SEO Content writing refers to the process of writing on-site and off-site content that is relevant to the target audience in line with the recommended Google practices. It entails inclusion of high value keywords, graphics, meta title, meta descriptions, internal links, and external links. Carry out extensive research to know which topics and type of content resonates with your target audience before you embark on writing to get the best results.
SEO can be likened to Wizardry. It’s so complex; we always cringe at the thought of diving into the depths of Analytics to find out how our website ranks – or doesn’t.
There’s always a catch with almost everything that you do. Try reading the history of Google’s algorithm updates over the years, and you’ll get the sense that search engines have matured a great deal.
As a toddler, Google tried being clever. They’d use complex protocols to predict users’ interests and act accordingly. Now they’re old and wise. Their focus has shifted from what interests users to what’s quality enough to make them want to hang around for longer.
For writers, this could mean things are a little bit more complicated compared to what they were a few years back. Online readers, on the other hand, are more interested in finding the right information with little to no struggle on their part. They’re more interested in finding the type of content that they can best enjoy.
SEO in Singapore has evolved a great deal and very unique to the Singapore style of internet marketing. It’s no longer a technique, but the good old-fashioned quality of writing. As a marketer, you win it big when your content marketing strategy is goaded by what’s quality enough to keep your users coming back for more.
What Distinguishes a Content Writer from a Copy Writer?
Content writers and copywriters are not the same things. They’re both involved with content creation. But the difference between them sets them on two distinct paths.
The first thing that sets a content writer apart from a copywriter is the strategy. A copywriter simply produces texts. A content writer, on the other hand, has to come up with a solid plan that factors in the end goal or what it is that you want to achieve with your content.
So expect the posts produced by a content writer to always vary depending on whether they’re writing an article, e-book, white paper, emails, or landing page content.
To be competent in the field of content writing, you must possess three skills:
- Clear writing – This is where you convey your message more concisely and compellingly. This part of the writing technique demands that you know how to structure your words. It also demand that you embrace the culture of less is more. Cut on the number of words that you have to use to drive your point home, and make sure that you can still get your message across with as fewer words as it’s humanly possible.
- Domain Expertise – Don’t write about everything that comes to mind. Rather, carve a niche and stick to it. Be very specific with what you write about. Stick to the industry you’re in and avoid acting like a flip-flopper who keeps hopping from one niche to another.
- Have a strategy – Formulate a strategy that you’ve tested and found to work. Every single one of the posts you make must play into the big picture. What do you wish to accomplish in the long run? How does the content you’ve produced inch you closer to this particular goal?
Content developers spend a lot of time trying to cover one thesis from varied angles. For example, a content writer that happen to be working for a freelance startup might offer free advice to companies looking to hire freelancers, write about the lives of freelancers, profile some of its clients, and so forth.
Writing Compelling Blog Posts that are also Good for SEO
Bad content do you no good at their best. Guess what happens at their worst? They throw a monkey wrench on all your SEO effort. This could bring your whole business down. Block all the traffic that you’re getting through search engines.
Bad content is also annoying. It can frustrate your readers and drive your prospects far away from you.
To say the least, the quality of the articles you produce can either make or break your business. You’re not just producing content for the sake of populating your website or blog with posts. You’re doing it to drive value and improve the lives of the readers that will be checking you out.
So how do you write compelling blog post that still appeal to search engines?
To write articles that appeal to both search engines and your readers, you have to first forget about search engines and shift the focus to your readers instead for a minute.
Come up with a Catchy Headline
Content developers treat their headline as an after-thought. They focus on writing a great piece of article and randomly pick a title for it after they’re done.
As a content developer, you have to understand that you’ll be competing with not just one or a dozen other bloggers, but millions of them. They’re both fighting for the same attention as you.
You’ll be competing with the 2.73 million blog posts that get published daily. This is one hell of a competition, one that doesn’t give you the legroom to take chances. And it all starts with the headline you choose.
Just to remind you, this is the first – and for the most part — the only part of your blog post that some people will ever see.
The keywords you include in your headlines matter. People have to be able to find your blog post – or how else are they going to read it?
However, over-optimising your content for search engines puts you at risk of coming up with awkward titles that are more of a turn-off. People see them, but they’re not captivated enough to want to read the underlying post.
Let’s be more honest here: your primary goal is to convert the bulk of your readers into returning customers. Or we could say that’s the only reason anyone would want to improve their search engine visibility.
It defeats the whole purpose of investing in SEO in the first place if those eyeballs aren’t enticed enough to offer you clicks. That means, the headline you come up with must be reader-centric first and everything else second.
That said, here are the defining characteristics of a great headline:
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The first and Last Words
You don’t just throw words into your headline. You instead have to be very strategic with the whole arrangement. In which case, the action verbs must be featured at the beginning and end of the headline, with all the words that you perceive to be less important appearing in the middle.
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Clearly Tell Your Readers What to Expect
Through the headline you come up with, you must clearly tell your readers what to expect. Is the blog post a step-by-step guide? Is it a how-to article? Is it a listicle? Or are you trying to warn your users from something?
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Don’t shy away from Overstating Your Message
Make your message useful and urgent. According to a recent research finding, about 25% of online readers prefer reading overstated headlines. That means you’re better off throwing up a couple of adjectives to spice everything up. Learn to use best, easiest, fastest, or simplest with every little chance you get.
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Create Intrigue but in a Believable Manner
Use a psychological approach to create Intrigue using words such as surprising, answers, how-to, and so on.
Two rules apply in the headline creation process. They include:
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The 50/50 rule:
This rule demands that you dedicate half of the time you spend on creating a new blog post to creating a perfect headline for it. If you spend about one hour writing an article, then you should at least spend 30 minutes trying to come up with the perfect title for it.
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The 80/20 Rule
80% of the people that see your search engine results will only read the headline and proceed with whatever they were doing. Only 20% will click through it to read the entire post.
A bad headline will most likely attract an even fewer number of readers.
