SEO copywriting involves a
clear understanding how search engines view a webpage. The goal is to
write content that answers questions and includes relevant keywords
that occur naturally.
When a webpage has
sufficient, up-to-date, and credible content, search engines will
drive more qualified customer traffic to it. A website that attracts
the right visitors and moves them toward buying a product is a
productive website. Qualified customer traffic can result in
increased sales and other valuable conversion goals, helping the
overall SEO program to be a success.
SEO copywriting today must
be based on the new Google Hummingbird semantic search engine, which
places less emphasis on content keywords, and more emphasis on a
conversational content that answers customer questions.
Instead of just wondering
“Do I have enough high volume and long tail keywords?” you should
also ask “Is this content really great at explaining the topic or
product to customers?” Keywords will always be important, but
satisfying customers is the real key to successful content.
When I did some online research, I was amazed to discover how most "SEO Copywriting Tips" type articles were extremely skimpy, often being no more than 3 to 5 tips and included such dopey advice as "replace poor content with great content."
Here's what you really need to know to write good SEO web content.
One Theme Per Page.
Each webpage must be devoted to a single theme (a topic, service,
product, product category, or idea). That theme will be expressed in
the HTML document title tag, meta description, image filenames, image
alt attributes, and H1 and H2 headings.
Google wants to match a
customer search query with the best webpage that will meet the need
of the customer. If multiple topics are contained in a webpage, the
primary theme will be diluted, and Google will not consider that
webpage to have adequate focus.
Separate Themes on
Separate Pages. When multiple themes, product categories, etc.
are on a webpage, consider breaking that page into separate pages.
Give each distinct idea, topic, product, service, etc. its own
webpage. This will enable customers to drill down for more specific
information as needed.
Know Your Target
Audience. Ask yourself, “Who, or what type of customer, would
go to this webpage? What would they hope to find on this webpage?”
When you identify the theme of a webpage, Google the keywords and
read a bit of the conversations and debates going on at other
websites, blogs, and forums. Discover the hot issues and questions
people have.
Do Some Competitor
Research. Look at some competitive websites that rank well for
top keywords. What do they seem to be doing right? What deficiencies
do they have that you can exploit by writing better content for your
client?
Also look at some other
websites that don't rank that well. What do they seem to be doing
wrong? Learn from their bad content. Consider how disappointed a
customer would feel when they visited this poor content website.
Decide what is lacking and make sure you don't have the same lack in
your client's website.
Internal Linking
Strategy. When a theme is complex, internal linking to subpages
is the solution. Make sure the link wording (anchor text) has
keywords in it, instead of “read more” or “click here” or
“learn about the options available”. Revise such phrases to “read
more about _________”, with “_______” being the keyword phrase
(specific product, service, subordinate concept, etc.) that is the
link anchor text. In other words, “heart surgery” should be the
link, rather than “read more about heart surgery.”
Don't overdo it. Too many
internal links can make a webpage look spammy.
No Keyword Stuffing.
Don't write generic copy, then try to plug in keywords for SEO.
Instead, use a set of recommended keywords as ideas for content
amplification. Lists of recommended keywords should be used as
possible synonyms or aspects of content that you may have overlooked.
They are not to be used as magic bullets to sprinkle into otherwise
generic copy to trick search engines into thinking the content is
relevant and authoritative.
Long tail keywords are terms that are not
used very often, but when they are used, they tend to be used by
customers with deeper understanding of a product and are ready to buy
now. Be sure to have some of these long tail keywords in your
content, in addition to the more popular, high volume keywords (which
are more competitive and harder to rank for).
Get Info from Client.
Before writing a webpage, gather as much information as possible from
the client. Client-provided facts are the most important aspect of
copywriting. You can't pull these facts from the thin air or guess
what they are. The account representative should contact the client
with a list of questions or topics that need explanation and detailed
information. This is the #1 priority for copywriting.
Do Some Research.
Once you have the client-supplied information, you will probably find
parts that could benefit from elaboration or simplification. Google
the keywords or topic of the webpage and see what competitors and
authoritative sources are saying on that same subject. You may
discover new angles or directions to follow that you had not thought
of yet.
You may see that competitive
websites are using charts, videos, or other presentation formats to
help clarify certain aspects. Consider doing something similar, but
better.
Talk Like the Customer.
Be sure to put information into the language of customers, while
retaining the technically precise terminology. This is where
definitions come in. Define the technical terminology in customer
language. You may need to read customer testimonials or visit online
forums to discover how customers are talking about a topic, product,
or problem.
Use Conversational
Language. As much as possible, make your content sound like a
good friend or trusted adviser engaging in sincere, intimate
conversation. Customers are turned off by stiff, institutional
sounding content. Try to get a genuine, warm, human feel into the
copy. Look at what you've written and ask yourself, “How would I
state these ideas if I called my best friend on the phone and wanted
to tell him these facts, quickly, simply, and in a way that would not
bore my friend?”
People Buy Benefits, Not
Features. It's easy to forget that features and technical
specifications don't arouse buy behavior, unless they are translated
as promises and benefits. People have problems and needs. They seek
solutions and answers. Be sure to always explain the advantage of a
feature and not just list features alone.
