Do you want more clients to find you online? Then gaining visibility in search results is an absolute must. Search engine algorithms look for relevant, quality content when ranking websites for a search query, so it makes sense to ensure your website content is up to scratch. In this article, I give you nine SEO copywriting tips to help you optimise the content you write for your website or blog.

What is SEO Copywriting?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is used to optimise web content to rank higher in search results. SEO copywriting is a form of copywriting that involves optimising web content for search engines. The aim is to write about your services in a way that will help you to be more visible in relevant search results, while also engaging the people you want to sell to.

1. Start with Your Objectives and Audience

Goals

Knowing your goals will give you direction in your writing and help you to keep it focused. Ask yourself, what do you want your content to achieve? For example, do you want to:

• encourage people to get in touch about your services
• showcase your expertise
• communicate your values
• or persuade people to sign up for your newsletter?

Audience

Remember that your content is primarily for people. So write for humans first and search engine bots second (more on this later).

The better you know your audience, the more you can tailor your writing to appeal to them. Ask yourself, who is your typical client, and what problem(s) are they trying to solve?

2. Do Keyword Research

Keywords are the words and phrases that people use to find information in search engines. Keyword research is about finding out what these words and phrases are so that you can use them in your content to help people find your site.

While using keywords is a good tactic for SEO, be careful not to overuse them and use your keywords organically within the text. Remember that your content is primarily for people. An unreadable text stuffed full of keywords will make site visitors leave – which is the opposite of what you want them to do.

Remember to write for humans first and search engine bots last. If a keyword does not fit, do not use it. Search engines are getting pretty good at recognising relevant content, and they will penalise you for keyword stuffing (i.e. filling a website page full of keywords, sometimes made invisible).

3. Write Engaging Content that is Easy to Understand

Now that you have your keywords (and you know not to do any keyword stuffing), it’s time to get down to creating your content.

First and foremost, your content should provide value to your readers (i.e. providing the information they want to know). Good content allows you to showcase your expertise, build trust with your audience and show them why they should work with you over your competitors.

The language you use is important; It is always best to cut out waffle and write as clearly and succinctly as possible.

Also, consider how knowledgeable your audience is. For example, if your clients are not very technical, don’t use industry jargon. If you do need to use a technical term, make sure to explain it clearly.

4. Structure Your Content

Using headings and subheadings breaks up the text, making it easier for people to read and navigate. They are also a great place to add some of your keywords.

As well as helping out your readers, indicating the structure and hierarchy of your text helps search engines learn what a page is about, making heading tags essential for both site visitors and search engines.

5. Write Meta Descriptions

A Meta description is the snippet of text in a search result that tells people about the content of a page.

These should primarily be informative and the better the Meta description, the more likely people will click to view your website.

Here are some quick tips for writing good Meta descriptions:

• Try to keep within 160 characters (people won’t see any text that goes beyond the search browsers limit)
• Write in the active tense, avoid passive tense (Henry sat on the chair, not the chair was sat on by Henry)
• Be specific, use descriptive words and not ‘fluff’
• Use action-oriented language (words like learn, read, save, get)
• Let people know what your page is about – don’t be misleading and steer away from writing clickbait (misleading content that aims to attract attention)
• What solution or benefit does your page solve? – let people know

Now that you have your perfect Meta description, you may be wondering where it goes. Meta descriptions are added to the HTML code. However, don’t panic if you’re not very tech-savvy. Some content management systems (e.g. WordPress) have settings that will allow you to change the Meta description.

Alternatively, you could use a plug-in such as Yoast or if you’re working with a web designer or developer on your site, they can usually add it in manually.

6. Optimise Your Images

Optimising your images improves the user experience with faster load times. It also offers you additional opportunities to add keywords that will help you to rank higher in search engine results. Since the Google algorithm update in 2021, user experience is now an essential factor in SEO.

In SEO copywriting, there are three areas to bear in mind when optimising images:

• File Name
• Alt Text
• Image captions

File Name

The filename of your images should help search engines determine what your content is about and offers another place to add your keywords. Make sure that the name is relevant to your content and gives your readers context. 

Also, use hyphens rather than underscores in the file name so that search engines can read the individual words in the file name. For example:

Alt Text

Alt Text describes an image on a web page and is what is shown if the browser cannot display the image. It also makes your website more accessible to people viewing your site with a screen reader.

Additionally, it provides context for search engines as they cannot interpret images, making alt text another great place to add keywords. However, beware of using too many of them and try to make them unique – you do not want Google to think you are spamming. Some tips for writing alt text:

• Be descriptive (what does the image show)
• Be concise
• Be specific (e.g. by adding services or places)

For example:

‘Accountant using bookkeeping software on her laptop’ is preferable to’ woman typing on laptop’

Remember that search engines cannot read text in an image, so be sure not to embed any essential information in them if it is not mentioned elsewhere in your content.

Captions

Image captions (text that accompanies an image) can provide an extra opportunity to engage your site visitors and (hopefully) keep them on your site. That is because people’s eyes are naturally drawn to images and accompanying text.

Here you have a chance to be more descriptive about an image than you were in your alt text, and you have more space to link it to your services. Remember that you are writing for humans first, so be selective and only place captions where they will make sense to the reader.

7. Use Internal Links

An internal link is where one page on your website links to another page on your website. Internal links are essential for navigation and also help search engines to find all your pages and understand how they link together.

Additionally, the more links a page receives, whether internal or external (links connected to and from other websites), the more important search engines deem a page to be. Therefore, internal links help with SEO. When creating your content, bear in mind how your text links to other pages or articles on your site.

8. Use Call to Actions

A Call to Action (CTA) tells the reader what you want them to do next. For example, you may want them to read another article, subscribe to your newsletter, or call you to find out more about a service you offer.

CTAs are important because they promote a reader to engage with you rather than click away from your site. Potential customers will spend more time on your site, increasing the chances of making a sale.

9. Check Your Work

Last but not least, check your work. You don’t want any embarrassing errors spoiling all that hard work. Here are some editing tips:

• Use the spell check and grammar function in your text editor
• Use an app like Grammarly or the Hemmingway Editor to find ways you can further improve your writing
• Change things up, either by using a different font or by reading your document from the bottom section up (sometimes familiarity stops errors from jumping out at us)
• Ask a friend or colleague to check it for you
• Hire a professional editor or proofreader

I hope that these tips will help you when next writing for your website or blog. If you take away only one thing, remember to always write for humans first and search engines second.

Do you want to improve your website’s SEO with professionally written content? Don’t have the time to craft outstanding copy? Get in touch today to find out how I can help.