Category Archives: Copywriting Thoughts

A good list of killer headline creating formulas

You have won half the battle if you’ve created a good headline for your website or blog post. It’s all the more important in the times of social media and social bookmarking where your well-prepared headlines can attract lots of attention. Having said that, do pay close attention to the following when you are creating your next killer headline:

Don’t create a headline just to create attention

This proves counter-productive and incites lots of WTFs if your headline doesn’t match your content. Make sure your headline truly represent the message of your blog post or web page.

Use your main keywords in the headline

It not only helps your search engine rankings but also helps you better represent your message. Take for example the headline of this blog post — it clearly tells you that the post intends to tell you some good ways of creating highly effective headlines.

Enough of my ruminations, head to this excellent post on Copyblogger titled 10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work.

Is your content a noise or a voice

Is your content noise or voice

Is your content noise or voice?

In a hurry to improve SEO for all possible keywords, sometimes we forget to differentiate between noise and voice when writing content.

Does your content have a voice or is it simply a noise?

The content that is simply noise adds no value.

It may attract people to your website because after all, search engine algorithms are not perfect, but once they are on your website, they cannot figure what you’re trying to say.

They leave your website disillusioned.

Sometimes so disillusioned that they make a mental note never to return to your website.

The content that is just noise is a waste of your time and money.

Instead, write and publish content with a distinctive voice.

The “noise” content is of low quality.

Low-quality content turns your content into noise. What are the traits that tell you that you’ve got low-quality content?

  • Your search engine traffic doesn’t increase.
  • Even if your search engine traffic increases, your conversion rate remains poor.
  • Nobody finds it useful, relevant or topical.
  • Your repeat traffic is very low.
  • Nobody promotes your links but you.
  • Not many people link to your blog or website.
  • Nobody talks about what you publish.
  • Even if people promote your link, it is due to some controversy regarding your views or opinion.

The “voice” content on the other hand is high quality content.

What features of your content make it a voice?

  • It improves your search engine rankings for relevant keywords.
  • Your visitors find your content useful and they subscribe to your RSS feed updates or email newsletter, if available.
  • People share your links with their visitors, followers, friends and colleagues using social media and social networking websites and they respect your opinion.
  • The other bloggers and publishers love to link to your content as valuable reference.
  • You are eventually able to establish your authority.

How do you end up writing and publishing “noise content” instead of “voice content”?

How do you end up writing meaningless content that is just noise

How do you end up writing meaningless content that is just noise?

Nobody purposely wants to write and publish junk content.

Well, almost nobody.

I have come across clients who proudly say that they don’t care what type of content they publish as long as they get traffic.

They think that if they can attract 10,000 visitors to their website and even if 10 visitors turn into customers, they are happy.

First of all, attracting 10,000 people is not as easy as it seems.

Even if somehow, you attract 10,000 people with irrelevant content, converting even 10 is a big problem.

Getting money from people is one of the hardest tasks to achieve.

People buy from you when they stay on your website and consume the information you have published.

They pay you money when they trust you.

With lousy, low-quality content, how do you make them stay on your website?

When you mislead them to your website, they feel betrayed and leave immediately.

When people quickly leave your website without reading your web page or without exploring further, it sends negative signals to Google.

Google knows how much time people spend on your website after finding your link in search results.

Even if initially your link enjoyed higher search engine rankings, as people spend less time on your website after finding that particular link, its rankings begin to thank, unless, it completely vanishes from the results.

It is not just misleading content that is meaningless noise.

Even content that is not relevant to your target audience is noise for them.

If I want to attract web design agencies that are looking for a content writer, it doesn’t mean I start publishing web design tutorials.

When people come to my website they don’t expect web design tutorials. They want to know if I can write content for their websites.

This leads them confused. My content becomes noise.

How to develop a unique voice for your content?

How to develop unique voice for content writing

How to develop unique voice for content writing?

