SEO Content Writing: How to Write for SEO?

BloggingKiss4 June 2022

263 16 minutes read

Creating great content is the best way to get people to visit your website or landing page. Whether you write a blog post or make an infographic, the content should be relevant and interesting.

Once upon a time, it was enough to hit those points in your content. No longer, though. In this digital age where there is a lot of content, your content has to compete with a lot of other content to get seen. This is where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes in.

What’s the point of SEO? Because it uses a set of techniques to make your content and web pages more visible to a certain group of people you want to reach. SEO makes sure that your content is relevant and easy to find by researching and optimizing keywords, writing meta tags, optimizing headings, adding internal links, and getting good backlinks.

SEO and content marketing need to work together to get people to visit and interact. The goal is to get your content in front of the right people, which often depends on where it comes up in an online search. Since Google is the market leader with an 85% market share, this means that Google is where your content should be.

In this blog, we’ll explain what SEO content writing is and give you some simple tips that will help you write SEO-optimized copy to get more traffic and leads.

What is SEO content writing?

SEO content writing is a way to create content that is optimized on-page to help your content get a high ranking on search engines. It also lets people know that your content is relevant and good.

When we talk about “content,” we mean anything online that you want people to find. Among these are:

Blog posts
Landing pages
Product pages
Guides or eBooks
Infographics
Videos
Toolkits
Glossaries

Along with researching and optimizing keywords, it’s important to make sure your content is well-organized. This means that the content on your site should make sense and be easy for people to find. One great way to do this is to plan out how your content will flow and add relevant links and a sitemap to help with SEO and make your content easy to find.

Also, it doesn’t help to make great content if you don’t share it. Make sure you have a plan to share all of your content on social media networks, link to relevant content in your emails, and get your staff or brand advocates involved by asking them to share it on their networks. More people will see your content and link to it if you share it with more people.

If your content doesn’t show up on the first SERP (Search Engine Results Page), CTRs (Clickthrough Rates) will drop to less than 1%. The difference between CTR in 1st position #1 on Google and 2nd position #2 is big: 18% click on #1 and 40% click on #2. CTRs will drop to less than 1% if your content doesn’t show up on the first SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

Now that you know what SEO content writing is, let’s look at some tips from DMI experts that you can use in your own writing.

SEO content writing: SEO writing tips from Top technical writers

SEO is all about making sure people can find your content, but don’t forget to make sure it’s written for your specific and unique audience.

It’s a good idea to stay up-to-date on content and SEO marketing trends so that you can stay ahead of your competition and see any chances to get your content seen. We’ll show you 9 important tips for writing with SEO in mind.

Understand the KPI of your writing

To write well for SEO, you need to do more than just use a few keywords. Here, your content marketing key performance indicators (KPIs) come in handy because they will help you figure out the end goal of each piece of content. In your marketing mix, you should also have content that moves people through the marketing funnel, from awareness to conversion.

“SEO is magical because it is the place where tech and story meet. “You can tell a powerful story and sprinkle it with the magic of SEO. Not only do your readers see it, but more importantly, search engines see it, and you can move to the top of the rankings,” says Pamela Foley, Chief of Content Marketing & Strategy, AOU Creative.

For example, blog posts, e-books, and infographics are all examples of top-of-the-funnel content that raises awareness. Demos, testimonials, and webinars, on the other hand, are examples of content at the bottom of the funnel that encourages conversions.

Create a structure based on a strategy

Making a good content marketing strategy is an important part of your overall plan. Without one, it will be hard to make sure you are creating relevant content that moves prospects through the sales funnel and that your buyer personas will like what you make.

One strategy that works well for SEO is called the “Hub and Spoke model,” which is also called the “Pillar and Clusters model.” With this method, you make a hub piece about a broad topic, and then you make other pieces that link to it and go into more detail. These are your spokes.

Take SEO writing as an example. “What is SEO writing?” would be a hub piece. “SEO for Bloggers: How to Optimize Your Articles” would be a good piece to link to and support it.

This method will not only help you make a lot of content (and show that you know a lot about a certain topic), but it will also help you move up in the rankings for keywords, drive traffic, and grow KPIs like leads and sales.

