In this article, we’ll take a closer look at one of the central elements of search engine optimization. I’ll introduce you to the basics of SEO copywriting and share five key elements that are essential for success.
If you want to learn more about SEO copywriting, keep reading!
What is SEO copywriting?
SEO copywriting is a deliberate form of content creation where you not only consider the entertainment, education, etc., of the reader but also what the search engine prefers. The goal of SEO copywriting is to optimize the text so that it achieves better Google ranking results for a specific keyword or search phrase.
If you don’t take search engine optimization into account when creating your content, it’s likely that the search engine won’t deliver your content to potential customers, leaving you invisible to them.
Initially, SEO copywriting was important for search engines and the content published on websites. However, it has become equally important on social media lately. The words you use in Instagram, YouTube, or Pinterest captions significantly influence who the platform delivers your content to.
What is search engine optimization?
Search engine optimization means improving the organic appearance of a website in search engine results.
SEO offers an organic growth opportunity, meaning you don’t have to pay extra advertising costs to rank higher on the search engine results page. (Of course, there’s an option for that too—this is called SEM, or Search Engine Marketing.)
There are countless types of SEO (Technical SEO, On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, Local SEO, eCommerce SEO, etc.), each requiring different expertise. Some areas may need the help of a web developer, while others require marketing knowledge. However, regardless of the type of search engine optimization, the ultimate goal is the same: improving the website’s ranking on the search engine results page.
The basics of SEO copywriting – How does a search engine work?
To discuss search engine optimization meaningfully, it’s first important to understand how search engines work.
What is a search engine?
When we talk about search engines, we mostly mean Google. Other search engines include Bing and Yahoo, but since Google dominates the market with over 90% market share, it’s not an exaggeration to say that in SEO, we want to rank higher in Google searches.
How does a search engine work?
The internet is an endless sea of information, growing day by day. The search engine needs to:
- Keep track of this information
- Categorize it
- and then find and show it when you search for it.
Let’s look at these three processes in a bit more detail:
1. Crawling
When a new domain is created, a fresh blog post is published, or the latest stock is uploaded to your webshop, Google first needs to “notice” it.
Google’s robots, called crawlers or spiders, continuously patrol the internet’s imaginary corridors, searching for new data. Crawlers can discover new content organically, or you can take the initiative by providing the link to Google Search Console.
Even in this phase, search engine optimization plays a significant role: how well the information is interpreted by crawlers and the quality of the content will affect future search results.
2. Indexing
After the spiders have crawled the content, a massive raw database is created that needs to be organized. This will help Google find relevant content during a search.
It’s like how books are sorted into categories in libraries. If you’re looking for a romantic novel, you don’t have to sift through vampire books—you know exactly which shelf to go to for a successful search.
3. Ranking
When someone initiates a search, the search engine ranks the most relevant, high-quality results based on the existing information.
During ranking, the search engine considers thousands of factors.
What factors influence search engine ranking?
Goal: To provide the most relevant, high-quality result for a given search as quickly as possible.
The search engine does this by considering millions of factors, including:
- Keyword relevance
- Content quality
- Website authority
- User experience (UX)
- Recency
- Meta data
- Page structure
- Link quality
- SSL certificate
- Semantics
- Language preferences
- Content uniqueness
- Mobile optimization
- Page load speed
- Domain age
What is the difference between a social media algorithm and a search engine?
Both social media and search engines use algorithms, but these algorithms differ in two key ways: their goals and how they operate.
While the bots of a search engine are designed to find the most relevant results for you, the purpose of a social media algorithm is to keep you on the platform as long as possible. Social media algorithms aim to trigger interactions and emotions to ensure you stay engaged with the content.
This is why social media algorithms prioritize the data collected about the user before the search.
Factors such as:
- User behaviour: previous actions: likes, comments, shares, topics, and interests
- View time
- Click-through rate
- Content relevance
- Frequency of interactions
- Mutual connections and follows
- Content quality
- Trends
Is Pinterest a search engine?
Pinterest doesn’t focus on community building, and there’s minimal interaction present. Pinterest is considered a search engine because its goal isn’t to draw you in and keep you there but to provide inspiring, relevant solutions for your search.
This is why Pinterest’s algorithms resemble those of a search engine more than the bots of Instagram or TikTok.
The 5 Key elements of SEO copywriting
1. Keyword research – the foundation of SEO copywriting
The alpha and omega of search engine optimization.
Since the goal of SEO is to improve the ranking of your website for specific search terms, the most important step is knowing exactly which keywords these are.
Keyword research answers which words and phrases to use most on your website to reach your target audience. It also reveals which keywords your competitors are optimizing their content for and how much traffic they’re driving to their sites.
You can conduct keyword research on your own, but if you want a solid foundation, it’s worth investing in professional keyword research.
2. Content strategy
The results of keyword research will highlight what interests readers. This allows you to develop a content strategy for your target audience: what interesting and relevant content to create and in what format (e.g., blogs, ebooks, guides, etc.).
3. On-page SEO
On-page SEO is the type of search engine optimization that focuses on optimizing content. You shape the content on the website according to how you want the search engine algorithms to perceive it.
This includes:
- Naturally and strategically placing primary keywords in the text (which words and how often they appear in headlines, subheadings, body text)
- Meta title and description – what appears in the search engine during a Google search
- Alt text (image title)
- URL structure
- Content categorization
- Link building – the quality and relevance of internal and external links you use within the article
- Text readability – how easy and engaging the text is, with short and easily understandable sentences
4. User experience (UX)
While search engines are vital to attracting visitors, it’s just as crucial to make sure your content is easy to read and navigate. The user experience should prioritize clarity, accessibility, and mobile-friendliness.
Although SEO copywriting is essential for shaping content according to Google’s algorithms, don’t forget that you’re writing primarily for people. No matter how much you want to perform well on search engine results pages, if you only focus on search engine preferences, you’ll miss the mark.
People like to connect with other people.
In this context, user experience means two important things:
- The text should be easily accessible and well-displayed also on mobile devices
- The content layout should be clear and easy to read
In this article, you can see that there are several images, bullet points, and highlights. All of this aims to prevent the reader from seeing an overwhelming block of text when they open the page—something they might quickly close out of.
5. Mérés
SEO copywriting is data-driven content creation. It’s crucial to continuously monitor the results.
- How is web traffic changing?
- How many visitors are coming to the site? How many of these are returning visitors?
- What is the average reading time?
- What is the conversion rate?
- Where do you rank on search results for specific keywords?
- How many interactions do you get?
Why is SEO copywriting important?
If your content is SEO-optimized, your materials will perform better in search results.
It makes you visible, doing so in a long-term and sustainable way.
What do I mean by this?
Content posted on social media typically only lasts for 1-2 days, after which it doesn’t generate significant traffic, engagement, or sales. The same goes for campaigns: if you stop funding them, they won’t generate revenue.
Content published on your website, however, can continue to do its job months or even years later, driving organic traffic to you.
SEO copywriting can open up new horizons for your business. If you’re ready to dive in and feel you need some help, get in touch with me!
If you want to maximize the potential of your website, reach out and get to the top of Google’s rankings!
Photos:
https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/homepage-concept-with-search-bar_36029324.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=5&uuid=29795d21-6270-4bc8-a49f-f65d5f5abe5a
https://www.pexels.com/photo/young-lady-typing-on-keyboard-of-laptop-in-living-room-4050315
https://www.pexels.com/photo/macbook-air-on-grey-wooden-table-67112