Focus on Getting the Reader Hooked-in
There’s a fair chance that only 18% of the readers you attract will read your entire blog post. Still, not every person that reads your blog posts will be converting at the end. Some may need more convincing to develop trust, while some of them might be touched well enough to reconsider the firm stand they held earlier on.
One thing you can be sure of is that the prospects that won’t read past the two first sentences won’t be converting. The lead or the introduction you choose to use for your blog post will determine the reaction that the post generates.
Your focus should be on reeling in the reader. Come with a witty and convincing introduction to hook them right in with the first few sentences they read.
The lead you come up with can take various forms. It could be:
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- An interesting fact that many people don’t know.
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- A cliff hanger: This allows you to take the reader to the end of the story and create some suspense. The reader will then try to read the rest of the article, trying to find out what really happened.
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- A direct question that a reader best resonates with. Keep in mind that this is not a rhetoric question. But a question that reminds a reader of a problem they have or have had.
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- A reference to a current event.
Here’re some real-time examples of great leads:
Do big words make you sound smarter? According to a recent study finding, published in Applied Cognitive Psychology (ACP), the answer is “NO.”
One business owner contacted me a while back about a business proposal he had. We talked for a few minutes, and I liked his idea. It had so much potential, but there’s one thing that I couldn’t figure out. And that one thing has been driving me nuts.
The whole idea is to come up with an introduction that will keep your readers reading. There’re so many ways to achieve this. But being vague or throwing in some generic facts is surely not among them.
Another simple trick is to write an introduction, and then proceed to finish up the rest of the article. After you’re done, revisit the introduction and see if it still reads right. There’s a fair chance you’ll notice if it doesn’t do the rest of the article any solid.
At this point, you can rework it and make it more captivating. If it doesn’t read right, just delete the first few couples of sentences and see if it’s still right. If it’s not then that means you should take your time to come up with another intro.
Tell a Compelling Story
If they’re not interested in facts, they’re interested in stories. Buffer tried researching on the idea of using a story to introduce a piece of content. They’ll take two similar blog posts and write two compelling introductions.
In the first article, they’d write a compelling story that segued into the article. In the second article, they’d write a compelling facts-driven intro that’s no-nonsense.
What happened?
Well, in the first article (the one that started with a story), saw 296% of its readers reading it to the end. That was five times more compared to the number of people that read the second article to the end.
Stories have a unique way of capturing people’s attention. That explains why they’ve always been an important way of interacting with other people since time immemorial.
Plus stories have a way of creating some form of virtual reality around us. They make us feel like we’re part of the story being told.
However, this is a path you’d want to tread carefully. You’re not writing a novel but using a story to hook your readers and grab their attention well enough so they can be motivated to read the rest of the post.
The story will have a beginning, a middle section, and an end. It should also be accompanied by subheadings and bulletin points. But most important, it must be broken into small, digestible bits that your readers will have an easy time understanding.
Give the reader something they can act on
Don’t leave your readers in the dark. So after writing a catching headline and compelling post, don’t end it without telling them what you want them to do.
The internet is filled with so many great posts that end without telling the readers to complete any action.
You’re not limited as to what you can ask your readers to do. For instance, you could ask them to:
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- Download a PDF version of the article or an ebook you wrote
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- Contact you just in case they never understood any section of the post.
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- Join one of your online courses.
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- Enter their email addresses to subscribe to your email list.
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- Buy a product
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- And so forth
Guide on How to Create Evergreen Content in Singapore
Content marketing is the secret recipe for success when doing digital marketing in Singapore. Already, we have discussed basic tips on creating content that is search engine optimised for your brand. Applying those tips will get you going in the right direction and engage with the clients.
However, you cannot achieve substantial results with content that other businesses publish. Google will also penalise you if you copy-paste content from other websites without proper citation. Stand out from the crowd by creating evergreen content. The content will remain relevant for many years to come and continue to generate organic traffic to your site over time.
We prefer referring to it as timeless SEO content that is extremely qualitative and relevant to the target audience. Not every copywriter has the skills and expertise needed to write this kind of content.
MediaOne Marketing takes pride in having qualified copywriters who have years of experience and determination. You can count on us to write top-notch on-page and off-page content that will scale up your business.
Here are expert tips on how to create evergreen website content in 2021 and beyond.
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Choose the Right Topics
Not every topic related to your brand can be used to create green content. The topics that you decide to focus on should not be seasonal. Instead, they should provide valuable information to the target customers who have an extended period. They should engage with it not only by reading but also commenting and taking the desired actions even after the current season or period, such as Christmas.
For example, if you run an online store selling furniture and couches, writing articles on specific models and designs available may seem like a good idea. Sure, the content will help you generate leads, but the numbers will begin to dwindle once the designs become outdated or you stop stocking the products.
The best approach for evergreen content is to focus on the specific needs of the target customers. Using the same example, instead of reviewing products, you can offer valuable information such as “How to Remove Stains from Upholstery.”
Such an article will provide valuable information to the target customers regardless of the season or the designs you have in stock.
Here are more tips on how to find the best topics for your evergreen blog articles.
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- Look for top-rated articles on Google SERPs related to your niche
- Compare the common headlines and highlights
- Look at the short-form and long-form content published online
- Research to identify poorly written articles on popular topics
The research will position you for success in content marketing by providing adequate information to turn into superior articles for your business.
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Carry Out Market Research
As mentioned in the previous post, it’s imperative to create content that resonates with the expectations of the target readers. Understanding their search intent will be instrumental in the topics selection and writing process.
Therefore, take the time to conduct extensive market research to identify information gaps in the market. Look for top-ranked articles for inspiration as well as the poorly written articles that you can improve on to get to the first page of Google.
Usually, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Modify the content to match your brand but make sure that the final piece is 100% unique to avoid plagiarism. Google hates thin content and won’t hesitate to downrank your site if you publish such on your blog or pages.
Virtually all the top-rated articles are well-researched and filled with references and citations. Google bots notice the citations and consider such content as more credible and authoritative than basic articles with just one or no references.
