Do you want to write SEO-friendly content?
Well, this is an art that can take your blogging or writing career to the next level.
Anyone can write articles, but writing SEO optimized articles takes special practice.
In this article, I’ll share some tips for writing SEO optimized articles that will rank better in search engines.
I run multiple blogs and we have several writers who work day and night to keep these sites updated with fresh, quality content. However, sometimes the quality can slip (usually due to lack of knowledge).
Each blog post is like a web page as far as search engine rankings are concerned, and you can optimize each post with specific keywords for search engines .
There are a few things you should keep in mind when writing these SEO-friendly articles .
Whenever I write our blog, I have to provide manual input and checklist to write better articles. Apart from choosing the topic, there is also a complete SEO checklist that must be followed .
- (Note: I used to email this information to all the authors in my blog network. Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea **to compile all this information into one article . This way, ****SidelinePlay readers **will also benefit from this information and learn how to write SEO articles .)
Also note that I will not be covering keyword research in this post as it would require a detailed article of its own.
For more on keyword research, check out:
- Keyword Research: A Beginner's Guide
- SEMrush: A Practical Guide to Growing Your Blog Traffic
- Best SEO Keyword Research Tools: Latest Versions
How to start writing SEO optimized articles
Step 1 - Start with Research
If you really want to make a difference for yourself or your clients, then without doing research you’re just groping in the dark.
At this stage, you need to determine a few things:
- Target keywords
- Article Length
- Article Type
- Analyze the outline of an existing article
- People also ask questions
Do yourself a favor and get a tool like SEMrush first.
SEMrush offers a free trial to help you research the topic better and help optimize the keywords correctly. This will help you understand what are the right keywords you should target.
Step 2 - Content Type: Keyword Search Intent
Also, type your target keyword into Google search and see what types of articles are currently ranking high. This is part of the research that will help you understand what types of articles Google considers to be more suitable for this type of query.
You may notice some patterns in the search results. For example, certain queries will only display listings, as shown in the following screenshot:
Step 3- Find the ideal length of your article
Use SEMrush Writing Assistant to determine the ideal word count to increase your chances of ranking on the first page.
To use this feature,
- Log into the SEMrush dashboard (get your 14-day free trial here)
- Under On-Page and Technical SEO > SEO Content Templates
- Enter your target keyword
- Select the countries and devices you want to target
Click on "Create SEO Template"
It will display the results as shown in the screenshot below:
As shown in the figure above, the average word count on the first page for my target keyword is 2182.
I certainly make sure my SEO optimized articles are at least 2,100 words. I’ve actually discussed this in depth in my previous guide on “Long-Form Content for SEO”.
Ok, once we have this data ready, it's time to create the outline.
Analyze the top 10 results for your target keyword. I know this is a lot of tasks, but again, if your goal is to rank #1 in search, you need to take these extra steps to stand out.
Based on your understanding, create an outline for your content. Now is a good time to learn about brainstorming and outlining from this free guide .
Step 4 - Scout People also ask
Search your target keyword in Google search and it will show you a section called “People also ask”.
Choose questions that match the purpose of your article and answer them in your article. However, don’t stop there, because when you click on one of the questions, Google will add more questions later.
This is a smart way to ensure that your SEO optimized content answers the questions people are looking for.
Okay, now it’s time to start writing your articles and optimizing them for SEO.
Now, I use WordPress as my content management system, but even if you use something else, the following tips on SEO copywriting will still apply to you.
If any particular step doesn't make sense to you, check out our comments section as it's filled with helpful questions and answers.
1. Post Title and Meta Title
- First, you need to understand the difference between a post title* and a meta title.
- Post Title: How readers see the title of the post on your website.
- Post meta title: How search engines display your post in search results.
If you don't * specify * a meta title in your SEO settings , your post title will be considered the meta title.
- It is very important to include your keywords in your meta title .
You can read more about it here:
*Pro Tip: Keep your post title to 66 characters *or less ** .
2. Post a meta description
Every WordPress SEO plugin allows you to add meta descriptions to your posts. These descriptions play an important role in search engine rankings .
Think of your meta description as the sales copy of your blog post:
- Within 156 characters, you need to *add keywords and create a description that *is attractive enough for users to click.
If you haven’t added a meta description before, you should start adding one now . Make sure to add your primary keyword in the meta description and make it purposeful.
Meta descriptions are extremely important.
You should go back to any previous post you published that didn’t have a meta description and add one.
By optimizing your post meta descriptions, you can ensure that every post you write has the potential to drive the most traffic to your website.
