How does written content boost SEO?

A huge aspect of a search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy involves written content. This could involve product descriptions, on-page content and blog posts.

The aim for every piece of written content is to rank higher on search engines, giving your brand the best chance possible to reach your target audience to increase the organic traffic to your website.

But, what is effective SEO copywriting, and how can website content marketing help achieve successful search engine rankings?
Continue reading to find out how to amplify your digital performance by writing good SEO copy.

What is content marketing and SEO copywriting?

Content marketing is a type of marketing strategy that is used to engage, attract and retain a target audience by creating and sharing content.

Content marketing can include written content like blogs, on-page copy, videos, podcasts and more. A solid content marketing strategy can enhance brand awareness, show your expertise on certain subjects and keep your business fresh in people’s minds when they want to research a subject or purchase something.

SEO copywriting is the process of creating written content and optimising it specifically for search engines.

The main objective of SEO copywriting is to write high-quality content with specific target keywords to ensure the best chance possible of ranking high on search engine results pages. The higher you rank, the better your chances of improving your brand’s organic traffic.

How can content marketing improve positioning on search engine results pages?

While there are many things a business can do in terms of search engine optimisation to improve organic traffic, content marketing is a huge aspect that should be prioritised.

So, how can content marketing positively impact your position on search engines?

• Increase online presence – A good content marketing strategy can attract more website visitors. You can do this by writing engaging, interesting and helpful content that answers questions you know your target audience is asking. By offering informative content, you can increase your visibility on search engines and improve your organic traffic numbers.
  
• Generating leads – When your content marketing efforts are effective and your traffic numbers are growing, you improve your chances of generating leads. These leads could be as simple as visitors signing up to your website, agreeing to a subscription, downloading an informative document, or making a purchase.
  
• Boost brand loyalty – Establishing loyalty with your customers is key to running any business. The more loyal your customer base is, the better chance you have of achieving repeat visitors and shoppers. Providing your customers with interesting and engaging content can lead the way to improving loyalty among your customers.
  
• Improve authority – When creating content, your aim should be to become a leader in your industry. Aiming for this can help to create authority, making your business a go-to place for information on a particular subject, or a business people are happy to spend their money with repeatedly.

6 tips for writing good SEO copy

Creating high-quality content – whether it’s for a blog post, product description or on-page copy – involves several key aspects.

It is not simply sitting down, writing about a subject and finding instant success on search engines. SEO copywriting involves several important steps and factors that, combined, contribute to success on search results pages – and hopefully lead to more organic traffic.

Here are six tips to consider if you want to achieve success online when creating your content strategy.

Keyword research

Before you start creating content, you must find relevant keywords. And, to do this, you must conduct keyword research.

Keywords are words or phrases your target audience will use on search engines to find certain pieces of information or products.

Keyword research allows you to create a focus topic or phrase for your content, helping you to create engaging and informative content that ranks well.

Keyword stuffing is something you should avoid, though. Don’t force your keyword into too many parts of your content or you’ll be marked down by Google, affecting your ranking results.

Concise writing

When writing, it’s important to get to the point as quickly and concisely as you can.

Improving the conciseness of your content will make it easier for your target audience to read. Avoid long, waffling sentences that add no value to the copy.

Target your main keyword early in the copy and go from there. Keep sentences clean, short and straight to the point. You’ll see a huge difference not only in the quality of your writing but in your SEO results.

What is your target audience searching for?

Search intent is important in content marketing.

Search intent is the reason why users search for the keywords you’ve identified. There are four types of search intent:

1. Informational: The user is looking for information about a subject.
   
2. Navigational: The user is looking for a specific website or page.
   
3. Commercial: The user is researching their options.
   
4. Transactional: The user intends to make a purchase soon.

If you’re unsure about the search intent surrounding a blog post, search your keywords and check what appears in the ‘People Also Ask’ section on Google. This is a quick and easy way to find out exactly what your target audience is searching for.

Aim for the featured snippet

When you search for something on Google, you’ll often be provided a quick answer with the handy ‘Featured Snippet’ feature.

Or, in recent months, the rollout of Google’s new artificial intelligence (AI) gives an even more in-depth answer to a query, providing multiple sources of information.

Your aim when writing content is to answer certain queries in a clear, concise way to ensure your copy is chosen by Google’s AI to feature at the top of search engines.

Most people will read the Featured Snippet or Google AI Overview and be content. Some will continue to scroll for more answers, but your aim should be to reach that section to give your website the best chance possible of being seen.

Meta tags are important

Your meta descriptions and titles are important for ranking higher on search engines, too.

Meta tags are a vital part of SEO copywriting as this is what searchers will see on search engines.

Your meta title is the page title that is displayed on search engine results pages, and the description is the short snippet underneath that shows users what your content is all about. It’s about enticing the user to click on your page.

Give yourself the best chance to rank higher by incorporating a keyword or two in your meta title and description, too.

Create high-quality content

At the heart of everything, though, you must create high-quality, engaging content.

You can do all the SEO things right; find relevant keywords, incorporate them into your copy, use internal links and more.

But you must create high-quality content to rank well.

For more tips on good SEO copywriting, check out our blog.

What’s the key to writing product descriptions for SEO?

There are several steps to creating an effective product description that captivates users and converts them to a sale. They are:

1. Speak directly to the customer – Think about who you’re selling this product to and why they would buy it. Speaking to a broad audience will not hit the target as you’d like.
   
2. Speak about benefits, not features – Lots of people make the mistake of highlighting a product’s features but fail to talk about the benefits. Show potential customers how the product can benefit them, rather than just listing general features, as – like point 1 – you’ll miss the mark.
   
3. Avoid generic language – Be as specific as you can when producing product descriptions.
   
4. Offer facts to back up benefits – When listing the benefits of a certain product or service, provide the reader with some facts to ensure they truly understand why it can benefit them.
   
5. Feed a customer’s imagination – Finally, describe a situation for the customer where they could see themselves using your product.

Choose the right SEO content marketing agency

Have you tried creating your own written content for your website, but you’re not seeing the results on search engines? We can help!

At Paramount Digital, we’re an expert SEO copywriting company that has years of experience crafting successful SEO strategies with high-quality content marketing at the heart of our plans.

We boast a team of experienced content writers who provide an unrivalled SEO copywriting service for companies in all different industries – whatever the topic.

Interested in hiring an SEO content marketing agency you can trust? Give Paramount Digital a call at 01744 747474 or send an email to marketing@paramountdigital.co.uk.