How does SEO copywriting differ from other types of writing? What should you look out for when writing your SEO copy?
When it comes to SEO copywriting, you want to write for humans and search engines. This means using words that are easily understood by readers and conveying information clearly. And for robots too, to include keywords and phrases that don’t make your copy sound spammy.
You don’t need to be a professional writer to create good SEO copy. In fact, even non-native English speakers can produce high quality SEO copy. The key is to focus on the keywords and phrases that matter most to your audience, and putting in some time to practice your writing.
SEO Copywriting: Write Your Best Copy
Writing great content is one thing, but getting people to actually see what you’ve written is another. If you want your site to rank well, you must ensure that your webpages are easy to read. This takes skill and practice, but once you’ve mastered the art, you’ll find yourself creating content that ranks high in search results.
When optimizing your website for search engines, there are three main aspects to consider:
- The actual words and phrases used in your content
- Your choice of fonts
- The way in which your content flows
All three of these elements play a part in how easily readers can understand your content.
How to Use SEO Copywriting to Write Better Title Tags
Using title tag modifiers is something that’s not always implemented properly by SEO professionals. Using modifiers is a great way to add more context and create better selling title tags that can draw attention from possible users. These users will then decide which website to visit in the search results.
Adding modifiers like “best”, “how-to” or “guide” to the title tag could help improve performance for longer keyword phrases like “How To Make Money Online.”
Adding modifiers like “free” or “guides” to the title tag could help improve performance for longer keyword phrases like “Free Guides.”
Adding modifiers like “evergreen” to your title tag could help you improve your performance for longer keyword phrases like “Evergreen Content Marketing Strategies.
Adding modifiers like “evergreen” to your headline can help you get better performance for longer keyword phrases like “Evergreen Content Marketing Strategy”.
Adding modifiers such as “video” or “podcast” to your title tag can give you better performance for longer keywords like “Video Marketing Tips”.
Instead of using just the keyword phrase as your page title, figure out how you can create better page titles that sell your content and can get people to click through to your page from Google’s search results.
Improve Your SEO Copywriting by Using Emotional Copy in Your Page Titles
The headline of a news article is often one of the first things people see when they open it. And while we know that titles are important, how much do you really think about what goes inside them? A lot, apparently.
One particular study found that headlines containing emotional words like “love,” “courage,” and “hope” increased click-through rates by up to 30 percent. However, headlines that contain too many emotions tend to lose readers. For example, headlines such as “Love Is On Fire!” and “Courageous Love Story” both had high click-through rates, but only the former actually led to a purchase.
The thing about emotional copy is that it can lead to a negative perception of your site if you do it too much and too often. Sometimes, people may equate so much emotion in your copy as being too click-baity, and not being a reliable source of information as a result. This is something you do want to avoid if you want to have more conversions rather than just clicks.
While this research focused on headlines, it’s likely that similar principles apply to other elements of copywriting, including subheads and body text. After all, if you want someone to read your whole story, you’ll probably want to start with the headline.
SEO Copywriting: Use It In Your Meta Description to Sell Your Content
Google itself says that “well written” descriptions are better at getting people to click. And even if you don’t see your description in the search listings, it still helps to write one. When someone searches for something, they’re often looking for specific information. If your site isn’t optimized for those keywords, chances are they’ll find another place to look. But what if you could make sure that they actually read your description? Writing a good description for each page of your site can help ensure that happens.
Here are some examples of what Google considers great meta descriptions:
What makes the above meta descriptions great is that they do different things for different types of queries. In the first example, just using a list of keywords is bad. But having information about what a shop specifically sells as well as other attributes like their opening hours is a good thing.
What makes a meta description great compared to others is that it is specific and describes that particular page with enough detail that shows a potential user what they might be looking for. They also show a user what they might find on that particular page that matches the query they typed into Google search.
Why Creating Your Own Keywords Works With SEO Copywriting
If you want to increase your organic rankings, you need to think like a customer. A lot of people don’t do this. They just type keywords into the search bar and hope something good appears. This isn’t how you find what you are looking for. Instead, you need to understand what customers are searching for and use those terms to help your site rank better.
When you are creating your own keywords, you are essentially creating your own words. These aren’t generic terms. They are unique to you and your business. When someone searches for one of your keywords, they are actually searching for a specific thing. So, when you come up in the search results, you have a chance to convert that person into a paying customer.
In fact, according to Hubspot, there are over 5.6 billion searches per day done on Google. Of those, nearly half of the queries are performed without typing anything at all. People simply enter a word or phrase into the search box and see what pops up thanks to Google’s autocomplete feature.
So, what happens when you start branding your own keywords? Well, you start getting some pretty interesting results. Let’s say you wanted to rank for “seo tools.” If you typed that term into the search bar, you wouldn’t necessarily get the best results. However, if you came up with your own branded version of the same term, you could potentially get the results you are looking for.
For instance, let’s say you had a blog called SeoTools.com. In addition to being a great name for a blog, it also sounds very similar to “seo tools.” Now, if someone searched for “seo tools,” they might assume that your site is relevant because of the similarity in names.
This is where you can really take advantage of the power of branding. By using your own branded keywords, you can make sure that potential clients know exactly what you offer. And since they already know what you offer, they won’t even bother clicking on the second page of results.
Now, there are plenty of reasons why you might want to brand your own keywords. One of the most obvious ones is to improve your conversions. After all, if you are trying to rank for a particular term, you want to ensure that you are offering something that meets the needs of the searcher. If you provide a solution to a problem, you will naturally attract the attention of those who are looking for solutions.
Create a Brand-new Angle, Strategy, or Concept with SEO Copywriting
The first thing you need to know about creating something great is coming up with a strategy, approaching it differently, or thinking of a different way to solve a problem. This isn’t just some random idea; it needs to be something that makes sense. If you’re trying to make money selling widgets, there are probably better ways to go about it than making something out of cardboard boxes.
You might think of a few ideas, but you’ll want to narrow down what you’re doing into a specific strategy. You could start with “Make widgets,” and work backwards from there. Or maybe you’d like to focus on a particular market segment — say, people who love camping — and create a product that helps them enjoy their trips even more. Whatever you choose, you’ll want to figure out how to make a compelling case for why you’re worth investing in.
Once you’ve got a clear strategy, you’ll need to decide whether you’re going to build something yourself or buy it. Then you’ll need to determine exactly where you’re going to sell it. Once you’ve done all that, you’ll need to find the best way to promote it.
Start With Keyword Research to Improve Your SEO Copywriting
The very first step of SEO copywriting has little to do with actually writing. Before you begin writing anything, you need to answer one question: What am I going to write about? If you don’t know, it doesn’t matter how good your writing skills are; there is no way you can write something worthwhile without knowing what you’re talking about.
Which topics do you want to become known for? For example, if you run a blog about fashion, you might want to focus on “fashion,” “clothes,” “dresses,” etc., because those are the things people search for most often. But if you run a travel blog, you could choose “travel,” “vacation spots,” “destinations,” and so on.
You’ll need to use the words you want to rank for within your copy, so the next step of SEO copywriting involves keyword research. This is where you go through your list of potential keywords and keyphrases and find out which ones are popular enough to make sense for your niche.
Keyword research is what you need to do in order to list all the keywords and keyword phrases that you want to optimize on your site. There are different ways to conduct keyword research, including:
- Using free tools like Google Trends and MozBar
- Using a paid tool like Long Tail Pro
- Creating a spreadsheet manually
- Using an app like Keyword Explorer
- Using a combination of these methods
If you’re not sure which method to use, try starting with the free tools first. They’re easy to use and they give you a general idea of how many searches each keyword gets.
After you have a list of keywords, you’ll need to check them against your content. If you’re writing about fashion, you may want to include terms like “dress” and “shoes.” If you’re writing about cooking, you might want to include terms like “soup” and “salad.”
After you’ve written your content, you will need to edit it to ensure that it’s optimized for the keywords you chose. This means adding relevant links to other pages on your website, making sure that the text isn’t too long, and ensuring that the page loads quickly.
When you’re ready to publish your content, you’ll need to upload it to your site. The process varies depending on the platform you’re using, but it usually involves uploading the file to a web server and then linking to it from your site.
There are Three Phases to Using SEO Copywriting in Your Articles
The SEO writing process consists of 3 stages: Preparing, Writing and Correcting (or Editing). In the preparation stage you are gathering information about your topic. You’re reading, observing and listening to others’ opinions. This is where you find out what people think about your subject matter. You’ll also learn how to structure your material and determine whether it’s appropriate for your audience. If you don’t know anything about your topic, you might start by asking questions like “What does my target audience care about?” or “How do I make sure my readers understand me?”.
In the next step – writing – you put together all the facts and figures into a coherent piece. You use keywords to help people find your articles. You include links to relevant sources because you believe that they add value to your work. When you’re done, you read over everything again and correct spelling mistakes, grammar errors and factual inaccuracies.
Finally, the third phase – editing – involves proofreading and polishing. You go through every sentence and paragraph one final time. Then you check the entire document for typos and grammatical errors. Finally, you look for ways to improve your writing skills. For example, you could take advantage of free online tools such as Grammarly or Hemingway App. These programs analyze your text and offer suggestions on how to improve your writing style.