In a nutshell, the research will help you identify the best topics or the low-hanging fruits in your niche and provide authority references and citations that you can use to power up your article. The additional resources enhance SEO and enable the article to stand out from the thousands of articles published daily.
That said, be careful about the studies and reports that you use to write the content, as some may become obsolete in the next couple of months or years. For example, if you are writing about a 4G network in the suburban areas, the study you use will become void in the next five years after the full rollout of the 5G connection. Luckily, you can edit the article to match the changes instead of deleting it.
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Include Relevant Visuals
The human brain interprets visuals faster and better than blocks of text. One picture can be used to pass a message that would have been discussed using 1,000 words or even more. The current digital landscape is visual-based.
Online customers gravitate and engage more with articles that have visuals. Based on this fact, it is recommendable to make sure that you include representative visuals in your evergreen articles to spur engagement with the readers.
Here is an article that offers tips on how to use visuals in blog posts.
Social media platforms are also visual-based, and unlike in the past when text-based posts would generate thousands of comments, images and videos are the preferred content formats. Desist from using images and other visuals that your competitors are using to get a higher cutting edge in the market.
Instead, create your images or customise existing ones to match your brand by adding graphics. Unsplash.com is one of the best sources of royalty-free images. You will find thousands of high-resolution photos on virtually any topic or niche in seconds.
Be vigilant not to use too many visuals in the articles. Ideally, the number of images required is dependent on the size of the article and the topic. For example, if you are writing a tutorial, you will need images for each step to describe the process effectively to the audience.
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Content Should Match Your Brand Voice and Style
Every brand has its unique voice and style that’s based on the audience targeted. When creating evergreen content, make sure that the style and voice you use matches your brand. Doing so will ensure that the content effectively conveys the intended message to customers and supports your other brand awareness efforts.
In addition, you should avoid writing content on topics that are not directly related to your niche. Ideally, your content should resonate with the audience. We have mentioned this repeatedly because so many brands fail to get a high ranking and generate organic traffic because of the disconnect between the articles and what they do.
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Update Content Regularly
Google loves fresh content and often rank sites that take time to add additional content on articles published months ago highly. Updating the articles shows that you are focused and determined to provide the readers with the most relevant and accurate content.
Use monitoring tools such as Google Analytics to know the performance of the articles published. Check the amount of organic traffic generated, current ranking, and engagement levels. High-performing articles should be promoted via social media and email to generate even more traffic and sales.
On the other hand, poorly performing articles should be deleted and replaced with fresh articles or fine-tuned to match the target audience. Maybe, you are targeting the wrong keywords. That’s why they are not ranked highly.
Re-optimise them by adding relevant keywords. With the rise of voice search, adding question-based keywords and long-tail keywords will significantly enhance the performance of the articles.
The Different Types of Evergreen Content
The above five tips will help you create evergreen content. The next step is knowing the different types of evergreen content you can publish. We based this list on research we recently carried out to identify the formats and topics that Google prefers when ranking blog articles.
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How-to Guides and Tutorials
Internet is no doubt one of the most reliable sources of information today. How-to guides and tutorials are ideal for describing processes to audiences, especially after launching a new product such as an email marketing software.
Structure the article as a step-by-step guide and include visuals and links to videos that the readers can watch to understand the process even better. If you add new features to the product, update the guide to make it relevant and accurate.
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Problem-Solving Evergreen Content
You stand to generate more organic traffic and leads if your content offers amicable solutions to the target customers’ problems. Research to understand the problems, then take the time to write a comprehensive article with information on how to resolve them.
Some of the platforms that you can use for research include:
These websites will provide a plethora of common questions. You cannot focus on them all. Identify those that have the highest number of comments. Your answers include links to authority articles that the readers can read to understand the topic more.
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List Posts
Unfortunately, most businesses don’t invest time in writing list posts due to the perception that users no longer click on them. However, research shows that they perform better than basic blog articles that some brands spend thousands of dollars on every month.
A recent research study by Conductor revealed that numbered headlines were displayed at the helm of SERPs by Google and other search engines. Also, most of the snippets are fetched from list posts.
Clearly, list posts qualify to be classified as evergreen content. Ensure that your list is updated and properly structured to win a spot at the top or a snippet.
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Testimonials
Unlike popular belief, evergreen content doesn’t always have to be a lengthy article. We understand that Google prefers long-form content to short-form content, but in the context of writing evergreen content, the goal is to come up with content that will remain relevant and beneficial to the brand for a long time.
Testimonials from past customers and fans will encourage new clients to purchase your products. Be bold by publishing them on your website. Remember, customer reviews are considered trustworthy by online shoppers than in-house product reviews and descriptions.
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Visual Imagery
Did you know that graphics and images can be standalone posts? This tip applies to visual artists, graphic designers, website designers, and photographers. Images of past projects can help you stand out if you list them in one or more dedicated posts.
More importantly, you can use them for social media marketing by customising them to match different campaigns. Your goal as you do this is to show prospects that you are the best in the industry and trust you with the project.
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Glossaries of Phrases and Terms
Yes, it’s impossible to create your own dictionary, but you can write long-form articles that explain the meaning of common terms and phrases related to your industry. For instance, a digital marketing agency can create an evergreen article detailing the different terms and phrases.
Use question-based keywords from Google’s “People Also Ask” section to increase the article’s visibility in SERPs once you publish it. Include links to authority articles posted online, especially on websites with high domain authority, to boost the article’s SEO and ranking.
Evergreen content is what you need to get ahead of the competition in the current competitive yet lucrative Singapore digital marketing landscape. Monitor the results accrued by the posts after publishing to know if you need to update or re-format them. Usually, adding fresh content such as new research findings and new keywords is enough to regain the previous ranking in SERPs.
If you are unsure of which topics to focus on when creating evergreen content, here is a list of tools that you can use.
