Tag Archives: Content Writing for SEO

How to write content for the Google RankBrain System

Leave a reply
Content writing for Google RankBrain

Content writing for Google RankBrain

For a couple of years now Google has been using its RankBrain system to rank your content.

RankBrain is a machine-learning artificial intelligence system that helps the Google algorithm in ranking various links and websites.

Although it hasn’t totally taken over the Hummingbird algorithm (the current ranking algorithm that Google uses) many SEO experts are claiming that the Google ranking algorithm derives almost 30% of its influence from RankBrain.

What exactly is Google RankBrain?

What is Google RankBrain?

What is Google RankBrain?

It’s an artificial intelligence system, and just like any contemporary artificial intelligence, it learns itself. It sometimes writes and modifies the ranking algorithm on its own.

The overall ranking process at Google is handled by the Hummingbird algorithm. RankBrain is a component of that algorithm that contributes towards assigning ranks to different links according to their relevance to the searcher’s intent.

Just like RankBrain, there are multiple components in the Hummingbird algorithm that analyze content.

Panda, Penguin and Payday components are used to fight spam. Pigeon is used to improve local search results.

Then, there is a Top Heavy component of the Hummingbird algorithm that assigns negative marking to ad-heavy pages.

To reward you for your mobile-friendly pages, the ranking algorithm uses the Mobile Friendly component.

Copyright infringement is taken care of by the Pirate component (source).

Whereas conventional SEO is based on the type of keywords you have used when writing your content and the quality of backlinks, RankBrain calculates the relevance of your content according to its own interpretation, according to what it thinks should be ranked rather than according to how the web page of the blog post has been “optimized”.

You must have read it at multiple places – even I have mentioned it multiple times on my blog – that when you are writing content, focus on the “intent” of the searcher instead of simply creating content based on your keywords.

The intent is what matters to RankBrain.

Unlike conventional ranking methods, RankBrain doesn’t rank web pages according to predefined formula.

It modifies the rank according to the interpretive need of the user.

It practically thinks like the human brain. It interprets meaning and gives you the best search result according to your particular need.

For example, if someone searches for “what are the best shows this week on Amazon Prime?” RankBrain will show the latest results no matter how well an article or blog post you wrote on the topic last month and how many people have linked to it.

Even if in terms of SEO practices your link should show up on page 10 or page 20 of the search results, if it is fresh and fresh content needs to be shown, your link will appear on the first page, even at the top.

So, how do you write content according to the Google RankBrain system?

How to write content for Google RankBrain

How to write content for Google RankBrain

To be frank, there is no particular way you can optimize your content for the RankBrain system.

As mentioned above, RankBrain doesn’t rank your content according to some predetermined parameters.

But it doesn’t mean you cannot benefit from RankBrain.

Content writing for RankBrain is very matter of fact: does your content solve a purpose? If it does, it will enjoy good search engine rankings.

The age-old wisdom that your content should provide the needed information to your human visitors still stands as in fact, such systems are developed by Google and other search engines to make sure that content creators create content that is relevant to people rather than machines.

When content is specifically created for machines it is open to manipulation. This is why Google has incorporated multiple algorithmic components to make sure that people don’t try to game the system.

How to make sure you enjoy good rankings in the times of artificial intelligence?

Search engine companies like Google aren’t creating sophisticated algorithms to stop your content from ranking well. They’re creating the sophisticated algorithms to make sure that content that deserves to rank well, does rank well.

So, instead of worrying about getting good ranks, focus on the quality, the relevance and the purposefulness of your content.

Do keywords matter when you are trying to optimize your content for the Google RankBrain system?

Not necessarily, but it doesn’t mean you stop neglecting them.

What are keywords after all? They are part of the language that you use to write your content.

Take for example this blog post. I’m writing about RankBrain, so I’m referring to it repeatedly, not purposely, but contextually. I’m not trying hard to use it repeatedly. It’s just happening.

Another focus of this post is content writing. I’m trying to explain to you how to write content that can convince the RankBrain ranking system.

Obviously these two terms are going to occur in my writing more than once, even multiple times. This tells Google that the foci of my blog post are RankBrain and content writing. There is nothing wrong in that.

But don’t just focus on your primary keywords. Use LSI keywords. Use semantic keywords. Even use the trending keywords if they are related to your topic.

Keywords matter when you’re writing content, but just make sure that they are there naturally and not stuffed. Quality, is what matters the most.

Focus on a better user behavior vis-à-vis your content writing if you want to make RankBrain happy

Since RankBrain avoids depending on conventional SEO benchmarks, it depends more on user behavior vis-à-vis your content. It observes the following while ranking your content:

What is your bounce rate?:

How many people stick to your website after finding your links on Google?

Do they immediately leave your link and come back to Google or do they linger on your website because they find useful information on it?

If your bounce rate is low RankBrain likes your content and improves its rankings.

How many people interact with your content?:

If your content is useful people engage with it.

They link to your content. They share your content with their followers and friends on social media and social networking websites. They even sometimes re-purpose your content.

The more people interact with your con tent, the better rankings it gets through RankBrain.

How in-depth is your content?:

The days of highly narrow content pieces are gone.

Remember when people used to create dedicated web pages and blog posts for every keyword combination for the same phrase? It is no longer acceptable.

You need to cover all your keyword combinations through a single web page or blog post, and this means, writing in-depth content pieces.

When you’re writing on a topic, cover practically every aspect of the topic within a single blog post or web page.