Here is a quick list of steps you can take to develop a unique voice for your content:

  1. Understand your target audience and their preferences.
  2. Define your content’s purpose and goals clearly.
  3. Conduct thorough research to gather relevant information.
  4. Inject your own personality and experiences into your writing.
  5. Develop a deep understanding of your niche or industry.
  6. Read widely to expand your knowledge and vocabulary.
  7. Experiment with different writing styles and tones.
  8. Use storytelling techniques to engage and captivate readers.
  9. Incorporate humor, wit, or sarcasm when appropriate.
  10. Create a consistent brand voice that aligns with your organization’s values.
  11. Break traditional rules of grammar and syntax for creative effect.
  12. Use metaphors, analogies, and vivid imagery to paint a picture in readers’ minds.
  13. Incorporate personal anecdotes and real-life examples to add authenticity.
  14. Write conversationally, as if you’re speaking directly to your audience.
  15. Avoid jargon and technical language unless your audience is familiar with it.
  16. Show empathy and connect emotionally with your readers.
  17. Add a unique perspective or angle to your content.
  18. Take risks and challenge conventional thinking.
  19. Edit and revise your work to refine your voice over time.
  20. Seek feedback from readers and colleagues to continuously improve.

Benefits of developing a unique voice for your content writing

Benefits of developing a unique voice for content writing

Benefits of developing a unique voice for content writing.

Developing a unique voice for your content writing is crucial.

It sets you apart from the rest.

It grabs attention.

It captivates minds.

It leaves a lasting impression.

It creates brand identity.

It builds trust.

It establishes you as a thought leader.

Listed below are the primary benefits of developing a unique voice for your content writing.

  • Differentiation: A unique voice sets you apart from competitors, helping you stand out in a crowded content landscape.
  • Brand Identity: It establishes a distinctive brand identity, making your content instantly recognizable to your audience.
  • Memorability: A unique voice makes your content memorable, increasing the chances of readers recalling and sharing it.
  • Connection: It creates a stronger connection with your audience, fostering loyalty and building a community around your brand.
  • Engagement: A unique voice captures readers’ attention and keeps them engaged, leading to longer reading sessions.
  • Trustworthiness: A consistent and authentic voice builds trust with your audience, positioning you as a reliable source of information.
  • Emotional Appeal: Developing a unique voice allows you to evoke specific emotions, making your content more impactful and relatable.
  • Different Content Formats: A distinctive voice can be carried across various content formats, including blog posts, videos, podcasts, and social media.
  • Amplification: A unique voice increases the likelihood of your content being shared and amplified by your audience.
  • Thought Leadership: It establishes you as an authority in your industry, enhancing your credibility and attracting opportunities for collaboration and partnerships.
  • Audience Connection: It helps you connect with your target audience on a deeper level, understanding their needs and interests better.
  • Consistency: Developing a unique voice ensures consistency in your messaging, reinforcing your brand values and core beliefs.
  • Increased Engagement Metrics: Unique voices often lead to higher engagement metrics such as likes, comments, and shares.
  • Improved SEO: It can contribute to better search engine optimization, as it adds originality and relevance to your content.
  • Brand Recognition: When it becomes synonymous with your brand, it strengthens brand recognition and recall.
  • Increased Conversion Rates: It resonates with your audience and leads to higher conversion rates, driving business growth.
  • Enhanced Storytelling: A unique voice allows you to tell stories in a compelling and memorable way, making your content more engaging.
  • Niche Dominance: Developing a unique voice helps you establish dominance in your niche, making it harder for competitors to replicate your success.
  • Long-Term Sustainability: It becomes a long-term asset for your brand, enabling you to maintain relevance and adapt to changing trends.
  • Content Versatility: It can be applied to a wide range of content topics and formats, giving you flexibility and versatility in your writing.
  • Personal Satisfaction: Developing a unique voice allows you to express your creativity and individuality, bringing personal satisfaction to your work.
  • Improved Audience Loyalty: When readers connect with your unique voice, they are more likely to become loyal followers and advocates for your brand.
  • Increased Social Proof: It can attract positive feedback and testimonials, providing social proof of the value you deliver.
  • Enhanced Shareability: Content with a unique voice often resonates with readers, increasing its shareability and potential virality.
  • Competitive Advantage: It gives you a competitive advantage, helping you succeed in a crowded digital landscape by creating a strong and lasting impression on your audience.

Disadvantages of writing and publishing content that is simply useless noise

Pitfalls of publishing useless content

Pitfalls of publishing useless content.

Publishing low-quality, meaningless content on your website leads to numerous disadvantages.

It repels visitors.

It diminishes credibility.

It damages brand reputation.

It compromises customer trust.

It increases bounce rates.

It lowers engagement.

Aside from these, I’m listing major disadvantages of writing and publishing content that is simply useless noise.

