SEO copywriting

11 Tips for Effective Seo Copywriting

SEO Copywriting Tip #1. Avoid stuffing your content with keywords.

While there’s a need to optimize your content with keywords, there is also such a thing as too much and experienced copywriters know this.

There’s a big difference between increasing the keyword density of your content and engaging in a tactic called keyword stuffing. It’s good to increase the keyword density of your content as long as it still reads naturally. What you need to avoid is adding too many keywords such that your content will not make sense anymore.

Keyword stuffing is an old form of cheating. It is when you excessively use keywords and key phrases in a particular content to improve your organic search performance. Not only will it make your content poor in quality but it will also lead to a bad user experience.

No one wants to browse something that’s written for a search engine algorithm. In the long run, it will backfire on you. And it’s already 2021! Google and other search engines can already detect if you are trying to manipulate your ranking by adding too many keywords that would affect the quality of the content.

SEO Copywriting Tip #2. Perform keyword research to know the right keywords to use in your copy.

Keyword research is perhaps one of the best SEO strategies that can help your copy or page be chosen in search engines. With keyword research, you’ll be able to identify the right target keyword or keyphrase to use in your article.

Now keyword research alone is a broad topic. There are various tools that can help you perform keyword research easily and conveniently. But before you even start doing keyword research, you should first know how a target keyword works so that you can determine what keywords you should use for your search engine optimization efforts.

In keyword research, it’s important that you know your audience. That is why the first step in identifying the best target keyword for your article to generate more traffic is to know what your audience or customers are looking for.

For example, if you offer pet services in New York, think of what keyword your prospective customers might be searching for in the search engines. You may think of “pet grooming New York,” “New York dog sitter” or “veterinarian in New York” as your keyphrases. Those words are what you call short-tail keywords.

There is also what you call a short tail keyword. Short-tail keywords are great for category pages to drive more traffic to your website. However, those keywords are also known to get higher bounce rates and lower conversion rates. So for individual product pages or articles, long-tail keywords are recommended. 

Long-tail keywords are more specific keywords that your target readers are more likely to enter in search engines when they are close to making a decision or when they are using voice search. 

So in the example above, one possible long-tail target keyword for “veterinarian in New York” will be “veterinarian in New York who can treat canine hepatitis.” That long-tail keyword will help you connect with pet owners who are seriously looking for a veterinarian. 

Importance of Keyword Intent

When identifying the best keywords, it’s also important to understand keyword intent. If you use keywords such as “coupon,” “discount” or “compare,” you are attracting potential consumers whose main search intent is to find product deals by searching through search engines. On the other hand, if you use “tips to,” “how-to” or “best ways,” you are appealing to the people whose intent is to find information. So the keywords that are best for your search optimization efforts are those that match the search intent of your audience.

Note that Google ranks pages or websites that closely match the user’s search intent.

Once you know what the name of your targeted keywords are, it’s easy to use our Google Local Rank Tracker and find out where they rank in Google My Business listings.

The data gathered by using this tool will show not only how often a particular GMB listing appears on SERPs but also its ranking position across many cities within certain zip codes or neighborhoods around town!

SEO Copywriting Tip #3. Use the inverted pyramid writing style.

Many copywriters are familiar with this writing style as it is one of the most effective techniques in SEO copywriting. This is especially useful if your website contains numerous informative content or blog posts. With this style of writing, you are frontloading information in your content. That means including the details on “who,” “what,” “when,” “where” and “how” as well as your preferred keywords and key phrases as early as possible, doing your audience and your website a favor.

The inverted pyramid style of writing was originally used in journalism to hook newspaper readers. It then became popularly used in novels and academic theses where the introduction part is followed by important details then by less important information that gradually leads to a conclusion. 

Here are some tips that can help you write content in a pyramid format.

• Lay your big ideas in the first paragraph or in the first few sentences and make them easy to understand. 
• Grab your audience’s attention. The goal here is for your audience to say “Yes! This is what I have been looking for.” If your first paragraph can answer the questions they have in their minds, you are in the right direction.
• Factor in skimming when you write content especially if you are writing a very long blog post. Research shows that readers don’t read website content and articles the same way they would read a novel. Instead, many people just skim through the content looking for phrases that match what they are searching for. In many cases, readers just go through the opening paragraph and then the first few sentences in the subsequent sections. That is where you need to strategically add your keywords or keyphrases to attract their attention. 

In summary, to achieve the pyramid style of writing, put your primary ideas first to encourage better engagement with your audience. 