Google treats each blog post as a different web page, so you can rank each one for specific keywords .
The meta description is the best place to put your keywords.
3. Image Alt Attribute
Google cannot read the image.
- Text is how Google recognizes images.
To ensure that search engines can understand what the image means, you must make sure you use the correct image name.
Many people make the mistake of uploading images with names like image001.jpg.
- This is a huge mistake!
When naming images, keep the names relevant to the image itself.
For example, if you take a screenshot of your AdSense dashboard and name the image "AdSense," it won't be targeted. Instead, you'll want to use a name like "AdSense-dashboard" so that when people search for images in Google Image Search, they'll find the images in our blog posts.
You can always add an alt attribute manually when uploading an image .
I ’ve seen positive results from using keywords in image anchor text *(as well as when naming the image) , so you should at least *use keywords in your image alt text.
4. Internal links and anchor text
It’s always a good idea to link back to old blog posts when writing new posts so that readers stay on your site longer and search engines can recrawl those old posts as well.
This helps improve your site’s navigability, thereby reducing bounce rate – another important SEO factor.
When you do internal linking, you should use the anchor text technique.
In short, when you link to a blog post, you’ll see the option to add a link and a title.
Make sure to fill in the post title with the main keyword of the post you are linking to .
At SidelinePlay, we also use a plugin called LinkWhisper for internal linking.
You can read more about it here: Link Whisper Review: One of the Best Options for Internal Link Building
5. Remove stop words from your permalinks
Search engines ignore many of the words listed here, such as "a", "an", "the", etc.
Our post titles often contain a lot of stop words.
For example, when we write an article titled:
- 3 Ways to Develop a Blogging Business Plan
The default permalinks for our posts are:
- domain.com/3-ways-to-make-a-blog-business-plan.html
In the above example, "To" and "a " are stop words.
You can click Edit Permalink and change the permalink to * “blog-business-plan”,* which will eliminate the stop words.
- Important: Never change the post permalink after it has been published
6. H1, H2, H3 headings
Using the right title tags is another important aspect of SEO copywriting.
You can’t afford to overlook one of the most important aspects of SEO:
- Use appropriate H1, H2, and H3 heading tags.
By default, in any SEO optimized theme, the post title uses the H1 heading tag. So, for the next sub-heading, you can use an H2 heading, then an H3 heading, and so on.
Using proper title tags is always a good idea for effective SEO writing, especially when writing long-form articles.
See Title tags for SEO to better understand how to use title tags in your blog posts.
According to the SEO community, it is a good idea to use keywords in the H1, H2, and H3 tags . When creating your outline (during the research phase), you should decide what your title tag should be.
Final Checklist:
- Keyword Research
- Determine the Right Word Limit
- Search Google for a format that fits your article
- Create an outline by analyzing the first 10 results
- List questions in the "People Also Ask" section of search
- Publish a title for readers and a meta title * (keywords in the title) for search engines.*
- Post meta description* (optimize for better CTR and use your target keyword once).
- Image alternative text* (use keywords).
- Use good anchor text to build links within your posts.
- Publish permalink* (remove stop words from permalink).
- Use proper heading tags* (keywords in H1, H2, H3 tags).
SEO Content Writing FAQs
How to write SEO optimized content using ChatGPT? To write SEO optimized content using ChatGPT, follow these steps:
– Start by researching suitable keywords using tools like Semrush or Google Keyword Planner.
– Find out the search intent behind search queries related to your target keyword.
– Determine the ideal article length by analyzing the top ranking results.
– Build an outline based on top-ranking content and “people also ask” queries.
– Optimize elements of your article such as title, meta description, image alt attributes, internal links, and heading tags with your target keywords.
Is 1,000 words enough for SEO? 1,000 words may be a good starting point, but the ideal article length for SEO is often longer than that. Longer, comprehensive content tends to perform better. Aim for 2,000 words or more, especially if it meets search intent and provides in-depth, valuable information. However, provide valuable, relevant, and exciting content for your audience. Don't rely solely on word count to achieve higher search rankings, but prioritize creating content that meets user needs and resonates with them.
For more SEO article writing tips, check out:
- How Outbound Links Boost Your Blog’s Authority and Rankings
- The Best Keyword Research Tools for Any Niche
- On-page SEO techniques to rank first page: New version
Let us know if you have any questions or have any other SEO writing advice. Share your thoughts in the comments section!
Do you know someone who could benefit from the information in this article? Share it with them on LinkedIn or Twitter.
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