Improving SEO Content Writing Skills Is Easier Than You Think
First of all, what is SEO writing, and why is it so important to reach the right audience? SEO writing, also known as "writing for SEO," is the process of creating a content marketing campaign with the primary goal of ranking in search engines. Who doesn't want to be on the first page of Google, right? However, to accomplish a good SEO ranking, you'll need to improve your SEO content writing skills. Or at least find someone who can do it for you.
When you want to rank in Google, you need to realize (and accept) that writing quality content is key to your success. Yet, high-quality won't help you make the cut on its own. For your content to rank, you always need to devote considerable attention to Search Engine Optimization. It's not magic; you just need to know the best practices, use the right SEO tools, and choose to share content your ideal buyer personas will love to read!
So, do yourself a favor and stop writing for the sake of writing. Before you decide you want to publish relevant content, please keep in mind that you'll also need to fine-tune your web writing skills. Maybe you're a marketer or a content writer in the eLearning niche, or perhaps you've chosen to outsource your content writing, whatever the case, before your start writing, remember that you should always publish quality content that has a specific goal.
For all the above reasons, I decided to share my best tips on how to improve SEO content writing skills. You might as well share it with your peers!
SEO Writing: Why You Must Enhance Your Content Writing Skills To Achieve High Google Rankings
Frankly, there's no reason to post regularly without focusing on SEO because you might end up having content that no one cares to read. This way, not only do you waste money and resources, but you actually hurt your website's overall performance. Choosing the right keywords and writing about what your ideal buyers are searching for is the number one driver to earn first place search engine rankings.
Believe me, if you do so effectively, you'll get a great return on your investment. Why? Because creating quality content specifically for your intended users will increase site traffic. Plus, it will also improve your authority and relevance.
Here's How to Write Content For People and Optimize For Google
First things first, when you write for SEO, this doesn't mean you shouldn't care about the quality of your content. Using the right keywords is one thing, but delivering content that people actually want to read is a whole different story. The secret sauce here is to find the best way to incorporate your selected keywords without compromising the quality of your content.
1. Test And Level Up Your Keyword Research Skills
Let me tell you that I've seen how eLearning marketers can affect purchase decisions through content. The key to an effective content marketing strategy is writing for what your ideal customers want to read about. It's not about you. Content must always serve the reader! On that note, one of the best SEO tips I can give you here is to focus on writing topics that can target multiple keywords.
So, you have to ensure that you'll spend enough time doing your keyword research to increase the chances of creating content that gets Google rankings. You see, most of the top pages on the first page of Google rank for multiple keywords. How do they manage that? It is not luck. Being thorough with your research is vital if you want to ensure that your content will consistently drive traffic through search queries.
Surely, targeting a primary keyword in your content is what most marketers do. However, smart content marketers focus on including and targeting secondary search terms as well. You should do the same if your goal is to maximize the potential of your content. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this content strategy, I'm talking about long-tail and LSI keywords. That's the way to beat your competition. Amplify your content with SEO to attract organic traffic from multiple queries.
2. Focus On Readability And Incorporate Keywords Into Your Content Wisely
Did you know that there's a link between readability and SEO? Yep, this is the elephant in the room that is often overlooked. So, apart from your SEO strategy, you must be extra careful with the readability of your articles. This is related to increasing SEO content performance and offering a better experience to your readers.
Creating readable content will make it easy for your audience to consume and understand. Your content must be skimmable and written at an appropriate reading level. Meaning, you should use succinct sentence structures and uncomplicated word choices. When you publish content that is easy to read, there's a better chance that your audience will continue reading. Thus, they'll stay longer on your page, helping you get a better bounce rate and better rankings in search engines.
There are plenty of things you can do to make your content more readable. Firstly, focus on using strong headlines. Then, keep your sentences short and use plenty of subheads to help your readers easily scan the most important parts of your content. Also, bullets and numbered lists are a must! Using illustrations, charts and tables will also do the trick. These are only some of the basics of improving your SEO content writing skills.
Indeed, ranking for SEO is a big thing, but the reader always comes first. Your number one goal should be to write your keywords more naturally. To do so, you can utilize “stop words” between awkward keyword phrases. You wouldn't want to compromise your reader’s ability to be engaged by your content, would you? Finally, another thing you should avoid is keyword stuffing. Instead, try to insert keywords naturally throughout your article content.
3. Take Advantage Of Content Writing And SEO Tools
Make sure to find the right tools. For example, you can benefit from using Google’s Keyword Planner, or maybe you can learn your way around Ahrefs and SemRush. Also, if your site is on WordPress, you might want to install Yoast SEO to make things a little easier and check if you're on the right path. Remember that Rome wasn't built in a day. The same goes for getting high SEO rankings.
Oh, please don't forget to proofread. Misspelled words or bad grammar are a big NO-NO. It's happened to the best of us. Therefore, a second set of eyes might catch something that you missed. Plus, you'll get some feedback on your content; that is how you become better at content writing. If you're looking for title ideas, you might want to check Ideaflip or HubSpot's Blog Topic Generator. For example, when I'm writing, I prefer to use Grammarly or Hemingway to perfect any readability issues.
In case you don't have the time or the resources to write for SEO, there are other solutions. For example, you can always reach out to well-known thought leaders and ask them to write a guest blog post for your website!
4. Leverage SEO Resources
SEO is the core of any content marketing strategy because you must always have a good reason to spend so much time and resources creating fresh content. I'm a strong believer that every content writer should know SEO. Why? Well, frankly, a content marketing campaign without a solid SEO strategy can only get you so far.
Through the years, I love to read about content marketing and SEO and how the combination of the two is evolving and changing. That's why I'd like to share some resources to help you improve your SEO copywriting skills. If you feel like doing the same, then take a look at these resources:
- Content Marketing Course (Hubspot Academy)
- The Beginner's Guide to Content Marketing (Moz)
- Content Marketing Unlocked (Neil Patel)
- SEO Unlocked (Neil Patel)
Do you find SEO content writing and keyword research hard? You'll enjoy reading our insights on how to reach your ideal buyers through content marketing, even if you have a small team.
Are you ready to put your content writing skills to practice? Start guest blogging on eLearning Industry. Plenty of fellow marketers have shared thoughts and ideas on best practices and trends.
Conclusion
One thing is certain, if you're learning your way around SEO content writing, you need to have diverse writing skills. And, most importantly, a good understanding of search intent. It's great to have professional writing skills, but to have engaged readers, writers must generate content that online users want to read.
We've got the expertise to help you choose eLearning topics and turn them into content that actually answers users’ questions.
So, how did you find our tips on how to improve your content writing for SEO? Do leave me a comment if you think I missed something.
Last but not least, don't forget to download our eBook to learn how to create an SEO content strategy for eLearning brands.