With the right content, the sky is not the limit for your business but just a milestone. Feel free to reach out to us for more tips on how to supercharge your content marketing campaigns. Our personnel will carry out keyword research and identify the ideal topics for evergreen content creation.
You can have the best content in the world, but if the public can’t find it, it’s only as good as useless.
It has never been this important to invest in SEO, especially since nearly 30% of global web traffic comes from search engines.
Source: Statista
If your website isn’t part of the search engine results that show up for keywords related to your business, then you’re missing out on a valuable source of traffic.
An SEO Refresher
The term SEO gets thrown around a lot these days.
The concept isn’t going away, so it’s best to have a good idea of it and why you should care.
SEO is short for “Search Engine Optimization,” and it’s the process of ranking higher in search engine results to drive more targeted traffic to your website.
SEO Writing Vs. Normal Writing
Writing for search engines is always in a state of flux.
Google and other search engines keep updating their algorithms.
Every time, the rules change slightly.
A few years ago, keyword stuffing worked.
In other words, if you used a keyword repeatedly in your article, you’d rank higher for that keyword.
The idea behind this was to over-optimize your page to get more traffic.
Nowadays, it’s a bad idea to even think about it.
Keywords are only important when surrounded by natural language.
Ideally, you want your words to flow naturally so readers can enjoy reading what you have to say.
The User is the New Algorithm
Google’s goal has never changed — all they have been doing is adjusting their search engine algorithm to ensure the content they list in the SERPs is user-specific.
In May 2021, they introduced MUM (Multitask Unified Model), Google’s new AI cum Natural Language Processing (NLP) platform.
MUM uses advanced “sentiment analysis” technology to study users’ behaviour and understand their search intent.
That means Google can anticipate what a user might type in the search box.
In October 2015, they launched the rank brain algorithm, Google’s machine learning AI that sorts search engines’ results based on relevancy and context of user’s search.
This algorithm changed the game because it understood semantics and processed each search query as a conversation.
It strived to understand the following:
- Whether a piece of content was written in a formal or informal tone.
- Whether the content was written for a global or local audience.
- Where the searcher is geographically located.
- Does the article content answer a specific question more concisely?
- Are readers interacting with elements outside of the content area?
Now, MUM takes the focus away from the content itself to the user consuming it.
The new aim is to understand the user’s state of mind while reading through your content.
It goes way deeper than reading keywords.
In a nutshell, returning visitors, longtail answers, social signals, site performance, and consistent engagement all contribute to improved organic rankings.
So, what does this mean for you?
It means that creating mind-blowing content specifically tailored to the user’s needs has never been more important, regardless of the industry you are in.
You must understand your audience and keep evolving as a writer to meet their needs.
Writing for SEO is about writing content that appeals to readers, not search engines.
What Makes Content SEO-friendly?
Although Google is no longer relying on keywords to figure out whether a piece of content belongs on page 1 or not, there are still a few factors that contribute to SEO-friendly writing.
Content-Length: Google Prefers Long-form Content
The longer your article is, the better your chances of ranking it.
However, it is not a good idea to write lengthy content just for the sake of it.
Your content must have substance and be detailed enough to cover everything the reader needs to know without being too verbose.
Title: Catchy Title that You Can’t Help but Click
The perfect SEO-friendly title uses high-quality keywords that help users understand what a piece of content is about.
- It should be enticing enough to encourage the user to click on it.
- It should also be short and sweet — ideally ranging from 15-40 characters.
- It must also be unique – no similar title on the web.
- It corresponds to search intent.
- It must trigger emotions, and most importantly, encourage the user to go to your website.
Meta-descriptions: The few lines of text Below your Page Title in SERPs.
Meta-description is a snippet of content on your page that briefly describes the page content.
- It should be written in a compelling and clear tone that encourages users to click on your link and visit your website.
- It must be unique.
- It must describe a specific page on your website.
- It must not exceed two lines (140 to 160 characters)
- It doesn’t necessarily have to be a sentence. It can include price, offers, manufacturer, etc.
- It must possess a Call to Action (CTA).
- It’s even better if it can trigger emotions.
The Pages URL: This is the URL of a specific page on your site.
Just as important as the title, if not more.
- It must be relevant to your content.
- It should contain the same keywords as the title of your page.
- It must be easy to read.
- Uses hyphens to separate words.
- Everything must be written in lower case.
H1 Tag: Engaging Headline that Encourages Your Visitors to Read More
Also called heading 1, this section of your content deals with the main topic.
- H1 tags describe what a page is about.
- There should be only one H1 tag per page.
- You can use up to three H1 tags per article if it’s very long and has many key points.
- It must also be unique
- May include words such as “Why,” “How,” “When,” “What,” etc.
- May include numbers, e.g., “11 Ways to….” “Top 10…”, etc.
- Should describe what’s covered in the article body
H2, H3, and so on tags: These are the subheadings of your content.
They add a little more information on your H1 tag.
- It’s always good to use these tags as you write the first draft of your article.
- This way, you will end up with a well-structured article that is easy to read.
- These tags answer specific user questions.
- One idea corresponds to one paragraph. You can’t mix up ideas.
List: To further highlight a point in your article, you can use a bullet list.
It is an excellent strategy to break up the content and make it more readable.
You can use numbers, bullet points, and symbols such as asterisks.
Some writers choose to include numbered lists at the end of their articles to summarize the key points.
Internal Linking: Another Important SEO factor is internal linking.
This refers to hyperlinks that direct users from your blog’s page to another.
Including internal links is an excellent way to improve user experience and provide value to your content by offering a gateway to more information.
It also helps search engines understand the flow of your site and organize it in a better way.
It is better to place internal links at the end of your article, not right at the beginning.
Image: One of the top ways to catch your reader’s attention is to include an appealing image
Images add value to your content and create a more pleasant user experience.
- It is good to keep the image size under 500KB.
- It is also better to use high-quality images rather than placing text over a candy image just for its sake.
- The image must have a readable name. You have to pay attention to how you name images before uploading them to your site.
