SEO Copywriting - Optimized Content for Humans and Search Engines

What is SEO Copywriting? 

Writing material to rank for relevant keywords in search engines is called SEO copywriting. SEO copywriting is a complex skill that requires balancing the needs of search engines with the preferences of human readers. Today, we will delve into the key principles of SEO copywriting and provide practical steps to help you create compelling content that resonates with search engines and users.

Table of Contents

Research Stage

Drafting Stage

Editing Stage

Conclusion

Research Stage

• Check Search Intent

First, find the search intent for the target query. Search intent represents the reason behind a searcher's query, and Google gives us clues about the searcher's intent on the search results page. For example, if you search for "Slow Cooker" on Google, the search results are mostly made of shopping ads and product pages. 

It tells us as creators that to rank high for this query; we also need to have a transactional and commercial page- like a product. Now, if we search "Slow cooker recipes"

in Google, we'll see all ranking pages are blogs. That shows lists of slow cooker recipes. The search results are informational and rank for this query.

• Create a thorough outline based on data

To kick off the SEO copywriting process, thorough research is essential. In this stage, we focus on understanding the search intent for our target query. Examining top-ranking pages for similar keywords, For Example, The query is "How to get better sleep."
Now within SEO content writing, your goal is to get your page to the top of Google search for your target query. So naturally, the best place to start building your outline is to look for similarities among the top-ranking pages. 

Looking at the top articles on 'How to get better sleep', you'll notice that they all discuss related queries in the article.

E.g.1

E.g.2

Drafting Stage

With the research stage completed, we move on to drafting the content. In the drafting phase, we focus on engaging readers while providing valuable information. Utilizing copywriting techniques such as the PAS Formula:

• Problem
• Agitate
• Solution

for introductions and delivering high-quality content in the body of the text are key components of this stage. Further read about the PAS formula in Aherfs blog.

Editing Stage

In editing, you want to make it easy for people to consume your content. A simple process you can follow is the ASMR Method:

• Annotations
• Short sentences and paragraphs
• Multimedia
• Read

Annotations

These are good content additions to make certain parts stand out. For example, we use side notes to bring notice to an important point without breaking the flow of the content.

Short sentences and paragraphs

This helps to improve readability and digestibility. When editing, look for instances where you use traditional words like "and", "because", and "that" and consider breaking them into shorter sentences.

Multimedia

It considers adding videos, images, and GIFs to help illustrate your points without adding extra words.

Read

Ensure you read your copy out loud to pinpoint areas where your content may not flow smoothly. Use as simple language as possible to help the read easily.

Conclusion

Google has evolved considerably compared to when you had to include exact-match keywords to rank for them. Analyzing the competing pages was a big part of the SEO copywriting process. We found subtopics and key phrases that people use to search for a topic.