How to Write Great SEO Content: 4 SEO Writing Tips to Rank on the First Page
Knowing how to write SEO articles in four easy steps can allow you to quickly and effectively write blogs that:
Rank on the first page of Google
Drive free, organic users to your website
Increase conversions
If you don’t understand how to write great SEO content, it will be nearly impossible for others to find your articles or website. However, if you learn how to write effective SEO content, it will provide you with a free source of online traffic that can lead to new clients/customers.
But when it comes to search engine optimization copywriting, many people don’t know how to write SEO articles that actually rank on Google—the content is good, but the SEO practices aren’t.
So, are you ready to learn how to write perfect SEO-optimized articles that get results?
In this blog, we’re going to share some best practices for content writing. As you read, you’ll learn:
What is an SEO friendly article
How to write search engine optimized content
Expert SEO and copywriting tips
Join us as we dive into the world of blog writing for search engine optimization.
What Is an SEO-friendly Article?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of creating content (blog articles, webpages, etc.) that ranks on the first page of search engines (92% of all organic traffic stays on the first page, so it’s really the only page that matters), like Google.
Search engines have an algorithm that looks at a piece of content and tries to understand what the content is about. The way to tell Google what an article is about involves two factors:
Using SEO-friendly keywords
Writing relevant content
Here’s a closer look at what these two items involve.
What Are SEO-friendly Keywords?
Keywords are what people type into a search engine. They can be single words like “car” (short-tail keywords) or long phrases like “how do I get the best deal on a used car” (long-tail keywords).
For someone who owns a car dealership or helps others find the best deal on used cars, these two terms “car” and “how do I get the best deal on a used car” are both SEO-friendly keywords for this company/individual—they’re related to the person’s expertise and business.
So, this individual/company should try to write articles and release content around the idea of “used cars.” The more articles and content they produce with keywords related to “used cars”, the more likely they are to rank for these terms and attract online users.
In addition, every keyphrase has a certain volume and difficulty. Volume refers to the number of monthly searches for that term and difficulty is how hard it is to rank on the first page for that time. The goal is to find high volume, low difficulty keywords. (More on this idea later in the article!)
However, writing with SEO in mind isn’t just about keywords. SEO article writing also involves producing content that’s relevant and provides value to your readers.
Relevant, Valuable Content
Google’s algorithm is becoming increasingly intelligent. It can tell between articles that are relevant to users and those that aren’t, by using machine learning and metrics like bounce rate.
SEO articles that provide value to readers will continue to rank higher on Google and reach a greater audience. Content that isn’t relevant to readers and doesn’t follow best practices for content writing may never get on the first page of Google and won’t drive traffic to a website.
When someone searches in Google for “affordable used cars near me” or “best used car dealership to buy from”, they expect to find articles that provide them with information about where or how to buy a used car—relevant content.
The bottom line of relevant content is this: provide your readers with information that’s related to what they’re searching for and give them a reason to read more of your content.
So, now you know that writing with SEO in mind involves using SEO-friendly keywords and writing relevant content.
But knowing what good SEO and copywriting look like and actually doing it are two different things. Now that you know more about what an SEO article is, let’s look at how to practically write great SEO content in just a few easy steps.
How to Write SEO Articles in Four Easy Steps
Like with many things in life, learning how to write search engine optimized content takes practice—the more you practice SEO article writing, the better you’ll become. However, there are some SEO writing tips you can employ to ensure you’re always writing with SEO in mind.
Here are four of our top SEO content tips to get your articles ranking higher on Google and driving more organic traffic to your website.
1. Do Keyword Research
The first place you want to start when writing SEO articles is with keyword research.
Keyword research will help you understand what words/phrases will make good articles and also help you know what keywords to include in your articles.
There are a number of great SEO resources that can help you think of keywords and blog topics, like:
One of the biggest problems for businesses that handle their own blogging initiatives is that they often don’t do or know how to do good keyword research. They might be writing good content, but it’s not ranking. Connecting with an SEO firm that understands how to find the best keywords for your business can be an excellent way to ensure blogs contain high-quality keywords.
