the keywords. After you are done with your draft, edit your draft by checking for grammatical errors. Ensure your content flows and is simple to read. Lastly, you can send your draft to a friend to get some helpful feedback.
Make your Content Visually Appealing
Including images breaks the monotony of content just is just a block of texts. This makes the reader interested in your piece and it reduces bounce rates. Images are useful to demonstrate what your content is talking about. Engagement is another highly weighted ranking signal to take note of as this is a direct representation of user experience.
Write an eye catching Meta Title & Description
Search engines look at your meta title & description to learn more about your content. A meta title is what appears on top of your SERP and the meta description is the brief text that appears after your title. It is used as a sales pitch in the sense that you should tell a searcher why they should click on your website and read your content. This is highly important as your (CTR) Click Through Rate is a user behavior engagement metric and is a ranking signal.
You can learn more on SEO content writing through watching YouTube tutorials from SEO gurus like Neil Patel or taking up online content writing courses. Alternatively, you could also source out professional content writers from marketing agencies like Content Authority as well.
