14 Must-Read SEO Copywriting Tips
Read all about it! Lots of SEO writing tips here!
If you’re an SEO writer, you’re probably doing more than “just putting keyphrases into the content.”
You’re creating persuasive headlines. You’re setting strategy. You’re transforming boring benefit statements into copy that converts like crazy. You may even manage an in-house or freelance team.
In short, you wear a lot of different hats. All the time.
Below are 14 of my favorite SEO copywriting tips and strategies. They span from how to create an in-house team to how to write great copy, fast. You can put these tips into action right now, whether you’re an in-house or a freelance copywriter.
Enjoy!
Is your content all business in the front and a party in the back? You’re suffering from content mullet syndrome…but fortunately, there’s a cure! Let’s face it – mullets aren’t a good look (and makes people think that you’re stuck in 1986 or so.) Content mullets aren’t much better. If you haven’t updated your site for awhile, check out this post.
Is content writing becoming an overwhelming task? Rather than writing new content, consider if some of your old content can be repurposed into tweets, blog posts or SlideShare videos. It’s a much saner way to flesh out your content marketing campaign. Trust me.
Headlines can make or break your blog post. The right one will score lots of targeted traffic. And the wrong one, well…let’s just say that you won’t see the results you want. Danny Goodwin wrote a great post about how to write brilliant headlines for SEO, social and your readers. Read it. Read it now. I’ll wait.
Outsourcing your SEO copywriting can be a smart idea for many companies. However, outsourcing to the wrong vendor can mean lots of headaches, poor writing quality and possibly a Google penalty. If you’re wondering if you should run away from a possible SEO copy vendor, read this first.
The “write naturally for Google” movement worries me. It’s not because I think posts should be keyphrase stuffed (I don’t.) At the same time, if you don’t have some SEO writing knowledge, you’re leaving money (and rankings) on the table. Here’s proof.
Are you a print copywriter who spits on the term “SEO copywriting?” I understand your frustration. At the same time, learning the SEO copy ropes may not be as painful (and as spammy) as you think. Here’s what print copywriters need to know.
You know you’re supposed to focus on features – not benefits. But how do you do this? And does it really matter (hint: yes it does.) Here are some ways you can transform your dirt-dull features into benefit statements that convert like crazy.
Speaking of dirt-dull writing…when’s the last time you checked out your “About us” page? I know, I know. You’ve spent all of your time focusing on your sales pages and blogs. Yet, reworking your about us page can have some pretty cool benefits – and even increase your conversion rates. Check out these tips for an about us page re-do.
You know what makes me cringe? Overoptimized SEO content. Unfortunately, it still exists. What’s worse, I recently learned that some SEO writers are being taught that over optimization is “how you write for Google.” Argh! If you’re wondering if your content is pushing the optimization a bit too much, check out this post. Quickly. Please.
Sometimes, outsourcing your content just doesn’t make sense (especially if you already have a crack writing team.) Instead, consider keeping your SEO copywriting in-house. Challenging? Yes. But it’s entirely possible. Here are some tips around building an internal content team.
Quick! You have one hour to write a blog post! Sound impossible? Nope, this is entirely doable – it just means some careful planning and a whole lot of focus. Here’s how to do it.
Pay attention to the masters. You may laugh at informercials, but you can learn some fantastic copywriting tricks from paying attention to the ads. You can also learn from Abraham Maslow, Stephen King and even Dr. Seuss. Check out this post for the details.
Hummingbird, Hummingbird, Hummingbird. This time last year, Google’s algorithmic switcheroo was THE hot topic. If you’re wondering what Google’s Hummingbird algorithm means to SEO content creators, check out this post.
Finally, remember you are more than “just a writer.” If you’re reading this, you’re a smart SEO writer. If you need a little motivation, check out the SEO Writers’ Manifesto. Yes, you really ARE all that and a bag of chips!
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Writing naturally is easily achieved if several methods are employed not only research on a keyword level but also on a theme and topic level, understanding search intent , understanding term frequency–inverse document frequency, co-occurrence and phrase-based indexing, including semantic distance and term relationships, among others. It takes longer to compile an onsite strategy that includes theses methods but when done correctly satisfies a users need and creates a wider net in terms of possible searches.
Spot on Stuff! Especially the part about the title, not that your title has to be click bait, but it should be interesting enough to draw a lot of attention. Thanks for the info!
Hi, Justin! Thank YOU for the comment! :)
I think I find myself guilty of having this Content Mullet Syndrome. Copywriting is a bit intricate to make it catchy and interesting both front and back end. Thanks to this I found a little perspective on what to do to prevent this content error from recurring.
@Lance, that’s great! Thanks for letting me know! :)
A treasure trove of information–and humor! (I’ll be chuckling about “content mullet syndrome” for a while…)
Thanks for the laugh and the great roundup of info!
Really useful round-up, thanks – perfect example of repurposing content! Even if I’ve read some of these posts before, they are always worth revisiting.
Quick question for you from the Veg-o-Matic slideshare: You recommend NOT changing the URL if you update an old blog post. How does that work? Do you then have 2 posts with the same URL or do you delete the original one (along with any comments etc)?
@Geraldine, you can simply edit and then update the post. The URL stays the same. Easy! :)
Super helpful post with valuable resources. Being an entrepreneur, I feel it’s really difficult to create contents consistently but hiring a freelancer can be a solution but always have to analyze the contents we are getting and monitor the data.
Thanks for the post and the resources.
I feel that with looming google updates, seo copywriting is and will become so much more important than it already is. Backlinking is still at the heart of ranking websites in competitive niches today but with longtail keywords becoming more and more popular in searching these days ranking websites will be more about on page seo than off page. This is where seo copywriting will play such a vital element is the ranking of a website. It reminds me of the days where the public used to pull out their big yellowpages book and look for the business or trade they were after, no backlinking needed. What won was position, content and appeal. No blackhat at all. No website hijacking, Things were simpler back then, and in some part that’s where google is heading.