Seo Copywriting: 10 Steps to Make Sure Improve Your Content and Ranking

Nicholas Amundson

July 14, 2021
15 min read

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What is SEO copywriting? SEO copywriting is the art of writing well-optimized content that engages readers. It also helps search engines effectively display your content on SERPs.

In this article, we’ll go over the fundamentals of SEO copywriting. As well as tips and techniques to guarantee your writing gets the edge.

What is SEO Copywriting?

SEO copywriting is very well content for both people and search engines. Three simple and effective considerations of why your business needs SEO copywriting:

10 Best Practices for Your SEO Copywriting Success

So, let’s get this conversation started. If you want the importance of good SEO copywriting; we’ll start providing them to you.

A well-written piece of content starts from the very initial stage of content writing. We have outlined simple 10 steps to promise that you create optimized content that search engines and users can understand.

1. Find the Right Keywords

Every SEO copywriter first should need to identify the keywords for the content piece they are looking to create. When creating compelling content, some of the following things will be important to consider:

Let’s look at one of the most important factors on this list: keywords. Keywords are phrases that people use to search for information over the internet.

Getting there will be easier to select appropriate keywords while keeping search intent in mind.

It would help if you didn’t guess the right keywords. Instead, use keyword research tools to help you with your keyword research.

The Keyword Magic Tool from Semrush might be useful. Enter your primary search phrase. The “seed” keyword and the tool will display semantic keywords.

Explore filters to group keywords based on search volume, keyword difficulty, or other criteria.

There are several aspects to consider when selecting which keywords to target. Some large companies can consider it necessary to focus on high-volume, popular keywords.

But, most writers and companies should aim for mid-to-high volume keyword phrases. Those are having low difficulty in targeting.

For example, it’s easier to target, although with considerable search volumes.

2. Find Questions that People Ask

Nowadays, Search engines are now answering engines. People Also Ask on Google, AlsoAsked, and large forums like Quora or Reddit.

They are great places to find out what questions are being asked about your topic. You’ll find a lot of useful questions and queries that you can cover in your content piece.

You also can use Semrush’s Topic Research Tool. The tool creates headlines, related questions, and other information.

That is completely depending on the keywords you provide.

Once you’ve found the most often asked queries, you can create a better answer than your SERP competitors.

Look at what they’re doing, make necessary changes, and completely cover these questions.

Is it necessary to include every question? Nope! Only the ones that are relevant to the business are then featured.

3. Identify and Map Search Intent

All web pages and the content that appears on them should be intended with the user’s intent in mind. Your content will change based on where the customer is in the customer journey. Remember, your keywords should also alter depending on the distinct purposes.

You can identify the “keyword intent” by determining why a user types your target keyword in search engines.

Using the Keyword Magic Tool, it’s a powerful, feature-rich tool. It allows you to uncover the most efficient search terms relying on intent filters.

First, understand the main types of intent and how they relate.

Intent searches have four types:

Informational Intent: Users want to learn more about a specific topic, service, product, or industry. For example, “How to install WordPress,” “How to lose weight,” How to improve memory.
Navigational intent: Users want to go to a specific website or page. For example, “Facebook login,” “Nespresso coffee machine types.”
Commercial intent: Users are buying a product and want to research their alternatives. For instance, “coffee machine comparison.”
Transactional intent: Users intend to buy a product or service. “Best Weight Loss Diet for Moms,” “Best iPhone Cases in Los Angeles,” “Buy iPhone Cases in Los Angeles,” and “Buy a new Nespresso coffee machine,” for example.

4. Check Competitors' Articles for Your Target Keywords

Enter your main keyword into Google’s search bar. Or you can also use Semrush’s Keyword Overview Tool or Neil Patel’s Uber Suggest tool.

Then review the top ten search engine results to see what these sites’ pages have in common.

That is how a professional writer should first gather optimization. And copywriting ideas from their primary competitors.

You may export all this information to create your content outline. And track which domains may be relevant to continue planning your backlink outreach.

5. Gather Original Data

Sharing fresh and unique content is an effective strategy for engaging readers. It might help you build backlinks to your page to improve your rankings.

An external writer will not have all your company’s insights. But they will ask the right questions before beginning work. An internal writer may also be lacking in information.

As a result, gathering data is important. What if you wouldn’t have enough information to share?

