It comes as no secret that content and SEO go hand-in-hand. After all, without SEO, your work may be buried on page 50 of search engine results, and we all know that traffic on those pages is less than ideal. Similarly, your first-page rating is limited if your material after the click could be better. So, a strong link between SEO and excellent content is crucial! Here are some recommendations on how to write SEO-optimized content to expand the reach of your content and boost your SEO efforts simultaneously.
Learn more about our content syndication services; Schedule a demo
What Does ‘Writing For Search Engines’ Mean?
SEO writing is the process of composing material with the aim of ranking on the first page of a search engine, such as Google.
To accomplish this, you must concentrate on three factors:
- Understand what searchers are seeking when they enter your targeted keyword (i.e., search intent)
- Provide the optimal response to a given search query (i.e., research and knowledge)
- Provide a response that is simple to read and comprehend (i.e., have good writing skills)
You must also comprehend the fundamentals of on-page SEO features, like meta tags, image alt text, inbound and outbound links, etc.
Importance of SEO Writing
As Google processes an estimated 3.5 billion queries every day, getting SEO right is crucial. This indicates that your clients are utilizing Google to discover information.
In addition, once you rank on the top page of Google for your desired keywords, your website will receive organic, recurring, and highly relevant traffic.
In other words, SEO equals money in the bank.
As paid advertising costs grow and social media engagement becomes increasingly difficult to obtain, organic traffic remains to be one of the most significant marketing channels a contemporary firm can spend in.
SEE ALSO: Does advertising on Facebook work? Find out how effective Facebook Marketing is in 2021
How to Create SEO-Friendly Articles
So now that you know what SEO writing is and its importance, how do you get those coveted organic page #1 rankings through content?
Step 1: Research, Research, Research
If you don’t conduct proper research, you’re just shooting in the dark and hoping that something sticks. Hence, if you really want to make a difference and see your content rank, you need to conduct thorough research to determine the following:
- Most lucrative keywords to target
- What type of article are your readers more likely to read?
- What should the length of the article be
- What topics are covered by your competitors
- What people want to learn more about through Google’s ‘People also ask’ questions
Based on this data, you can create a winning strategy that you can use while creating content.
Step 2: Start Creating An Outline
A content outline is an important part of content optimization. An outline makes it easier and faster to write, and it also makes sure that the writing is of high quality.
Part of the process of making an outline is to fill in important SEO details, such as the most common questions people ask when looking for a certain keyword.
Moreover, this process also includes figuring out your article’s heading, subheadings, goals, and approach angle. What makes your article better or different from all the others? All of this is included while creating your outline.
Step 3: Add SEO Elements To Your Content
While having a great article is a big step to ranking on Google, it takes a bit more than that to achieve those page #1 rankings.
a) Post Title and Meta Title
First, you must distinguish between the post title and the meta title.
- Post title: How the title of the post appears to the reader on your website.
- Post meta title: How search engines display your content inside search results. If you have not selected a meta title in your SEO settings, the post’s title will be used. It is essential to include keywords in the meta title.
b) Meta Description
Every WordPress SEO plugin enables the addition of meta descriptions to individual posts. Descriptive descriptions have a significant impact on search engine rankings.
Consider a meta description to be the sales pitch for your blog content. With 156 characters, you must include your keywords and write a description that compels readers to click on your link. If you have not previously included meta descriptions, you should begin doing so immediately. Include your primary keyword in the meta description and ensure that it is intent-driven.
c) Image Alt Attribute
Google cannot interpret photos. Google detects an image using text. To guarantee that search engines comprehend the content of a picture, you must use suitable image names.
Many individuals make the error of uploading photographs with filenames such as image001.jpg. This is an enormous error! Keep the name of a picture relevant to the image itself when naming it.
For instance, a snapshot of an AdSense dashboard titled “AdSense” will not be targeted. You could instead use a name like “AdSense-dashboard.” Hence, when individuals conduct a Google Image Search for an image, they will find a picture from one of your blog entries.
You can always add alt attributes manually when uploading an image.
d) Interlink and Anchor Text
When publishing a new blog post, it is always a good idea to include links to older blog articles so that visitors will remain on your site longer, and search engines may re-crawl this older content.
This improves the site’s navigability, hence decreasing the bounce rate, another significant SEO consideration.
Anchor text should be utilized when creating internal links. When linking to a blog post, you have the option to include both a link and a title. Ensure that the post title contains the primary keywords for the linked post.
e) Add Relevant Headings
Using the appropriate header tags is another crucial component of SEO-optimized content. So, the appropriate use of H1, H2, and H3 heading tags should be considered. By default, any SEO-optimized theme employs an H1 heading element for the article title. Use an H2 heading for the subsequent subheading, followed by an H3 heading, etc.
For successful SEO writing, it is usually a good idea to employ suitable header tags, especially when writing a lengthy piece.
According to the SEO community, including your keywords in H1, H2, and H3 tags is a smart approach. Throughout the process of constructing your outline (during the research phase), you should choose your header tags.
SEO Writing Tips to Make Your Content Reach New Audiences
1. Keep your audience in mind while writing
This SEO writing advice is ranked first for a reason. That seems simple, yet so many businesses create content for the wrong reasons. Create material that appeals to your target audience’s interests or addresses their queries. Not every post must be about your product or service, but they should all be linked to your sector. Establish yourself and your firm as industry experts by creating SEO-friendly, engaging, and useful content and by doing it better than your competition.
2. Create a good structure
Your post’s content may be excellent, but if it is presented in an unstructured or inefficient manner, it is likely to be overlooked. By dividing your information into smaller paragraphs with headings, you make it easier to read and maintain your readers’ interest. Back-end organization is crucial to search engines. Employing the correct tag hierarchy for labeling headlines (H1 for titles, H2 for subtitles) is essential for preserving an article’s structure.
3. Promote content using social media
Social networking is an effective tool for expanding the reach of your content and encouraging its spread. Using interesting descriptions and a call to action, distribute each new piece on social media sites and in forums. Given that the strength of social media consists in sharing, it is also essential to include share buttons on each of your blog entries. If you desire greater control over how your shared links look, adding Twitter Cards for Twitter or Open Graph for Facebook (technical) can give your shared links a boost and may increase your click-through rates.
Learn more about our content syndication services; Schedule a demo
4. Encourage organic link building
Link building has evolved significantly since the days of link purchasing and link farms, yet links remain an essential SEO ranking element. Linking to your own articles or website in your post assures a link back to your site if the item is republished elsewhere. Including an embed code to your website promotes content sharing and offers a connection back to the original source if you get creative with other forms of material, such as infographics and movies. Developing excellent SEO-optimized content increases its shareability and the possibility that other websites will link to it; therefore, you should strive for excellence.
5. Keep track of your efforts
Maintain control of your content optimizationl by keeping track of your efforts. Google Analytics is a simple and cost-free tool for monitoring page views and average time spent per page. Examine metrics such as your bounce rate and time on site to determine how people engage with the material on your website. If you see a high drop-off rate in conjunction with a short average time spent on the page, this indicates that your material wasn’t relevant to what they were seeking or, worse, wasn’t engaging. Consider the number of social interactions (shares, likes, etc.) to gauge the viral potential of your content. Examining these simple indicators may give you a decent sense of which content pieces are well-received and well-liked, allowing you to create similar material in the future.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Facebook is building Instagram for kids, here’s why this is a really bad idea
Feature Image Source: Photo by rawpixel.com on Freepik
Image 1 Source: Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik
Image 2 Source: Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik
