Writing Web Copy That Speaks to Both Humans and Search Engines

Search engines are gatekeepers of the attention economy, but writing specifically for them is proven to be a bad idea. Google’s algorithm has consistently shifted to prioritize content written for humans, with shortcuts like keyword stuffing, exact match domains and backlink buying now being disastrous for your SERP rankings. And yet, in a way you do have to write for search engines; the trick is to balance technical optimization with emotional resonance for humans. This is a guide to help you walk this tightrope with evidence-based web copywriting best practices and strategies like emotional triggers, power words, optimal keyword usage, and A/B testing.

How Headlines Can Make or Break Your Web Copy

The 80/20 rule of headlines is a great way to demonstrate their importance. Basically, around 80% of readers will engage with your content purely by reading the headlines, and maybe skimming a bit of the copy. Only about 20% will read the actual content. This means that headlines set the tone for the user experience, and by virtue of that, they exercise enormous influence over your click-through-rate. If you use effective emotional appeals and spark curiosity, engagement naturally follows.

So that’s the human perspective. What role do headlines play with search engines? With the appropriate heading tags (H1, H2, etc), they can web crawlers understand your content and rank it accordingly. In other words, failing to optimize them leads to poor search engine visibility, low engagement, and missed conversions. That’s why many businesses turn to website copywriting services to create optimized, high-converting, and traffic boosting headlines.

How to Write Headlines That Resonate With Humans

What exactly does it mean to add “emotional appeals” and “spark curiosity”? In a nutshell, these are words, terms and phrases that build a sense of urgency, excitement and FOMO. Calling something an “Ultimate Guide” that readers “Don’t Want to Miss Out On”, for example, ticks all those boxes. The same goes for headings like “Take Your [X] to the Next Level” or “Everything You Need to Know About X”.

Headings should also include persuasive, attention grabbing terms like “Ultimate”, “Proven”, or “Expert” that convey a sense of authority. But most importantly, prioritize clarity over cleverness to ensure the main message is immediately understood.

Optimizing Headlines for Search Engines

Clarity also helps to optimize web copy for search engines. Title tags have a limit of 50-60 characters, anything beyond that will get cut off in the SERP, with mobile SERPs truncating them even further. This means you need to choose your keywords wisely (so no unnatural keyword stuffing) and place them effectively next to emotional triggers. Generally speaking, it’s best to place primary keywords at the start of a headline, because web crawlers prioritize those first few words when determining relevance to a search query.

Balancing Emotional Appeal with SEO Requirements

Good web copywriters know how to strike a balance between human-focused content and technical SEO requirements. It’s best to adopt a human-first approach and then optimize for search, as well as adapt web copy to suit the context. For example, landing pages and blogs require very different ratios of emotional triggers to SEO keywords, so it’s important to customize your headlines accordingly.

For example, if you sell dietary supplements or fitness plans, you’d want to advertise your ability to help people lose weight. Your approach, however, will change based on where the web copy’s going. If you’re writing a blog post, a heading like “10 Proven Ways to Lose Weight Fast” can help your content attain a higher ranking. On the other hand, if you’re creating a landing page for a resource like an ebook or video series, a heading like “Lose Weight Fast with These 10 Science-Backed Methods” may be a better fit.

With “10 Proven Ways to Lose Weight Fast”, you’re providing a numbered list format with actionable steps, ideal for attracting more clicks in search results. In the case of “Lose Weight Fast with These 10 Science-Backed Methods”, the copy is more conversion oriented and can reassure leads about the resource’s value.

Finally, remember to use LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) to include synonyms and common search terms in your copy. This broadens keyword coverage and can further assist search engines in understanding your web copy by providing context. You can find related keywords by entering a search query relevant to your product or services and checking Google’s “People Also Ask” section to find related keywords or phrases.

Testing and Optimizing Headlines

A professional web copywriting service will always test multiple headlines. For example, let’s say you’re trying to sell marketing automation services to small businesses. You could use a headline like “he Ultimate Guide to Marketing Automation for Small Businesses”, but that’s not the only option. Something like “Boost Your Sales with This Ultimate Marketing Automation Guide” could work as well. How do you decide? Through A/B testing.

This is when you test two variations of a headline with different emotional triggers or keyword placements to see which performs better. Check KPIs like click through rates, bounce rates, conversions, and time on page and stick with whichever headline provides the best results. Eventually, you can develop a style guide or list of best practices to ensure that each headline hits the mark.

Final Thoughts

Web copywriting today requires a dual focus. Emotional triggers and precise keyword usage, when combined, create a powerful combo that can drive conversions and potentially help you hit page one of the SERP. Start experimenting with headlines today. Create a list of 5 to 10, consistently monitor KPIs, and stay up to date with the latest SEO trends. That’s really all there is to it when it comes to writing genuinely effective web copy, but the devil lies in the details.