9 important KPIs you should be tracking when writing content

Main KPIs to measurement when writing content

I have rarely written about key performance indicators (KPIs) because as a content writer, I write content and deliver the documents to my clients.

After that, it is up to them to decide which KPIs they want to follow.

Nonetheless, if you are writing content for your own website or blog, it is important to know which KPIs to follow to gauge the performance of your individual blog posts and web pages.

Content writing KPIs – what do they mean?
Why is it beneficial to measure KPIs when writing content?
How to choose which KPIs to track for web pages and blog posts writing?

Content writing KPIs – what do they mean?

You need to take the right key performance indicators to know if your content is achieving the desired results.

Why do you publish a blog post?

Why do you publish a web page?

Every blog post or web page needs to perform otherwise, you are wasting time and money.

Of course, the most common reason for publishing a blog post or web page is to improve search engine rankings.

I have clients who want to cover all their primary and secondary keywords through publishing blog posts.

For them, the biggest KPI is the search engine rankings attained by a particular blog post or web page.

Organizations that take content marketing seriously want their blog posts and web pages perform different tasks.

Every single blog post or web page has an ROI attached to it.

Though, I must quickly add that it’s quite difficult to calculate the ROI of a particular blog post or web page in isolation because all the blog posts and web pages collectively work towards delivering the needed ROI.

That’s a different issue.

But when it comes to tracking key performance indicators, there are multiple tools available that allow you to gauge performance at individual blog post and web page level.

Below I am listing different KPIs that you can observe, but knowing them collectively can help you fine tune your existing blog posts and web pages and make improvements to your future publishing efforts.

Studying content writing KPIs is of course, additional work.

You may need to set up Google analytics in a certain way.

You may need to generate URL parameters for different mediums where you promote your links.

But it is worth the effort.

Once you incorporate the measurement of KPIs into your overall content writing and content marketing effort, the results can be remarkable.

Why is it beneficial to measure KPIs when writing content?

Without the KPIs, writing and publishing content may be like hitting darts in darkness.

Or throwing mud on the wall and seeing what sticks and what falls on the ground.

If you don’t regularly measure KPIs you will never know how well your content is performing.

If you need to make changes to your content writing and publishing strategy, without observing KPIs, it is nearly impossible.

You write and publish content regularly because

You want to improve your search engine rankings.
You want repeat visitors.
You want people to stay on your website or blog for longer.
You want to engage your audience.
You want to generate more leads.
You want people on social media to talk about your business and share your content.
In general, you want to generate more business.

Each web page and blog post that you publish is a building block.

These building blocks need to be strong.

They need to perform well.

Unless individual building blocks perform well, your overall content publishing effort will be lacklustre.

Therefore, it is important to regularly measure the KPIs of your individual web pages and blog posts.

By regularly checking your KPIs you can analyse which content writing tactic is working and which isn’t.

Then accordingly you can make changes to your existing and future web pages and blog posts.

How to choose which KPIs to track for web page and blog post writing?

Which KPIs to choose when writing content

There are different KPIs for content writing and content marketing.

Writing and publishing content regularly is a subset of content marketing – without content, there is no marketing.

Hence, the set of KPIs that is applicable to content writing and copywriting is a subset of the KPIs for content marketing.

For this blog post, since I’m talking about KPIs for writing content, I have included the key performance indicators that are used with content marketing.

The key performance indicators mentioned in this blog post are only related to writing and publishing content – individual web pages and blog posts.

Time on page
Bounce rate
Scroll depth
CTR
Conversion rate
Inbound links
Social shares
Traffic from social media
Search engine rankings

Time on page

Time on page – content writing KPI

This is the time people spend on your web page or blog post after coming to your website.

They may come across your link on Google, some social media platform like LinkedIn or Twitter, or on another website or blog.

They click the link and come to the particular web page or blog post.

How much time do they spend on this particular link?

This is also called “average time on page” and even “average session duration”, but to find the average you need to first calculate the overall time people spend on your website.

If they spend more time on your page or blog post it means it is performing well and providing the visitors the information they are looking for.

Calculating time on page using Google Analytics can be a challenge, according to many.

The problem is that one, Google Analytics doesn’t start ticking the clock unless the visitor does some action (like scrolling or clicking an image), and two, it has no way of finding out that even if someone is on your page, is he or she still on the same tab or has moved on to another web page in another tab, without closing this tab.

Additional scripts and JavaScript coding is needed to accurately find time on page but the basic information on Google Analytics can give you a head start.

