This article was updated on September 15, 2024.
Ranking content higher is about understanding how search engines work, what people are searching for, and the relevant keywords and phrases they use.
Understanding SEO Content Writing
What is SEO content writing?
SEO content writing is both an art and a science. It involves creating content that ranks well on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo by understanding how these platforms work, the search terms people use, and relevant keywords. But it’s also about producing engaging, high-quality content that appeals to human readers.
Think of it as a balancing act between technical SEO—like keywords, meta descriptions, and title tags and the human side of content. Making it valuable, interesting, and easy to read. Effective SEO content writing helps businesses reach their target audience, boost website traffic, and drive more sales.
Mastering SEO content writing means blending search engine needs with audience needs, ensuring your content is both discoverable and engaging.
Table of Contents
SEO content writing without ethical and unstructured SEO is unlikely to be seen in search engine rankings.
Writing content is pointless if no one reads it. Follow these ten SEO content writing tips to boost your page’s organic ranking.
Did you know 91% of internet content gets no traffic from Google? That’s staggering.
Content marketing is a powerful tool for climbing the search rankings, but many blog posts and articles go unnoticed, even if they’re helpful. To be among the 9% that attract Google traffic, focus on creating SEO-friendly content.
Forget about thin content stuffed with keywords; that can hurt your ranking. With the latest Google algorithm update, Google now rewards original, informative content and penalizes poor-quality SEO writing. Google better understands a writer’s intent and whether the content addresses a user’s search query.
What is SEO content writing?
Simply put, SEO writing is the process of writing content to rank organically high on search engines like Google. This is done by stuffing keywords, right?
Wrong!
Maybe 15 years ago, search engine optimization was all about cramming as many target keywords into your post as possible. But, as time has passed, Google has gotten smarter at sniffing out the B.S. and ranking genuinely relevant content. Google is also improving its algorithm to detect AI-generated content.
There are many questions surrounding whether artificial intelligence will replace content writers. The short answer is no. However, AI is an amazing resource for discovering topics and generating ideas. It also has value in analyzing your content and introducing topics to support your thesis.
So, how do you make sure your content ranks high? You achieve this by researching topics and keywords users search for in Google and creating content that best answers the search queries regarding relevancy and value.
Why Is SEO Content Writing Important?
Have you ever crafted a great article or blog post only for it to go unread? That’s often the result of content that isn’t optimized for SEO.
With nearly 50 billion web pages online, 45.5 billion never get clicked in Google searches. To ensure your content gets noticed, you need to optimize it for SEO.
Effective SEO writing takes time but makes your content visible. Write in your own voice to appear genuine and establish yourself as a thought leader. Let your personality shine through in your writing.
Think about growing your business: more sales come from more leads, and you can generate leads organically through well-crafted, SEO-friendly content. Regular content updates signal to search engines that your content is fresh and relevant.
Writing SEO content that aligns with search intent is how you can tap into that organic traffic stream to bring in valuable business leads. Even a few well-optimized articles can significantly boost your business.
Google’s recent E-E-A-T update emphasizes Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It rewards content that shows firsthand knowledge and penalizes thin or spammy content.
Let’s move on to tips that will get your content seen.
1. Write Content For Humans
Always write for people, not just for Google’s algorithms. Providing valuable, user-focused content will keep users returning and improve your search rankings.
Have you ever invested a significant amount of time and effort into a well-written article or business blog post, only to find it unread? Well, if that’s you, then you’ve experienced the consequences of publishing content that isn’t optimized for SEO.
Google considers over 200 ranking factors, but some key ones are clear.
If visitors quickly bounce back to the search engine results page (SERP) after clicking your blog post, it’s a negative ranking factor. It indicates your content didn’t match their query well or was uninteresting. Quality websites and blog posts will help reduce bounce so that you can have higher engagement and conversion rates.
Another important factor is the time visitors spend on your page. Longer visits generally mean your content answers their query effectively. Remember, there are hundreds of ranking factors.
Another essential factor is backlinks. Not the number of backlinks your site has but the number of quality backlinks you have.
If major sites like Forbes or the New York Times link to your post, it signals to Google that your content is valuable and can boost your rankings. Many sites like this are considered authority sites and have a high page rank.
Ultimately, writing for people is crucial, regardless of SEO tricks or algorithm updates. Quality writing should never be sacrificed for SEO. Read your blog post out loud to ensure it sounds natural. If it doesn’t, adjust it until it does.
2. Write Content That Answers Your Audience’s Questions
Why do people go to Google? For knowledge.
They want to know where something is, how it works, and why something is the way it is. The best SEO content writers understand not only how their audience thinks and feels but also what problems they have. Oftentimes, we end up venting our most significant issues to Google.
Use this to your advantage. Think about your audience. What pain points does your audience have concerning your niche?