SEO Copywriting Tip #4. Write for Featured Snippets.

A snippet is that little box that appears at the top of a search engine results page like the Knowledge Graph and Rich Answers results. However, featured snippets are unique by how Google gets information from one organic listing on the first page of the SERP. Google then gives the source website credit by adding the link.

The purpose of featured snippets is to make the life of web searchers easier by giving them answers to their query right within the search results rather than letting them delve for an answer by clicking through a website.

Featured snippets come in all sizes and formats but their purpose is to draw the attention of users on the SERP. And since snippets get that much valuable space at the top of the SERP, they also drive more impressions and clicks. 

An organization analyzed about 2 million featured snippets and they found that around 13 percent of search results returned a featured snippet. The same study shows that almost 9 percent of the clicks in the SERPs were coming from the featured snippets. This only shows that featured snippets get organic traffic from search results. 

The significant clicks that you can get from featured snippets present several big opportunities for businesses or website owners: 

• If you are in the number 1 spot and the search engines are showing your featured snippet, you could get a significant number of clicks for your organic traffic.
• Even if you aren’t on the number 1 spot but still manage to have a featured snippet on the search engines, you can also increase your organic traffic exponentially.
• It will not cost you a huge amount of money to get featured snippets. You just need to have the right SEO copywriting strategy.

We already know the importance of featured snippets, so let’s now look into its different types, what keyword search queries trigger them, and how you can optimize your article or blog post to land featured snippets.

Types of featured snippets

Paragraph

This is the most common type of featured snippet many website users know about. Paragraph snippets give searchers a direct answer to a specific question plus additional information that can spark attention to click through. More often, these snippets are featured alongside an image from the source content. 

Paragraph snippets will show up for your article or post if you optimize it for relevant keywords such as “how-to,” “how to get,” “who is,” “what is” and “what are.” Your FAQ pages are perfect for addressing simple keyword search queries while dedicated pages can address more complex keyword search queries.

Numbered list

Google shows numbered snippets when the relevant query implies that the searcher wants to find a set of steps for a specific task. These snippets often contain explanations on how to do something. More often, these snippets answer “how-to” and “how do I” questions which are common for recipes and DIYs.

The click-through rate for this type of snippet is high as searchers would often want to see accompanying photos or get more details of the steps.

You can optimize your blog or article for number list snippets by including a numbered list with brief descriptions of the steps at the start of your post.

Bulleted list

With this type, the headings of the different sections in your post are compressed into bullets to show searchers a compressed view of your blog. More often, you’ll see bulleted featured snippets for ranked and unranked items, “best-of,” and feature lists. It is very common for product reviews. 

Table

The table featured snippets are quite popular, making up almost 30 percent of all snippets. It is commonly used for lists, models and pricing, rates, and data.

With table snippets, Google shows off what it can do. When a searcher types in a relevant query, Google can pull the specific information from your blog content and recreate its own table. While the table in your content may be dynamic and sortable, what Google will show is a simple non-sortable table. Most users are encouraged to click to be able to sort or filter the table on your website.

To rank for a table-featured snippet, it’s important to note that size matters. If your table has four rows or more, it will increase your chances of driving more traffic to your website.

YouTube snippets

Featured snippets go beyond your website as Google also pulls information from YouTube. So if your blog content features videos, make sure that you also optimize your videos to land a snippet. Google may show a specific clip of your video or use the text from your video descriptions to answer a user’s query.

Carousel

With carousel snippets, Google suggests keywords that may be helpful with the user’s search. Google displays those keywords at the “to” or “bottom” of the snippet. Once the user clicks on a keyword, the featured snippet will change.

About two-thirds of the keyword bubble comes from websites that are in the top 10 of the SERP. This means that if your blog is optimized for the relevant keywords, you have multiple chances of being featured. The trick here is to make your blog as comprehensive as possible. 

Any type of search query that requires more detailed information or refinements to get a simpler answer usually lands a carousel snippet.

SEO Copywriting Tip #5. Think of click-worthy headlines.

Headline copywriting is powerful. This goes to say that if your headline is boring, no one would want to click through and visit your website. You may think that it’s a waste of time to plan and brainstorm your headline but in the long run, it will work to get you more organic CTR and pageviews.

We all know that web content is meant to be shared and read. For this purpose, your blog will most likely get more shares through the various social media platforms if it has a compelling and eye-catching headline. 

Here are some tips to write catchy and compelling headlines:

Use numbers in your headlines.