Phase 1 of SEO Copywriting: Prepare and Plan Your Text
The first step in the actual SEO copywriting project is planning your piece. This includes thinking about what you’re going to write, why you’re writing it, and what you want to achieve. These three things are often referred to as your “topic,” “purpose,” and “goal.”
Before you put pen to paper, take some time and think carefully about these questions. If you don’t know the answer to one of them, ask yourself why you’re writing it. Once you’ve answered those questions, you’ll be ready to start drafting your content.
In SEO Copywriting, Identify The Purpose of Your Text and User Intent
If you’re writing articles to increase traffic to your website, you’ll probably want to write informative pieces. If you’re trying to sell products or services, you might focus on persuading people to buy. For example, if you run a blog about hiking gear, you could write about why a certain brand of backpack is better than another one. You don’t necessarily need to know everything about every product out there; rather, you just need to know enough to convince readers to choose yours over others.
In addition to knowing what your target audience wants, you also need to understand where they are coming from. Are they searching for information about hiking? What else are they looking for? How did they find your website? All of those questions help determine how best to approach your writing.
Think About Your Text Structure to Improve Your SEO Copywriting
If you want to write good SEO articles, you must know how to set up the structure of your text. A clear structure allows readers to understand what they are reading and helps them find information quickly. This makes the content easier to read and increases the chances of people clicking on your links.
There are different types of structural elements that you want to consider in your text. Here are some examples:
- Headings – These are usually used to separate sections within the body of the text. They are often marked with bolded words or italics.
- Subheadings – These are smaller headings that are placed under the section heading. They are generally used to break down long paragraphs into shorter ones.
- Bullet lists – Lists are great for making your writing more concise. You can use bullet lists to make sure that each item in the list is clearly stated and easy to follow.
- Paragraph breaks – When you reach the end of a paragraph, you need to insert a blank line. This gives the reader a place to pause and process what he/she just read.
- Images – If you add images to your post, you can include captions that describe the image. This adds another level of detail to your content.
Focusing on your text’s structure allows you to add elements that help improve skimming, reading, clarity, and understanding of your content. You don’t want to have too much in the way of confusion, because then people will just abandon your blog altogether. And we definitely don’t want that!
Phase 2: Doing The Actual SEO Copywriting
The second phase of the writing process is probably the most important one. You are now ready to write your actual text. Before we dive into it, let us explain what we mean by “writing.” For our purposes here, “writing” refers to creating the actual copy for your articles. Here are a few tips that you can use to get started on the process of writing:
Be Sure to Focus on Just Writing!
The most important tip for this stage of SEO copywriting is simply to just write. You might feel like you’re wasting time trying to figure out how to begin a blog post or article, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t start writing your first draft.
People often have trouble coming up with even the first sentence (let alone the first paragraph), but at this stage you can skip writing that initial paragraph altogether. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling just yet; just focus on getting something written. Once you’ve got some text down, you’ll be able to go back and edit later.
If a sentence doesn’t sound natural or seems awkward, just keep going. There’s no reason to stop yourself because you think you haven’t come up with anything good enough to use. Write what you want to say, and make sure it flows well.
Once you come up with a first draft, you can then make improvements during the next steps of the writing process.
Make Sure That You Stick to Your Text’s Structure
We are not talking about SEO structure, which we covered above.
If you want people to read your content, make sure you follow the rules of good writing. Writing a well-structured piece of content requires planning ahead. You must know what you are trying to say before you start typing. If you don’t, you won’t end up writing anything coherent.
To keep things simple, we recommend following a basic three-step process:
- Write the main idea.
- Create supporting ideas.
- Organize those into a logical flow.
The best way to do this is to write down your points as bullet points. This will help you remember how everything fits together later on. Once you have finished writing, go over the list again and see whether there is something missing. Is there anything else you could add to support your argument?
Once you have written out the main idea, think about where you could expand on it. What additional information could you include? How does this relate to the topic? Why might someone care about this? These questions will help you find relevant supporting ideas.
SEO Copywriting Tip: Make Sure That Your Text Remains Readable
Reading from a screen is hard. If you want your readers to actually read your entire blog post – including the images, videos, and sidebars – you need to make it easier to do so. This includes making sure your text is clear, concise, and well written.
In fact, there are many ways you can make your text more readable. Here are some of the most important ones:
- Use short sentences and paragraphs.
- Don’t use too much text. Keep things simple.
