Tips For SEO Content Writers

In all reality, writing for the internet is very different to writing for any other medium – you cannot write out the content of your website in the same way that you would write out a brochure for the business. The main reason for this is search engine optimization (SEO), as this is what the search engines do want to see on a website (as well as what they don’t want to see). If you are an SEO content writer, use the following tips to ensure your ‘copy’ is properly optimized.

#1 – Write by following a flowchart
While most websites will have a sitemap long before it reaches the copy and SEO stage of production, it is important for a content writer to write out their own sitemap with the content in mind – they may actually find that the original needs to change to accommodate copy. Always use short but snappy headings for your pages, but ensure they utilize keywords for the site’s SEO strategy.

#2 – Do your research
Never write any SEO copy without doing thorough research into your client’s industry, otherwise you risk including false or misleading information. The more you know and understand, the more factual and engaging your copy will be. You will also need to do some research for SEO purposes, such as looking at who the client’s competitors are and what sorts of keywords they are targeting/getting ranking on.

#3 – Write for humans before writing for search engines
Whilst the whole point of SEO is to get the search engines to rank your pages as high as possible for given keywords, they will actually penalize you if you haven’t effectively written for a human audience. This is because your pages will have a high bounce rate, meaning that visitors will leave quickly once they realize that your copy is for SEO purposes only.

#4 – Use effective SEO keywords
It is always beneficial to utilize some SEO tools, such as those that are designed for pinpointing the most effective keywords for your industry, to ensure that you are targeting the right words and phrases on each page of your site. Don’t repeat your keywords over and over, as this makes for awkward reading flow and is detrimental for your SEO strategy in the end.

At the end of the day, the best way to ensure that your content writer is able to provide you with both interesting and engaging copy as well as including the best SEO techniques possible, you should hire a professional. After all, they have been trained in how to achieve this, as well as having the right SEO experience.