What is the use of this KPI?

You can find the usability of individual web pages and blog posts.

If people stay longer, it means they’re finding your information useful.

You can study these web pages and blog posts where people spend more time and then create similar web pages and blog posts to increase your overall stickiness.

Bounce rate

Bounce rate – web page writing KPI

This content writing KPI helps you find out whether your individual web pages and blog posts can keep people from going away or not.

A higher bounce rate can negatively affect your search engine rankings.

Your bounce rate is the percentage of people who arrive on a particular web page or blog post and then leave your website without exploring further.

They don’t scroll much.

Average bounce rate is 41%-51%.

What is a good bounce rate, depends on your industry.

Here are some benchmark bounce rate averages for different industries from Custom Media Labs

Bounce rates in different industries

To lower your bounce rate your current web page or blog post must encourage people to stay on the website and explore other parts.

Scroll depth

Scroll depth is a KPI you may not have heard of much.

In Google Analytics you can set a percentage, something like 10% or 50% to measure scroll depth.

Vertical scroll depth is based on how far down a user has scrolled on your web page.

If your content is interesting and useful, your visitors are going to scroll down more.

You need to make your content compelling to make sure that people scroll down and read the entire page or blog post.

One of the best ways of making people scroll down is making every sentence count.

It is like, your headline must make people read your first sentence.

Your first sentence must encourage people to read the second sentence.

Your second sentence must encourage your visitors to read the third sentence.

And so on.

This Google support web page describes how you can set up triggers that will enable Google Analytics to reveal to you how much people are scrolling when they visit your web pages and blog posts.

CTR – click through ratio

Click through ratio KPI

For content writing and content marketing, this is one of the most important KPIs.

If you check your Google Analytics data, you come across the CTR column that tells you how many people clicked the link out of how many impressions.

The number of impressions is the number of times your link became visible to people when they searched Google for a related search term.

So, if your link earned 100 impressions and 20 people clicked the link, your CTR is 20% for that web page or blog post.

Although your CTR depends on your search engine rankings (as far as SEO goes) it also depends on how compelling your web page or blog post title is.

When you are writing content, coming up with a title that would prompt people to click, is as important as writing the actual content.

The CTR KPI is not just used for the purpose of search engine optimization.

It is also used to decide the performance of online ads such as Google ads.

But right now, we’re just sticking to content writing KPIs.

Conversion rate

Conversion rate is mostly considered for landing pages and email campaigns but even your normal web pages and blog posts can have conversion rate.

Conversion rate means, how many people perform the CTA (call-to-action) of the web page or the blog post.

You publish a blog post to get more subscribers for your newsletter.

How many people subscribed after visiting that blog post in a month?

You want people to download your e-book.

How many people downloaded the e-book after visiting that blog post?

The same is true for your landing page copy.

How many people carried out the CTA?

Good copywriting generates a better conversion rate.

If your conversion rate KPI is not good, you need to reassess your individual web pages and blog posts.

Inbound links

Inbound links are important for SEO.

They can also send you a ton of direct traffic if you get inbound links from high traffic websites.

Most of the website owners and blog publishers don’t link to your homepage.

They link to a specific blog post or web page that they want to refer to.

This Search Engines Journal post explains in detail the relevance of inbound links from authoritative websites.

There are different tools available to find inbound links to your website as well as individual web pages and blog posts.

You may like to explore the Moz inbound links explorer, but it comes with an expensive package of Moz Pro.

Social shares

The social shares KPI of your written content is a great proof of how popular your web page or blog post is.

If you use WordPress to publish your website or blog there are innumerable plugins available to show social sharing buttons.

These plugins also keep a count of how many times people have shared your link on social media.

There are many third-party services available that help you manage your social media marketing.

Social sharing is one of the biggest proofs of the quality and relevance of the content you publish.

People share your content only when they feel it is share worthy.

Traffic from social media

Social media traffic depends on two factors:

The relevance and the demand of the link that you have posted on various social media platforms.
The size of your presence on social media.

No matter how good the quality of your content is, if you don’t have a significant presence on social media, you’re not going to get much traction.

Even if you have a sizable presence, if your title and description does not inspire your contacts and followers, they are not going to click the link and come to your website.

Search engine traffic

This is one of the most important KPIs when you are writing content.

Every content writer and online copywriter want their content to rank higher and clients are ready to pay a premium for this capability.

Most of the websites and blogs publish a ton of content primarily for search engine traffic.

Hence, the purpose of every individual blog post and website is to generate search engine traffic for relevant keywords.