- The image must have a descriptive alt tag.
- Be sure to optimize the image, so it loads quickly.
Body Content: Here’s where you get down to the actual writing of the content
It must be relevant and substantial, backed by hard facts.
It must be informative, providing the user with value.
- Never copy content from other websites.
- It must be long enough to develop a topic.
- It must target one primary keyword. Prioritize keywords with high search volume and low keyword difficulty.
- It must also target 5 to 10 additional keywords related to the primary keyword.
- If long, be sure to include a table of content.
- Try dividing it into short sentences, with bullet points and sub-headlines.
- Must naturally include the keywords you’re targeting — don’t force it. If the keywords don’t naturally fit in, you’re better off not including them in the article.
Quotes: Quotes are a good way to add value to your content.
It is also a good idea to quote experts or industry leaders.
Quotes are an exciting way to break up the content of your post.
You can use quotes as subheadings and then proceed to expound on them.
- You can use fonts to highlight key ideas
- You can bold them or use different font sizes to highlight the except
Read Further: Links to Other Relevant Articles or Topics
This is an often neglected but valuable tool that helps you improve your blog’s SEO value.
If done correctly, it adds value to your content.
You can link out to relevant posts within your blog or on other websites related to the topic at hand.
It forms a topic cluster that helps search engines understand the flow of your content better.
You can even include links to related books or YouTube videos in your post.
Tips for Writing SEO Content That Google Loves
Now that you know what constitutes an SEO-friendly article, here are 30 tips that will help you write quality content.
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Write for People First, Search Engines Second
That’s is a golden rule of writing.
Remember that you are writing for people, not search engines.
Search engine bots crawl your site to get information about your content.
Your job is to make it easy for them to understand what you are writing and index it accordingly. Other than that, you want to focus on writing an article that’s fun, educative, and engaging to the reader. -
Think Keywords First, Write Later
When writing a new post, you can start by listing your target keywords and search phrases.
These should guide your writing.
Just make sure you don’t stuff your article with keywords; this is a common mistake that many bloggers make.
Simple: Search engines rely on keywords and search phrases to understand your content better before indexing them.
Try to prioritize relevant keywords that are easy for your readers to understand.
Not so sure on how to plan your keyword research? Check Out Our Ultimate Keyword Research Guide -
Determine Search Intent and Identify the Right Format
Search engines like Google use their algorithm to determine the intent of a search phrase or query.
For example, if someone searches for “inbound strategy,” they’re probably looking for a guide or business case study.
So, before you commence writing, think about what a reader would be looking for if they were to search for a particular keyword.
This should guide the type of content you produce.
Google devotes a lot of attention to evaluating user intent correctly.
For example, if someone is searching for “SEO tips,” Google tries to determine whether they want specific tips or random pointers.
Consequently, they also expect content creators and SEO writers to follow suit.
The format you choose, the message you convey, and even the words you use should directly relate to user intent. -
Approach Keyword Research Like an Art
Keyword research is not just about finding relevant keywords.
It is about finding keywords with high search volumes and low competition.
This type of research involves using multiple tools to play around with different keyword ideas.
Tools like Google Ads Keyword Tool, Market Samurai, and Uber Suggest are great places to start your research.
The process must be cyclical.
For instance, you could build a content calendar in three months segments, performing fresh keyword research every three months.
You have to note that industries change all the time, with new keywords trending quicker than you’d ever guess. -
Research Your Competition for the Keywords You Want to Rank For
Once you have found the right set of keywords, it is time to see what your competitors are doing.
You can use the same tools we’ve mentioned above to find out what they are writing about and how often.
The idea is to find out if the keywords you have chosen have a high number of searches and if they’re any easy to rank for.
Caveat: Don’t copy what they’re doing. Instead, use the information as a guide to creating your own original content. -
Each Page Must Target One or Two Keywords, Except for the Homepage
Each page on your site should target one or two main ideas.
You do not want to confuse search engines with conflicting or shifting content ideas.
Google has become increasingly accurate at identifying the main idea of a page.
If your article is about SEO copywriting, stick to that topic and include relevant keywords within the copy.
The Key point: The homepage should be broad, but your landing pages should be very specific. -
Be Sure to Include Keywords in Strategic Parts of Your Article
Google analyses your entire text as well as the strategic parts of your content.
Including keywords in these specific areas can help boost your search engine rankings.
That said, you want to make sure you have included your primary keywords in the following sections of the article:
– The title
– Subheadings and subtext on a page
– In the first paragraph of the article
– In the last paragraph of the article
– In the meta description
– In the alt attribute of your imagesCaveat: If the keywords don’t make sense, don’t include them.
A final note on keywords: Don’t go overboard with it. Search engines have become very sophisticated and they pick up on all cues. -
Use Target Keywords in Bold and Bullet Points to Highlight the Main Ideas
Google pays special attention to this, especially when awarding featured snippets.
The idea is to make sure users can scan through your pages quickly when they do not have the time to read everything.
Bullet points and bolded keywords can help readers identify the main ideas quickly and easily. -
The Title Tag: Keep It Simple and Descriptive
A title tag is the part of a web page that tells search engines what the page is about.
A good title tag should be descriptive and concise.
Don’t stuff it with keywords, but don’t leave them out either.
Note that your title tag shouldn’t exceed 60 characters. You also want to pay special attention to your wording.
For the homepage, target three of the most relevant keywords, those that best describe your business.
Focus on storytelling and, most importantly, keep everything simple. You also want to write in the same language your target audience speaks. Above all, focus on influencing the reader to click through. -
Include Related Keyword Phrases
As you list down your primary keywords and topics, be sure to create a sub-section that lists out the related words and phrases.
Doing this will help search engines understand the context of your keywords better, which in turn, could lead to better rankings.
You can also use Google’s Keyword Planner to find related terms and phrases. -
Include the Primary Keyword in Your Meta Description
This appears right under your title tag.
