There are numerous companies that invest large sums of money for the creation of their website but which, when it comes to content, prefer to leave out the SEO copywriting activity or entrust it to an acquaintance both to save money and because they consider it of secondary importance.
Nothing could be more wrong: contents are the main reason that drives a user to visit the site, as well as the most important aspect that Google analyzes to position the entire site on search engines. Consequently, SEO writing must necessarily be entrusted to a professional, the only one able to understand which content is not only more suitable for answering user questions, but also able to give value, prestige and professionalism to the site and, obviously, to the brand.
What is SEO copywriting and how does it work?
SEO copywriting therefore means, the ability to write content that is useful to users and, at the same time, optimized for search engines. The texts must contain the reference keywords, but redundancies and repetitions must be avoided; precisely for this reason the intervention of an expert SEO copywriter is necessary, capable of developing content that can speak to customers in a simple and direct way without neglecting (indeed, hiding perfectly) the mechanisms that improve indexing and positioning.
The quality and originality of the contents are the basis of an appreciation from Google, which "rewards" these qualities by pushing the site among the first results proposed by search engines.
But how do you create content like this?
10 tips for effective SEO copywriting
As already underlined, it is essential to entrust the creation of high-performance content to an expert who, by combining writing skills with SEO knowledge, will be perfectly able to create the best result.
Basically, you can follow these 10 tips to achieve valid and lasting goals:
1. Write unedited and original content
Google strongly penalizes copied content by making the site appear at the bottom of the search results or even by not making it appear at all. Therefore, having completely unpublished contents has a large number of advantages: not only is the user encouraged to consult them to find new and stimulating information, but it is possible to achieve good positioning for the keywords concerned.
2. Take care of grammar, syntax and spelling
The fact that you are writing for the web and not for printed paper does not justify ignoring the language: you have to respect the rules of grammar and syntax both to convey knowledge and competence to the reader and to facilitate reading by engines of research. Some parts of the algorithm, in fact, are perfectly capable of analyzing the contents from a grammatical and syntactic point of view and, in the face of typos or errors, being penalized is inevitable.
Showing a site with attention to every detail, which contains lowing, correct and easy to understand texts make the user feel welcomed and facilitated and this will push him to come back for new experiences.
3. Research the right keywords
To create successful content, the writing phase must be preceded by a research activity to identify the keywords and questions that users use and ask themselves during the consultation. Obtaining this data is simple thanks to the support of several tools and online tools such as:
They are easy to use and allow you to download documents to keep at hand containing keywords, relative search volumes and level of competition. At the beginning of a strategy, you can also focus on less competitive keywords but with greater relevance to the subject matter, and then make changes in the following months.
4. Define an editorial plan
After selecting the best keywords and thinking about what content to create, it is always advisable to define an editorial plan to better structure subsequent activities: topics, type of post, platform and publication timing.
The editorial plan serves both the internal team to streamline work and simplify individual operations, and the user to feel involved and stimulated by what is proposed to him. In this sense, in fact, the columns (on social networks or on the blog) work a lot, a sort of fixed appointment (to be published, therefore, always on the same day at the same time) to create continuity and retain users.
5. Check the residence time of the users
A datum that allows us to understand how much a content is really appreciated by the reader is the average time spent by a user on a web page. Search engines rely heavily on this aspect, together with the bounce rate, precisely to determine whether or not a content deserves the top positions in search results.
Generally there is no right or wrong length for a piece of content, but you should always aim straight to the point without stretching the stock too much, in order to provide all the necessary information while avoiding excessively long (and boring) texts. To be exhaustive, you can link to other in-depth content both inside and outside the site.
6. Optimize tags and meta tags
To index and correctly position a web page, it is also necessary to pay attention to the title tag, i.e. the element that indicates the content of the page itself to both readers and search engines. Normally it should follow these simple rules:
- must contain the main keyword;
- should not exceed 65 characters.
Another element of significant importance is the meta description, i.e. the description of the page content which, if well optimized and in line with the title tag, will invite users to take an action to make the site more clicked than others.
7. Optimize heading tags
To obtain a good positioning it is necessary that the subject matter is exhaustive and complete. This sometimes involves drafting very long texts, which should be divided into paragraphs in order to make it easier for users to read. And this is where the gli heading tag come into play, ranging from H1 to H6 and which consist of the titles of the various paragraphs, organized in a hierarchical way: for the main title, the H2 is used, followed by the H2 and gradually follow, using heading tags from H3 onwards for further subheadings.
8. Optimize images
Any self-respecting content should include the use of images, videos or infographics to also visually represent what is being discussed. Graphic content is not read by search engines like normal text, so an optimization operation is necessary in this sense: exploit the keywords contained in the text to fill the alt tag, i.e. the alternative text that describes the image in case it is not available, and take care of its weight and dimensions in order not to slow down its loading.
9. Focus (also) on evergreen content
In proposing topics to users, it seems obvious that keeping up with the times and choosing current topics is fundamental, but that’s not all: also inserting topics with no expiration date, which may interest the public at any time, allows you to create a long-term strategy and obtain advantages even years after publication.
However, even evergreen content sometimes needs an update; therefore, once online, they must not be forgotten, otherwise they will only collect dust and will not help the positioning of the site.
10. Share on social media
Social networks are often considered a side activity, but this is not the case, on the contrary: in order for content to “circulate” and reach an ever-larger audience, it must be published on social channels immediately after publication.
Social networks help to increase the popularity of a brand: if a user finds what he has just read interesting, he will be prompted to re-share it, indirectly (and unwittingly) giving value and reliability to the website.
Furthermore, some contents can be used to create small Facebook ADS or LinkedIn ADS campaigns to further spread the message.
SEO copywriting and benefits
What has been said so far demonstrates in a simple and concise way how important it is to pay attention to SEO copywriting and how wrong it is, instead, to underestimate it and not invest enough in its potential.
The advantages deriving from its conscious and studied use are numerous, but the main ones can be summarized in the following:
- creating SEO-optimized content helps not only to inform the user public in a clear and complete way, but also to lay a solid foundation for achieving good positioning on search engines;
- thanks to the writing of a good text it is possible to appear on the first page of Google, giving greater value to the site and to the brand;
originality always pays off and users, satisfied with what they have read, will surely come back to visit the site, turning into loyal customers.
SEO activities usually have long deadlines and the results begin to be evident a few months after the creation of texts and contents. The secret lies in not creating false hopes, setting immediate goals and requesting the support of a professional SEO copywriter, the only one with the appropriate skills and capable of thinking in the round and creating extremely valuable content.