Websites and blog posts that generate more search engine traffic are obviously well written and optimized.

Sometimes even badly written content ranks higher but that happens by fluke.

Measuring content writing KPIs is additional work but it is a part of the overall content marketing effort.

Keeping track of different KPIs can help you

Increase your conversion rate.
Write better, targeted content.
Boost engagement.
Increase brand awareness.

KPIs let you know whether the content that you are writing and publishing is delivering results or not.

Your KPIs give you a direction and enable you to write content that resonates with your audience.

6 e-commerce copywriting tricks you can master right now

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E-commerce copywriting tricks you can master right now

Although copywriting always has a commercial aspect to it, e-commerce copywriting means writing copy for e-commerce websites.

So, naturally, the primary purpose of your writing becomes: influencing maximum number of people so that they purchase from your website.

Main topics covered in this blog post are

What is e-commerce copywriting?
What does e-commerce copywriting achieve for you?
E-commerce copywriting tricks you can start implementing right now

A great difference between an online and off-line store is that in an online store, when someone comes to shop, they are alone and unassisted.

It is your words that do all the selling.

Your copy is the salesperson.

Frankly, there is no hard-and-fast rule on what effective e-commerce copywriting is because scores of factors are playing together.

One word that may influence one buyer may dissuade another buyer from making the purchase.

Consequently, your copy goes through lots of testing before it can be decided whether it is effective.

What is e-commerce copywriting?

In the context of the Internet, e-commerce copywriting must be able to describe the benefits of your product and at the same time, improve your search engine rankings.

To be an effective e-commerce copywriter, you must be a strong communicator.

You must be able to persuade people with words.

You should be able to understand the psychology of why people purchase a certain product or subscribe to a certain service.

Copywriting for e-commerce websites can be done for your own online store or you can write product descriptions for an Amazon or Shopify store.

Such copywriting can be done for individual products.

You can do copywriting for an e-commerce website at different locations such as the homepage, the landing page, the about us page or the blog.

E-commerce copywriting means writing content for an online store.

It may include writing headlines, product categories, product descriptions, brochure copy or email campaigns.

E-commerce copywriting may also involve writing sales letters, social media posts, and advertisements.

It is one of the most important tools in your marketing bag.

The copy needs to be able to sell.

It must convert and generate leads and then eventually, sales.

What does e-commerce copywriting achieve for you?

Copywriting for e-commerce gives you the following benefits:

It helps your brand look unique.
It can be a great differentiator.
Good copywriting can improve your conversion rate.
It can highlight the benefits of your products and services so that it becomes easier for your prospective customers and clients to decide in your favor.
It makes the first good impression.
You can keep your customers focused throughout the entire sales funnel.
Well-written e-commerce copy can improve your search engine rankings.
It makes your content shareable.
It hits the right tone with your customers and clients.
It builds your company’s image.
When you tell your brand story, it forms an emotional bond with your readers.
It persuades your visitors to take a constructive action.

E-commerce copywriting tricks you can start implementing right now

These e-commerce copywriting tricks will equip you to write effective copy that entices your audience to take a favorable action

1. Create psychological triggers in e-commerce copywriting

Psychological triggers can be

Greed
Fear of missing out
Desire to belong
Curiosity
Sense of urgency
Instant gratification
Sense of honor
Guilt
Hope
Familiarity
Current fads
Proof of value
Exclusivity
Respect for authority

95% purchasing decisions stem from the subconscious mind.

You are more likely to respond to a piece of copywriting that uses emotional psychology.

An emotional urgency like fear is commonly used by insurance companies and security agencies.

Example of copywriting inciting fear

The above copy scares you even when you have not fallen victim to a home invasion.

Until we are attacked, we cannot relate to someone who has been attacked.

The above ad makes us feel like a victim and hence, scares us out of our wits.

In the same vein, WordPress uses a sense of authority – “world’s most popular website builder”.

Copywriting asserting authority

You certainly want to use the world’s most popular and the most widely used website builder.

In many shopping carts listings, you must have seen “3 items left” – such messages create a sense of scarcity.

2. Create attractive headlines

Headlines are very important in e-commerce copywriting.

A successful headline must satisfy the 4 Us:

Unique
Ultra-specific
Urgent
Useful

The e-commerce product headline must encapsulate the essence of the product, or the item being sold.

Usually when we are talking about headlines it is mostly about headlines for blog posts, articles, or even newsletters.

Headlines are also important for your product listings.

It is the headline that people see the first.

It makes the most important impact.