Use Social Media Platforms: You can gather original data by creating surveys. And asking questions about the client’s interests, lifestyle, and so on. Then, publish the results of your poll. Writers and news websites writing about your industry may also be able to reference your survey results or post them on social media.
Analyze your sales data to identify patterns: It is especially fascinating to consider during a crisis. When many businesses are under significant stress, writers will value getting all the inside data to glance.
Make use of user-generated content: Ask your customers to provide their success stories and statistics on how your service or product has helped them improve their sales.

Factual information, facts, visuals, and captivating sentences inspire readers.

So, they may share your message and stories with their connections on Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms.

Create a list of data sources available to your company and start gathering data for content.

6. Improve Your Headline, Meta Title, and Meta Description

When they start searching on Google’s search engine results pages, users see the page’s title.

Thus, you want the title will become attractive. And provide the reader with relevant information. It will also improve your organic click-through rate (CTR) and unique visitors.

Your page title should guide and help both users and search engines. To determine what your content is about and what information they will get once they land on your page.

It is important to consider how you describe the content for visitors and search engines. Here are some ideas for meta titles, meta descriptions, and H1 tags.

Meta Title

Examples for your meta titles:

It’s one-of-a-kind and carries your targeted keyword.
It is about 55 and 60 characters in length. Google truncates title tags that are more than 55-60 characters. And their width is limited to 600 pixels.
Meta title sends a relevant message to the content and search intent. It also increases the bounce rate, and it indicates Google. Suppose your content does not reflect the users’ expectations when clicking the title. Then, they will immediately leave your website. You are not offering relevant information to your visitors, and then it can harm your rankings.
There is a Call-to-Action. A call to action (CTA) is important to your title or meta-description. And CTAs should entice people to visit the website.

Meta Description

Tips for your meta descriptions:

You should include your primary/target keywords and phrases.
Use emotional triggers and calls to action.
It consists of 140-160 characters which are one or two sentences. If it becomes too long, it will not display. Google will truncate it, and visitors will not realize what your website can offer.
It should be unique, engaging, and explain a webpage. Make it compelling by providing an enticing incentive. That catches visitors’ attention for them to visit your webpage. Google encourages including all kinds of information. Such as price, links, manufacturer, and so on, sprinkled across a page.

Check out to read this guide that explains how to write an effective meta description.

H1 Tag

Tips for your H1 tags:

It is inside the 600-pixel width limit, and readers may view the full title within this width. Otherwise, it is truncated by Google.
You should include numbers in the headlines. For example, “10 Quick Ways to Create the Perfect Title.” List headlines get up to two times even more traffic and up to 2x more shares than other types of articles.
Includes brackets for clarification purposes such as [Updated], [2021], and [Latest Updates]. Blog posts with bracketed clarifications rank 38% better than those without. It shows that people like to have a complete understanding of exactly what they’re getting when they click.
Includes terms like “learn,” “get,” “improve,” “enhance,” and so on. It could guide readers in understanding what they will get from the page.
Google encourages people to visit the website because emotional triggers can capture users’ attention and generate interest.

7. Create Organized, Easy-to-Read Content

When you are writing content, the flow and readability of your content are important for search engine results. So, ensure that your writing is clear and readable.

Suppose you use difficult and complex vocabulary for them to understand. If the reading level is higher, then you’ll lose your reader’s attention.

In the United States, 50 percent of the population reads at or below the eighth-grade level.

Readers don’t want to. It’s not that they can’t read more difficult writing. And it means that if any content is too complex for specific target audiences. Then, it is never liked, shared, or converted.

You must be aware of your target audience. For professionals writing like researching services, 7-8th grade writing would not suffice.

It would be best if you won their trust by seeming expert. Thus up to a 12th-grade level of reading is acceptable for a more qualified and experienced audience.

Here are the important aspects that help you to make your copy readable:

Good structure

A good structure makes it easy for users and search engines to navigate your content.

It should follow the structure including H2, H3, and H4 headings. According to SEMrush data, 36% of H2 and H3 tag articles perform better in traffic, shares, and backlinks.

Skimmable headlines that inform without reading

Readers quite often skim before reading. According to a Nielsen Norman Group study report, only 16% of readers will read your copy word for word.

Ensure your headlines explain what a reader will enjoy reading in a specific paragraph. Or the complete page.

When considering search intent and the solutions, users must. You can provide answers in your headlines and explain them in your next paragraphs.

Clear and informative paragraphs

Like headlines, readers also skim through paragraphs to find the information they want.

