Turning Your Writing Into An SEO Consultant’s Dream
*Collaborative post
Over the last couple of decades, the field of writing has become far more accessible. Loads of people have access to the internet, and computers make it far easier to get your words into written form, giving those who have never gone down this path the chance to embrace it. With so many people working in this field, though, it’s extremely hard to make your writing stand out. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring a field which a lot of writers don’t understand; search engine optimisation. But, how exactly can you turn your writing into something which Google will like?
Turning Your Writing Into An SEO Consultant’s Dream
Step One: The Content Type
The first step which has to be taken when you’re going through this process is picking the content type you’re going to be writing. There are a range of different ways to write for search engines, and the content on a website comes in loads of shapes and sizes. To make sure that you’re going down the right route, it’s worth starting with the right ideas, and this will only be possible if you know what you’re writing.
Page Content: Regular page content is nice and easy; you just need to have enough of the stuff. Google prefers websites which are made of more writing than they are code and other files. This makes it crucial that you have at least 300 words on your main pages, covering the searches which you think people are likely to make when they are looking for you. Websites like Hemmingway can help you to make sure that your content is formatted properly for a search engine like Google.
Blogs: Blog posts are extremely important to SEO, with a lot of companies using these systems to push their sites into far more searches, but you need to make sure that they are written correctly. Blogs should always include plenty of keywords for people to search, along with links to other websites which will give Google a better impression of the one your writing for. You should never copy other people’s blogs for this.
Product Descriptions: Running an ecommerce website is no simple task, with these websites taking a huge amount of time and effort to manage. They will often struggle to get off of the ground, and this can be largely down to their SEO. You can find loads of tips to writing effective product descriptions around the web, giving you a great start with this. Along with this, though, you should also think about keywords and the effect they will have on the searches people make to find your writing.
Landing Pages: As the last content type to consider, it’s time to think about landing pages. In a lot of cases, these pages will be sent out to users, and you won’t have to worry about reaching search engines with them. This makes the content much more sales-based, like writing a brochure or catalog, and you should work to match this style. Of course, most clients will have an idea of what they want from this.
Step Two: Doing Your Research
Once you have an idea of the type of content you’re going to write, it will be time to start doing some research. There are two different areas which you will have to work on at this stage; SEO and general content. They are both very important, albeit for slightly different reasons. You can find some tips to help you out below.
SEO: The research you do for your SEO will largely revolve around your competitor’s pages. By using an SEO page scanner tool, you can get an idea of how Google might view the sites which come higher than yours in searches. With this information, you can start to use keywords which match the companies you’re trying to overtake, eventually enabling you to push further than them. Of course, though, this shouldn’t be at the expense of your content, with the keywords you use feeling as natural as possible.
General Content: Along with researching SEO, you’re also going to have to think about the content you’re writing, too. Blogs and landing pages benefit from facts and figures, while normal pages and product descriptions will require a knowledge of the products which are being sold. You should spend as much time as you need researching your content, as this will only make it easier for people to find.
Step Three: The Writing
With your research complete, you will be ready to begin writing your content, and this will be where you are able to really shine. Having done all of the background work, your job will now be a simple matter of tying it altogether with the right words. You can find writing inspiration across the web, with similar sites being a great place to go when you’re struggling to write the right things. Once this is complete, you will be ready to prepare your content for delivery.
Step Four: Delivery
Before you can hand your writing to your client, you’re going to have to make sure that it is in the best possible state. There are a number of websites out there which can help you with this, effectively acting as a proofreader before you send it off. This is a great way to ensure that you’re giving your clients a good product, without having to rely on their feedback to help you.
Grammar & Readability: Good writing is hard to come by on today’s web. With a lot of people giving it a go, it’s easy to see why this area would go down hill. With Grammarly to check your grammar and Hemingway to keep readability in line, though, it should be easy to produce great copy without stealing other people’s work.
SEO: Along with checking to make sure that people will like your work, it’s also worth spending some time using SEO page scanners to make sure that Google will, too. Websites like SEOptimer are perfect for this, as they give you the chance to check web pages for free, and won’t try to sell you anything in the process.
With all of this in mind, you should be feeling inspired to start working on turning your writing into something which is good for SEO, even if you have to work hard in the process.