What should a headline of an e-commerce listing contain?

The name of the item
The most compelling reason to buy it

E-commerce headline displaying convenience

The headline above shows convenience.

No reason to visit the neighborhood mall every month.

Your favorite clothes are delivered to you every month.

An ultra-specific headline

The above headline is quite specific.

The sleepwear is “good in bed” whether you look at it from the point of view of looking good or for comfort.

3. Keep your language simple

E-commerce copywriting is not the right place to show your language prowess.

Use very simple, straightforward language.

Example of simple language used in e-commerce copywriting

In the description above, just observe how simply all the highlights are presented.

The Solo Stove Lite is lightweight, cooks for 1-2 people, you can use wood or twigs, it generates little smoke, and it is made of stainless steel.

In the description there is not a single word you don’t understand.

In simple language the writer explains that the stove can be carried on a picnic or a hike without much fuss.

There is no need to carry fuel.

Why is it important to use simple language in e-commerce copywriting?

When people reach the product listing, they are at a very crucial stage.

They are about to buy.

They are about to place an order.

Even a small distraction can send them away.

Hence, it is important to use simple, precise words that convey the true essence of your product.

The main features.

The convenience it provides.

The overwhelming reason to buy it.

Another example of using simple language when copywriting for e-commerce

Above is another example of using simple language to describe great features.

The e-commerce copywriting above draws parallels between “Before Basecamp” and “After Basecamp”.

Although Basecamp is a heavily technology company, you can read in the description that there is no technology jargon.

They have simply explained what problems people may face when they don’t use Basecamp and then what are the advantages once they start using it.

In e-commerce copywriting, it is super important that you avoid wordy sentences, highlight more benefits than features, and use lots of action words such as “Buy Now” or “Download Now”.

4. Tell success stories

Success stories in e-commerce copywriting can be testimonials or positive comments made by customers and clients.

They can also describe someone who has used a product and immensely benefited from it.

Success stories are relatable.

They are not just claims made by the company.

The product or service is used by a real person and then that real person describes his or her experience.

Here is how the flow of an e-commerce success story goes:

The customer or the shopper is your hero.
They were facing an overwhelming problem.
For a fairly long time they were looking for a solution.
The problem had reached its peak and the situation was dire.
Then they came across your product.
They were swayed by the benefits and features.
They purchased it.
Now they are living happily ever after.

5. Use persuasive words when copywriting for e-commerce

Persuasive words can supercharge your e-commerce copywriting but for them to be effective, you need to know for whom you’re writing.

Examples of using persuasive words:

Easy to install.
Exclusive offer just for you.
Free for a limited period.
Get it right now.
Outstanding results guaranteed.
You are going to love it.
Best software in its category.
500,000 people trust us with their money
The offer expires in three days.
A bargain that will be foolish to miss.
A powerful way to optimize your website.
Win exciting prizes.
Deadline fast approaching.
The offer ends soon.
Verified investment opportunities.

6. Optimize e-commerce copywriting for SEO

I have always believed that search engine optimization is about using the right language and presenting the information in its correct form.

When optimizing your e-commerce copywriting for SEO make sure that the main headline or the title of the product listing contains the right keyword.

Will people be searching by the name of your product or the benefit that it delivers?

Suppose you’re selling an SEO analytics tool.

The name of your SEO analytics tool is Zolo.

You can write a headline like

Zolo – the only SEO analytics tool you will ever need

Zolo – the complete SEO analytics tool

or even better

SEO analytics tool – improve your search visibility in 2 weeks

Although the name is missing, you can use the name in the description.

These are easy e-commerce copywriting tricks that you can start implementing even in your ongoing project.

Content writing: why is it important to know your audience?

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Finding the right audience for content writing

Why must you know your audience when writing content?

To give an answer to this question, you need to first understand why in the first place you are writing a particular blog post, web page, or landing page.

You are writing to serve the need of someone.

Whom are you talking to?

Why should they listen to you?

What words and search terms do they use when talking about or searching for your business?

What common questions do they have?

Successful content writing takes an audience-centric approach

It may be difficult to do extensive research on your audience before every content writing project, but you can do a little bit of study or questioning to at least find out for whom you are writing.

I will give you the example of this blog post.

I’m writing this for people who are looking for the importance of defining an audience when writing content.

I am also writing for people who are simply researching for their own blog post, or would like to link to my blog post when referring to information present here.

Am I targeting people who need to hire a content writer?

Maybe indirectly, but not directly.