Ensure your paragraphs in the copy are short and begin with the primary issue. Good readability and user experience need clarity and concision. The more you have white space, the better the user experience.

Bullet points and numbered lists

Bullet points or numbered lists can help you break down long paragraphs into small ones. It also helps you in understandable paragraphs that engage the user.

These approaches will help you guide your reader through the content without making them work too hard to get the information they want.

Short sentences

Using short sentences, make the reader’s work simpler and your content more compelling.

Cover the Subtopics within the copy

Remember the following things from your earlier research. That is the target keywords, top-ranking page structure, and user-based questions.

You can divide it into paragraphs or groups. But you must include it in the article and organize it well.

Simple vocabulary

Make an effort to avoid using words that seem hard to read. You can also keep educating your audience on the industry or brand to which you belong.

Yet, it would be best if you clarified what they meant in as simple a manner as can.

8. Include Visuals

A picture is worth a thousand words. Use visuals around your page – videos, images, infographics, statistics, and so on. Venngage visual content marketing statistics say that 74% of marketers used visuals in more than 70 percent of their content because visuals are working.

Videos, Infographics, charts, and informative images make readers stick to the page. And also, encourage them to share your visual content through social media accounts.

You can use that technique to increase the reach of your content and the media. If correctly optimized, it has the potential to appear in Google SERPs.

Also, don’t forget to include image alt tags. As Google’s image searches rise, you can enjoy this trend by including short but relevant descriptions for your images. You’ll find more information check out this Image SEO and Alt Tags Guide.

9. Include CTAs (Calls-to-Action)

SEO copywriting plays a key role. The main goal of SEO copywriting is to move users forward along the customer journey. And that is when calls to action come in helpful.

If visitors come to content created with informational intent in mind, include a CTA. CTA that will take them toward another page that targets keywords with navigational intent, and so on.

From a copywriting viewpoint, it will generate a higher rate and ROI for your content.

From an SEO viewpoint, it may also increase website page views, and lower bounce rates. And also pass positive engagement signals to the Google search engines.

Pro tip: Readers might not always read the complete page, including a few Call-to-action (CTAs) across your copy. Include one CTA after some opening paragraphs. Another in the middle of the page and another towards the conclusion.

10. Good Internal & External Linking Structure

When you insert a link from your article to internal or external pages, you are following Google’s philosophy of “there is always more information out there.”

But why would you use internal and external links to lead users away from your page?

By linking to external resources, you may increase credibility in your writing. When you include stats or wish to support authority, ensure you’re making. Then, linking to an authoritative source might help.
You may encourage users throughout their customer journey and direct them to pages. That converts linking to internal content. You can also include a link to other information that expands on the topic you’re discussing. It shows that you are a good source of quality content. As a result, the reader will spend more time on your website.

Here is some more on the importance of internal links and when to use them. You can also find the external links related to more information from this article.

Pro tip: Make sure the external link opens in a separate window to overcome distractions from the main article.

Most Useful Writing and Editing Tools for Writers

Here are some useful tools that will help you with writing and editing the most engaging content to get started:

The performance of your web pages. Use Google Search Console and Google Analytics to analyze the performance. You will get all the information like what is working so far. What needs improvement and what needs to enhance depending on the user behavior on your pages.
You can use Google Trends to see what topics are trending and do keyword research. It also displays the volume of search queries and related keywords to consider.
Grammarly can help us identify all the grammatical errors in your writing. And it also improves the clarity and engagement of your content.
The Hemingway App will greatly help you improve your readability by checking your text for too complex sentences.
Alsoasked will provide you with questions that have been asked on the topic you’ve picked.
To gather information and survey purposes. You can use Typeform and Google Forms to create and run surveys.
Use Short URL/ Bitly toll to shorten the URL of your page. And to trace link clicks and measure the effectiveness of social media sharing.
Canva is the most useful design tool. Canva can help you create custom images, banners, posters, animations, and infographics. You can also create social media posts for your social media accounts website and blog posts.
Unsplash, Flickr, and Pixabay, and all websites will provide you find high-quality, royalty-free images.
You can use Google Docs, and Google Sheets to team collaborate on the copy. It also helps you with a content calendar.

I hope this quick guide answers most of the questions that help you in Seo copywriting. Now that you have the tips and tools at your disposal, it’s time to get started.

Keep up the good work with your SEO-friendly copywriting.