  • Loss of credibility: Low quality, meaningless content erodes your credibility and undermines trust.
  • Negative brand perception: It reflects poorly on your brand, projecting a lack of professionalism and expertise.
  • Poor user experience: Readers will be disappointed by content that offers no value or fails to address their needs.
  • High bounce rates: Visitors will quickly leave your site if they encounter irrelevant or unhelpful content.
  • Reduced organic traffic: Search engines prioritize high-quality content, so publishing low quality material can harm your visibility and rankings.
  • Limited engagement: Meaningless content fails to capture attention, resulting in low engagement metrics and missed opportunities.
  • Lack of social sharing: Readers won’t feel motivated to share content that adds no value or contributes to the noise.
  • Negative word-of-mouth: Readers who encounter low quality content may share their disappointment, spreading negative feedback about your brand.
  • Decreased conversions: Compelling content plays a crucial role in driving conversions, while meaningless content fails to inspire action.
  • Missed lead generation opportunities: Valuable content attracts prospects and encourages them to provide their information, but low-quality content won’t entice them to engage further.
  • Loss of competitive advantage: Publishing noise-filled content puts you at a disadvantage compared to competitors who offer valuable, high-quality material.
  • Damaged brand reputation: A reputation for publishing low quality, meaningless content can be difficult to shake off and may impact your brand in the long run.
  • Wasted resources: Producing content that lacks meaning or quality is a waste of time, effort, and resources that could be better utilized elsewhere.
  • Poor audience retention: Readers won’t return to your site if they consistently encounter low quality, meaningless content.
  • Missed opportunities for thought leadership: By publishing meaningless content, you miss the chance to establish yourself as an authority in your industry.
  • Limited customer trust: “Noise” content fails to demonstrate your expertise and ability to solve customer problems, hindering the development of trust.
  • Negative impact on conversions: If your content fails to resonate with readers and provide value, it won’t effectively guide them through the buyer’s journey, resulting in lost conversions.
  • Lowered brand differentiation: Publishing low quality content contributes to the noise in your industry, making it harder for your brand to stand out.
  • Negative impact on customer satisfaction: Meaningless content fails to meet your audience’s expectations, leading to dissatisfaction and a negative perception of your brand.
  • Missed opportunities for growth: Quality content is an opportunity to attract new audiences and nurture existing ones, while meaningless content prevents you from expanding your reach and impact.

When it comes to writing content for your website and blog, developing a unique voice is important. People distinguish you with your voice. It sets you apart.

Sometimes you don’t get paid for your online copywriting job, big deal!

Once in a while clients don’t pay the remaining amount once I’ve delivered all the content. While trying to find the folder of a repeat client on my PC I came across a few folders belonging to clients who simply vanished after getting their online copywriting job done. The only saving grace is that I rarely start work without taking an advance. As mentioned on this advance for copywriting work link, I charge 100% if the total estimate is less than or equal to $100, 50% if it is between $100 and $200, and 40% if it is more than $200.

So does it make me bitter when clients vanish without paying the remaining 50% or 60%? Of course I feel bad, but no, I don’t become bitter and consider other clients suspiciously. First of all, it rarely happens. Ever since 2004 (when I stopped designing and developing websites and started writing content for websites) I have served more than 300 clients (according to the number of folders I have on my laptop currently) and among these it must be just 15-20 clients who didn’t pay the money they owed. So it is hardly a worrying trend. I wasn’t worried even when I think my 3rd client used the content and never paid the remaining amount.

Second, it gives me a psychological level playing field. Some clients are suspicious: what if I take the advance and never deliver? Most of the clients are overseas and it will be very difficult to chase me (legally or physically) in case they pay the advance and then I vanish or stop responding. Very valid fear and I try to assuage it by encouraging them to go through my website, my various blogs, my social networking profiles and search for my name on Google. I couldn’t have survived by taking advances and not delivering content. About the level playing field thing – if they are still doubtful, I tell them that I too have the same fear. What if I deliver the content and they don’t pay? Just like them, even I cannot chase them, and like me, they don’t even have an extensive profile on the Internet. So I’m at a greater risk.

Why did I start writing this post? It’s because of the writers I work with. Almost all of them are so cautious about getting paid that it begins to sound cheap after a while. They don’t ask what sort of work I’m going to give them and what must be their level of writing skill. They ask, “When are you going to pay, how you are going to pay, are you actually going to pay?” Imagine if I start asking such questions from my clients. Will I get work from them? Fat chance.