Keyword Search Tips: Try typing your main niche keyword into Google. Let’s say you sell sweater vests because they are all the rage. Type “sweater vest” into Google. Look at the People also search for at the bottom of the page.You’ll see what questions people have about the topic.
For more ideas, take that exact keyword, and turn it into a question. A simple trick is typing “Who/What/When/Where/Why/How” + “sweater vests.” and you’ll get another section, People also ask. Both of these areas can be a gold mine for short and long-tail keywords.
3. Add Keywords Strategically into Your SEO Content Writing
Finally, keywords! Just what you came here for, right? Exciting SEO hacks, here we come! But, for real, if you want your content to rank well on Google, you need to ensure you have the appropriate keywords.
Thankfully, if you followed tips #1 and #2, the appropriate keywords will adequately cover your content. Aligning your content with what visitors are actually seeking increases the likelihood that you will use search-friendly terms and phrases naturally, rather than forcing them. By immediately answering the user’s questions and organically including important keywords, this strategy guarantees that your material is relevant to readers and optimized for search engines.
For advanced keyword research.
Try tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs. If you want to take your keyword strategy to the next level, these tools will give you a wealth of information, including statistics and other specific data.
If you’re using WordPress, SEO plugins like Rank Math can help customize SEO settings and manage how your site appears in search results.
We recommend: To avoid keyword stuffing, incorporate related keywords. For example, if your primary keyword is “types of sweater vest,” also use related phrases like “sweater vest styles.”
4. Optimize Your Content To Claim the Featured Snippet
Wondering what a featured snippet is? It’s that quick answer box you often see at the top of Google search results. Google pulls a short answer from a relevant web page to directly answer your query. This position, dubbed “position zero,” stands out and receives more attention than usual results.
The best part? You don’t need to be the top ranking result to land this coveted spot. As long as you’re in the top ten, you have a shot at the featured snippet. Improving your content’s visibility and search engine rankings is a certain way to increase your chances of landing this slot.
Tip: To boost your SEO, ensure your main and target keywords are strategically placed in your webpage snippet that appears on Google. This includes your Title, URL, and Description. Use your keyword at least once in each of these areas, as well as within your content and at least one subheading (H2).
By making these tweaks, you’ll be better positioned to snag that valuable spot and gain more visibility in search results.
5. Why use H1, H2, H3 tags for your SEO content?
Proper HTML header formatting helps search engines understand and structure your content. Key header elements—H1, H2, and H3—are crucial for SEO and user experience.
Make sure to format your HTML headers so search engines can understand the structure and order of your content.
Header tags help structure content, assist search engines in understanding the themes of a page, and guide readers through the text. To fully utilize these tags, follow these guidelines:
- H1 Tag: This is the main point of your article or webpage. The H1 tag emphasizes the content for both users and search engines, serving as the primary headline for a post. Search engine optimization and human comprehension are both helped by establishing the content’s central theme. You should have only one H1 tag per post.
- H2 Tags: Use H2 tags for main sections or subsections of your content. They help break down your article into easily digestible parts and provide clear headings that improve readability and organization. H2 tags also assist search engines in understanding the structure of your content.
- H3 Tags: Use H3 tags for sub-sections under your H2 headings. They further break down the content into smaller, more detailed sections. Proper use of H3 tags improves the clarity and depth of your content, making it easier for both users and search engines to navigate.
6. Make Your Content Easy to Read
Recall the first piece of advice? Writing for humans yields the finest search engine optimization content. Your blog content will not be well received by Google if it is difficult to read for regular people like us. The text itself isn’t the only component of high-quality material. It’s the style of the post.
Be conversational, use your voice, and try to write for a broad audience. And keep it light but full of valuable information.
Create an index at the top of your post, so visitors know what to expect. Providing an index will also allow someone to navigate directly to what they are interested in. It will also allow the user to get a quick snapshot of the ideas you are presenting to help contextualize the information.
AVOID these things if you want to improve readability:
Big words
Long-winded sentences
Huge paragraphs
No H2s
People get overwhelmed if they see a massive chunk of text staring them in the face. With content, white space is your friend. Include plenty of it.
FOLLOW these tips if you want to improve readability:
- Break up your text
- Keep your paragraphs three to seven sentences
- Bold important words or sentences
- Include bullet points when you have a list (just like this)
- Good spelling and grammar!
We recommend: Use Grammarly or Quilbot; it checks grammar in real-time, saving you time and catching errors that even the best writers can miss. By making your posts easy to read, visitors will stay longer, which improves your SEO. Remember, keep your writing light and informative; you’re not writing a college dissertation
7. Use Images in Every Single Post – This is a Must.
Being a good SEO writer means enhancing your content, not just your writing. Including relevant, high-quality images is crucial for SEO. Break up your posts with images.
They’re one of the best tools to give the reader’s eyes a break. Images also keep visitors engaged and make your content easier to digest, especially with infographics like the on at the top of this article.
