SEO writing: how to write well for the web?

There are several significant differences between writing for the web and printing. People’s attention spans are indeed shorter online, and it takes work to pique a user’s or potential customer’s interest. Create user-friendly content by learning the best SEO writing approaches.

1. SEO copywriting is equally successful as regular copywriting, and vice versa.

Before discussing the contrasts, let’s first look at the similarities between writing for the web and writing for other media.

SEO writing demands error-free grammar, punctuation, and spelling, much like all other forms of content writing. It’s also critical to build a plan upstream in order to correctly structure your ideas and adhere to the fundamental rule of one topic per paragraph.

The readability of the text is essential for both the UX and a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. As a result, we won’t employ pointless repetitions or an overly formal writing style. We’ll discuss this topic in more detail later on in relation to SEO writing.

As with any other medium, websites must cite the sources that are consulted and used. An essential idea that is much too commonly ignored.

Editorial standards

Having a clear editorial charter to guide your content creation is another criterion that applies to all media. You should follow the guidelines in this charter when you create the content for your website. This should be specific:

the website’s objective.

the positioning, manner, and tone

the editorial guidelines of the CMS.

Responsibilities include drafting, validating, publishing, and moderating.

2. Prepare in advance to write for the web.

In order to avoid writing “for nothing” when you first begin SEO writing, prepare your subject in advance. Indeed, the two main objectives of writing for the web are to be read and cited. It would be a waste of effort to write content that will not be seen or read, so you must think about these three important criteria beforehand:

Determine your primary keyword by performing keyword research.

To ascertain search intent, examine Google results.

Define your target audience using personas.

Through this exploratory effort, you can specify precisely who you want to address and,  more crucially, how. You’ll be able to choose whether the purpose of your content is to merely convey knowledge, provide something innovative, describe a product or service, express a fact, or even present your point of view. Using the right keywords will help your content get found and read later.

3. 
   The principles of crafting SEO copy

Let’s have a thoughtful conversation. You’ve determined what should come first; now let’s look at how to write effectively for the web and produce content that is SEO-friendly.

The inverted pyramid

In order to meet the demands of readers, who are usually impatient online, the primary information must be presented at the beginning of the article. The user will be better able to continue reading if they begin with all the cards in hand at the beginning of the text. Additionally, this is good for SEO because the search engine can quickly determine the subject of the content.

We won’t use the following example for a title:

This phone has the most up-to-date high-tech features, such as wifi, 3G, and a 5-megapixel camera.

But rather:

This phone has the most up-to-date high-tech features, such as WiFi, 3G, and a 5-megapixel camera.

reduce complexity

To succeed when writing for SEO, keep things simple. Try not to make your writing too convoluted. It’s vital to keep in mind that search engines frequently find it difficult to understand humor or puns. Therefore, it’s crucial to keep things simple and refrain from using the following words:

cloudy or impersonal.

Passive.

simple past.

Metaphor.

Cliche.

When it isn’t the aim, formal language is used too much.

clear and distinct.

No matter if you’re writing for the reader or Google’s algorithms, you should always try to be more intelligible. You shouldn’t use long or excessively complex sentences. The recommended word count for each sentence is 20–25.

Here is an example of the same information presented both clearly and complexly:

With this mindset, we are seeking a research approach that will produce a principle, or a method, that provides a good answer to every circumstance, even ones that cannot be resolved by the direct application of an established remedy.

When [the company] develops your electronic systems, it takes into account your performance, price, quantity, standards (electrical, climatic, mechanical, environmental, etc.), and mechanical integration (design, size, fixings, wiring, connectors, etc.).

positive

To make your writing more approachable and intelligible, never use the negative terms “ni, ni”, “but,” etc. These formats shouldn’t be used regularly in your blog posts or other content, but they should be used periodically when there are no other possibilities.

4. 
   Ensure that your article’s form and substance are both optimized.

As we have already explained multiple times in this piece, users have little time to devote to the stuff they read online. This is even more true given how much time people spend browsing on their mobile devices.

Studies show that when using the internet, consumers have a “diagonal” reading. Therefore, everything must be done to facilitate the user’s reading of this material. Bolded highlights, hypertext links, level titles (H2 and H3), illustrations, films, etc. are all recommended for this. To put it another way, try to avoid having huge content blocks that are challenging to absorb.

5. 
   Writing for search engine optimization

When SEO writing is mentioned, people immediately consider search engine optimization. There are additional, less well-known SEO optimization aspects that should not be disregarded in addition to producing high-quality content that fulfills user expectations and search engine algorithms.

Italicized heading

The title tag is a factor in SEO that is quite important. With the help of this tag, you can quickly determine the main idea of the page and decide which sentences it applies to.

Tips for writing a strong title tag:

In the page’s title tag, use the targeted phrase.

The relevant term should ideally come first in the tag.

By avoiding utilizing the same keyword more than once, you can avoid overoptimizing your tags.

Do not use more than 60 characters for the title tag.

The meta description’s tag

In contrast to the title tag, the meta description element is not taken into account by Google’s algorithm. This tag’s objective is to attract Internet users in order to raise the click-through rate (CTR), which may be noticed on SERP results.

Keep the semantics of the tags constant.

Keep the title tag and meta description semantically coherent. The latter extends the page title and provides an accurate description of the material.

Don’t be scared to “sell” your page without going overboard. Keep in mind the users.”

Build your confidence in a few words by using action verbs like find, enjoy, etc.

Use the core term only once to avoid over-optimizing your tags.

If you’re interested in learning more about the meta description, see our two articles on the subject. What is the purpose of the meta description tag? and how to increase the meta description tag’s CTR.

URLs

Rewriting URLs is a practical method for simplifying and “cleaning up” URLs. This facilitates indexing by search engines and includes elements beneficial to the SEO strategy.

Instead of displaying parameters (“?,” “&,” and “=.”) in the URL, it would be excellent to change it to contain the required keywords for each page. A hyphen (-) serves as the best separator for URLs with many words.

Although URLs can be generated using either capital or lowercase letters, we don’t recommend it.

In order to facilitate navigation for both Internet users and search engine robots, URLs must adhere to the site’s structure. Only folders that can be accessed via navigation should be included in a URL. In URLs that essentially duplicate the URL tree structure, parameters shouldn’t be used.

Long article

Longer articles are more likely to be positioned favorably on Google’s results pages since they are more likely to provide relevant information. The absolute minimum for SEO is 300 words. After 700 words, Google starts to notice your content more. Therefore, for SEO content that takes the form of blog articles, we always recommend producing at least 750 words.

Content and key phrases

The target keyword can be used in any way, especially in terms of how frequently it occurs on the website.

The reader’s comprehension and reading experience must be taken into consideration when writing the material. Putting yourself in the reader’s shoes is one of the rules for writing for the internet. If the author finds the text confusing or difficult to read, the reader will probably find it even more difficult.

titles of levels in hn

The hierarchy of material is made possible via title tags, often known as “header tags” (or Htag or Hn). For headings, subtitles, and other elements, they act as a visual signal.

The enhancement of the “user experience” and better content architecture for search engines are made possible by these tags, which are essential for SEO.

H1 is for the most important title, while H6 stands for a less important title. Header tag numbers vary from 1 to 6.

How can you improve the reference-friendliness of your titles?

There should only be one H1 tag per page, with five to seven words, including the primary keyword, at the top of the page at the beginning of the content.

Aim for at least two H2s on every page.

For instance, it is preferable to position an H1, followed by an H2, and then an H3, rather than placing an H5 straight.

HN tags should be concise, clear, and contain important keywords.

In order to increase the SEO of your website, assume that Google will assign more importance to each word you use in your titles.

Pictures

Although image optimization is a subject unto itself, understanding it is crucial if you intend to use photographs in your content, which is highly recommended.

To help you with this, we have written a thorough post that will give you the upper hand on the subject of how to properly cite images.

6. 
   Don’ts while writing SEO copy

Here are a few things you should never do while writing for SEO: Despite the appearance of reason, it is advisable to follow these common-sense principles:

Avoid plagiarism since search engines are offended by information duplication. Consequently, employing stolen content puts you at risk for punishment and rank loss. Always stick to writing original content.

Not too many external links: Citing sources and including connections to other websites are important, but you should use them sparingly to keep your audience engaged and to boost SEO.

Avoid over-optimizing: Be careful not to overuse your main term to the point where it becomes redundant in the content. Or to make it clear to your viewers that your article’s only objective is SEO.

Writing content that provides nothing to the user is similar to the previous point. Your content must provide the user with something because it was made with him in mind, whether it be a service, knowledge, or solution. Every piece of work you’ve produced has a purpose.