People looking for a content writer may not search for how to write content for a carefully selected audience, unless their awareness level of content writing is an entirely at a different height.

This University of Maryland article makes very nice suggestions about selecting your audience and then modifying your communication accordingly.

Suppose you have a car accident. It was a minor accident, but an accident, nonetheless.

You tell your parents about the accident – you may tell them differently.

You may tell your friends about the same incident a bit differently.

What about the insurance company?

What details are you going to skip or include?

Will you tell these different categories of people your story in the same order or different order?

Obviously, the narration will be different.

Email can be another example.

The season’s greetings that you send to your customers and clients are completely different from the greetings that you send to your cousins and siblings.

The point is, whenever you are communicating, you are communicating to a certain audience.

The same is true for content writing.

When you are writing content, you need to modify it based on your audience.

When you are writing content, you cannot please everyone.

If you try to please everyone, you please no one.

Therefore, you need to narrow down your audience.

Select that one person for whom you are going to write.

In content writing terminology it is called “defining persona”.

How to target the right audience for writing content?

There can be different types of audience based on

Occupation
Age
Marital status
Social background
Hobbies
Gender
Interests
Location
Health status
Income
Professional background

Understandably, you can just imagine the traits of your audience.

You may need to check out different data sources such as

User feedback
Customer surveys
Internal customer database
Third-party analytics tools
Onboarding and exit interviews
Surveys
Your own research.

Suppose you have designed a health app.

You want to write lots of blog posts and articles about the benefits of using the mobile app.

But you want to target only those people who stopped going to the gym in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak.

Even when things are back to normal, they don’t seem to be able to catch up with their old habit.

You want to make them health-conscious again.

They are lacking the motivation.

They need a psychological and emotional push.

You may have to write your blog posts differently for this set of people.

On the other hand, there are people who are motivated, but are not getting enough time.

They don’t need to be encouraged.

They are simply looking for a solution that would allow them to maintain a good health despite their busy schedule.

For them, your blog posts will sound differently.

The better you can target your audience, the more effective will be your content writing.

How to prevent self-criticism from sabotaging your content writing process

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Self-criticism sabotaging your content writing process

Self-criticism isn’t just toxic, sometimes it can be devastating.

Different toppings and subtopics discussed in this blog:

Why does self-criticism raise its head when writing content?
Content writing and confidence go hand-in-hand
Techniques for subduing self-criticism as a content writer

Do you want to become a successful content writer?

Unconsciously, self-criticism might be one of the biggest roadblocks that you don’t even know you face.

It creeps up on you slowly and gnaws at your content writing process unbeknownst to you.

You think that other content writers are better than you?

You are unable to negotiate prices because you begin to believe you don’t deserve to be paid much.

You assume you don’t understand the topic.

You worry that you won’t be able to meet the deadline.

I have written professional content for more than 17 years.

Even now, whenever I am about to begin a new content writing project, I’m filled with self-doubt and besieged by a wave of self-criticism.

Whenever I receive a new query, I wonder whether I will be able to deliver what the client needs.

I suffer from the imposter syndrome.

The inner voice tells me: you are not good.

You are deceiving your client.

You are pretending to be a good content writer.

Though, over the years, I have developed some techniques to beat the demons of self-criticism.

Why does self-criticism raise its head when writing content?

Self-criticism is natural.

It is good in small, manageable doses.

It keeps you on your toes.

It pushes you to improve and better yourself.

Hence, a little of it doesn’t harm you much and in fact, does you good.

In fact, I often come across content writers who definitely need some self-criticism.

Their writing is really bad.

Still, they act as if they are writing for the New York Times on a regular basis.

Even that level of confidence can be toxic.

Self-criticism on the other hand exists in the form of wanting to better yourself.

At a fundamental level I know I write better than many people.

I write good sentences.

I am confident of my writing style.

I can express any complicated idea simply.

My self-criticism originates from the fact that I may not have enough information to write what I’m supposed to write.

I may not have the appropriate vocabulary to work on a specific project.

I’m not good enough to get published in reputed publications.

My self-doubt doesn’t originate from the inability to express myself.

In different people, different types of self-doubt and self-criticism exist.

The problem with content writers is that they need to get paid for their writing per document or per assignment.

The client is instantly going to judge how the content writer has written.

There is always a fear of rejection.

There is always a chance that the client may think that the writing is not worth paying for.

Most of the content writers are underpaid so there is always this financial insecurity looming large at the horizon.

Gradually, self-criticism attains such a proportion that it begins to sabotage your entire content writing process.

