If you've ever Googled the term 'SEO' (which is perhaps how you stumbled across this very blog), you'll know it stands for Search Engine Optimisation. Sounds a bit fancy-schmancy, right?
But what does it actually mean to 'optimise' something for a search engine, and why does it matter?
Let's get into the glorious fun of SEO content writing and how it can boost your online business to the stars.
Cut to the chase:
- SEO Content Writing Basics
- Crafting High Quality Content
- On-Page SEO Best Practices
- Off-Page SEO for Content Promotion and Link Building
- Advanced SEO Copywriting Strategies
- Key Takeaways
Breaking Down the Basics of SEO Content Writing
First up—what is it?
SEO content is longer-form digital writing like blogs that combine quality creative writing with technical optimisation elements.
Basically, it’s content that’s delightful for readers and irresistible for search engines.
Think of SEO content as the best of both worlds—your words and ideas captivate readers while also ticking all the right boxes for algorithms.
This helps your website and content get seen on Google, even in those coveted top three positions.
SEO content fuses technical on-page elements like meta tags, keywords, semantic structuring, headings, linking strategies, and readability features with relevant and valuable information.
The main types of SEO content writing are blogs and website pages. With SEO and search engines evolving so much and so quickly, though, there are lots of other forms of writing that can (and absolutely should) include SEO:
- Online guides
- eBooks
- Social media captions
- LinkedIn articles
- Landing pages
- FAQ pages
- Product pages for e-commerce stores
- Video captions and descriptions
- …and the list goes on.
The importance of SEO-optimised content
Why should you care about SEO in your digital marketing strategy? Because it’s the magic ingredient that helps your content rise above the internet noise.
SEO content appeals to current audiences while attracting new eyes at the same time. It allows you to harness organic traffic without compromising on your nurture marketing efforts.
I like to think of SEO content as a many-headed multitasker for businesses. It's the Hydra of digital marketing; not evil, of course, but incredibly powerful.
Crafting High-Quality Content
I mentioned earlier that SEO writing is all about relevant, valuable content. But what makes content valuable, and how do you know if it’s hitting the mark?
Understand your audience first
Before you even think about keywords or meta tags or blog topics, get to know your audience. What are their hopes, dreams, and pain points?
Well, okay, you might not need to know their hopes and dreams, but you should understand what they need and want from your business type.
How can you do this?
Create reader personas to visualise your ideal reader (who is also your ideal customer or client).
The better you understand them, the more effectively you can tailor your content to meet their needs.
When creating a reader persona, think about your target customer:
- What's their demographic? Age, gender, location, financial status.
- What do they sound like? Do they use high-brow language or down-to-earth slang?
- Do they enjoy reading and researching, or are they seeking a quick answer?
- What other websites or materials do they read? Where can you gain inspiration from?
Asking yourself these questions can start to shape a reader persona, which informs the tone and style of your writing.
This, in turn, ensures you're speaking to your dream customer in a way that clicks with them.
Conduct keyword research (yes, it is still important)
Despite the chatter that keywords are no longer relevant to SEO, these golden little nuggets do, in fact, still work wonders—but they come with a caveat.
Search engines have evolved into much more holistic, well-rounded technologies. When matching a search query to a piece of content or website, Google doesn’t just rely on keywords anymore.
Instead, it looks at the intent and relevancy of a page's content and its ability to answer a query as accurately as possible.
It's best to use keyword research like a treasure map. It shows you the words and phrases your audience is searching for, which can help you shape your content.
Tools like Ahrefs and Semrush are your best friends here (the latter is my go-to).
Look for keywords with a good balance of search volume and competition. High volume phrases with low density (meaning fewer sites compete for that phrase) are the sweet spot where your content can shine.
Create engaging titles and short (yet compelling) introductions
The title of your blog or webpage is the first impression a reader has of that content piece, so make it count. Each title should be compelling, intriguing, and include your primary keyword.
A great way to hook your readers is to use numbers, questions, or powerful adjectives.
Just like the title, a captivating introduction is needed to engage your readers from the get-go.