The reason they give is that they have had a “bad” experience. Well, when you work on your own you do have bad experiences but it doesn’t mean you carry your frustration out on the person who is trying to give you work. I don’t work with such writers unless they are exceptionally good.

SEO copywriting – what it really means

What does SEO copywriting mean

What does SEO copywriting mean?

In this post I’m going to talk about what is SEO copywriting and how, when properly done, it can improve your search engine visibility.

I was just going through this interesting blog post titled SEO Copywriting is dead! Here’s Proof….

I often come across articles and blog posts bashing up terminologies and work-related phrases.

For instance recently I came across a report that tried to prove that outsourcing could be disastrous for your work, despite the fact that more and more work is being outsourced to save time and money.

Anyway, since I provide SEO copywriting services I thought I should write a quick post on what SEO copywriting actually means and what are its benefits.

So what exactly is SEO copywriting?

What is SEO copywriting

What is SEO copywriting?

SEO copywriting is the process of creating website content that is both engaging for readers and optimized for search engines.

It involves writing and publishing high-quality, relevant text that incorporates specific keywords and phrases strategically.

What is SEO copywriting all about?

It’s about writing compelling content that attracts organic traffic from search engine results pages (SERPs) by improving a website’s visibility and ranking.

SEO copywriters research and incorporate relevant keywords to make sure that the content is easily discoverable by search engines, while still providing value to readers.

The goal is to strike a balance between user-friendly content and search engine optimization techniques to drive traffic and enhance a website’s online presence.

It is definitely not repeating keywords and key phrases umpteen times, as many clients mistakenly understand.

As I’ve previous explained in a blog post titled SEO tips you should know as an online copywriter, every well-written copy that properly handles the topic can qualify as an SEO copy.

Keywords? Yes, they are important, and if you totally ignore them in your copy, then definitely the search engines are going to find it difficult to rank it well for those keywords.

For example, if I want to optimize this blog post for SEO copywriting, but I write about SEO content writing and SEO writing, then definitely the search engines will not show this blog post when people search for SEO copywriting.

That is why it is very important that when you’re writing about a subject on a particular page or blog post, stick to it.

If I want to get traffic for SEO copywriting, then I should better focus on this particular phrase, rather than trying to be esoteric and cryptic.

SEO copywriting involves writing the copy in such a manner that it judiciously talks about the subject, while taking care that the keyword or the key phrase appears sufficient number of times, at appropriate places, without sounding silly or repetitive.

There is no point getting the first position on Google by creating content that means nothing to your visitors.

Does SEO copywriting improve your search engine rankings?

It definitely should.

Even if you don’t immediately improve your search engine rankings (it depends on lots of factors, not just the copy), it is a step in the right direction.

It’s like, if you require n steps to reach B from A, then a well-written page by an experienced SEO copywriter definitely makes the number of needed steps n-1.

Unique benefits of search engine optimization copywriting

Benefits of SEO copywriting

Benefits of SEO copywriting

Increased Organic Traffic

  • Optimized content attracts more organic traffic from search engines.
  • Higher rankings lead to increased visibility and click-through rates.

Improved User Experience

  • Well-structured and optimized content enhances user experience.
  • Clear and relevant information keeps users engaged.

Enhanced Relevance

  • Copywriting for search engines aligns content with target keywords and search intent.
  • Relevant content increases the chances of ranking for desired keywords.

Higher Conversion Rates

  • Persuasive copywriting techniques can boost conversion rates.
  • Optimized content guides users towards desired actions.

Better Targeting

  • SEO copywriting helps target specific keywords and audience segments.
  • Tailored content attracts the right audience and improves engagement.

Increased Brand Visibility

  • Improved rankings increase brand exposure to a wider audience.
  • Greater visibility establishes brand authority and credibility.

Long-Term Results

  • Writing for search engines is a long-term strategy with lasting benefits.
  • Consistent optimization leads to sustained rankings and traffic.

Mobile Optimization

  • Search engine optimization copywriting ensures content is optimized for mobile devices.
  • Mobile-friendly content improves user experience and search rankings.

Competitive Advantage

  • Well-optimized content helps outrank competitors in search results.
  • Higher visibility and better rankings give an edge in the market.