Content writing and confidence go hand-in-hand

Remember that when you are writing content, you are writing for businesses and individuals who are running businesses.

Your content writing must instill confidence among your readers.

If your content writing lacks confidence, it will show through your words and sentences.

You will sound stiff and unsure.

You will convey the same feeling to your readers.

Your words have a magical way of communicating your true feelings.

Hence, to write with conviction, you must build your confidence.

Confidence comes with knowledge.

It comes with experience.

It comes with a core set of beliefs within you.

The best way to build your confidence as a writer is to write.

Write when you get work.

Write even when you don’t have paid assignments.

If you write only when you are paid, your writing becomes stilted.

Think like any other performing art.

Does a singer sing only when he or she is performing in front of an audience?

No.

He or she practices every day.

Do athletes perform athletic fetes only during sporting events?

No.

They practice for hours every day.

Practice writing every day.

In fact, write for 2-3 hours every day, whether you have professional content writing assignments or not.

Techniques for subduing self-criticism as a content writer

As I have written above, little bit of self-criticism can be used constructively.

It prompts you to excel.

It encourages you to better yourself.

But lots of self-criticism can be harmful.

When it stops you from writing, when it begins to meddle with your content writing process, you need to take some measures to control it.

Here are a few things you can do:

Distinguish between being critical and being self-critical

Sometimes we are critical of ourselves.

This is different from being critical about your work.

You certainly need to review your work.

Sometimes I revise documents multiple times.

I edit sentences.

I change words.

Complete rewrites are needed sometimes.

This shouldn’t be confused with self-criticism.

Even writers who have sold millions of books have editors.

Their books are revised multiple times.

So, each time you find an error, or you need to revise a sentence, don’t self-criticise yourself.

This is integral part of content writing.

Acquire knowledge of content writing

As I have written above, knowledge is empowering.

The more you know, the better you write.

Read books on content writing and copywriting.

Join LinkedIn forums on writing, content writing and copywriting.

Interact with other content writers and copywriters.

Follow blogs on the same topics.

Learn the latest about SEO copywriting.

I’m working with multiple writers these days.

Many writers write like content writers who used to write 10-15 years ago.

They haven’t updated their styles.

They haven’t upgraded their language skills.

Although they write well, they can do much better if they keep an eye on the latest trends in content writing and online copywriting.

Never shy away from learning and acquiring knowledge.

People in every profession are constantly learning.

The same is true in the field of content writing.

Start a personal blog

Starting a personal blog means updating it, not if every day, but at least a couple of times in a week.

I have found that blogging is one of the best ways to beat self-criticism.

Choose a topic that is close to your heart.

It doesn’t have to be a professional topic.

This is my blog on content writing and copywriting, but I also have a personal blog where I share my passion on books, religion, politics, and other topics.

On a personal blog I can write in whichever manner I feel like.

Even if people judge me, I don’t really care because my livelihood does not depend on my personal blog.

I get to express myself.

I get to practice my art of writing.

I have a small fan following that raises my confidence.

I get to build my own writing style.

But, it requires work.

You need to update your personal blog on regular basis.

Don’t constantly compare yourself with other content writers

Comparing yourself with other content writers can be positive or negative.

When you compare to learn, it is positive.

When you compare to discourage yourself, it is negative.

It is fine if another content writer writes better than you.

It is fine if his or her range of vocabulary is vast.

It is all about learning.

It is all about regularly practising your art.

It is all about acquiring knowledge.

If that particular content writer can write so well, so can you.

You are not there yet, but soon you will be.

You are already writing.

You have already reached a certain level.

Now you need to improve.

As you gain more experience, your writing will improve.

It has improved till now, it will improve further.

Learn to do research

A lot of times you are hit by a deluge of self-criticism when you cannot find the right information that you need to write content.

For every content writing project you need to research.

You need to find information.

Google may be your best friend.

It has advanced search features that can help you filter out unnecessary information.

You may need to use different queries to find exactly the information you are looking.

Sometimes, a seemingly impossible topic becomes crystal clear once you have done some research.

Also develop a system of storing information when you’re researching so that the next time when you need to find the same data, you already have it.

I use note-taking apps like OneNote and Google Keep to preserve important bits of information.

Work with a mentor

These days I’m working with around 15 content writers and I am mentoring some of them.

It is not like teaching.

A mentor can help you fine tune your writing without being extra critical.

An experienced person becomes your mentor only when he or she thinks you have the ability to excel.

This in itself is an endorsement and proves that you are capable of becoming a successful content writer.