Include a targeted keyword phrase within the first 150 characters of your meta description, but don’t stuff it.
Like your title tag, your meta description should be descriptive and concise.
Google doesn’t use the meta description as a ranking factor, even though it directly impacts your click-through rate.
Google usually bolds the keyword in the meta description when showing them in the SERPs.
Bolding makes them more visible. It also entices the searcher to click through.
You also want to write your meta description as if you’re writing an ad copy. Purpose to excite your audience and influence them to click through. -
Write, Rewrite, and then Rewrite Again…
Each word you use should be carefully crafted.
Read every sentence and cross out all unnecessary words.
When in doubt, take it out.
Writing is a tiring process. There’s no shortcut to delivering gold, which is what you should be aiming for. After you produce the first draft, go through it and weed out any errors and redundancies. Go through it once more, and then do it all over again until you attain perfection.
If possible, have an extra pair of eyes to look over your draft. If not, just keep rewriting it until you’re happy with the results. -
Outline and Plan Out Your Content
Outline and plan your content before you start writing.
Create a chapter-based format that will help you structure your blog posts better.
If you’re using a program like Scrivener, create a document that outlines all your content. Your outline should include:– The main topic for each section
– Keywords you want to use
– The sub-topics that will guide your post
Caveat: Don’t just write an outline. Follow it. Be disciplined and stick to your outline as much as possible. -
Back Your Content Up with Relevant Facts and Statistics
Use facts and figures to support your claims whenever possible.
People will trust you more when you back up your statements with hard data.
For example, you can say that “According to Marketing Zeus 95% of consumers prefer video ads” instead of just saying “consumers prefer video ads.” -
Focus on the Reader and What He / She Wants to Know
Studies have shown that readers are more likely to be persuaded by relatable figures or people they can relate to.
For example, if you’re writing about the benefits of a certain product, you could say “just like Joe who lost 10 pounds in 3 weeks with Product X” instead of just saying “people who used Product X lost about 10 pounds in 3 weeks.” -
Write Sentence by Sentence
Each sentence should be simple and straightforward.
The writing shouldn’t distract or confuse the reader. Don’t use too many complicated words or phrases.
Approach each sentence the way you’d approach a tweet.
A paragraph should be about 20 – 30 words. If you need more, break it down into smaller paragraphs. -
Create a tension-filled Hook
State the problem, but don’t reveal how it can be solved just yet.
Your goal is to create a curiosity gap and get the reader excited about what they’re about to discover.
It all comes down to building anticipation.
For example, instead of saying:
“Tired of ___, ____ and ____? Here’s how we can help you ____”
You could say:
“Are you tired of ___, ____, and ____? I know how you feel. There’s a solution. And here’s how we can help you ____” -
Hone Your Craft by Writing Daily
Writing is like exercise. The more you do it, the better you’ll get at it.
Don’t wait for your writing to be perfect before you publish it.
If you’re writing just for yourself, then don’t be afraid to post the first draft online. You can always go back and edit it later. -
Get Specific and Avoid Vague Language
Vague words tend to be boring and suck the life out of your prose.
Instead of saying “He / She likes to write,” say “He / She enjoys spending his free time writing articles about video games.”
Vague words are pointless, so weed them out. -
Study Other Writers and Learn from Them
Learn from the best and incorporate their techniques in your writing.
Start by reading some of your favourite authors, and see how they structure their content.
You can also find great writers on sites like Medium and Quora.
If you want to learn more about writing, here are some articles you can check out:10 copywriting tips – from experts to experts (Yoast)
Website Copywriting: The Complete Guide (MediaOne)
How to Write Like a Pro
How to Stop Sounding Stupid and Write Like a Pro -
Turn off the Internet
Spend some time with yourself and turn off the Internet.
It’ll help you focus on your writing.
It’s a simple practice that can help you keep your focus in place.
If you must have the Internet on, at least block social media sites, especially Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. -
Read a Lot of Books and Try New Reading Material
Reading is one of the best ways to improve your writing skills.
The more you read, the better you’ll write.
When you read, don’t just skim through the pages. Read each word carefully and take note of what you like (and what you don’t like) about the author’s style. -
Don’t Just Write — Edit as Well
When you’re done writing your article, go back and edit it.
Don’t just let it sit there and expect the content to be perfect.
Edit it before you post it online. Run it through spell check. Have a few of your friends or family members read it and give you voice their opinion.
Grammarly should be your best friend. -
Your Content Should Be Objective and Honest
You don’t want to mislead your readers or get them worked up for no reason.
Stress the benefits of your product or service without overselling it.
Write every word with intent, and make sure you’re not using filler words like “actually”, “very”, or “literally.”
Don’t compare yourself to other writers. Treat your writing like a workout routine — no one starts off being a bodybuilder. -
Don’t Be Afraid to Write About What You Know
If you know a lot about a specific topic, then write about it!
Write about the things you love, and share your passion with others.
You’ll enjoy writing a lot more if it’s about a topic you’re familiar with. -
Document, Don’t Write
If you want to write like the pros, then start documenting your life.
Journal about what happens each day — one day it’ll make for a great memoir.
If you want to turn your writing into a business, then documenting your life is one of the best ways to get started.
Walk your readers through the steps you’re taking.
Write about your failures and how you survived them. Tell stories that will inspire others to keep going. -
Don’t Strive for Perfection
You’re only human, so don’t expect your writing to be perfect.
Perfectionism can put a lot of pressure on you and cause writer’s block.
If your writing is just for fun, then don’t wait for it to be perfect before you start sharing it with the world. -
Find a Writing Partner and Collaborate on Content Together
If you have a friend who’s a great writer, try collaborating on an article together.
It’ll give you a chance to bounce ideas off each other and help you strengthen your writing skills.
Your writing partner can also serve as a great editor. They’ll catch grammatical mistakes, suggest ways to improve your article, and edit out any unnecessary words. -
Understand Your Audience and Write for them
Make sure you know who your target audience is before you start writing.