Start with a relatable anecdote, a surprising fact, or a thought-provoking question. Make them curious, make them care, and most importantly, make them want to read on.
But here's the thing: don't wax lyrical. Get to the point. Make your intro compelling, but short and sweet is your golden rule here.
If people have to read a novel just to get to the meat of the article, they’ll likely click away.
A good rule of thumb is to keep your introductions to 100 words or less (ideally less).
Write with clarity, punch, and a good sprinkling of personality
Your writing should be clear, concise, and pack a proverbial punch. Forget jargon. Do away with overly long sentences barely broken up by fifty commas.
Think short. Think clear. Think 'what can I say in three words that I'm currently writing in thirty?'
Within this, you'll of course want to ensure your brand's personality is evident in your writing.
This is where we copywriters bang on about tone of voice. All that means is that you're writing in the voice and style of your brand.
For example, a beachside resort targeted at girls' weekends away will write completely differently to an accounting firm aimed at large-scale corporate businesses.
Similarly, a local plumber’s blogs will have vastly different language and tone than a boutique hairdresser’s.
Above all, aim for simplicity and elegance. And always, always proofread.
On-Page SEO Best Practices
Now we have a good handle on what makes content high value, let's look at some of the more technical SEO content elements.
These are called 'on-page SEO attributes' and make an enormous difference in how search engines interpret and rank your content.
Optimise title tags and meta descriptions
Title tags and meta descriptions are like your content’s business card. They should be inviting and informative, with a sprinkle of your target keywords.
Keep title tags under 60 characters and meta descriptions under 150 characters to ensure they display properly in search results.
A great tool I use almost daily is Mangools SERP simulator. Simply plug in your meta title and description and it'll give you an instant preview of how they’ll appear in a Google search result.
Tailor your text to fit, then copy and paste into your CMS. Easy peesy.
Use keywords naturally
As I said before, keywords are important, but stuffing them into your content is a big no-no.
There used to be some black hat practices around this (back in the good old days of early SEO).
People would jam their primary keyword a hundred times onto a single page, sometimes making the text white so it would blend into the background and essentially become 'invisible' to readers.
Yikes. Google caught onto this, and I'm glad it did.
Now, it’s best practice to use a few well-chosen keywords naturally and contextually.
Aim for a keyword density of around 1-2% and include them in strategic places like your headers, introduction, and conclusion.
If a keyword sounds forced in your content, you can afford to use a couple of short filler words to smooth it out.
For example, rather than trying to make 'black pants women' fit, I might instead say 'black pants for women'. Sounds more natural, right?
Structure your content semantically and with heading tags
Good structure is essential. These days, semantic structuring is all the rage. Backlinko explains this perfectly:
"Semantic SEO is the practice of optimising content for meaning, not just keywords. It considers context, relationships between words, and user intent to improve search engine rankings."
Use bullet points, numbered lists, tables of contents, and short paragraphs to keep things readable and scannable.
Header tags also help both readers and search engines understand the hierarchy of your content.
Break your content into digestible sections with clear headings (H2s and H3s):
- Use one H1 tag for the main title.
- H2 tags are for major sections.
- Insert H3 tags for subsections.
It’s like creating a roadmap for your readers. You’ll notice how many different sized headings I’ve used for this blog—case and point!
Optimise images for SEO: Alt text, file names, and size
No one likes to read a big page of text. Scatter some interesting images throughout web pages and blogs to break things up and keep the reader engaged.
Images can also make or break your page speed, so optimise them for the web—and, perhaps more importantly, for mobile.
- Use descriptive file names (these will correlate to the image URL).
- Ensure alt text is inserted for each image, and include your keywords in these.
- Compress images to reduce file size without sacrificing quality. TinyPNG is a great tool to compress larger images. Aim for 100kb or less per image.
- Adjust image dimensions to optimise for mobile if needed. Your website might do this automatically, but it's always best to check.
Off-Page SEO for Content Promotion and Link Building
I may specialise in on-page SEO copywriting, but that doesn't mean I ignore off-page practices.
These are essential if you want to improve your domain score and increase your site's visibility.