“We tell our clients to use the hub and spoke model as a framework for building their content calendars. It works because when search engines like Google crawl your website, it looks like you’re writing about a subject in a way that is connected and relevant. The more you write about something, especially if you’re filling in content gaps or giving original information, the higher you’ll rank in search results and get more clicks, brand awareness, and other benefits. Nicai de Guzman, who is in charge of the content team at Wolfgang Digital.

Find SEO keywords by using keyword research tools

A crucial element of SEO writing is keywords. There are five essential steps to keyword research:

Define
Brainstorm
Filter
Inspect
Prioritize

Once you have a list of your goals, you can use research tools to help you rank keywords and find out more about them. There are free tools like AlsoAsked and AnswerThePublic, but the searches on a free account are limited, so you won’t get a lot of results unless you pay.

Paid tools like Semrush and AHREFS are very helpful and tell you everything you need to know about keyword volume, competitors, etc.

Make sure your headers are in order

A company’s content marketing strategy needs to include blogs. They let you bring people in with relevant and interesting content that can be used to make people stay on your site longer and get them to click through.

But users today are tech-savvy and want information quickly, which is why blog headers are so important. People tend to scan or skim through longer pieces of writing. That means they want to know something important to them.

Use headers all over your blog to give it a sense of flow, make it easier for people to read, and show what each section is about. The most important ones should be the H1s, then the H2s, and then the H3s.

If you need help starting a blog, check out our 5 easy steps, or use our blog template to make and format a blog.

Write using the tone suited to your industry

Every industry is different, and the words and tone that work in one may not work in another.

For example, a consumer beauty brand might use images and a tone that is upbeat and friendly, while a B2B software provider might need to use a more formal and factual approach. When it comes to tone, think carefully about the one you choose. If it’s too risqué, it might turn people off instead of drawing them in.

You should also think about your community and include everyone, so that when someone visits your website or social media feed, they can see what you’re about.

You may already know what tone works with your prospects and customers. But if you don’t, you need to know everything you can about your “ideal” customer. To do this, you need to make buyer personas for each segment of your audience so you know how to attract and keep their attention.

Use our buyer persona template to start right away and get the most out of your content.

“Try different things with your content to find a tone that your audience likes. Try out different things on social media, like making people laugh or talking about a social issue that your brand cares about. “The results might surprise you,” says Emma Prunty, editor of DMI.

Include relevant internal and external links

Links are the best way to lead people to other useful content on a website. Think of the “hub and spoke” model. To get the most out of your content, include internal links that lead people to the content that interests them. You can also send people to the “money pages” where they can buy something.

External links, also called “backlinks,” are an important part of SEO because they let other sites link to your content. The more outside sites that link to your content, the better, because it will boost your search rankings and show that your content is valuable.

If third-party links are part of your strategy, focus on getting high-quality backlinks instead of a lot of low-quality ones that won’t help your SEO.

“It’s important to have links, especially internal links that lead to other pages and articles on your site. This keeps people on your site longer.” High-quality backlinking is also not a bad thing, says Foley from AOU Creative, as long as you go to high-quality websites and share your information.

Suit your writing based on the platform and output

Any marketer who works with content will tell you that each platform needs its own content. This means that you can’t write a social media post or landing page the same way you write a blog.

Each type of content and platform needs its own style and way of doing things. When you write a blog, you take the reader on a trip and tell a story. Whereas a Google ad needs to use all the right keywords and be interesting to get a click in a matter of seconds.

Write compelling CTAs

If you put a lot of work into making a piece of content, make sure people can do something with it. The goal of a call to action (CTA) is to turn a reader or website visitor into a lead that can be followed up on.

There are several types of CTAs you can use:

Sign-up or Subscribe – Use this to encourage people to sign up to a newsletter or updates
Learn more – This invites people to go to a tailored landing page or another section of the site. It can also act as a teaser for launch events as used by Apple in this email invite.
Get started – This can encourage people to sign up for a course or start on a learning journey
Download now – You can use this to urge users to download an eBook or whitepaper
Donate or Get involved – This is used by non-profits to spread the word about a campaign or get people to give money. Airbnb recently asked people to “Host a refugee” to help Ukrainian refugees find a place to live.
Get my discount – This can prompt people to sign up to a mailing list to get a discount code
Try for free – This is for a free trial or demo. We use this example on our site to invite people to try a free digital skills test

Always optimize!

