Getting organic traffic is an important aspect of any digital marketing strategy. But how do we ensure our content is optimized enough to attract potential customers and rank highly on Google?
There are many ways to improve the quality of your content, but there are also many things a content writer should avoid. Let’s review some of the top do’s and don’ts of SEO content writing.
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Do: Write for Humans
All too often, content writers focus too much on writing for search engines rather than writing for the people who are going to read their content.
In order to rank in the SERPs, your content has to be written for a human audience. If it sounds too robotic or like it was written solely for a search engine, it’s highly unlikely that it will rank. Not to mention, your readers will lose interest and question your brand’s authenticity.
Don’t: Keyword Stuff
Keyword stuffing, including keywords as much as possible, is a common mistake made by content writers. Several years ago, keyword stuffing was thought to be a ranking factor. However, as Google algorithm updates began rolling out in the early 2000s, sites implementing this tactic began to plummet in the SERPs.
Keyword stuffing can do a ton of damage to your search rankings, and it makes for a poor reading experience. Avoid this at all costs. Instead, as Google’s Webmaster Guidelines suggest, “focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and in context.”
Do: Use Long-Tail Keywords
Writing several pieces of content around the same keyword can lead to a common issue called keyword cannibalization. If you write blog posts or articles for search queries that are too similar, they’ll start eating away at each other’s chances to rank. In other words, if you cannibalize your own keywords, you’re competing with yourself for ranking on Google.
To avoid this, stick to one or two long-tail topics to center your blog post around. Long-tail keywords keep your post focused on the specific goals of your audience, encouraging visitors to read your whole post and seek more information from you. You’ll also prevent your pages from competing against each other in the SERPs.
Don’t: Plagiarize
A quick review of the SERPs makes it easy to see the pieces of content that rank highly for the keyword you’re targeting. However, this shouldn’t be taken as a free pass to plagiarize. In order to rank, your content needs to be authentic.
Copying the blogs performing well in the SERPs isn’t going to help your content earn a high rank. Instead, it raises your odds of earning of Google penalty. Focus your efforts on creating original, quality content written for your target audience.
Do: Include Internal Links
A good internal link structure is vital to any SEO strategy. Internal links can help Google understand your website, and when done effectively, they can help increase your search engine rankings.
By providing Google with links to follow along with adequately descriptive anchor text, you indicate to Google which pages on your site are important and what they’re about. Internal links are also useful for user experience and may help increase engagement.
When writing SEO content, include links to other pages on your site. When possible, it’s best practice to link to a core product or service page and at least one other related blog.
Don’t: Forget On-Page SEO
On-page SEO refers to the practice of optimizing your site’s web pages to improve your rankings and earn organic traffic. This typically includes optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, headers, and images. It also means making sure your content has a high level of authority, expertise, and trustworthiness. You can do this most easily by ensuring that every blog article you publish is a high-quality piece of content.
On-page SEO is another element that helps search engines understand your website and its content. On-page SEO can also help identify whether your content is relevant to a searcher’s query.
Failing to implement on-page SEO best practices would be a huge mistake. Implementing on-page SEO elements is a quick and easy process all SEO writers should include in all types of content.
SEO Content Writing Done Right
No matter what your industry is, the success of today’s businesses relies on your ability to be found where users search the most. Implementing a strong, quality content marketing strategy is not only beneficial to a brand and its digital marketing efforts, but it is critical to its web presence, especially within competitive markets.
Looking to improve your SEO content strategy? Contact SMA Marketing today. As SEO industry experts, we have the skills and knowledge to drive the right organic traffic to your website.