Numbers allow your audience to easily picture out the message you want to convey. It also helps organize your content. When you use a number in your headline, you could easily create a list of important points in the body of your blog or a list that could also land you a featured snippet which in turn promotes more traffic to your page.

When using numbers, write them in digit form instead of in word. For example “9 Practical Tips to …” is better than “Nine Practical Tips to ….” Also, be specific with what you want to offer by adding keywords such as:

• Principles
• Reasons
• Tips
• Facts
• Tricks
• Lessons

Use phrases or formulas that are proven to be effective in your headlines.

Some phrases in headlines are proven to be effective in catching the attention of your audience. Here are some of the best examples of compelling headlines you can use for your copy:

• How to (task) that (benefit) – This formula offers a step-by-step guideline and will attract users who want to learn something new. One example is “How to Optimize Your Headline to Drive More Traffic.”
• The Secret to … – “The Secret to a Fluffy Cake” or “The Secret to Getting More Facebook Likes.” With that formula, it gives your audience the feeling that you are giving them the privilege of learning an important secret from your content. 
• Do an action like a renowned person – A mention of a well-known person brings credibility to your content. You can suggest an action that your reader can do to become like that person. For example, “Do These Hacks to be Like Martha Steward.”
• What you should know about – This headline can easily spark curiosity. It’s like you are the expert and you are sharing your in-depth knowledge of the subject with your audience. A good example would be “What You Should Know About SEO Copywriting.”

SEO Copywriting Tip #6. Optimize your meta-tagging.

If you want to be on the first page of search engines, another important step you need to check is the meta tag of your page. A meta tag is an HTML element or code that helps search engines better understand what the content in your website is all about. Most meta tags don’t appear in the content itself but are found in the page’s source code. 

There are different types of meta tags and they may differ in terms of their impact on search optimization. We will only discuss here those that are important for SEO copywriting.

Title tag

A compelling copy is a king! The title conveys what your copy is all about and this is what people will first see if they will visit your page. That’s why your title should not only be compelling but also optimized for search engines if you want to improve your rank.

A title tag is an important meta tag as it can have a huge impact on your organic search engine rankings. You can find this tag at the top of your browser, in the title bar.

If you are a copywriter, one of the more important components of the title that you should put your focus on is the title tag. On the results page of search engines, you can find the title tags as clickable headlines for a given result. Title tags are vital for SEO and social sharing. Also, title tags play a major role in helping search engines understand your copy or article.

Once a user performs a keyword search and your page appears in the results, the title tag is the first thing they will see about your page. With a good title tag, it will leave a positive first impression on your audience.

For the title tag to work for you, it should be relevant to the content. It’s also important to include the main keyword on the title page. The closer the keyword is to the first word in the title, the better it is for search engine ranking purposes.

Meta description

A meta description provides a brief description of the content. Although a meta description is not visible to the audience, search engines use this as a short text underneath the title tag in the SERPs. A well-written meta description is extremely important in promoting click-through from the search engine results page. 

With a compelling meta description, you can increase the number of visits to your site from the search engine page. A meta description works like an advertising copy that will help draw the attention of web searchers to click on your link. As such, a compelling meta description is one that is short and concise but clearly describes your content.

Alt text for images

If you have images in your content, you can utilize the “alt” text meta tag to tell the search engine what an image is about. The search engine will not be able to see the images but it can crawl your alt text. This is a good opportunity for you to boost your brand awareness by getting more impressions from your images. 

Your alt text should be compelling and contains words that describe the image. If the image is an object, you may also use adjectives such as size and color to provide more details. This is helpful especially that alt text is not only for the search engine but also for screen reader users.

Nofollow tag

The “no follow” tag is telling the search engine not to follow specific links on your content. This tag can be beneficial in ensuring that the page ranking is not being transferred across. 

No index tag

The “no index” meta notifies the search engine not to include a particular page in your website in the search results. It is a useful tag if you want to keep a particular content out of the search results. 

Heading tag (H1 to H6)

The HTML heading tags provide clues to the search engine about the context and overall structure of your content. Search engines use the order of heading tags from <h2> to <h6> to understand the relevance of the content. That’s why your heading tag should be ordered based on importance, <h1> being the most important.

SEO Copywriting Tip #7. Improve reading experience with a table of contents.

Your readers’ time is precious and more often they would like to get straight answers to their questions. Say you have a very long content that is divided into seven or more subsections. A reader would normally want to know right away if the content is of any value to them or if it has the information they are looking for. With such a long content, it may take time before the reader can have a full grasp of what the article or guide is all about and to stay engaged. In this situation, a table of contents can greatly help.