Write about their needs and the problems they’re facing, and most importantly, offer them a solution.
If they feel like you understand them, then they’ll easily warm up to you and support your business. -
Work Under a Deadline
If you want to write like the pros, then work under a deadline.
When you’re working on a time limit, it’ll force you to get your thoughts out of your head and onto paper (or screen).
Working under a deadline will also help you manage your time better.
It’ll help you focus on what’s important and avoid wasting time on unnecessary tasks. -
Split Long Projects into Manageable Chunks
You can start by outlining all of your ideas. You also want to break your article into sections. After that, all you’ll be doing is filling in the blanks.
Break your article into small chunks, and then focus on one section at a time.
That way, you won’t be overwhelmed by the entire article.
The term SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. That means that anything that is SEO compliant means that it has been designed according to the rules and guidelines set up by search engines. But there are several search engines available today, like Bing, Yahoo Search, DuckDuckGo, and Google.
Nowadays, there are many new modes and avenues of marketing, including content marketing. Some of the most popular services associated with this are the pieces of content you create that are designed to rank above your competition on the first page of search results. And the most popular option to evaluate these ranks is the Google search engine.
But why is Google THE benchmark that marketers and businesses set for their web rankings? According to the Google ranking algorithm, let’s discover why it is so and why SEO writing services should always be.
Search Engine Optimization: What is SEO?
Before we try to tackle the question of why Google is the SEO benchmark for rankings, let’s discuss the concept of SEO itself.
When we type a search term into any search engine and press enter, we are presented with a list of options that relate to our search query. Those results, and the order they are listed in, is all a result of their search engine optimization.
Search engines will have dozens to hundreds of thousands of results that relate to your query for any given search term. But while there might be a considerable number of search terms available, people rarely search beyond the first ten or twenty in the list.
That means that if we want people to view our content, we need to rank as high as possible in the search engine lists for that term. To put it into perspective, search results on page two of Google get less than 1% click-through rates.
So if you want your efforts rewarded and generate traffic, you need as many of your web pages on the first page of a search engine’s search results as possible. Only through this process will you be able to reap the maximum benefits from your website.
SEO Over the Years
In the early days of SEO, the algorithms used by the search engines were not that dynamic. They were pretty limited in terms of judging the quality and intent of web pages. That meant that you would often find that you could either make your content an engaging read or optimize it for better search engine rankings.
However, over the last decade, the algorithms used by these search engines have changed over time. They have become better at understanding what would speak to your audience and evaluates its rankings accordingly.
Foremost among them is the Google search engine. The company constantly comes up with new functionalities and features designed to make the SEO ranking process smarter. In short, SEO is a process of tweaking and structuring your content to make it easy for the various search engines to rank it higher than your competitors in the market.
What Does SEO Writing Services Entail?
SEO writing services cover a broad range of writing services for the web, including web content, blog posts, articles, and more. An essential part of content marketing, SEO writing has proven itself a far better option to attract and engage consumers compared to classic sales engagement techniques.
Web copywriting refers to the text that makes up a web page. The purpose of that content is to attract and educate the reader about the company and its offerings to influence them into buying said products.
Blog posts and articles are meant to create and deliver content for the different phases of the sales funnel. The first two phases are educating the reader about your products or services, establishing your authority, and highlighting their issues that your company could solve. Finally, converting them into patronizing your business are all tasks accomplished through these types of copywriting.
Google is an intelligent entity. It is pretty intuitive when it comes to evaluating the intent of a piece of content. Its search algorithms are adept at evaluating if the content is written well enough to appeal to its audience and factor this in the rankings.
Topic-Based Content and Search Engines – Why do They Love Them So Much?
There was a time when SEO writing was all about stuffing the relevant keywords wherever you could in the content. That often resulted in written pieces that sounded far from natural to its readers. Today, however, Google wants content that is helpful and written well enough for a variety of users to understand it easily.
Essentially, Google wants to give its users the style of content they want to peruse.
For instance, a fitness website must need to have a content that can describe about the benefits of being healthy. It should include different types of fitness slogans defining some motivational stuff. This type of content is not only remarkable for people, but also very interesting for Google. It can help the AI of Google to understand the basics of content and why it should be ranked on search engines.
This change in Google’s algorithms has resulted in the rise of topic-based content, which covers specific topics in all its aspects. That is achieved in a couple of ways. Digital marketers can create long-form content that covers the subject in its entirety. Or they can break it down into a series of smaller articles, also called clusters, with each covering a specific sub-topic of the broader parent topic.
This helps content creators and marketers cover their topics comprehensively without annoying or boring the readers. People today have a far shorter attention span compared to a few years ago. By breaking a topic into clusters, you can ensure that the reader isn’t bored and keeps returning to your website to view the following article.
Google and Latent Semantic Indexing
Coming back to the context of Google and how search engines are becoming more intelligent to look for content their users want to see. The secret to that is the latent semantic indexing that is incorporated within the algorithms, which helps these search engines understand the topic’s essence.
It captures and studies the keyword and its synonyms, alternates, as well as how it connects to topics of a similar nature. As defined by its name, these algorithms understand the latent or hidden meaning between the words of the content and use that to discover the gist of the content.
That has resulted in the search engine ignoring content explicitly created to rank high using keyword stuffing and instead prefers to rank those that actually provide value to their readers. Quality content, intuitive use of the keyword and related latent semantic indexing, and proper interlinking to valuable resources that offer something new on the topic.
All of these help your SEO-optimized copy rank higher than your competition.
Copywriting Vs. SEO Copywriting: What is the Difference?
Copywriting is the creation of content that attracts and engages readers towards performing a specific action. It is most commonly used to market something and is only considered successful when it converts someone.
We can even say that copywriting is quite similar to being a salesman, and copywriters often produce a variety of content for flyers and pamphlets, ads, promotions, and customized content for a marketing team.
SEO copywriting is an offshoot of the original copywriting job. The only difference is that the SEO copywriter writes specifically for online platforms and manages its content according to the search engine guidelines.
