SEO Content Writing Beginner’s Guide

SEO is one of the most important digital marketing strategies to understand when growing your business’s online presence. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a group of metrics that determines how likely your company is to appears in internet searches. SEO practices represent the rules that digital marketers use to improve digital content so that it will reach a target audience. Implementing proper SEO practices, such as SEO content writing will help drive more traffic to your website, leading to more conversions.

One of the most effective strategies to incorporate in SEO practices is SEO content writing. Using SEO methodology in your business’s digital content can quickly improve your website’s ranking on search engines, increase web traffic, and reach your target audience.

What is SEO Content Writing?

SEO content writing is one of the most common ways digital marketers can use SEO to increase web traffic for their business. SEO content writing can be used in nearly every piece of digital content for your business. This includes:

– SEO Content for Website pages

– SEO Articles for Blogs

– SEO Copywriting for Landing Pages

– Social media captions

– Meta descriptions

– URLs

To create a content marketing strategy that reaches your target audience, you must incorporate quality SEO content consistently throughout your digital marketing.

How Do I Create SEO Content?

Fortunately, digital marketers have created a clear pathway businesses can follow to write quality SEO content.

The key to success is identifying the right keywords to use in your SEO content. By using common keywords and phrases searched for by your target audience, search engines will favor your digital content over your competitors.

Quality SEO content should not only use the right keywords, but it should be engaging and valuable to the readers. SEO content that keeps readers on your website will further improve your SEO ranking. Thus, SEO is both a game of quantity and quality.

Google wants it search users to keep coming back and using Google. Therefore, the algorithm and quality raters look for quality content that can really be useful to the user. Simply said, better content, more useful content and more informative helpful content will rank higher in Google.

Why Quality SEO Content Writing Matters?

When it comes to creating SEO content, there’s no doubt Google is king. With more than 92% of all internet searches going through Google, many digital marketers use SEO strategies that are in line with Google’s search algorithm.

Google’s Helpful Content Update

When it comes to creating SEO content, there’s no doubt Google is king. With more than 92% of all internet searches going through Google, many digital marketers use SEO strategies that are in line with Google’s search algorithm.

How Websites Can Adjust To The Changes For SEO Writing

Google’s helpful content update will take months to go into effect, but website publishers can’t sit idly by. Google’s algorithms have been modified numerous times over the past few years to rank better quality main content.

With this update, Google is looking to favor websites where the majority of content is useful and not just content created primarily for search engines.

Websites that mostly consist of spam web pages that are solely created for SEO purposes will likely be hit that hardest. Additionally, websites that have some useful content and are still primarily SEO-driven will likely be hit hard, but not as much.

In reality, this is a major opportunity for companies that have struggled to rank higher on SERPs.

Google’s update will soon rank content based on how well the content meets the searcher’s needs. These rankings will go from Fully Meets, Highly Meets, Moderately Meets, Slightly Meets, and Fails to Meet. Google will not only apply these rankings to specific landing pages but to your entire website.

Thus, companies should prioritize creating SEO content that answers people’s questions and is not just created for SEO purposes.

Digital marketers can achieve this by focusing on search intent and trending topics. While keywords will still be vital to ranking higher on SERPs, it’s equally important that the content answers the user’s questions.

Further, content writers should refrain from using AI copywriters and simply recycling other websites’ content. While these strategies have worked in the past, Google’s people-first content approach aims to limit these types of content from appearing in search engine results.

How Websites Can Adjust To The Changes For SEO Writing

Google’s helpful content update will take months to go into effect, but website publishers can’t sit idly by. Google’s algorithms have been modified numerous times over the past few years to rank better quality main content.

With this update, Google is looking to favor websites where the majority of content is useful and not just content created primarily for search engines.

Websites that mostly consist of spam web pages that are solely created for SEO purposes will likely be hit that hardest. Additionally, websites that have some useful content and are still primarily SEO-driven will likely be hit hard, but not as much.

In reality, this is a major opportunity for companies that have struggled to rank higher on SERPs.

Google’s update will soon rank content based on how well the content meets the searcher’s needs. These rankings will go from Fully Meets, Highly Meets, Moderately Meets, Slightly Meets, and Fails to Meet. Google will not only apply these rankings to specific landing pages but to your entire website.