Google indexes images, so include them to gain additional organic traffic. Remember to write alt-text for each image. Valuable images, like infographics, can attract backlinks from other bloggers who find them useful, increasing your visibility.
Why does this benefit you? When other sites use your images and link back to your blog post for credit, you gain valuable backlinks. As noted earlier, acquiring quality backlinks is crucial for SEO.
We recommend: If you or your team has graphic designers, create custom graphics for your posts when you can. Infographics are especially valuable as they make content easier to digest. Also, consider incorporating a video SEO strategy in your content marketing strategy to boost engagement and keep visitors on your landing pages longer.
Google values unique images more than stock photos. You can use stock photos from sites like Shutterstock, but if you make some adjustments so they look more like your own, it will help your SEO. Google values original material and gives rewards for it.
8. Measuring and Improving Content Performance
Measure your content performance with analytics tools
Measuring and improving content performance is crucial in SEO content writing. Analytical tools like Google Search Console, SEMRUSH, offer valuable insights to pinpoint areas for improvement and optimize your content.
Steps to measure performance:
- Set up analytics tools: Install Google Analytics and other tools to track content performance.
- Track key metrics: Monitor page views, bounce rate, time on page, and conversion rate to gauge performance.
- Analyze data: Use tools to analyze data and find improvement areas.
- Optimize content: Refine your content based on analysis to boost performance.
Key metrics to track:
- Page views: Number of times your content is viewed.
- Bounce rate: Percentage of users who visit one page and leave without further action.
- Time on page: Duration users spend on your content.
- Conversion rate: Percentage of users who complete a desired action, such as filling out a form or making a purchase.
By measuring and improving your content performance, you can refine your SEO content writing strategy and drive better results. Remember, the goal is to create content that not only attracts visitors but also keeps them engaged and encourages them to take action.
9. Internal Links For SEO
Most visitors to your website may not return, so it’s crucial to make the most of the time you have with each one. Internal linking, connecting one post to another can significantly enhance user experience and SEO.
For example, if you sell dog food and write about feeding schedules for puppies, link to another post on puppy nutritional needs. This helps guide readers and improves your site’s structure.
Why is internal linking important?
- For SEO: Internal links help search engines understand, contextualize, and index your site’s content, boosting authority and ranking. Pages with more internal links often have higher authority.
- For Users: Relevant internal links offer additional value to readers, encouraging them to explore more of your content. This results in multiple page views per visit and increases the average time spent on your site, which is a key ranking factor.
- Reduce Bounce Rate: People that visit a website and then immediately leave after viewing just one page is called bounce. So if you redirect your audience to another page through a link, you’ve just reduced your bounce rate!
Best Practices:
- Relevant Links: Only include links that add value and make sense within the context of your article.
Additional Tip for SEO:
To boost your content’s effectiveness, improve your site speed. 40% of visitors will leave if your site takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Speed up your site by:
- Compressing and optimizing images and media
- Removing unnecessary plugins or apps
- Optimizing your code
- Testing page speed regularly
Recommendation: For WordPress sites, check out our “6 Tips to Make Your Website Faster.” If your site still loads slowly, consider consulting a web developer for further optimization.
10. Content Promotion and Authority
Promote your content to increase visibility
Promoting your content is vital for driving traffic and enhancing visibility. After creating high-quality, optimized content, consider these promotion strategies:
- Social Media: Share your content on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
- Email Marketing: Distribute your content to your email list to boost traffic and engagement.
- Influencer Outreach: Collaborate with industry influencers to share your content with their audience.
- Guest Blogging: Write for other websites to build backlinks and expand reach.
- Paid Advertising: Utilize Google AdWords and Facebook Ads for targeted content promotion.
Building Authority
Authority is essential for SEO, reflecting your website’s credibility and trustworthiness. Focus on these key areas to build authority:
- Create Valuable Content: Offer high-quality, informative content that benefits your audience.
- Acquire Quality Backlinks: Obtain backlinks from reputable websites.
- Optimize User Experience: Ensure your site is user-friendly and technically sound.
- Engage Your Audience: Foster a community around your content.
Building authority boosts credibility, leading to higher search engine rankings and more traffic. The more authoritative your site, the better your chances of ranking higher and attracting a loyal audience.
Ready to Generate More Traffic to Your Site?
Well, there you have it—10 content writing tips for SEO! You will be well on your way to producing content that your audience will find by following these straightforward guidelines. Generating substantial traffic to your website is no easy task. It takes the right mix of strategy, design, development, copywriting, marketing, and advertising.
If you want to take your business to the next level but are unsure where to start, contact us at Mighty Fine today.
Whether you lack the team or the experience to grow your brand, we can help you scale your business with our in-house digital marketing expertise.
We’re a Tampa and Atlanta-based agency with a wealth of experience in marketing, web design, web design and development, digital advertising, and more.