You might think that your job is done when you click “publish.” When it comes to content, though, that’s not the case.

Even if your blogs or landing pages are doing well, you can always make them better. Information can get old, especially if you use numbers or reports from other people. Keywords also go in and out of style, so the ones you chose for a campaign six months ago might not be searched for at all now.

So you should always try to make your content better. The best way to do this is to do an SEO audit of your site, especially for key pages that bring in leads or money. You should also keep an eye on how the content is doing, and if the number of views or leads goes down, you should try to figure out why. You can do this by looking at your data and choosing content that has gotten less popular over time.

At DMI, we worked with Wolfgang Digital to use SEO techniques to improve our blogs. This meant adding relevant keywords, updating the content, and adding internal links to keep the best content fresh. We got 143 percent more leads from the blog in just one quarter compared to the same time last year.

“Using as much low-hanging fruit as possible is the most important part of any SEO content strategy. Before making a lot of new content, we knew it was important to find posts that could rank higher for their current search terms. We also knew that optimizing the content that competed more strongly with top-ranking pages would help us get more exposure for long-tail terms. We used DMI’s existing content and the power of internal linking to make an “ecosystem” in which one page helps the other by spreading link equity more efficiently. Lorna Franklin, Client Lead, Wolfgang Digital.

What is an SEO content writing example?

Now that you know how to use SEO to make your content better, here are some great examples to help you get started.

SEO content writing for blogs

You might already be making SEO mistakes on your blog without even realizing it. If you write your blog posts with SEO in mind, they will do better in search engine rankings.

Here’s a recent blog post we wrote about SEO and YouTube. The title “How to Create a YouTube Channel” uses the keywords “how to” and “YouTube channel” to show Google and other search engines what the article is about.

In the first paragraph, there is also a link to another relevant YouTube article on our blog. In the second paragraph, there is a link to a reputable third-party site.

The blog goes on to explain how to make a channel with relevant images, bullet points to break up the text, and links to both internal and external sites.

At the end of the blog, there is a call to action (CTA) that leads people to a relevant DMI course that will help them make a YouTube channel. This is followed by an image CTA that says “View Courses.”

SEO content writing for landing pages

Landing pages are the key to getting people to take action. So the content you put on them needs to be relevant, SEO-friendly, and have a clear call to action (CTA).

Intercom – B2B

Intercom, a software company, makes great landing pages that look and feel like their brand and have as little text as possible. But what they have is clear, and it’s easy for a visitor to see what they have to offer.

A positive headline with the words “build,” “life,” and “engagement” stands out against the white background. Their calls to action are clear and say things like “Get started” or “Free Demo.” When a user clicks on either CTA, they are taken to a page where they can sign up to get emails.

Gucci – B2C

Gucci, a digital fashion brand, is the definition of luxury, and its landing pages are full of style. In a simple but eye-catching color scheme, the well-known GG logo takes over the background. In the example below, there isn’t much text, but it fits with the image of “The GG in Blue” because it’s about a blue cake.

The top menu makes it easy to get around, and the call to action (CTA), “SHOP THE COLLECTION,” makes it easy to click or scroll.

The Digital Marketing Institute – B2C

This page is meant to promote the new Professional Diploma in Search Marketing Course. It uses optimized copy to include relevant keywords like “SEO,” “PPC,” and “Google AdWords,” as well as thousands of other terms we have in our online dictionary.

The content also tells visitors what kind of course it is and how much it costs. The page also shows the logos of our Global Industry Advisory Council to show that we are recognized by the industry as a whole. “Download Brochure” is a simple call to action that stands out against the white background.

Shopify – B2B

Shopify, a big name in e-commerce, makes landing pages to get brands to sell their goods and services on their platform. The title, “Everything you need to sell anywhere,” tells you everything you need to know as a visitor.