Once you’ve done some initial keyword research, it’s time to choose relevant content ideas based on those keywords.
2. Choose Blog Topics from Keywords
Now that you have a list of keywords, you can sort through them to find the ones that will make for the best articles.
It may be tempting to choose all the words that simply have high volume, like “used car” for a used car dealership. However, this isn’t a great idea.
Yes, “used car” is a relevant term with high volume. But think about all the other large companies this business will be competing with like, Carmax, Autotrader.com, etc.
A better term could be something like, “how to buy a used car in Richmond, VA.” This term may have lower volume overall, but it’s:
Relevant to the business and customers
Lower in difficulty to rank for than “used car”
Has high-buyer intent (i.e., people who search this term are most likely looking to buy a used car in Richmond, VA)
Choosing the best content ideas doesn’t simply entail using all the high volume/low difficulty keywords. Instead, it means finding keywords that are best for your business and industry.
3. Follow Keyword Best Practices
Filling your article with high-quality keywords will help you get recognized by Google and start ranking for relevant terms. But there are some best practices for content writing to keep in mind when using keywords.
Using Keywords in Body Text
When it comes to using SEO-friendly keywords in body text, there’s one big mistake: keyword stuffing.
You don’t want to use the same keyword over and over again. Google is smart enough to figure out when you’re trying to use keywords more than providing readers with useful information.
It’s important to use keywords multiple times throughout your article, but you don’t want to overdo it. There’s no exact number of times to use a keyword, but a good rule of thumb is to ensure that keywords only account for 3-5% of your SEO article’s total word count.
For example, “how to write SEO articles in four easy steps” is one of the keywords for this blog. If you took the time to count, we used it three times (including the one in the previous sentence). That’s enough to help Google know that we want to rank for this term, but not too frequently that Google thinks we’re keyword stuffing.
Using Keywords in Header Tags
Apart from using keywords in the body text, it’s also valuable to use them in header tags when possible.
Header tags stick out to Google more than the body text, so putting a keyword into a header tag helps Google more easily know what you want to rank for.
See the title “How to Write Great SEO Content: 4 SEO Writing Tips to Rank on the First Page” at the top of this page? That’s coded as an H1 tag and includes two keywords: “how to write great SEO content” and “SEO writing tips.”
By including those keywords in an H1 tag, we’re telling Google we want our article to rank for those terms. The same thing can be done with H2, H3, and H4 tags throughout an article.
4. Use a Keyword for the Title Tag
When you go to publish your blog online, you have the opportunity to create a blog title (usually the H1 tag) and an SEO title (title tag). The blog title and title tag should be different, as they’re both opportunities to rank for unique keywords.
However, most people make the mistake of using the blog title as the SEO title.
But if you want to expand your keyword reach, you should use a different keyword in the title tag than you do in the blog title. Using two different keywords in these two places will help you rank for more keywords.
Get Expert Help With Search Engine Optimization Copywriting
SEO article writing is the process of using SEO-friendly keywords to write relevant content that ranks on Google’s first page and drives organic traffic to your website. Organic traffic is a free way to reach your target audience and potential customers.
However, many people don’t know how to write great SEO content that receives online traffic. Their actual writing and content might be good, but they lack the ability to rank for valuable keywords.
Fortunately, if you want to know how to write SEO articles in four easy steps, you simply need to:
Brainstorm relevant content topics
Do keyword research
Follow keyword best practices for body text and headers
Choose a different keyword for your SEO title than you did for your blog title
But even with these SEO writing tips, SEO article writing can be challenging if you’ve never done it before.
At Veivos, we’ve perfected the art (and science!) of writing with SEO in mind:
First, we come alongside you to understand your business, industry, and marketing needs.
Then, we do extensive keyword research to find terms that are relevant to your target audience. But we don’t just find a large number of keywords. We take the time to find keywords that have high volume and low difficulty—keywords that will quickly get your site ranking on Google’s first page.
Finally, we expertly craft SEO articles that will rank on the first page of Google and drive organic traffic to your website.
Ready to jumpstart your website and turn it into a lead generator?
Schedule a call today to learn how our SEO services can help you start outpacing your competitors.