SEO Writing: Writing for the Audience, Optimized for the Search Engine
SEO writing has evolved in the past few years, ever since Google launched its new AI algorithm and its updates. This new analytics tool dives deep into the context of the content and tries to understand what it is actually about.
It doesn’t just take the frequency and presence of its primary keyword as a guarantee of the topic’s quality. Instead, it focuses on the latent semantics and related keywords to effectively understand the topic’s gist.
SEO writing services are all about helping you create helpful, exciting content and offer value to the readers in the form of information or a solution to their problem. Highlighting relevant keywords and phrases allows people to determine if the topic is something they might be interested in.
If readers think your content is good and also relevant to their needs, then they might even promote it on their social media handles. That raises the authority of your copy and helps boost its rank on Google.
Essentially, SEO writing services target specific reader demographics and try to solve the problems they are facing using high-quality content.
Why Google?
While there are many search engines available today, Google is the one that people factor in when they want to browse the internet. As the most popular search engine today, Google is also quite popular with marketers.
Other search engines like Yahoo, Bing, and others have issues that stop them from reaching the level of fame that Google enjoys. Google also comes as the default search engine for the popular Chrome browser with a clean and intuitive UI.
From a marketing perspective, people prefer Google because of the research and development the company has done in a drive to understand better the type of content their users want. The AI-driven algorithms designed to perform specific SEO-related tasks are pretty effective at weeding out low-quality content and helping great content rise in the ranking and reach the users looking for them.
Moreover, Google has been driving towards an integrated mobile-and-pc environment, aided by their Chrome OS and the Android mobile platform. It has helped the company understand user behaviors better and allowed them to improve their algorithms.
The Five Elements That Identify the Quality of SEO Writing Services
Certain elements and factors characterize valuable and well-written content. These include the likes of visual appeal and timelessness in terms of their content. If you follow specific rules of search engine optimization, your SEO writing services will have an easier time reaching the top 10 search rankings.
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Speed of Your Webpages
The loading speeds of your websites have been an important ranking metric for the past decade or so. As the internet evolved and got more common, with better bandwidth and speeds, consumers wanted the pages they visited to load quicker.
Today, in areas with well-developed network infrastructure, the average load time is 2-seconds per page. If your site takes longer than that to load, then you need to evaluate how this factor can be improved.
If it takes too long to load your content, then the chances are that your visitors will abandon your site for another. And despite having better content to offer those consumers, you will lose them to your competition due to longer load times and bad user experience.
According to a report by Akamai, 40% of web visitors will tend to abandon a site if it takes more than three seconds to load. Therefore, you need to ensure that your website loads within that timeframe.
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The Title or Headline
The first thing that a viewer sees of your content is its heading or title. If your copy is top-notch and offers unique perspectives and information, it doesn’t matter if your title does not attract interest.
Titles or headlines are like call-to-actions. Their entire purpose is to attract the reader into viewing your content. Moreover, they pique the reader’s interest in case they skim over the content before deciding to read it.
So, if your headlines are mediocre, then your site’s click-through rate will be pretty low. And even well-written copies will find it almost impossible to rank with a low CTR. According to famed British marketer David Ogilvy, nearly five times as many people read your headlines than your content.
That means that to create a solid SEO copy, your headlines need to be as good as your content. Without it, you will have no chance of attracting traffic towards your content or your website.
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The Quality of Your Content
Obviously, the content itself is an essential aspect of SEO writing services. The internet search game runs on the consumers’ drive to look for quality content. Whenever someone uses a search engine, their intent is to look for relevant content that will help solve their issue.
However, these pieces of content are quick to become outdated, and their age is an important SEO metric. That is why you constantly need to add and update your content accordingly.
Your quality is highly dependent on the intent behind it, as well as proper use of the keywords, especially long-tail keywords, which have the ability to bring in traffic. However, make sure that your copy isn’t over-optimized and you are using popular vital phrases properly.
Google’s Panda algorithm is designed to evaluate and weed out thin content in order to ensure that only well-written and unique content ranks on the search engine. That helps to rank content from brands who actually care about developing informative and attractive content.
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Meta Descriptions
The meta description is a short blurb about the content you’ve created. It is displayed in the search engine results below the relevant URL. Its purpose is to help readers gauge the topic and the content covered in your article or page and decide if you are worth their reading.
Creating interesting meta descriptions helps improve your traffic by influencing a more significant number of readers into viewing your content. Web pages with no or boring meta descriptions result in readers going for other, better-perceived web pages.
General SEO guidelines require that a meta description be around 150 characters on average, but no more than 160 characters. That prevents overflow of the text when viewed in Google’s search results.
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The Page Links
Page links tell that you know your topic and have expanded on your write-up with other relevant resources. That allows Google to see that you are connected with the industry and learn how to fulfill the needs of your users.
Linking relevant sites and content to your own helps create a chain of resources that can help a user solve their issues, which is something that is quite dear to search engines like Google. The general rule of thumb is to link relevant resources within and outside your own site, which helps create a smooth chain of information for the reader.
What Does It Mean When Your Content “Ranks” on Google?
Ranking on Google means that your content appears in the search results when someone looks for the relevant search term on the internet. Now, the higher you rank, the greater the chances of receiving more traffic.
The top ten ranked content are the ones that appear on the first page of Google’s search results. And these are the ones that receive the most traffic. That is because it is extremely rare that a consumer goes looking beyond the first page of Google’s searches, and even if they do so, then they go no more than page 2.
The Final Thought
If we were to summarise this post in one sentence, then we’d say – Google and other search engines are only interested in what their users are interested in. That’s the secret to writing great SEO content. Forget about search engines for a moment and focus on what’s best for your readers.
Soon or later, Google will be able to pick on it and reward you with a prime ranking in the SERPs.
Need help with engaging your readers with quality SEO content. Talk to us, and see how MediaOne marketing, one of the leading digital marketing agencies in Singapore, will help you out on this one.