- Make sure your text isn’t too long. You don’t want people to stop reading because they’ve reached the end of the article.
- Include headings. Headings break up large blocks of text, helping readers understand what’s being talked about.
- Add bullets and lists. Bullets and lists keep your text organized and easy to digest.
Using these tips, it’s possible to make sure that your text continues to stay readable throughout the writing process, and that you don’t stray too far off course.
How Can You Improve Your SEO Copywriting Style?
The first thing you need to know about writing is that it takes time. You cannot produce quality articles overnight. However, there are things you can do to help speed up the process. Here are five simple tips to help you improve your writing skills.
Read
Reading good material is one of the best things you can do to improve your own writing skills. Reading blogs, eBooks, books, magazines, newspapers, etc., gives you inspiration and ideas. When reading, pay attention to how the writer uses language and structure. This knowledge can help you write better.
Write
Writing is another way to improve your writing skills and boost your productivity. Writing improves your vocabulary and grammar, and it allows you to practice different types of writing, such as fiction, poetry, academic essays, press releases, etc.
Edit
Editing what you’ve written is essential. Editing is the single most important step towards improving your writing skills. Once you’re done editing, read over your work again to make sure nothing stands out as being wrong. If something does stand out, reread the section and try to figure out why it doesn’t sound quite right.
To Improve Your SEO Copywriting, Read Other People’s Work
If you want to develop an appealing writing style, it really pays off to read a lot. There are many different ways to do this. You could start reading novels, blogs, magazine articles, etc. But there’s another way too: reading books written by famous writers.
By studying the work of others, you learn how to structure your ideas and how to make them flow smoothly. You also learn how to convey emotions and feelings. And you find out what works well and what doesn’t. This gives you insights into the world of writing, which you can apply to your own projects.
You might think that you already know how to write, but reading books like those mentioned above will show you that you don’t. They will help you improve your writing skills and give you some inspiration.
The Inverted Pyramid: What Is This SEO Copywriting Style and Why Is It Important?
Inverted pyramid writing is one of those things that sounds like it makes sense, but isn’t always easy to execute. So what exactly does that mean? In short, it’s about telling the whole story up front, while still providing enough detail to satisfy readers’ curiosity later on.
This writing style works best for longer articles where there are multiple points worth making. For example, here’s how Wikipedia describes the inverted pyramid: “A good article consists of a single sentence summarizing the topic, followed by several paragraphs describing the topic further.”
You’re probably familiar with the inverted pyramid because it’s been around since the early days of print media. Newspapers have long used it to make sure that readers know the basics of an issue without having to read through dozens of words.
But the inverted pyramid doesn’t just work for news stories; it can be applied to almost any kind of text. Here’s another example from Wikipedia: “An article on the history of China usually begins with a brief summary of the events leading up to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, followed by a chronological listing of major political events during the PRC era, and finally a discussion of the contemporary situation.”
Of course, you can go into greater depth in subsequent paragraphs. And that’s fine too. But don’t forget the main idea. If you do, you’ll lose readers.
You Can Take A Break from SEO Copywriting If You Get Burned Out
Many people are afraid to stop writing because it feels like they’re giving up something important. They think there must be some secret formula that allows them to keep working without getting tired. Unfortunately, there isn’t one. What matters most is finding what works best for you.
If you want to become better at writing, it’s essential that you learn how to focus. You don’t necessarily need to go out and buy expensive equipment; just make sure you’re well rested and eat healthy food. Once you’ve taken care of those things, you can start working.
Some writers might prefer to work in spurts rather than continuously. For some, it’s easier to concentrate when they know they are allowed to rest for a few hours. For these writers, they usually try to schedule breaks into their day. Sometimes, they even set a timer to remind themselves to take a break. This way, they can always count on having enough energy to continue working.
Phase 3: Improve Your SEO Copywriting By Editing Your Work
The final step of the SEO copywriting cycle is the editing stage. Most writers think that once they finish their first draft, the job is done. But it isn’t. In fact, there are three more phases to go through before you publish your content.
In this third phase, we’re talking about correcting awkward sentences, unclear phrasings, and jumbled paragraph structure. We call this phase “editing.”
This may sound like a simple task, but it takes some practice to become good at it. If you want to make sure that your writing sounds professional, you must pay attention to every single word you write.
You don’t just want to edit what you wrote; you also want to fix the entire sentence. A poorly written sentence might look fine on paper, but it won’t sound very appealing to readers.
You should read and re-review your work. As soon as you find something wrong with your writing, correct it immediately. Don’t let anything slide.
You should re-write the paragraphs you already wrote. If you’ve got a long list of bullet points that you want to include in your content, you should start with the shortest one and move towards the longer ones.
