Does your business rely on SEO content writing? Do you even run a blog? No matter what your business does, it needs to keep a blog if it wants to survive the digital marketing place, which makes SEO writing a top priority for digital businesses.
Unfortunately, more companies are online than ever before, which makes it very difficult for potential customers to find your website. That’s why SEO article writing may be the most important thing you can do for your digital marketing.
As an SEO writing agency, we always use these ten SEO writing tips to push our content across the internet. As an online company, you should do the same. Read more to learn the secrets behind our SEO writing services!
10 Tips for SEO Article Writing
Consider this your SEO checklist—check off these 10 SEO writing tips before you publish your next blog.
1. Target Several SEO Keywords
Search engine keywords are based on what people often search for. As a result, one topic could have many different keywords, since people are curious and have many different questions about similar things.
As a result, you should always optimize your content for multiple SEO keywords. For example, if you’re writing an article about cupcakes, you might target the following keywords:
The SEO Keywords are based off of the seed keywords, which are high-ranking but generalized searches. The SEO keyword incorporates the seed keyword while also using high-traffic search terms, allowing the SEO keywords to rank for multiple searches!
A great place to do keyword research is SEMRush. Use them to research well-optimized search terms, and make sure you use terms that have a mix of both “difficulty” and “volume.”
2. Use SEO Keywords in the First Sentence
As a general rule of SEO content writing, the earlier your search terms appear in the article, the more likely it will rank higher in search engines. If that’s the case, why not put these search terms in the first sentence?
Search engines need to know what the content is about, and you want the article to be “about” the relevant search terms. The earlier you mention your SEO keywords, the better. Try to fit at least one keyword into the first sentence, fit half of them into the first paragraph, and make sure all of your keywords are mentioned before your first H2.
3. Use SEO Text Headers Appropriately
You probably know to use headers to organize SEO content on your webpages and blogposts. Not only do headers organize your content and draw the reader’s eyes, they also tell search engines what your content is about, which is why a well-optimized page uses well-optimized headers.
Search engines analyze your text in order of its headers. So, it assumes that your title (which is also your H1 in HTML) says the most about what your article/page is about. Search engines then read your Heading 2s, 3s, etc. all the way down to the text itself. So, you should try to have a keyword in each of your headings, as well as in each paragraph of text.
Most web publishers, like WordPress or SquareSpace, allow you to select your headers using a drop down menu. You can also organize them in HTML with header tags. “<h1><h/1>” can be used for titles, “<h2><h/2>” for heading 2s, etc.
4. Optimize Your SEO Keyword Density
Keyword density refers to the frequency of a keyword within a body of text. As a general rule of thumb, you want to keep your keyword density between 1-3%, including your title and headers. So, if your article is 1000 words long, you want your keyword to take up 10-30 of those words.
In SEO content writing, there is such a thing as over-optimizing. Search engine algorithms try to deliver the best content to its users, so it discourages content that overuses search terms, since that SEO writer might be trying to sway the search engine too much. 3% is a hard limit for keyword density; if the article is any denser, search engines probably won’t trust your content.
This is why it’s important to have multiple keywords and seed words, too. By varying the frequency of different keywords and search terms, you can ensure your article is optimized for multiple searches without making one search term too dense in the SEO article.
5. Target Local SEO Keywords
Within the realm of SEO content writing, there’s a subset of search terms called “local SEO.” This is SEO that’s relevant to a specific city or region of the world. For example, if you own a coffee shop in Orlando, Florida, you would want some of your keywords to have location-specific messaging. “Coffee in Orlando” and “Central Florida coffeeshops” are search terms you would expect from an Orlando resident looking for good coffee nearby!
Additionally, many people often search for things like “coffee shops near me.” If the search engine knows that person lives in Orlando, it will then search for coffee shops that have a strong digital presence in Orlando. “Near me” searches are growing in frequency, so if your business has any sort of local, physical footprint, then local SEO is essential for you.
6. Write Numbered or Bulleted Lists
Search engines want to deliver a diverse stream of content to its users, which is why a typical google search might include video links, wikipedia summaries, and related questions. Another way it makes content more interesting is by showing you a bulleted list in the zero position.