Content Discoverability

  • SEO writing makes content more discoverable by search engines.
  • Proper optimization increases the chances of appearing in relevant searches.

Improved Site Structure

  • SEO writing practices encourage proper site structure and organization.
  • Clear navigation and hierarchy facilitate search engine crawling.

Backlink Opportunities

  • High-quality and optimized content attracts natural backlinks.
  • Backlinks from reputable sources improve search engine rankings.

Social Sharing

  • Optimized writing creates content that is shareable on social media.
  • Increased social sharing can drive more traffic and improve visibility.

Local SEO Advantage

  • Local optimization techniques in copywriting improve local search rankings.
  • Local businesses gain visibility among geographically targeted audiences.

Voice Search Optimization

  • You also optimize your website and blog content for voice search queries.
  • Voice-friendly content improves chances of appearing in voice search results.

Better User Engagement Metrics

  • Optimized content increases time spent on site and reduces bounce rates.
  • Positive engagement metrics signal quality content to search engines.

Targeted Metadata

  • Copywriting for search engines optimizes title tags and meta descriptions.
  • Compelling metadata attracts clicks and improves search visibility.

Multilingual Optimization

  • Optimized writing facilitates optimization for different languages.
  • Multilingual content expands reach and improves international SEO.

Continuous Improvement

  • Writing for SEO involves ongoing monitoring and optimization.
  • Iterative improvements lead to better search rankings over time.

Measurable Results

  • SEO copywriting allows for tracking and measurement of performance.
  • Analytics provide insights for further optimization and ROI evaluation.

Unique features of SEO copywriting

Unique features of SEO copywriting

Unique features of SEO copywriting.

What helps you create content that improves your search engine rankings.  What attributes and features define SEO copywriting?

Keyword Research

Thorough keyword research to identify the most relevant and valuable keywords and phrases to target in the content.

Keyword Optimization

Strategically incorporate keywords into the content to enhance its visibility in search engine rankings without sacrificing readability.

User Intent Focus

Understand user intent and create content that aligns with what users are searching for and provide them with valuable and relevant information.

Search Engine Guidelines

SEO copywriters adhere to search engine guidelines and best practices to ensure the content is well-structured, properly formatted, and meets technical requirements for optimal indexing.

Unique and Engaging Content

SEO copywriting emphasizes creating original, informative, and engaging content that stands out from competitors, attracts readers, and encourages them to stay on the page.

Content Formatting

Use proper formatting techniques such as headings, subheadings, bullet points, and paragraphs to enhance readability and make the content more scannable for both readers and search engines.

Internal Linking

Strategically incorporate internal links within the content to improve website navigation, enhance user experience, and help search engines understand the website’s structure and relevance.

Meta Tags Optimization

SEO copywriters optimize meta tags, including meta titles and meta descriptions, to provide concise and compelling summaries of the content, attracting users and improving click-through rates in search engine results.

Mobile-Friendly Approach

Ensure that the content is optimized for mobile devices, as mobile-friendliness is a crucial factor in search engine rankings and user experience.

Ongoing Optimization

SEO copywriting is an iterative process that involves continuously monitoring and analyzing performance metrics, making adjustments, and optimizing the content based on user feedback and changing search engine algorithms.

These unique features make SEO copywriting a specialized skill set that combines writing expertise, keyword research, technical knowledge, and a deep understanding of search engine optimization principles.

How much time does it take for SEO copywriting to improve your search engine visibility?

How much time does it take to improve search visibility with SEO copywriting

How much time does it take to improve search visibility with SEO copywriting?

The time it takes for SEO copywriting to improve search engine visibility can vary significantly depending on various factors.

While there is no fixed timeline, it’s important to consider the following aspects:

Competition Level

How competitive are the keywords you are targeting within the industry you’re trying to improve your SEO content writing?

High competition keywords (lots of companies and individuals already ranking for them) may take longer to see noticeable improvements in search engine visibility.

Target less competitive keywords.

Focusing on longtail keywords will lower competition and yield quicker results.

Website Authority

The existing authority and trustworthiness of your website also has a bearing on your search engine visibility.

New websites or those with minimal domain authority may require more time to establish credibility and gain higher rankings.

Content Quality and Quantity

The quality and quantity of the content or copy that your website has also influences how fast or slow your SEO improves.

