SEO Copywriting: How to Write Perfect SEO Optimized Articles in 2020

SEO has come from far, and it is going far. According to Forbes, businesses in the United States expect to use up to $80 billion on SEO services by the year 2020. The truth about SEO is that it is a big thing in almost all industries, not only in America but also globally.

Because of this, learning SEO copywriting is necessary. As a blogger or SEO article writer, you need to ensure that you stand out from the competition that is now emerging and will continue to develop as long as people keep using internet technology.

How do you write an SEO optimized article? Do you just wake up from nowhere and begin to write without direction?

I believe not.

You need a strategy and a powerful one for that matter. Therefore, in this article, we are going to provide an essential guide to writing SEO optimized articles.

Where SEO Copywriting came from

Some years back, SEO copywriting was quite different from how we know it today. Writers would have to have keyword stuff their articles. They would also have to find different variations of the keywords in singular and plural forms.

And that is how you ranked on the SERP.

Although it was proper for the search engine, this meant that the article would sound unnatural. The result would put off so many readers.

Because Google cares about its readers, they sought out ways to improve this. They adjusted their algorithms in such a way that keyword stuffing would no longer work. Nowadays, they can penalize you for that.

As a writer, your work is to ensure that you provide informative articles so that you can rank high on the search engine.

How do you do that?

Well, here are some of the things you should consider when you write.

1. Keyword research

While writing for news, a journalist often looks for a headline that will attract readers to the piece. That is enough to market the article. In SEO, it is different. You have to research the right keywords to use.

Keywords are phrases and words that readers key in on the search engine bar. You can use different strategies to know what keywords they use.

For instance, if you are on a budget, then you can key in the keyword you have in mind. Google will provide suggestions. Additionally, you can use premium tools. These tools often provide a list of these words and phrases, how many searches they get, and your competition.

Note that your competition matters. You have to know the right keywords to use to ensure that you stand out.

Then, write down the list of the most relevant keywords in a spreadsheet. This will help you become relevant to your reader.

2. Research on what your competitors are writing about

After you note down the keywords, your next task is to know what your competitors are doing. I do not mean that you should spin their articles.

If you are thinking about doing that, well, you do not need to read this article. (I am joking)

You are not doing this to copy or spin their content, no. That would be infringing copywriting rules and Google can penalize you for this. Your aim, however, is to know what these people are offering to their readers.

Therefore, in your efforts to steal these readers from your competitors, you should make sure that your content is relevant and fresh in regards to trends and so many other factors.

Who, then, are your competitors?

Most readers usually do not go beyond page two. Websites that rank high on the SERP are the most relevant ones as far as this keyword is concerned. Hence, consider peeping into these sites and see their content.

3. Writing the article

After you have, this (step 2) figured out, your next step is to think about how to structure the article. Putting some thought into the blog first before placing your hands on that keyboard, helps you break down your ideas in a structured manner.

Remember, your article should be resourceful in such a way that it pushes the reader to share it on social media and other platforms.

Think about the headline, how you should structure it, and you need to place the keyword in the title.

You should also consider making the article or blog readable. Try to break the piece into smaller paragraphs, and use sub-headings to help the blog easy to scan. Some bloggers, typically list down some of the sub-headings they will include in the article at the beginning of the blog.

Experienced bloggers do this because they want to reduce the bounce rates on their websites. Increased bounce rates are a sign that your content could be dull or irrelevant to the reader’s need.

Again, you should consider the blog’s word count. Neil Patel suggests that blog posts with higher word count do rank higher. Fewer words mean that your content may not have enough details. But for higher word count, starting from 500 words, there is a considerable chance that the blogger will exhaust the topic thoroughly.

4. SEO copywriting does not work alone

Once you finish writing the article, your next step is to publish the article. This does not mean that the article will start ranking immediately, no.

You have to include a particular set of other strategies for it to start ranking. Some of the things you can do include:

• Editing out parts of the content that you think is irrelevant and adding fresh content to it
• Optimize the page for SEO
• Your web design should be of a high standard
• Reducing the number of pop-ups
• Using different link building strategies, such as social media, guest posting, internal linking, and quoting high authority experts in your niche, freebies
• Grammar is also essential

When you use these strategies, it will increase traffic to your content, which will cause the article to rank.

Wrap up:

SEO copywriting is a skill. You cannot develop it one day, but you can become an expert once you can follow everything written in this guideline. Remember, as a writer, your main aim is to become a solution. If you do so, you will attract many readers to your site because they will view you as an authority in that niche.

Remember, also, it does not end with just writing the article. Refreshing the content after some time could also help you rank better because search engines such as Google love fresh content.