With a table of contents in your article, your audience can immediately understand the message that you want to relay in your post. Once they see the different subsections, it may also entice them to read further and read the rest of the post. 

Another benefit of adding a table of contents to your article has to do with SEO. A table of contents creates anchors on the page and sometimes, Google shows this in the SERPs. It is another chance for you to get more traffic.

SEO Copywriting Tip #8. Create the element of suspense and surprise.

Have you ever watched a television series in which the first episode leads you to watch the next episode and before you know it, you’re already binge-watching? Scriptwriters use a technique called “open loops” or cliffhangers to indulge you into watching more episodes. What they do is that in the earlier episode, they add a plot element that will make you curious. Then they will solve it several episodes later. 

Open loops let you crave to watch more. This is a smart technique for television series which you can also apply to your post or content. But make sure to always close the loop as not doing so will destroy your readers’ trust.

Here are a few tips on how to use the open-loop technique in copywriting:

• Make an intriguing headline. An intriguing headline can hook your audience to read further. You can get inspiration from these headlines from the National Enquirer: 
• “Father Goes For Kidney Treatment – Leaves Hospital As A Women”
• “How Jack The Weakling SLAUGHTERED THE DANCE FLOOR HOG!”
• Create a dramatic opening paragraph. When you open the loop in your first paragraph by creating a dramatic situation, you are leaving the audience wanting for more. You will create momentum for them to continue reading your SEO content.
• Introduce a bit of information at the start of the content (without giving all information away). For example, at the beginning of a post, you can share some figures and data from an important study in which a startup business was able to double its revenue after a month of opening. And to hook your audience to read further, you can mention that the secret to that business’s success will be mentioned at the middle or end of the post or on your next post. By using an open-loop storytelling format, your audience will be looking forward to seeing the reason how the business at the beginning of the post is able to attain such a huge success.

SEO Copywriting Tip #9. Use a catchy call to action.

Another important aspect of SEO copywriting is to add a CTA (call to action) to your content. Many copywriters know what it is, however, there are some writers who aren’t sure how to position it in the copy.

Would you like your readers to make a decision after reading your content? If you do, ask them to do it using a catchy CTA. But then, you may say that not all in your audience are ready to buy or subscribe. You can still add a CTA as not all CTA is about buying a product or subscribing to your newsletter.

An SEO strategy is important but a CTA is more important for your conversion. If you will not encourage your readers to make a decision now, there’s a big chance you will forever lose that opportunity. 

A CTA is an invitation to do something. It is normally shown as a button or link that persuades the audience to click to learn more, subscribe, book now, or buy now among others. The purpose of CTA’s is to make more sales, increase your subscriber base, or move readers through the content. 

Here are some tips on how you can write an effective CTA:

Emphasize low risk. Your audience would be reluctant to click a CTA to subscribe if they don’t have the assurance that it is a low-risk proposition or it will benefit them more than you as a business. So if you want to ask the reader to subscribe, you can emphasize that they don’t have to commit, it’s free, and that they can unsubscribe anytime.

Make your CTA short, clear, and simple. Your CTA should easily grab the attention of your readers. A simple and straightforward CTA can generate more clicks than say a long CTA with multiple instructions since long or detailed instructions make readers feel nervous.

Since your CTA button is a visual tool, make it obvious and clear within the content. Your website visitors should easily see it. Avoid using gray (signifies inactive) or red (signifies danger) as your button color. Instead, use calm colors such as blue or green.

Offer immediate benefits. Consumers want instant gratification so it’s a good idea to also incorporate this in your CTA. For example, you can offer a free downloadable magazine or free course as a click reward.

Make the CTA in a commanding tone. Since you are asking your readers to take any action, make your CTA in a commanding tone. Here are some examples of time-tested CTAs.

• Get started now
• Try this (product) for free (for a limited time)
• See how (a certain action works)
• Read more
• Download now
• Subscribe
• Learn more
• Book Now
• Buy now

While a CTA is normally placed at the end of the post, you can also position it in the body or within the navbar.

SEO Copywriting Tip #10. Speak in your audience’s language.

To be effective in SEO copywriting and to be able to persuade your target audience to read your post, you should show that you understand them and know where they are coming from. 