Consistently publishing high-quality, optimized content that aligns with user intent and addresses relevant topics can help expedite improvements in search engine visibility.

Technical SEO Factors

Technical SEO factors also play a role.

Optimizing website structure, improving page load speed, ensuring mobile-friendliness, and implementing proper meta tags are essential elements that contribute to search engine visibility.

Addressing these technical aspects alongside the copywriting efforts can impact how quickly the visibility improves.

Backlinks and Social Signals

Build a strong backlink profile, that is, get quality backlinks from reputed websites and blogs.

Become active on relevant social media platforms.

For example, since my business is mostly B2B (I provide content writing and copywriting services to businesses and individuals doing businesses) the ideal social platform for me is LinkedIn.

Yours might be Instagram, YouTube, or even Twitter.

Getting backlinks and creating a vibrant social media presence takes time.

The more authoritative and relevant backlinks your website earns, the higher are the chances of improving visibility in search results.

Search Engine Algorithm Updates

Search engine algorithms are constantly evolving.

Major updates can impact search engine visibility.

Algorithm updates may require adjustments to the SEO copywriting strategies and can influence the timeline for improvements in visibility.

Main highlights of the above points:

  • SEO copywriting is a long-term strategy.
  • Quick improvements can be seen, but significant changes take several months to a year or more.
  • Consistent and strategic efforts are necessary for improved visibility.
  • Ongoing optimization and monitoring are crucial.
  • Patience, persistence, and a holistic approach to SEO are key.

Quick list of 20 SEO copywriting mistakes to avoid

20 SEO copywriting mistakes to avoid

20 SEO copywriting mistakes to avoid.

  1. Keyword stuffing.
  2. Ignoring target audience needs.
  3. Writing for search engines instead of users.
  4. Poorly crafted title tags and meta descriptions.
  5. Neglecting to optimize URLs.
  6. Lack of internal linking.
  7. Ignoring the importance of mobile optimization.
  8. Duplicate content.
  9. Overlooking header tags (H1, H2, etc.).
  10. Failing to optimize images with alt tags.
  11. Not incorporating relevant and high-quality external links.
  12. Neglecting to update and refresh content regularly.
  13. Poor grammar and spelling mistakes.
  14. Disregarding the importance of user experience (UX).
  15. Ignoring local SEO optimization.
  16. Neglecting to optimize for voice search.
  17. Using excessive jargon and technical language.
  18. Neglecting to optimize for featured snippets.
  19. Not leveraging social media for content promotion.
  20. Neglecting to track and analyze SEO performance.

Different types of content that can be created for SEO copywriting

Different types of content that can be created for SEO copywriting

Different types of content that can be created for SEO copywriting.

  • Blog Posts: Blog posts that cover relevant topics in your related industry or niche. This draws target audience to your blog or website.
  • Product Descriptions: Compelling and persuasive descriptions of products or services that highlight their unique features, benefits, and value to the customer.
  • Landing Pages: Specifically designed pages that focus on converting visitors into leads or customers. They provide relevant information and a clear call-to-action.
  • Infographics: Infographics are good for shareability. They are easy to understand. They are visually appealing. They generate a ton of backlinks. A picture is more than a thousand words.
  • Case Studies: In-depth analyses of how your products or services have solved specific problems for your customers. They showcase real-life examples and provide social proof.
  • Guides and Tutorials: Step-by-step instructions or comprehensive guides that help users understand a process, learn a skill, or solve a problem.
  • FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions pages that address common queries and provide valuable answers, improving user experience and SEO rankings.
  • Whitepapers: In-depth and authoritative reports or studies that offer valuable insights into industry trends, research findings, or best practices.
  • Videos: Engaging and shareable video content that can be optimized for SEO. Videos can enhance user experience and increase time spent on your website.
  • User-generated Content: Content generated by users, such as reviews, testimonials, or social media posts. It adds credibility, authenticity, and encourages engagement.

These various types of content can be optimized through SEO copywriting for search engines while providing value to users, improving visibility, and driving organic traffic to your website.

Can you over optimize during SEO copywriting?

Can you over optimize SEO copywriting

Can you over optimize SEO copywriting?

Yes, it is possible to over-optimize.

Over-optimization, also known as “keyword stuffing” or “spamming,” refers to the excessive and unnatural use of keywords or optimization techniques that violate search engine guidelines.