Thus, companies should prioritize creating SEO content that answers people’s questions and is not just created for SEO purposes.

Digital marketers can achieve this by focusing on search intent and trending topics. While keywords will still be vital to ranking higher on SERPs, it’s equally important that the content answers the user’s questions.

Further, content writers should refrain from using AI copywriters and simply recycling other websites’ content. While these strategies have worked in the past, Google’s people-first content approach aims to limit these types of content from appearing in search engine results.

Basics of Keyword Research

If you’re starting your SEO journey, you’re likely wondering why digital marketers are so concerned with keyword research. Understanding how keywords work is crucial for creating SEO content.

Basics of Keyword Research

If you’re starting your SEO journey, you’re likely wondering why digital marketers are so concerned with keyword research. Understanding how keywords work is crucial for creating SEO content.

Keyword Research Explained

Keyword research is the process of finding common keywords or phrases that your target audience uses when they google search for your product, service, or business information. Every business’s keyword research will look different based on its industry, location, and target audience.

Why is Keyword Research so Important?

Keyword research is essential because it allows businesses to create digital content that can be found based on what people are searching for. If you create a webpage that no one is searching for, then that webpage won’t generate any web traffic, wasting your time and money.

By doing proper keyword research, you can ensure that your digital content strategy will create organic traffic.

How to Find Keywords For SEO Content

You don’t need to be an expert to do proper keyword research. The best first step is to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What might you type into google when looking for your product, service, or business?

Take these keywords and put them into Google to see what results you get on your search engine results page (SERPs). Your SERPs can help guide what keywords and phrases you should focus on and will likely identify your largest online competitors.

Here are a few key steps to get started on your keyword research:

1. Identify Your “Seed” Keywords

Seed keywords are the primary keywords related to your business. They are the most common words within your industry. Using these keywords on Google or a keyword research tool will provide you with a great list of other keywords you can use in your SEO content writing.

For example, if you own a photography business, your keywords may be:

  • photography near me
  • photographer near me
  • photo editing service
  • photography service
  • event photographer

Typically, the seed words for your business will be too general to target with your content strategy successfully. However, these seed words are crucial for finding keywords you can use to reach your target audience.

2. Understand Your Competitor’s Keywords

One of the best ways to find valuable keywords for your business is to identify which keywords your competitors use to gain internet traffic. You can do this by searching for one of your seed words and seeing which websites rank highest in the SERPs. However, if none of your competitors appear when searching for your seed words, you may need to use more specific seed words.

As you repeat the process for multiple seed words, you will amass a list of keywords you can use in your content marketing. Doing this will ensure that you’re creating SEO-friendly content that will attract your target audience.

3. Leverage Keyword Research Tools

While seed words and competitors are a great starting point to find keywords, keyword research tools can provide you with an abundance of keywords.

In general, keyword research tools all work the same. You input your list of seed keywords, and the tools will provide you with a list of popular keywords based on search volume and current trends.

There are plenty of free and paid keyword research tools that you can use to create SEO-friendly. The key to perfecting your on-page SEO is regularly incorporating new keywords into your SEO content writing. This will ensure that every piece of content you create is helping your website and digital content rank higher in google searches.

Understanding Your Keywords

Now that you have your list of target keywords, it’s essential to know how to prioritize them. With most businesses creating similar content marketing strategies, getting your web pages to rank high can be challenging if all of your competitors use the same keywords.

Understanding which target keywords to prioritize can save time and money when creating SEO-friendly content.

The Bottom Line

SEO content writing is one of the most effective ways to improve your web presence. By incorporating proper SEO methods into your digital content strategy, you can quickly gain more web traffic to your digital content and grow your brand.

If you’re not sure where to start, don’t be scared to ask the experts. At Sitespring, we specialize in creating and optimizing digital content through proven digital marketing strategies guaranteed to grow your business. Don’t just take our word for it; check out our portfolio, where we’ve helped dozens of clients rapidly grow their businesses by improving their SEO strategies.

