The Art of Writing SEO-Optimized Content

Many factors come into play when diving into the process of writing SEO content. The challenge most marketers face stems from the dichotomy between curating content that not only ranks well, and creating content that represents your brand and engages audiences. When we write for both Google and users, there is an art to writing content that resonates with both parties. It starts with research, keyword development, and branded copy. And at the end of the day, it improves your website’s ranking abilities.

In the following blog, we dive into the things you’ll have to keep in mind and the decisions you’ll have to make when creating SEO content.

Understanding SEO Content: What Am I Writing?

Before beginning the process, it’s essential to understand what SEO content is. SEO content is specifically meant to help your website rank better in search engine results pages (SERPs). It involves optimizing your content for relevant keywords, ensuring it’s user-friendly, and meeting search engine guidelines.

The first step is determining what type of content aligns with your end goal. This means deciding what type of page you want to create – is it a blog post? Is it a service page? Is it a location page? Each of these pages requires a slightly different approach. Some content will implicitly perform as higher-converting content, such as a location page. On the other hand, SEO blog content can be beneficial for curating content ‘clusters’, which will help improve your search authority around relevant industry topics. 

Let’s say you’re writing a service page for interior design. This type of page needs to incorporate your unique value, what you do, and why you do it, as well as information on how someone can reach you (CTA), and testimonials or other potential user-generated content that helps leverage your expertise. That leads to the next decision you’ll have to make in constructing your content for SEO ranking: keywords. 

Consider Your Keywords

The foundation of any successful SEO content is thorough keyword research. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to identify relevant keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for. Don’t pick your keywords blindly. Do the research, and pay attention to your reader’s intent, search volume, and relevancy. This way, you’ll be able to incorporate keywords that increase the value of your SEO content. 

Keyword Volume

It’s important to note that keywords with a higher volume are not always the best keywords to go after. Long-tail keywords are phrases that a user might use to find the content they’re looking for, and including these as some of your variations could help you increase your reach and discoverability. Analyze keywords in your list for search volume and note the keywords and keyword chains that rank for mid-volume and low-volume. 

Simple keywords like “interior design” or “architecture” will show up at a high volume, but may not be high-converting keywords, and can attract low-quality traffic. If you use more specific keywords such as “Interior Design Services in Denver, CO” or “Architecture Firms in LA” this will inherently narrow the results for your potential clients in your area. 

With this approach, you can also analyze your keyword list further with a keyword difficulty analysis. Once you’ve narrowed the list, decide which keywords on the list you want to rank for and look at their difficulty, which will show you which keywords you can rank more easily for, versus those that have high competition. Above all, always make sure your keywords are relevant to the field you’re in and the things your ideal client will search for. 

Pro tip: Analyze your competitors’ content to identify gaps and opportunities. Tools like Ahrefs and Moz can help you find keywords they’re ranking for, which you might be missing.

Keyword Frequency

For a solid, optimized blog post that a reader finds both informative and easy to read, it’s important to keep the piece from getting too overloaded. Avoid ‘over-stuffing’ your content by not using keywords in every sentence. Also, avoid using the same keyword multiple times in a paragraph. That turns even the best writing into undesirable reading material that will turn off your potential clients and can negatively impact your search engine ranking.

Instead, Wordstream suggests that a word or phrase you’re trying to rank for should be used no more than once every 200 words. That keyword frequency will ensure that you’re not tripping your reader up with unexpected keywords in a way that makes the content harder to read. 

Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF)

In SEO, it’s helpful to know how often the keywords you’re trying to rank for are included in the content you’ve written or are having written. That’s when term frequency comes into play. You can determine term frequency by counting the number of times a keyword is used in the entirety of a document, and then divide that number by the exact number of words in the whole document. That gives you your term frequency.

But term frequency is only part of the equation. Inverse document frequency is the other half. IDF looks at the importance of the keyword, determined when the number of documents in a library is divided by the number of documents that contain the specific term you’re searching for. TF-IDF is used for document classification and stop word filtering, and while it might make you feel like your keyword usage is on track, Market Muse explains that may not be the best way to try and beat your competitors when it comes to SEO. 

How Long Should My SEO Content Be?

Once you’ve chosen the topic and keywords, you have to think about the length of the content. That’s not always a straightforward formula. 

SEMRush notes that it’s important – perhaps most important – to write a blog post that focuses on search intent. Although the content of 3,000+ words may drum up the most organic traffic, it may not be the most effective if the content is not satisfying your audience’s search intent.

SEMRush offers these two tips for determining the length of your post:

• Determine your goal. Knowing the reason for your content gives you a good framework. If you’re trying to rank on search engines specifically, then longer could be better. If you’re making an announcement or answering a question, then shorter content is usually better.
• Know your audience. If your audience is new to a topic, you’ll want more detail. If your ideal client is often short on time when they settle in to learn or find information, they may prefer short content. 

Depending on the type of content you are creating, word count will differ. Additionally, if you competitor has 1200 words on their homepage and you only have 400, you’ll want to consider adding more words. However, a good rule of thumb is to create roughly 1,000 words of content for SEO purposes. With that being said, the question of addressing searcher intent should be your guide throughout the entire process. From research to keyword selection to writing, your audience and searcher intent should guide the content you create. 

Helpful SEO Content Tools

Whether you already have the content written or you’re just getting started after you’ve done the research, there are a variety of tools that you can use to check your content’s SEO potential. 

• SEMRush has an all-in-one tool, the SEMRush Writing Assistant. It monitors your content as you write it, giving you scores and tips for originality, readability, and tone of voice, in addition to search engine optimization.
• Yoast offers Real-Time Content Analysis in a simple plug-in for WordPress websites.
• Small SEO’s Keyword Density Checker can help you avoid keyword stuffing. It reports on up to 2,000 words of text and can show you where you can improve your content for search, suggesting the removal of high-density keywords that don’t match the searcher’s intent.

Conclusion

Creating SEO content that ranks well and resonates with your audience is a blend of art and science. It requires understanding your audience, conducting thorough keyword research, crafting high-quality content, and staying updated with SEO best practices.

Remember, SEO is not a one-time task but an ongoing process. Keep experimenting, learning, and adapting to the ever-evolving landscape of search engine optimization. With dedication and persistence, your SEO content can help you climb the ranks, drive organic traffic, and achieve your lead generation goals.

If you’re looking to take SEO content writing off your to-do list, we can help! Contact us and learn how Unframed Digital can help you leverage SEO for success.