This practice can harm your search engine rankings. It is also bad for user experience.

When you needlessly use keywords with no regard to readability and relevance, your content becomes unappealing to the users.

Google can penalise your content. It can lower your rankings. It can also remove your links from search results altogether.

Although, sometimes, for writing effect, you may need to repeat certain keywords. Search engine algorithms are smart enough to recognize whether a keyword is being repeated for an effect, or for over optimization, and then decide accordingly.

Does SEO copywriting improve your conversion rate?

SEO copywriting and conversion

SEO copywriting and conversion.

It definitely does. It achieves this by optimizing website content.

It attracts targeted organic traffic.

It engages visitors effectively.

How does it drive more conversions?

It encourages you to incorporate relevant keywords strategically.

This in turn enhances user experience and helps you create a persuasive copy.

Listed below are some ways SEO copywriting contributes to improve your conversion rate.

Targeted keywords and content relevance

When you organically optimize your content, you use keywords and search queries that your potential customers use.

You conduct thorough keyword research consequently, and then incorporate relevant keywords that appear naturally in your copy.

This way, as an SEO copywriter, your highly targeted content aligns with user intent.

This increases the chances of attracting qualified visitors who are more likely to convert.

Compelling and persuasive copywriting

Effective copywriting techniques are directed towards encouraging visitors to take desired actions.

When writing SEO content, you use persuasive language, compelling headlines, and enticing call-to-action.

They guide visitors through your conversion funnel.

The SEO copywriting craft clearly communicates the inherent goodness of your products and services.

You highlight the benefits.

You address all concerns and objections.

You can also use emotional triggers, storytelling, and appealing language during SEO copywriting to effectively influence the decision-making process of your business.

You motivate them to complete desired actions and this improves your conversion rate.

Improved user experience

Making sure users have a good experience is important for turning visitors into customers.

SEO copywriting aims to create content that is easy for users to understand, organized well, and simple to move around.

The readability is better. The text is arranged logically using headings, bullet points, and shorter paragraphs.

Ensuring that the website loads fast and seamlessly works on all mobile devices is an integral part of creating an improved user experience.

When they enjoy staying on your website, they are less likely to leave without taking action.

They are more likely to become your customers.

Enhanced trust and credibility

Truly search engine optimized content establishes trust and credibility among your visitors.

You provide informative and valuable content.

Your website becomes an authoritative source in your industry.

As an SEO copywriter you incorporate statistics, data, customer testimonials, and case studies to back up claims and build credibility.

Answering common questions and concerns and addressing objections that your potential customers may have, is an integral part of SEO copywriting.

This further builds trust and reassures your visitors.

When they trust you, when they are informed, it improves your conversion rate.

Optimization for local and voice search

Is your business location-dependent (mine is not)?

If your business is localised – providing accounting services to a particular region, for example – your SEO writing must incorporate local keywords.

You must make sure that your content is optimized for local searches (accountant based in Calgary).

The same goes with voice search. One-third of the US population uses voice search.

According to Google, 27% of the global population with access to the Internet uses voice search.

If you’re optimizing your content for voice search it further improves your search engine rankings, which further improves your conversion rate.

 

I understand your needs and I can meet them

This statement should be the core strength of your website copy when you are trying to promote a product or a service. You need to empathize with the visitor and provide the solution in the most convincing, truthful manner.

To be frank, your visitor doesn’t give a damn what a great product or service you’ve got, because he or she has probably, already visited scores of websites offering the same thing with little difference. How do you stand out, even if you have nothing unique to offer? You need to strum the emotional chords of your visitor. Let him or her know that you totally understand what he or she needs. Make it your sole purpose to solve a particular problem people have, and then convince them that you can solve it. More than products and services, people are looking for solutions and gratifications. But does it mean people never search for products and services?

They definitely do. Let’s suppose I want to improve my search engine rankings and for that I’m searching for a good SEO company. Even if I’m looking for an SEO company, I’m basically looking for a solution: improve my search engine rankings. I may have budget constraints and I may not. I may have a tight schedule and I may not. I may be eager to work with an inexperienced company or I want a highly experienced company with lots of client testimonials. These are my needs. When I visit a website, even if I’m not consciously looking for these traits, they will be a deciding factor.

That’s why it is very important to be clear about whom you want to target through your website copy. Targeting helps you define the needs and the solutions to those needs.