8 Things You Must Know Before Writing SEO Content
Whether you are selling products online or want to share your talent with the world, you have to focus on SEO to get noticed. An SEO strategy consists of proven practices that help you satisfy the criteria set by Search Engines to claim the top rankings on SERPs.
The most important part of any SEO strategy is writing SEO content. Without proper content relevant to your audience, you will fail to get the results you desire. But remember that writing SEO content is different from writing a college essay or writing for your “Dear Diary.”
Are you new to the concept of SEO writing and don’t know how to do it the right way? Keep reading this article to find out what you must know before writing SEO content!
1. Picking the keywords
Gone are the days when you could SEO content was all about stuffing keywords. In this day and age, you have to pick the keywords carefully and include them in your content to get the best results and rank higher on Search engines.
It’s important that you choose the right tools for keyword research. If you go after the cheap options, you might start with a tool that doesn’t give you the right results, which can ruin the quality of your content even if you have written a unique piece.
Choosing proper keywords will also help you optimize for On-Page SEO. If you don’t know about On-Page SEO, you can read about it in Matthew Woodward on page seo checklist. Remember to spend your time on keyword research for desired results.
2. Start with a draft
Most people think that they should start writing without giving it much thought. However, the problem with this approach is that you end up writing gibberish that doesn’t make any sense. Remember that you have to write content that’s relevant and exciting for the readers.
The only way you can maintain the quality of your content is by starting with a proper draft. If you don’t have a draft, it will become impossible for you to stay on a theme and write about it. Drafting allows you to plan things the right way. Make sure that you create a draft before you start writing the SEO content.
3. Value your audience
Remember that the content you write for your audience should be valuable for them. Gone are the days when the content was meant for search engine bots and was filled with keywords. In this day and age, the content is meant for the readers and readers only.
Skipping on the basics and not putting your audience first will only result in something bad for you. Make sure that the content you write is actionable and engaging for your audience. Instead of writing an academic paper meant for the pros, write something relevant for both the rookies and the skilled professionals.
4. Don’t skip the details
Another common mistake that most people make while writing content is that they write very basic content. It’s easy to get in the trap that you have to write content that gets more eyeballs, and you must write something meaningless.
Keep in your mind that SEO has evolved from putting the keywords to writing something actionable. NLP and other technologies allow Search Engines to decide which content is better than the other.
Make sure that everything you write for SEO purposes has some value. Don’t waste your time writing content that’s useless for everyone out there.
5. Focus on proper structure
One of the great ways you can improve the quality of your SEO content is by coming up with a structure. If you present your ideas in a disarranged manner, no one will like to read your content – even if you are sharing the most valuable advice.
The only way you can keep the readers hooked to read your content is by coming up with a structure. Proper structuring allows you to show what you will discuss in your content, and readers know what they will get by reading the content, and it becomes easier for you to limit the bounce rate of your web pages.
6. Authority links are important
What if your content shows that you know everything and you are the only authority for what you do? Such arrogance and carelessness to details will never make your content exciting for you. Remember that you cannot go around sharing anything in your blogs.
Unless you are a thought leader in your industry, you have to back up your content with facts. The only way you can increase the authority of your content is by adding sources to your content.
An easy way of giving sources to your content is by adding High DA backlinks throughout your SEO content. Readers will know that you are not bluffing and have done your research before writing a single word.
7. Adding images is essential too
What if your content is filled with so much content but doesn’t let your readers know what they have to do? Adding cheesy words will not make your content any helpful if it doesn’t explain things to the readers. The question is, how can you ensure that the content you write is actionable?
You can make your content relevant to your audience by adding images to your SEO content. You can pick free images from websites like unsplash.com, or you can create infographics that can become linkable assets for your business.
8. The editing session
Do you have to hit the “Publish” right after you’re done writing the content? Remember that haste makes waste, and things can get worse if you are always in a hurry when writing SEO content. You have to ensure that nothing gets published carelessly.
After you’re done writing the content, allocate some time to check out if there are any problems with your content. Read the content with the eyes of your readers and find things that might be redundant for your target audience. Add or remove sections based on the needs of the task.