The zero position refers to the article that ranks at the top of a query, often accompanied by a larger preview of the SEO content itself. Search engines are more likely to place your article in the zero position if it answers certain queries succinctly or in a reader-friendly format—an SEO list, for example.
You can see the zero position in action with one of our awesome clients, Writers.com. Their article “24 of the Best Places to Submit Poetry Online” ranks at the top of searches for “best places to submit poetry,” with several poetry journals showing up in a bulleted, zero-position list.
By diversifying your content through media like bulleted lists, you are far more likely to dominate search engines.
7. Write Longform SEO Content
Search engines want to know that they’re delivering the highest-value content to users. As a result, they are more likely to deliver content with lots of information, so longform content will generally rank higher.
How can you extend the length of your SEO content writing, while still providing value? Consider adding the following to some of your blog content:
- Definitions and examples
- Further readings
- Images with descriptions
- Blockquotes
- Relevant quotes from other articles
8. Use and Accrue Internal & External Links
Just as important to your content writing strategy is your overall link building strategy. An optimized page includes both internal and external links, and it also has lots of links from other websites, too.
Each link-building strategy has a different benefit to your SEO article writing, so let’s break it down.
Internal Links
Internal links refer to any link that redirects you within the same website. Building internal links help your overall SEO strategy in 3 ways:
- Guiding search engines towards other relevant pages
- Keeping visitors on your website for longer periods of time
- Building an internal architecture for your site, making it easier for search engines to crawl
Make sure you don’t use too many internal links—4 is plenty for a page or blogpost, otherwise search engines will feel spread thin or think you’re trying to tip the scales.
Additionally, make sure the words you hyperlink are relevant to the internal link. If you’re linking to a contact page, don’t hyperlink over the words “about us,” otherwise the search engine will be confused.
External Links
External links prove to search engines that your content is high-value. By referencing other articles and websites, your article looks more well-researched to search engines, which makes the search engine more likely to rank your page higher.
You can definitely have more external links than internal links on your page, but there are a few precautions you should consider.
First, don’t use too many external links, otherwise your reader will never finish your article. Second, don’t link to questionable pages. Try to link to .gov, .org, or .net sites, as well as sites that provide equally high-value content.
Finally, don’t hyperlink over your keywords. If you do, the search engine will assume that your article is not reliable on its own merit, so it won’t push your article to the top of web queries.
Obtaining External Links
Finally, you want other websites to link back to your article. These links, also known as backlinks, are like a “vote” for your page, affirming that the content is both valuable and original. The more votes your page has, the more a search engine will value your page and overall web domain.
When your website has enough valuable content, you can try doing a linkbuilding campaign, whereby you petition other relevant websites to include links to your content as a benefit to their readers. Also, don’t try to build links on social media sites, because search engines don’t consider posts on Facebook or Twitter to be “votes.”
Obtaining external links can be a challenge, but it’s one of the most powerful things you can do for your overall SEO.
9. Use Images & Relevant Alt Text
We’ve mentioned how search engines prefer articles that are multi-media, and images are an easy way to build a page’ SEO. Images give visitors a reason to stay on the page longer, and they also give you an opportunity to include alt text.
When uploading an image onto a page or article, you should see an option to include alt text on the image. Alt text is a way of improving readability for your site: if a reader has a poor web connection or certain accessibility needs, alt text describes the image for the user.
Alt text also describes the image for search engines, which is why it’s an essential component of SEO article writing. If you can use a keyword in your alt text description, then your article will be even better optimized for searches. Describe your images faithfully, but include SEO keywords when possible!
10. Write Metadata
Finishing our list of SEO writing tips is the use of metadata. When search engines provide a list of articles to answer your query, those articles have some text written under the link. That text is called metadata, and if you haven’t been writing metadata for your web pages, it’s time to go back and write some.
Metadata tells the reader what to expect in your article, and it also tells search engines what the focus of your article is. Each page has a finite amount of space on search engines, so make sure your meta title and metadata use keywords effectively while still providing an efficient summary.
Looking for SEO Writing Services?
Summit Collaborations dreams in SEO articles and SEO content writing. If you’re looking to revitalize your web presence and dominate search engines, you’ve taken the first step to revamping your SEO. Now, take the second: reach out today, and our team of SEO writers will push your website to its zenith. Reach the peak of the internet with Summit Collaborations!