Are you using these 6 winning SEO copywriting techniques?

If you still subscribe to the idea that good SEO copy needs to appease the Google gods first, and the reader second – we have some good news for you. Things have changed in the world of SEO!

Clunky, keyword-stuffed copy is out. The most important thing you can now do for your site’s Google ranking is create great quality content. It sounds simple, and (as long as you use these six winning SEO copywriting techniques) it is!

To understand why, let’s answer the question: what exactly is SEO copywriting anyway?

WHAT ARE SEO COPYWRITING TECHNIQUES?

Simply put, SEO copywriting techniques are the ways that SEO copywriters help search engines to find your web page.

Basically, no matter how well designed your site is, no one will see it if you don’t write your copy with search engines in mind. That’s why SEO copywriting is such a huge industry. 

Because we know most small businesses simply can’t afford to bring in the big-league professionals, we asked a few of them to share their wealth of knowledge. 

In particular, we asked our friends in the industry:

How do SEO copywriting services help websites get found?

Here are the top six techniques they recommended.

1. DECIDE ON YOUR SEO KEYWORD PHRASES BEFORE YOU START WRITING 

Before you can even think about SEO copywriting techniques, you’ll need a clear, concise list of keywords (or, ideally, keyword phrases) that you’d like to rank highly on.

How you’ll use these phrases will differ depending on what you’re writing. For example, on a landing page, it’s ideal to focus on one primary keyword phrase and a handful of related ones. But for a blog post, you really want to focus on answering commonly searched phrases.

Take your time Googling search terms and see what pops up most often. Then craft your keywords (and keyword phrases) accordingly before learning more about how to optimise website content for SEO.

2. USE YOUR WEBSITE’S ANALYTICS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

If you don’t already analyse how and why people are landing on your site, it’s time to start. Knowing which search terms are bringing in your audience will tell you what on your site is working and what still needs work.

For example, let’s say that you run an SEO copywriting service, and you discover that the key phrase “What is SEO copywriting?” brings a lot of visitors to your site. If so, use that knowledge to give your visitors exactly what they’re looking for.

3. WRITE FOR HUMANS FIRST AND SEARCH ENGINES SECOND 

As we said before, simply creating keyword-stuffed copy is not enough. Readers won’t hang around, combing through convoluted articles that are full of side notes and obvious grabs at Google rankings.

Instead, the most important thing you can do is to give your website visitors what they came for. Provide useful information in a voice they actually want to read. The better your information, the more likely people are to link to it and share it on social media.

And that sort of activity does NOT go unnoticed by search engines. If you want to know more about how to create great SEO content, you can head to our article on exactly that topic!

4. DON’T BE SHY OF TELLING AN IN-DEPTH STORY 

Surprisingly enough, Google often ranks long-form articles better than their short-form counterparts. Although the Google team don’t exactly share all their secrets, there’s been enough research in this area to be certain that length matters.

And not only does long-form SEO content rank higher, but it also gets more backlinks and social shares too. That may be due to ‘dwell time’ – a measure of how long your visitors spend ‘dwelling’ on your site. The longer they spend there, the more valuable Google deems your website to be.

So as long as your content is engaging, make it as long as you can!

5. TAP INTO THE SEO GOLD OF HEADLINES, SUBHEADINGS AND LISTS

We all know that readers prefer to scan articles – especially if they‘re long (see point 4.) So make sure to break your copy up into easily digestible paragraphs, then use subheadings to inform and engage your readers.

Ideally, their first glance down your page will be so intriguing that they’ll settle in for some serious reading time. Just make sure your subheadings contain all the right keywords, as well as telling an interesting story.

6. INCORPORATE SEO COPYWRITING INTO YOUR IMAGES TOO

What do images have to do with SEO copywriting techniques? Well, surprisingly, your images can significantly impact how your page ranks.

To do this well, however, you’ll need to keep a couple of things in mind:

• Take advantage of the metadata fields: search engines can’t recognise images, but they CAN read everything you use to describe those images. So make sure you include your keywords or key phrases in your file name, caption and alt tag.
• Ensure your images load quickly. while you’re there, check your image sizes aren’t too large. Big images can make your site load slowly, and Google is famous for penalising slow-loading sites.

SO THAT’S HOW YOU INCORPORATE SEO COPYWRITING TECHNIQUES INTO YOUR COPY

At its core, SEO copywriting is just about knowing what terms your readers are searching for, and including them in the right places in your content.

But if all of this seems a little too much, drop us a line here and we’ll do it all for you.