Once you’ve found the best way to organize your thoughts, you should re-write the whole thing again.
SEO Copywriting Step 1: Read Your Text Slowly Back to Yourself
If you want to write well, read it aloud. This helps you identify errors in grammar, punctuation, style, and word choice. If you are writing something longer than one paragraph, make sure each section flows smoothly. Don’t worry about being perfect; just focus on getting the basic structure down.
The process of writing a good article starts with a slow read. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t speed up once you find something interesting. But it does mean that you should take your time to make sure what you are about to write makes sense. To do this, read each paragraph slowly – and out loud.
This way, you can catch mistakes like misspelled words, grammar errors and typos. If you notice anything wrong, fix it immediately. Then, go back to step one and repeat the whole process.
SEO Copywriting Step 2: Focus On the Quality of Your Sentences
Writing is hard work. Even worse, it takes time. If you want your writing to stand out from the crowd, you’ll have to spend hours practicing perfect grammar, punctuation, and formatting. By focusing on your sentences and how they are written, you can create stronger writing than you would otherwise.
Be concise. You probably already know how much email is too much. Email is meant to be quick and easy, not a full-blown essay. Stick to one topic per email and keep things short and sweet.
Keep in mind that spellcheck doesn’t always catch everything. Your spellchecker might miss mistakes like “there,” “they’re,” and “their.” Instead of relying on spellchecking software, use a dictionary and thesaurus. A good dictionary will tell you what word sounds best and what word is most commonly used. For example, “they’re” is a contraction of “they are.” And “their” is possessive. Both have very different meanings but sound the same.
This is why manual proofreading is so important because it can help you catch subtle changes that the automatic spellcheckers don’t.
Use active voice. Active voice makes writing easier because it keeps pronouns consistent throughout a sentence. In passive voice, pronouns change depending on where the action happens. For example, “The mouse was eaten by the cat” uses passive voice.
Avoid run-on sentences. Run-ons occur when a writer jumps from idea to idea without connecting the ideas. This causes confusion and weakens the overall meaning of the sentence. To fix a run-on sentence, break up the thoughts into smaller parts.
Don’t overuse exclamation points. Exclamation points are great for emphasis, but overusing them can come off as rude. Try to reserve them for important statements or questions.
Proofread twice. Once is usually enough, but double checking ensures no errors slip through.
SEO Copywriting Step 3: Focus On Your Paragraph Structure
In the world of writing, there is no such thing as too many paragraphs. In fact, it’s quite common to find people who write way too much text into one single paragraph. This could lead to a lack of focus, which is why we recommend focusing on each individual paragraph.
The most important part of a paragraph is the first sentence. Make sure that this sentence captures the essence of what you want to communicate. Once you’ve done that, take a step further and analyze whether your sentences are structured properly. You don’t want to start off with a weak sentence that doesn’t give enough information about the topic.
Next, do some research to see how others have written similar topics. Look at how they introduce their ideas and connect them together. Then, you can decide whether you want to follow their example.
If you’re still struggling with structuring your paragraphs, you may want to hire a professional editor as a next step. Just to make sure you have a second pair of eyes for reading through and helping you become a stronger writer.
SEO Copywriting Step 4: Check Your Text’s Structure
Check whether the structure between paragraphs – such as headings, subheads, bulleted lists, etc. – is clear. If it isn’t, you might want to change something about your writing.
You should also check your headlines and subheadings. Make sure the topic of each headline matches the corresponding subheading, and vice versa.
Make sure your focus keyword is present in one of those headlines and subheadings. And equally important, make sure your headings help your readers understand the structure of your text better.
A clearer structure helps readers understand your writing much better, and can help create better clarity where this might have been muddy before.
SEO Copywriting Step 5: Approach Your Users or Colleagues for Feedback
The very final step in your copywriting process is getting some feedback. This is especially important if you want to make sure that your content is being understood correctly. You could use tools like Grammarly or Hemmingway App to edit your text and improve clarity. But it’s often better to go straight to the source.
Ask someone else to review your work and give you feedback. If you don’t know anyone who would do this, try posting a question on Quora or Reddit. Alternatively, you can contact a freelance writer to review your content. Or, if you really want to take things one step further, consider hiring a professional editor to check over your work.
Follow a Few Simple Steps to Improve Your Own SEO Copywriting
When you follow a process and you commit to a practice time every day, you too can become a better writer over time.
Great writers aren’t born overnight. And sometimes it takes quite a bit of practice. But, eventually, you can produce articles that everyone in your industry will want to read.
When do you plan on embarking on your next writing project?