Interact with experienced content writers on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Regularly engage with them.

Respond to their updates.

Ask them if you could work for them.

Then once you have been working with an experienced content writer, politely ask if you can seek some guidance.

Revisit examples of exceptional writing that you have done

Even those content writers who have been working for a few years suffer from bouts of self-criticism.

I have been preserving the testimonials that my clients have sent me.

Sometimes a client recommends my work and CCs me the email.

Sometimes he or she sends me high praises.

I save such messages separately.

I go through them when I’m self-doubting myself.

I have worked on some very difficult content writing assignments, but I forget about them when I’m going through self-criticism.

I have created a separate folder where I have saved all the challenging content writing assignments, I have worked all these years.

After opening the document, I start reading and soon, I experience self-criticism melting away.

Self-criticism is a state of mind.

A state of mind can be quickly altered.

You just need to hack your way out.

One step at a time.

Don’t be impatient with yourself.

Accept the problem, and then work towards a solution.

Recognize different aspects of your writing abilities that need improvement.

Then improve, one writing ability by one.

How to do SEO copywriting under the Google helpful content update guidelines?

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SEO copywriting under the Google helpful content update guidelines

The Google helpful content update is active by now.

It is propagating all over the Internet and it will take two weeks to know whether it has hit your website or blog or not.

Main topic and subtopics covered in this blog post:

What is SEO copywriting?
Does Google look down upon SEO copywriting?
How does Google define helpful content?
Doing SEO copywriting under the new Google helpful content update guidelines

Does the latest search algorithm update make SEO copywriting a bad word?

The guidelines of the new Google helpful content algorithm update specifically state that content written for search engine rankings will lose its search engine rankings.

Good quality, well-researched, and human-centric content will gain rankings.

What is SEO copywriting?

It means writing in such a manner that your content is optimized for your chosen keywords and it ranks higher on Google and other search engines.

Theoretically there is nothing wrong in trying to improve your search engine rankings if you’re looking for search engine traffic.

SEO copywriting in its true sense delivers value to humans first.

At the same time, copywriting is done in a search friendly manner.

The text is organized and formatted in such a manner that its easier to crawl and analyze it.

Yes, keywords are used strategically.

Variation of the keywords are also used.

But when I do SEO copywriting, my main purpose of using the keywords is using the language that is understood by the readers.

It is because they use the search queries in the same language they speak.

Does Google look down upon SEO copywriting?

Not exactly.

In fact, multiple times Google has made recommendations on how to write search engine friendly content – content that can be easily crawled, indexed and ranked.

Then what’s the problem?

The problem is that quite often web publishers forget that ultimately, it’s the human readers for whom content must be written and published.

They get obsessed with SEO copywriting – solely optimizing their content for search engine rankings while completely forgetting about delivering quality to human readers.

This approach is counter-productive at many levels.

Low quality content harms your interests.

Your bounce rate increases.

You don’t retain visitors.

People stop visiting your website or blog.

Your readers feel cheated and hence, they get disenchanted with your intentions.

They waste time because they come to your website or blog thinking that they have found the information they were looking for, but they don’t.

Low quality content also sullies Google’s reputation because people see that as Google’s inability to find quality content.

If a new search engine comes up with the ability to find better content, people will start using it.

Hence, Google is heavily coming down upon websites and blogs publishing low quality content.

The new helpful content algorithm update will be specially targeting websites that publish content just to improve search engine rankings.

Naturally, people who have been using SEO copywriting indiscriminately are feeling jittery.

How does Google define helpful content?

Although “helpful content” has a very literal meaning, Google advises you to ask yourself the following questions to determine whether your content is helpful to your human readers.

If people directly come to your website (not from Google search), will they find your content helpful and useful?
When you are writing about a product or a place to visit, have you personally experienced the product or visited the place to get first-hand experience?
After reading what you have published, are people satisfied or do they have to conduct further research?
Does your website or blog have a primary focus or a purpose to exist (for example, the purpose of this website is to give you information on content writing, copywriting, and content marketing).
Do you provide original information, reporting, research, or analysis?
When linking to other information sources, do you simply regurgitate existing information or add further value?

These may seem quite obvious questions but you will be surprised to know how many content publishers don’t pay attention to them.

Doing SEO copywriting under the new Google helpful content update guidelines

What all do you need to pay attention to when writing content according to the new guidelines?

Search engine optimization is always going to be one of your primary concerns.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when writing content for your own website, or for one of your clients.

