How To Write a Love Letter to Google (& Other Search Engines)
There aren’t many secrets to SEO Copywriting – but here’s a hint: it is more than knowing how to put two sentences together. A basic understanding of how the search engines determine relevance of a website’s content is a must, that’s no hidden secret. But you must be able to write well. The delicate balance between constructing prose that attracts the attention of the search engines but reads naturally to people, depends on the skill of the writer.
If that’s the secret, and you aren’t a natural writer, don’t despair. Writing is an art, and some people are naturally talented, true. But you can learn to write and the more you do it the better you will get. There are plenty of books to teach you to write. My favorite is Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg.
My not-so-secret, but very important top ten copywriting tips.
There aren’t many secrets to SEO Copywriting – but here’s a hint: it is more than knowing how to put two sentences together. A basic understanding of how the search engines determine relevance of a website’s content is a must, that’s no hidden secret. But you must be able to write well. The delicate balance between constructing prose that attracts the attention of the search engines but reads naturally to people, depends on the skill of the writer.
If that’s the secret, and you aren’t a natural writer, don’t despair. Writing is an art, and some people are naturally talented, true. But you can learn to write and the more you do it the better you will get. There are plenty of books to teach you to write. My favorite is Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg.
My not-so-secret, but very important top ten copywriting tips.
1. Don’t confuse SEO copywriting with calls to action and other direct marketing copy techniques. A good copywriter for websites will understand both - but they are two different skills.
2. Focus on Keywords. It starts with keyword research. If there’s an SEO on the project, you’ll be given the keywords for the page. If you’re on your own, do the keyword research first to determine what terms are searched.
3. Look for “long-tailed” keyword phrases. Searchers who type in four to five word query strings know what they are looking for and have qualified themselves in advance. These terms are excellent for conversion.
4. Structure and Heading Tags – Make an outline before you start – I know it feels like high school theme writing all over again. But it works – if your outline is good, your copy will almost write itself, the ideas will flow well for the reader and you’ll know exactly where your h1, h2 and h3 tags belong.
5. Write naturally, write well. Keep your keywords and related terms at the back of your mind in your first draft for the main content. Just let the natural content write itself. When you are happy with this version, return to the copy and see where you may be able to use your keywords without overstuffing the page.
6. Other hot spots for your targeted phrase:
7. Look for ways to naturally use your keyword strings in bold, italics, and other styles that bring attention to your targeted copy.
- File names – write keyword rich, logical file names for graphics and page names.
- Anchor text – link away from the page and to the page using your targeted terms
- Numbered and bulleted lists like this one.
8. Title and Meta Description Tags. Do bring your grasp of direct marketing copywriting to the table with these tags. Your title and description should contain your keyword string, a benefit to the user and a call to action.
9. Don’t ever lose sight of the human visitor. You are writing for both the search engines and the user. Usability must never take a backseat to SEO or you won’t have conversions.
10. Keyword Stuffing – Don’t do it. Hint: find someone you can trust to tell you the truth and ask them to read your copy. They can tell you whether it sounds natural or whether the keywords trip their “stuffing meter.”
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