How To Write SEO

Finding the balance between optimising content for users vs making your content SEO can take some serious fine-tuning. After all, we all hear how SEO content can reap rewards in generating audience-specific traffic to your website. Many will argue that SEO-optimised content can’t be, however, the truth of the matter is you don’t need one or the other – you need both.

In this article, we’re going to share NOVOS’ top tips on how you can write SEO content for search engines and your users.

Start with keyword research

Fast forward to the relationship between content and SEO in 2021 and anyone with experience in SEO will tell you that algorithms are leaning towards more thought-led types of content. Of course, keywords still have a huge role to play in dominating SERPs, but you will need to simultaneously have your target audience in mind when producing your work. What you can be mindful of these 9 things:

1) Understand the search intent behind your keyword research. For example, see the image below of the customer journey for a sustainable clothing brand. This is what we mean when we say to base your keyword research around what your user needs to know.

2) Check out who’s ranking top in search engine results and use it as a resource to make sure you’ve covered the same points in your article. And no – we don’t mean copying or duplicating content, flaunt your expertise and make it a better resource!

3) Don’t rule out long-tail keywords. Sure, they can be low volume but they can also be low in competitiveness too. Not only is it easier to reach number 1 in search engines for long-form queries it helps give your content a real sense of what it’s about which is great for when Google is using its algorithms to choose its sources.

Pro tip: You can research new variations of your target keywords using a social forum like Quora. People use this tool to discuss industry-related topics and they’re not limited by search filters.

There are also other resources below to help you do some nifty keyword research. Use tools like AnswerThePublic, or Google Keyword Planner to find suitable keywords.

4) Search for the topic-specific pages you’re looking to cover on Wikipedia. This is a user-generated online resource that people trust. You can use it as a reference when covering topics to get ideas.

5). Google can literally finish your sentences. Google Autocomplete will provide keyword suggestions based on real user queries. Cool, huh? And super useful when trying to find that balance between users and keyword research.

6).  Related searches on Google display 8 search results at the bottom of the results page. These are automatically generated based on Google’s algorithm to determine terms related to your search. This is an extremely handy resource to use to aid you in your keyword research.

 

7) Jump on other topical forums to see what questions and topics your target audience are asking about.

 

8) Spy on your main competitors and figure out which keywords are driving tons of quality traffic. You can use a free Google account to access the Google Keyword Planner Tool to help you do this research, in the Google AdWords interface.

Pro Tip: How to use Google AdWords for Competitor Keyword Research:

Log into AdWords, navigate to the Keyword Planner, and locate the “Find new keywords” option.Then, select “Search for new keywords using a phrase, website or category”.Once you’ve opened the form, click on the text field under “Your landing page” and enter your competitor’s URL, then click “Get ideas”.Google will crawl that URL and generate a list of keywords related to both the page and the website as a whole.When Google finishes and displays your results, click the “Keyword ideas” tab below the graph to see your list of competitor keywords and voila!

9). Find keyword ideas on Amazon – this is especially helpful if you’re an E-commerce business trying to drive product pages. Amazon has total domination of the organic search results when it comes to transactional keywords.

Use your Metadata correctly

Now, you’ve found your target keywords. Make sure to include them in the right places: Title, URL, meta description. Keep it between 150-160 characters, and within your content. Use your keywords in H1-H6 tags, image names and alt image tags.

If you need help keeping within these rules, there’s plenty of free meta writing tools that can help you keep within Google’s recommended lengths for titles and meta descriptions. Just be careful not to overuse your keywords whilst implementing. It’ll affect your content readability and can also come across real spammy. This can result in less chance of your blog post ranking in SERPs, which is exactly what we’re not trying to achieve here.

Ultimately, You need to create blog posts and other types of content that solve problems, or answer popular questions from your audience. Include your keywords throughout the content in a way that feels natural to the reader. You could get someone to proofread your copy to make sure it translates naturally.

Structure your content

Believe me when I say, structuring your content will make your life so much easier when it comes to writing. Firstly, you need to identify the main focus of your post. From there on, you can divide the other parts to help efficiency when writing.  Once you structure your content, you can work on each part separately without overthinking.

Remember that each piece of content should include an introduction, main body and conclusion. You can divide the body into different parts and write your content in a way that captivates your writing style and tone for your brand.

Use a strong call to action

This is one of the most overseen things to miss when writing a conclusion (especially when you’re a beginner in SEO!). End your content with a strong call to action so your readers continue their journey through your website. This could be something like “sign up here” or other linking articles that push your reader further along their customer journey.

Pro tip: To hook your audience and increase your CTR, you can use emotional modifiers in your titles, such as “best,” “brilliant,” “funny,” “free,” “how to,” “tips” and so on.

0