Off-page SEO is like your content’s PR campaign. It involves all the actions you take outside your website to boost your search engine ranking.
This includes building backlinks, promoting your content, and leveraging social media.
Content promotion strategies: Social media, email outreach, and influencer marketing
In line with the semantic style we talked about above, really effective search engine optimisation these days involves the whole gamut of content creation.
To leverage your SEO efforts, promote your content far and wide:
- Share it on social media.
- Send it to your email list, perhaps as part of a monthly newsletter.
- Reach out to influencers who might find it valuable and want to share it with their audiences.
The more eyeballs on your content, the better.
Build backlinks and strengthen your internal linking strategy
Backlinks are like votes of confidence from other websites. They signal to search engines that your content is trustworthy and valuable.
You can earn backlinks by creating high-quality content, guest blogging, and engaging in outreach.
There are tools that can help with backlink building, like Semrush, but beware of scams that make you pay squillions for 'reputable' backlinks.
Chances are, they won't be reputable, and will damage your business.
Along with your backlinks, make sure your website and social media platforms have strong internal linking systems.
This means placing links between your website's pages, blogs, and socials.
Internal linking helps readers navigate to all the different parts of your business:
- It encourages them to stay on your website longer and engage with more of your content.
- It also helps search engines understand your website more clearly, allowing them to recommend the correct content to matching queries.
Monitor and measure your off-page SEO success
Keep track of your SEO efforts. Like anything in digital marketing, things change on a dime (or, rather, on a Google update).
A good SEO strategy is one that's constantly evolving.
Use tools like Google Analytics or Semrush to monitor your backlinks, traffic, social shares, and keyword ranking positions.
Adjust your strategy based on what’s working and what’s not.
Advanced SEO Copywriting Strategies
Got the hang of things? I knew you’d pick up on SEO content quickly. Try these more advanced practices to sharpen your content strategy even further.
Voice search optimisation: Writing for conversational queries
Voice search is changing the SEO game. More and more people are searching for things via voice command, whether through Siri or Alexa or whoever the latest cool-voiced AI lady happens to be.
Optimise your content for natural, conversational queries. These are what we call 'long-tail keywords'. Think about how people speak, not just how they type.
Going back to my ‘black pants women’ keyword example, a long-tail version of this might be ‘where can I find black pants for women in Sydney?’
A great way to start pinpointing a long-tail keyword for voice searches is to check Google's related searches:
- Type your primary keyword into Google.
- Scroll down to ‘People also ask’.
- Check what other things people searched for.
Often, these related queries will be natural-sounding sentences that are perfect for voice-optimised searches.
Local SEO: Speak to your community
If you have a local business, local search engine optimisation is key. Tailor your content towards location-specific keywords and speak directly to your local audience.
Google Business Profile listings are one of the best ways to harness local SEO:
- Make sure all your important business information is up to date on your Google Business Profile.
- Post an update with a relevant image at least once a week.
- Encourage customer reviews to drive more traffic to your profile.
Evergreen content strategies for long-term SEO success
Evergreen content stays relevant over time. It not only helps your SEO efforts by allowing that content more time to rank, but it also saves you time—we can't spend all day every day creating fresh new content!
Choose timeless topics to feature alongside trending or newsworthy items. These might be staple ideas in your industry, go-to guides, or core information that generally stays the same year on year.
You do still need to update your evergreen content along with everything else, but it shouldn't need too much tinkering.
Evergreen content ideas include:
- Pillar blog posts
- Beginner guides
- About pages
- Key services pages
Lessons Learned and Key Takeaways
Okay, quick recap—what have we learned from this guide?
- Focus on quality, be strategic, and always measure your results.
- Semantic content is far more important than technical things like keywords.
- Don’t skimp on off-page elements, which can enhance your website domain and ranking.
Relax. Breathe. Write from the heart. Tick off these SEO boxes and let the words speak for themselves.
Go Forth and Master SEO Content Writing
SEO content and copywriting is a blend of art and science. By mastering it, you can create content that captivates your audience and ranks high in search engines.
Follow these strategies, stay curious, and keep writing with passion and purpose. Your journey to high ranking content starts now!