How Well Does This
Webpage Answer Questions? Look at a webpage, not just from the
point of view of the client, but also from the viewpoint of a
customer. What may seem adequate to a client can be woefully
incomplete to a customer. Think: “If I had an urgent need that this
product can fulfill, would this webpage satisfy me so much that I'd
buy the product, or set up an appointment, or contact the company for
more information?
Expand on Bullet Lists.
Often a webpage will have some introductory copy, then a bulleted
list. The items in the bullet list could usually use at least a
couple sentences or a short paragraph. For example, a list of
diseases treated by a clinic. Why not add a definition of each
disease and maybe some common symptoms?
Almost Nobody Reads
Content. People tend to skim and scan content. They typically
don't read it like a person would read a book. Web users are
impatient, multitasking, and in a hurry. Keep this in mind. Make it
easy for customers to quickly zip through the content to zero in on
the exact answer they need at that moment. Break up long, dense
paragraphs into shorter paragraphs. Use bullet lists and subheads.
Use images to add variety and separate ideas.
Start Some Paragraphs
with “You” or “Your.” When you think in terms of customer
needs, you won't write copy with an “our” and “we” emphasis.
Try starting some paragraphs with “You” or “Your”, as in
“You'll get _______ (benefit) with this _______ (product).” or
“Your _________ (problem/need) will be taken care of quickly, at an
affordable price, with _________ (product).” Customers don't want
to read corporate fluff that talks on and on about how great the
company is. Customers want to read copy that talks about their
problem and how to solve it by using the product.
Good Content Attracts
Links To It. One of the benefits of complete, compelling content
on a topic is that it will be valued by others, so that they will
want to link to it. This is a great way to get backlinks to a
specific webpages, which are better than backlinks to the home page.
A deep link indicates that a specific piece of content is treating a
specific subject in a superior and meaningful manner.
Use Synonyms Instead of
the Same Terms Repeatedly. The purpose of keywords is not to make
content appeal to search engines. Google Hummingbird semantic search
engine actually places far less emphasis on matching user queries
with content keywords, since many black hat websites have used
keyword stuffing in a misguided attempt to game the system. Keywords
that are synonyms act as alternate expressions, so your content
doesn't get tiresome or seem repetitive.
Good Content is
Fascinating. There really is a way to make any product or topic
extremely interesting, no matter how dry and dull it might appear at
first. The copywriter's challenge is to know so much about the
customer needs and the product benefits, that a compelling story or a
remarkable description can be communicated to the customer.
You can spice up the content
with historical background facts, interesting anecdotes, customer
testimonials, insights from blog posts and forums, powerful
presentations of how important or urgent it is to solve the
customer's problem (rather than letting it languish), and putting
yourself in the customer's shoes, imagining their need, and feeling
the relief of having that need met by a superior product.
Images Grab Attention and
Clarify. Be sure to specify photos to be included in content.
People prefer to see images of other people doing things, using a
product to solve a problem, being serviced by smiling employees, etc.
Notice how magazines successfully use images to draw your attention.
Images are important for adding credibility and clarifying what is
described with words. Add keyword captions under the photos.
Think of The Webpage as a
Movie Script. The H1 (headline) tag should be like the title of a
movie, but responding to a question, and implying a benefit. Instead
of “Cardiac Care” your header might be “How State of the Art
Cardiac Care is Delivered to Our Patients”. The H2 tags should
describe the main scenes in the movie/webpage. The content under each
H2 subhead should summarize the action and move the plot forward. The
climactic final scene is the strong Call To Action that prompts the
customer to buy now, set up an appointment, contact the company, or
some other conversion act.
Test Your Content.
Get a friend, family member, or colleague to read your webpage copy.
Ask them if it makes sense, if everything is clear, and if you might
have missed an important detail. Tell them to be hyper-critical and
totally honest. You care more about getting the copy right, than
having your feelings hurt. You might be amazed at how effectively
other people can evaluate content. Get several opinions, for one
person may not catch everything that needs improvement.
Become an Expert at
Talking About the Product. You can't necessarily become an expert
at manufacturing, inventing, or using a product. But you can, and you
must, quickly become an expert at talking about a product or topic –
at least to the extent of being able to write intelligent, accurate,
engaging content for the website. This might mean spending more time
reading blogs, forums, magazines, books, and competitive websites
related to the product or the problems the customers are having.
The Goal is Not
Communication But Transaction. Web content needs to tell a story
and convey information. But the goal is not education or
enlightenment. The primary aim of web content is to persuade a
customer to buy something, schedule an appointment, sign up for a
newsletter, watch a video, download a file, or whatever conversion
goals are desired by the client. Every webpage, even About, should
have a strong Call To Action, moving the customer closer to a
purchasing decision or other mission-critical business objective.
Command the Customer to
Act. Don't just assume that the information itself will provoke a
buying transaction. People like to be told what to do when an action
is in their best interests. They don't respond to vague instructions.
If there are 3 steps to a transaction, number those steps so a
customer's progress is logical and orderly. Tell the customer exactly
what they need to do next, at every step along the way.
Use
commanding phrases like “Now that you've seen how great this
solution is, go to our Product Guide to select the right model for
your specific needs.” with “Product Guide” as the linked text
that when they click on it, will take them to the Product Guide
webpage. Remember to help the customer understand how to respond to
the offer – and never assume that the customer will enjoy the
information so much, responding to the offer will just happen without
prompting.