Search Volume

A keywords search volume tells users the average number of searches a keyword appears in per month. There are a few essential things to understand about how search volume metrics work:

  1. Search volume is based on the number of searches, not the number of people who search for that keyword.
  2. Search volume does not equal the number of visits you will receive for ranking for that keyword. Even if your website ranks #1 for a particular keyword, the traffic you receive from that keyword will rarely exceed 30% of its average search volume.
  3. Search volume is calculated by yearly averages. If a keyword has 240k searches in one month and none for the rest of the year, the monthly search volume will be 20k (240k/12 months).
  4. Search volume is country-specific. Therefore, you should always make sure you’re searching for keywords in your country.

Traffic Potential

When choosing keywords, you will notice that each keyword has several slightly different variations. While these keywords may have similar search volumes, they may have additional traffic potential.

Traffic potential is a metric that outlines which keyword variation will rank higher when searchers look for that term. Keyword research tools like Ahrefs will measure how much search volume the top-ranking page gets for various keywords. Keywords with a higher traffic potential are likely more valuable to searchers and should be used in your copywriting.

Keyword Difficulty

Keyword difficulty (KD) describes how competitive specific keywords are. If all your competitors use the exact keywords, it can be hard to get your content to rank high on search engine results pages (SERPs), making it difficult for searchers to find your website. Unless your site is very mature, has great domain ranking and has great content it’s best not to try for high-difficulty keywords when you begin.

In general, your copywriting should include mid and low-KD keywords. Mid-KD keywords are best to use when creating backlinks to your page. Including backlinks will help boost your content’s SEO ranking and help drive traffic to your page. This process can take some, so it’s best to use these words from the beginning.

While mid-KD keywords are still important, low-KD keywords will help you improve your SEO ranking more immediately. Since these keywords are less competitive, they will help drive more traffic toward your web pages.

Keyword Difficulty

Keyword difficulty (KD) describes how competitive specific keywords are. If all your competitors use the exact keywords, it can be hard to get your content to rank high on search engine results pages (SERPs), making it difficult for searchers to find your website. Unless your site is very mature, has great domain ranking and has great content it’s best not to try for high-difficulty keywords when you begin.

In general, your copywriting should include mid and low-KD keywords. Mid-KD keywords are best to use when creating backlinks to your page. Including backlinks will help boost your content’s SEO ranking and help drive traffic to your page. This process can take some, so it’s best to use these words from the beginning.

While mid-KD keywords are still important, low-KD keywords will help you improve your SEO ranking more immediately. Since these keywords are less competitive, they will help drive more traffic toward your web pages.

Keyword Research Tools You Should Use

You’ll need to utilize one or several keyword research tools to do your keyword research. There are plenty of keyword research tools for all types of budgets, including several powerful free tools:

  • Ahrefs Webmaster Tools – Ahrefs is a leader in keyword research tools. Their suite of tools provides users with information on top-ranking keywords, search volume, keyword difficulty, traffic potential, and more. Ahrefs offers free and paid-for tools.
  • Google Search Console – This service shows all the search queries your website currently ranks for and gets web traffic from.
  • Wordtracker – This free tool provides users with a list of keywords and their search volumes after inputting a seed word.
  • Answer The Public – This free tool allows users to find the most commonly searched queries based on different seed words.

Each tool provides various services and metrics to help you create SEO-friendly content that will improve your copywriting skills. Using these tools regularly can quickly improve your website’s SEO ranking, increase web traffic, and help grow your business.

Keyword Research Tools You Should Use

You’ll need to utilize one or several keyword research tools to do your keyword research. There are plenty of keyword research tools for all types of budgets, including several powerful free tools:

  • Ahrefs Webmaster Tools – Ahrefs is a leader in keyword research tools. Their suite of tools provides users with information on top-ranking keywords, search volume, keyword difficulty, traffic potential, and more. Ahrefs offers free and paid-for tools.
  • Google Search Console – This service shows all the search queries your website currently ranks for and gets web traffic from.
  • Wordtracker – This free tool provides users with a list of keywords and their search volumes after inputting a seed word.
  • Answer The Public – This free tool allows users to find the most commonly searched queries based on different seed words.

Each tool provides various services and metrics to help you create SEO-friendly content that will improve your copywriting skills. Using these tools regularly can quickly improve your website’s SEO ranking, increase web traffic, and help grow your business.