For example, if you are writing about recipe tips, you need to emphasize that you also cook and you know your kitchen well that’s why you are sharing some tips with your audience. You should know the terms, ingredients, and processes that other chefs or home cooks use. If you don’t know what you are talking about, the readers will be turned off from reading further. 

Moreover, there’s also an SEO benefit to knowing the language that your audience speaks. If you mention keywords and phrases that are commonly used in a particular topic, Google will be able to better understand the relevance of your SEO content.

If you are already familiar with the niche, it should be easier for you to speak in your audience’s language. If not, you can browse through forums or communities where your target audience discusses topics. Some of the popular sites are:

• Facebook groups
• Quora
• Reddit
• Slack communities
• Other forums and online communities

It can be time-consuming to visit those sites and browse for their popular topics of discussion. But the benefits can be worth your time as it will help you compose relevant content that your target audience would be interested in.

SEO Copywriting Tip #11. Make your content easily readable.

When it comes to SEO copywriting, you should also focus on making your SEO content easy to read and user-friendly. It will not only be beneficial for your audience but also for your website as doing so is vital for SEO purposes.

There are several benefits for having easy-to-read content on your website:

Well-written copy improves user experience.

Needless to say, an unintelligible post makes for a bad user experience. No one wants to read something that’s stuffed with keywords that are both robotic and incomprehensible. That is why all your content should be user-friendly and something that your target readers could happily read from top to bottom. That is great for a holistic SEO!

If you write posts and content that people can easily understand, you are helping them find information or answers to their questions. What’s more, you’ll end up having happy site visitors and reducing your bounce rate. 

Quality content is preferred for SEO.

In the past, stuffing your content with keywords may work, but not anymore. Google has a much better way of recognizing quality content now. If your article contains many keywords that are already affecting readability, it can negatively impact your SEO efforts. Google can now recognize synonyms and become better at predicting what search engine users want to read. 

Overall, as Google’s algorithm continues to improve to mimic a human, the more user-friendly your content is, the better it will be for SEO. 

Easily readable content is vital for voice search.

Voice search is continuously growing in popularity so search engines such as Google also focus on presenting the ranking in a voice-like manner. In other words, Google would prefer ranking content that is easy to understand.

How to make your SEO easy to read

If you are an SEO copywriter, here are seven tips that can help make your SEO content easy to read:

1. Make it snappy.

Let’s remember that website users normally have a short attention span and they easily get bored when reading long texts and paragraphs. Many readers would just skim through your content rather than read everything in detail. Making your SEO content snappy can help readers easily get a grasp of your message in just one glance.

If you are discussing a complex topic, consider breaking it down into a series of posts, instead of bombarding your readers with a lot of information in one go. This technique is not only good for SEO but also for your readers as they will not get overwhelmed. Moreover, it will encourage them to come back for more information. 

2. Take advantage of line breaks.

Even long and complex content will be more reader-friendly if you take advantage of white spacing. In this SEO copywriting technique, you can write shorter paragraphs of three to four sentences. For many readers, shorter paragraphs are easier to digest.

3. Break your content with compelling subheadings.

A compelling subheading is vital to helping your readers understand what the following paragraph is all about. It also keeps the readers engaged in your content, allowing them to easily move through the rest of your post. You can also make your subheadings intriguing and informative to get the attention of your readers.

4. Create bulleted lists.

Instead of writing your ideas in a long paragraph, make use of the bulleted list. They are easily scannable and they provide a visual break for your readers. 

5. Add helpful links.

When applicable, add helpful external links to your post. That will show readers that you are doing thorough research on the subject. 

6. Take advantage of text formatting.

Text formatting is also an important aspect of SEO copywriting. For example, if you want to emphasize an important concept embedded within a sentence, you can make it bold so readers can easily pick it out at a glance. 

7. Don’t forget about the power of numbers.

If you have been working as an SEO copywriter, you probably have already been using this technique to break your content into shorter portions that are more comprehensible to your readers. By numbering your main points, you can transform boring paragraphs into more visually friendly and easily understandable points. 

What Kind of Content You Should Aim For

The Google Panda 4.1 update was put in place to penalize “thin” or shallow content and keeping lousy content from ranking high in Google. So when writing an SEO copy, one of your main goals is to give value to the readers.

Typically, a post should be at least 1,000 words, but you can go longer if your content discusses a complex topic. Writing for search engines is not just about the length though. It’s more about what value you can offer to your readers. Are you able to solve their problems or help them improve on themselves? Is your post something relevant to your target audience? Those are the questions that you need to ask before writing a post.