The body text is powerful and uses words like “trust,” “sell,” “ship,” and “process” that show Shopify’s global reach and how easy it is to use. “Start a free trial” is also a call-to-action (CTA) at the top of the page and at the bottom of the panel.

“SEO is a slower, more natural way for people to find you. It takes time and hard work. But if you do it well, you will get what you put into it. So, if you sell something that can’t be bought in thousands of other places, like a custom barbecue, SEO will help you more than if you sell white socks, which are sold in thousands of stores. James Williamson is the Managing Director of 8th Dial, a digital marketing company.

SEO content writing for product pages

Birchbox – B2C

Getting beauty products by mail Birchbox puts a variety of items in boxes that it sends out every month. The goal is to let people try out a variety of products that are made especially for their skin, hair, etc.

The product page shows off the products, includes customer reviews, and has a section below the second panel that tells visitors how to use it. Simple words like “glow,” “illuminate,” and “summer” are used in the copy. The headline ties the product to summer and calls it “essential,” but the call to action is just “Add to Basket.”

Peloton – B2C

The bikes from the brand Peloton are expensive, but the copy on their product pages is short and well-written.

The headline “Transform your workout with game-changing cardio” appeals to people who want to get in shape and change. It deals with the high price by letting you pay for it over time and by not charging you any interest. It also lets you try it out at home for 30 days and compare prices. The CTA is easy to understand: “Shop Bike!”

Good Health – B2C

In recent years, there has been a lot of attention on healthy foods. Just look at the success of alternative products like Oatly, a company that makes drinks from oats. The copy on the product page is smart and gets the point across that the snacks are healthy and gluten-free.

The pictures are eye-catching, and the text describes the products with words like “baked,” “real cheese,” and “organic,” as well as trademarks. Customers can choose to buy online or order in-store with the three CTAs.

As you scroll down, the page splits into panels that give more information about each product. It has words like “love,” “kids,” and “favorite” in it.

“SEO is very powerful because people who use search engines are ready to buy, especially if they use conversion keywords. They aren’t just interested in what you do because they saw an ad on Instagram or read their mom’s Facebook post and something popped up. “They just don’t know you do it,” said Kate Toon, a very good copywriter.

Is SEO content writing a good career?

According to research by Lucidpress, 85 percent of professionals expect the demand for personalized content to grow by 2021, and personalized content can increase a brand’s sales by 48 percent.

That just shows how important content marketers are in all fields. But if you want to be a good content marketer, you need to know about SEO. After all, businesses want to be found online, and one of the best ways to do that is by making content that is relevant and SEO-friendly.

But is it easy to write for SEO? In short, you need to practice! Since organic search is a website’s main source of traffic, using SEO techniques to improve your content will help you become more visible to the people who matter—your prospects and customers.

Focus on the important parts of SEO writing, like keywords, headings, meta tags, calls to action, internal links, and backlinks.

Local SEO is also important for personalization and businesses that focus on a certain location, like a restaurant or cafe.

“There’s no secret to SEO; it’s very straightforward and black and white. Once you understand how it works, you understand. People don’t want to learn SEO, I think, because they think it’s some kind of magic potion that only a few people can learn. Which is not true at all,” says Kate Toon, an SEO and content expert.

How much do SEO writers make?

Content marketing can be a lucrative job, and it also gives you the chance to work as a freelancer or as a “digital nomad.” How much would full-time and part-time SEO writers make on average in 2022?

Comparably says that an SEO content writer’s annual salary in the U.S. ranges from $29,000 to $109,000, and Talent.com says that the average salary in the U.K. is £25,500.

Payscale says that the average salary for a content writer with SEO skills is close to $46,000, while the average salary in Australia is close to AU$57,000.

When it comes to how much you pay per word, the rate varies.

Search Engine Journal asked SEO experts how much they charged per word and found that the prices ranged from $0.02 to $2.

The key is to get SEO writing experience you can use to back up your rates as a freelancer or in an interview for a job.

What makes a good SEO writer?

Finding a good SEO content writer can be difficult, which means there is a lot of demand for them. First and foremost, you need to be able to write content that is clear and engaging. To write with SEO in mind, you need to: