4 Steps To Writing Effective SEO Copy

To rank well in the search engines, make writing effective SEO copy a priority, not just for some of your pages -  but for all of them.

It’s not likely that you’ll get top ranking for all your site’s pages, but you’ll want to at least do well for your most important pages, so develop good habits from the start.

Here’s a 4 step checklist I use to make sure I cover all the bases for writing copy that is optimized for the search engines and for my readers…

Step 1. All Effective SEO Copy Starts with Choosing Keywords

Find the keyword phrases that best describe what you are writing about.

Start by  thinking about what keywords your readers would use and what you want to be found for.  Then use a quality keyword research tool to find the most searched keywords that have the least amount of competition.

For example, you may be writing on the topic of low carb diet.  OK, what about low carb diet?  Be specific with your keywords. A page about healthy low carb diet would use those keywords. If that’s what your copy is about and that’s what readers would most type into the search engines then why not simply use that phrase?

Don’t over think it, use what makes sense.

If you’re not familiar with how to do this, here’s an excellent keyword research free report that will help get you started.

One you know what your keywords are, use this checklist to make sure you get your keywords are included in the appropriate areas of your web page:

1. As part of the URL, for example www.yoursitename.com/keywordphrase.html
2. In the page Title Tag
3. In the page Description tag
4. In the first paragraph
5. In at least one Header tag (<h1>)
6. In the alt text of the graphic if there is one
7. In the body of the copy
8. In the summary or last paragraph of the page
9. Bold the keyword once on the page

Step 2. Begin Writing your Copy

Write copy that is useful.  If you’re stuck on what to write about, write on an experience you’ve had related to your topic.

Readers always appreciate information that helps them remedy a situation or that teaches them something, and if you can personally demonstrate how you worked through the experience yourself they’ll be more inclined to find value in what you are writing.

If you find this difficult, simply think about what you would say to a person if they were standing right in front of you.   Use your own words as if you were in a conversation with someone.

When writing, don’t think about the search engines.  Write for  your audience.  Later you can go back and tweak the copy to include various keyword phrases and ideas.

Step 3.  Effective SEO Copy is Always Relevant to the Title

Keep your copy relevant to the topic.  For instance, a page is titled ‘how to trim a rose bush’  should demonstrate how to trim a rose bush; not the importance of trimming a rose bush or the benefits of trimming a rose bush, but show them how.

Additionally don’t include information on how to trim an orchid or how to trim a tree; keep the piece tightly focused on what the title suggests.  Keep your information on how to trim an orchid should be saved for a separate page, then link the pages together.

Step 4.  Use Anchor Text Linking

Your internal link structure is key to effective SEO by helping  improve your page rankings in the search engines.

So for example each page of your site should have a specific keyword phrase that identifies that page.   That keyword phrase can be used on other relevant pages with a link back to the page the phrase is referring to.

The anchor text link gives relevance to the target URL for the keywords that appear within the text link.  Every page that has an anchor text link linking back to that page means a vote for that page in the eyes of the search engines, even if it’s a link from the same website.

Here’s more on using website navigation to improve link reputation.

In Summary…

Effective SEO copy is a balance of useful, unique information coupled with using creative keyword strategies.

Find a balance between writing well and using the strategies that work for both the search engines and your human visitors.

P. S.  For clever and creative keyword and SEO strategies that will boost your rankings, Karon Thackston’s Search Engine copywriting will help you get you more targeted traffic and more sales without spending money on expensive advertising and marketing. This is the course that helped me put many of my pages in the top search engine rankings.

More Good Stuff...

1. 5 Steps To writing Online Copy Like A Pro
2. 6 Easy Steps to Writing an eBook
3. Forget About SEO Copywriting
4. SEO Tip: Stop Using Non-Relevant Contextual Links

Tagged as: Writing/Copywriting