Don’t write on random topics

The focus area of my blog is content writing, copywriting, sometimes SEO (because it is content related), and content marketing (which is a superset of content writing).

Although I write for websites and blogs, does it make sense to publish blogs on web design?

What about PHP programming?

JavaScript coding?

These topics may get me some traffic, but do they belong to the core focus of my website?

They don’t.

I will be writing and publishing them simply to generate search engine traffic.

I don’t have expertise in them.

I will be simply getting information from other websites and rewriting it, without adding further value.

Instead, stick to your core subject.

If you want to publish regularly, sure, sometimes it may be difficult to come up with new topics, but this is where your creativity will count.

Develop your own writing style

As a copywriter, Google or no Google, you should develop your own writing style to sound original.

Every experienced writer has their own style.

My clients often insist that I write in my style and therefore, sometimes it becomes difficult for me to collaborate with other content writers.

When you have your own manner of writing sentences and using words, even if you are getting information from other websites, you will be writing it in your own way, in your own style, and according to your own take.

Be original

This is one of the major guidelines of the latest Google helpful content algorithm update.

Don’t write and publish content that is already present – maybe in a much better form – on other websites and blogs.

Offer readers something that they cannot find elsewhere.

Develop an expertise.

As much as possible, use first-hand experience to describe products and places.

Everything that they share on this blog, I use it on everyday content writing and copywriting.

Even the blogging tips that I share, I use them on my own blog and also when I’m writing blog posts for my clients.

Don’t obsess over search engine optimization

Just because you’re doing SEO copywriting it doesn’t mean your primary concern should be getting your content to rank higher on Google.

SEO copywriting and content writing are more about using a format that is search engine friendly, and less about cramming your writing with keywords.

When writing, come to the main topic as fast as possible.

Therefore, when you talk about your main topic, if you have defined the topic according to your primary keywords, you will be naturally using your keywords.

Organize your content under various subheadings because larger font draws more attention.

In your subheadings, let your keywords appear naturally.

If they don’t appear, don’t force them.

Similarly, try to use your keywords and bulleted lists.

When I say you should use your keywords, it doesn’t mean splattering them randomly just so that they appear in your text.

Your keywords must always appear contextually.

They should be there because they should be there, not because of SEO.

Don’t unnecessarily stretch your web page or blog post

The Google update documentation advises that you should write highly focused web pages and blog posts.

There is conflicting data available on how long your blog posts (or web pages) must be to rank well.

Google in its new helpful content update guidelines says that it doesn’t matter how many words your blog post (or web page) has.

As long as your content is human-friendly, and relevant, nothing should stop it from ranking well.

Having said that, Hubspot found in a 2021 study that blog posts with 2100-2400 words perform much better than shorter blog posts.

What should you do?

As is the case with everything else, the length of your blog post should be need-based.

My average blog posts these days are 1100-1500 words.

Some blog posts rank well, some don’t.

I don’t bother much.

The messaging is more important to me.

I don’t like unnecessarily stretching my blog posts just so that they have more words.

If you needlessly include topics and subtopics, people lose interest.

They want to read what they were searching for.

They are not looking for 10 other facts.

Use your better judgement.

If you think certain topics are important to your readers, include them, otherwise don’t.

There are some topics that are necessary to make your blog post complete.

But if you feel that your blog post would be better without those subtopics, remove them.

Write in an accessible manner

Google prefers accessible content over inaccessible content.

Make sure your copy is easily readable.

Write simple sentences and paragraphs.

Don’t use over complicated words.

Make your writing scannable so that even someone who doesn’t want to read the whole thing, can make sense of it.

Screen readers should be able to read your text seamlessly.

Link to important topics if you have already written about them instead of rewriting them.

When doing SEO copywriting, think from the point of view of Google.

If your content doesn’t make sense, what is the point in getting it ranked higher?

Get a ton of traffic?

Make people click on advertisements?

Buy your affiliate products?

You know what?

People aren’t doing any of these because they are not even reading your content.

Anyway, 80 out of 100 people read your headline and don’t go beyond that.

So, it’s only the remaining 20 people who are going to care what you have written.

If they feel cheated, even they don’t convert.

From the perspective of Google, why should Google suffer if you don’t want to write quality content?

Why should people who use Google in good faith suffer because you just want them to come to your website without offering them helpful content?

With the help of artificial intelligence and natural language processing Google has enough computing power to know whether you are providing quality content or not.

Stick to the “helpful content” algorithm guidelines and you will be surprised to know how well your copywriting sounds.