Mastering SEO writing: the steps to crafting search-engine friendly content

Mastering the art of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) through copywriting is crucial for ensuring your content can be found easily through search engines, and reaches its intended audience! 

Search engines are constantly changing their algorithms to show users the best results. So, understanding and following SEO best practices is key.

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Keyword research for SEO purposes

The foundation of SEO writing is keyword research. This first step is important because it’s the backbone of your content strategy. SEO keyword analysis lets you see what language and queries your target audience is searching for online, as well as trends that might be occurring that your business can address immediately. 

Keyword research means finding the data and specific terms that people are using on search engines to find resources they are interested in. Utilising keyword research will allow a copywriter to know the phrases that might be best to use that is related to their topic. Using keywords found during research will not only better help your content to connect with your audience, but will also help search engines to categorise your content and potentially have it show up in the search engine results page after someone searches.

Essential SEO tools

Google Keyword Planner is a great tool for conducting keyword research. It provides data on search volume, competition level, and keyword trends over a period of time. Using a tool like this allows you to narrow down and make a decision on the keywords you want to use in your content. You could also consider using software like Surfer SEO to help you identify your keywords.

In addition to broad keywords, it's important to consider the significance of long-tail keywords in your SEO strategy. These longer, more specific phrases may have lower search volumes, but they often have higher conversion rates because they might be more relevant to what the user is searching for. Placing long-tail keywords into your content can help you reach niche audiences and drive traffic to your website.

When selecting keywords to target, it is best to aim for a balance between search volume, competition, and relevance. Prioritise keywords with high average monthly searches and an increasing trend in popularity. At the same time, be mindful of competition levels, opting for keywords with manageable competition to increase your chances of ranking higher in search engine results.

Embedding your relevant keywords on-screen

Now you’ve found your target keywords through research, the next step is to place them in your content.

One of the key areas to focus on is the title, which is the headline for your content in search engine results. By putting your primary keyword in the title you’re telling search engines what your content is about and making it more visible to users as they scan through search results.

Including SEO keywords beyond the title

Writing a meta description that includes keywords can increase click through rates and visibility of your content in search results. This section gives users a preview of your content so it’s important to optimise with targeted keywords to grab their attention and get them to engage.

In the body of your content placing keywords in headings and subheadings helps with readability and reinforces the topic of your content. By putting keywords naturally in these elements you’re telling search engines and users what your content is about. It is important to also make sure you aren't keyword stuffing. While you want keywords in your content, if you add too many, it will not only be difficult to read, but search engines will pick up that the content doesn't feel naturally written. Be sure to carefully place keywords that add value to what is being written. 

In addition, you can optimise your URL structures with descriptive keywords where possible will also boost your content’s SEO. URLs with keywords in them will give better search engine visibility and users will get valuable insight into what they can expect to find in your content.

Don’t forget about alt tags

Include descriptive alt tags with keywords and your images will contribute to the overall keyword relevance of the page and also for visually impaired users who use screen readers.

Quality matters for SEO

High-quality content is the foundation of any successful SEO strategy, it is a feature that attracts both search engines and human users.

One of the key aspects of having a good SEO presence is to continuously update and modernise your content. Regular updates not only keep your information accurate and relevant but also tell search engines your website is an updated source. Keeping your content fresh and up-to-date will build trust with users and search algorithms and can impact your rankings!

Engaging today’s audience 

Today’s users consume information in many formats, and it can be hard for content to stand out. Creating diversity and engaging content diversity is also key to maximising your SEO impact.

Quality content goes the extra mile for connecting with your users. Making sure that content is visually appealing and engaged with your target audience is also important, and should not be lost in the SEO keywords and copywriting battle!  Keeping your business’ tone of voice and writing specific and unique messages within content is a great way to make your content authentically connect. Connecting with your audience is way more important than putting a lot of keywords into the article.

Technical SEO

It's not only the writing part that is good, but technical SEO holds its own importance in SEO ranking. These technical elements will ensure that your website is accessible to the users and discoverable for web crawlers.

First and foremost, this includes mobile friendliness, very key in today's digital world. Users are increasingly using the internet through smartphones and tables, which requires a responsive and mobile-friendly website design to ensure an effortless experience across all devices, improving user satisfaction and giving a signal to Google that your site is updated for modern browsing habits, therefore likely to boost your mobile search rankings.

The importance of site speed

In addition to mobile-friendliness, site speed is another key factor that impacts both user experience and search engine rankings. Fast loading pages increase user engagement and are given extra attention by search engine algorithms. Optimise your website’s performance through image optimisation, caching and minimising unnecessary code and you will see big improvements in load times and search engine rankings.

And finally one way to speed up the indexing process and make sure every page on your website is crawled and displayed in search results is to create and submit a sitemap to search engines. A sitemap tells search engines exactly what content is on your website, it’s like a map. Tools like Google Search Console make this easy to do, and are a great way to ensure your website is being crawled. 

Social media support

Using social media is so important to increase the visibility and reach of your content. Social media platforms are great ways to promote your blog posts, connect with your audience on a different platform and drive traffic to your website.

Share your blog posts across social media platforms to increase your reach and drive those who are already following or have an interest in your business to the website. Social media is a great way to re-engage with your audience or connect with a new audience. And, it can bring new users to your website, which ultimately helps to boost your SEO efforts! 

Community engagement is key in SEO

Engagement is key to a high-performing social media presence, it helps boost your content to new audiences! Make sure to interact with your audience by responding to comments, answering questions and starting conversations around your content.

Organic social media SEO is becoming easier to track, and pushing potential website articles and features through social media is a great way for users and search engines to see your website being accessed from different channels and sources.

Link building to increase SEO

Credibility and authority for your content is key in SEO writing. Link building is part of that! Backlinks from authoritative websites are like testimonials. As votes of confidence, these backlinks tell search engines your content is worth it and should rank higher in the results.

Avoid poor quality strategies 

Avoid buying links, participating in link exchanges or buying links; these can get you penalised by search engines and damage your reputation as a trusted information source. Instead, earn backlinks organically by creating high-quality valuable content that naturally attracts attention and interest.

Monitor your SEO performance

Continuously monitoring your content’s performance is key to staying ahead. Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to get valuable insights into how your content is performing across different metrics.

Utilising Google Tools

Google Analytics gives you an overview of your website’s traffic sources, user behaviour and engagement metrics. By tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) like page views, session duration and conversion rates you can see how well your content is performing in attracting and retaining visitors.

Google Search Console complements Google Analytics by providing deeper insights into your website's performance in search engine results. You can monitor your site's visibility, indexing status, and search queries that drive traffic to your pages. 

Regularly reviewing your analytics is crucial for identifying trends, finding areas for improvement, and creating opportunities to better connect with your audience

We can help with SEO! 

At JUMP, we’re passionate about delivering results for our clients. We work with a technical SEO specialist partner that helps us to deeply understand SEO, and enables us to incorporate SEO writing into digital marketing practices. 

Whether you're looking to increase website traffic, improve search engine rankings, or boost conversions, we have the expertise and resources to help you achieve your goals.

Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can support your SEO efforts.