Is your content writing conversational?:

Conversational content writing is important because a greater number of people are using voice search and when people use voice search, they normally use a conversational tone.

Write shorter sentences. Avoid writing very complicated paragraphs. Try to capture just one thought in a single paragraph.

All in all, the more human friendly content you write, the better it is suitable for Google RankBrain.

What is the importance of keywords in SEO content writing?

Leave a reply

Importance of keywords in SEO content writing

What is SEO content writing and how critical it is that you know how to incorporate your primary, secondary and long tail keywords into your overall writing process?

SEO content writing means writing in such a manner that it’s very easy for search engine crawlers to access your content and make sense of it.

Why is it important that the search engine algorithms should be able to make sense of your content writing?

It is because if they cannot make sense of your content, they won’t be able to rank it for the appropriate keywords.

When you are writing SEO content you keep in mind the phrases, the search terms and the keywords people may use, to be able to find your website or one of its links, and then you create content using those phrases, search terms and keywords.

SEO content writing in no way means mindlessly using your keywords. These days, the quality and the relevance of your content is as important, and sometimes even more important, than your ability to use your keywords.

The importance of keywords in SEO content writing

Ever since the advent of search engines and it became important to get good search engine rankings, the importance of keywords to improve your SEO always invites heated discussions.

Content marketing and SEO have been combined. SEO content marketing has evolved into a branch in itself.

There was a time when keywords were important. Okay, they are still important, but there are also a zillion of other factors that are important for your SEO.

Keywords importance

Those factors are beyond the scope of this post because here I’m just focusing on the importance of keywords in SEO content writing.

Read 10 fundamental qualities of effective SEO content writing.

With so many changes occurring in Google’s ranking algorithms, do keywords still matter?

To understand this, you need to understand what are keywords.

Keywords may sound important and even intimidating when you feel that they can have a big impact on your search engine rankings and then these search engine rankings can have a big impact on your business, but they are not as intimidating as they seem.

Keywords are basically the search terms people use so that they can find your business (not particularly your business but something of that sort).

These keywords can have just a single word, a couple of words, a small phrase, a complete sentence, or a question.

Would you like to get better rankings for “where can I find handmade table napkins” or “handmade table napkins”?

The person using the first search term actually wants to find handmade table napkins.

The person using the second search term may be looking for handmade table napkins, but he or she may also be looking for just some sort of information on handmade table napkins.

You may target both the search terms but for you, if you are selling handmade table napkins, the first search term is more important.

So, how do you target the search term, or the keyword or, the longtail keyword “where can I find handmade table napkins”?

This is called optimization.

This is where the importance of keywords in SEO content writing arises.

To get targeted traffic you have to use the right language. In the above example, “where can I find” and “handmade table napkins” are very important parts of your main keyword if you are selling handmade table napkins.

Your text must suggest that your web page will tell the search engine user that yours is the place where he or she can find handmade table napkins.

Your keywords are like the building blocks. They help you stay focused when you are writing content, especially content that needs to rank higher on search engines.

Consider the above example again. You know what keyword to be found for.

So, when you are writing SEO content for this particular search term you know that you don’t want to write about the technique of making handmade table napkins or what are the benefits of using handmade table napkins.

Although you can touch upon these issues, your primary concern is telling the search engine users that they can find handmade table napkins on your website when they want to know where they can find them.

Should you over-obsess over your keywords?

Keywords are important but let them not dominate the way you write your content.

Focus on providing the right answers to the right questions.

When you provide the right answers, you are automatically using the keywords or the search terms being used by your prospective customers and clients.

I want to draw people to my website who are looking for a content writer or a content writing service.

So, if I write and publish content about “need a content writer”, or “looking for a content writer” there is a small chance that I will be focusing on “how to become a better content writer”.

This is because I’m not selling educational material on how to become a better content writer; I’m selling my content writing services.

Even such small changes can make a big difference.

How can you avoid such costly mistakes?

You can avoid such costly mistakes, again, by focusing on the questions and search terms people may use when searching for your services, rather than obsessing over your keywords.

Remember that your prospective customers and clients may use a totally different language for your business than what you use.

Yes, it is important to prepare a list of your target keywords and search terms, but once you have created the list, focus more on solving problems rather than covering all the keywords.

I always suggest my clients that when they focus on solving problems they automatically cover their important keywords.

How to use keywords when doing SEO content writing

keywords and SEO content writing

Keywords are important in SEO content writing. The search engine algorithms look for your keywords at certain locations of your web page or blog post.

Although these laws are not written in stone, SEO experts and experienced content marketers suggest that you use your keywords

  • In the beginning of your web page or blog post title
  • Within the first 100 words of the body text
  • Once every 200 words
  • Within H1, H2 and H3 tags at least once
  • In the last paragraph

As I have written above, your rankings may depend on many external factors, so you don’t necessarily need to adhere to these guidelines regarding where to put your keywords while doing SEO content writing, these are better practices to follow.

If you are targeting a longer phrase, it isn’t necessary that you always have to use the complete phrase. Use the complete phrase, if it is possible, within the title and then a couple of times within the body text.

After that, you can use the various parts of the phrase, creatively, in different ways.

For example, if I want to optimize for “SEO content writing services” I can use the exact phrase in the title and a few times within the body text and then at various places I can use individual words “SEO”, “content writing” and “services”.

There is always a danger of over-optimizing so always be careful of overusing your keywords.

Overusing your keywords can be more damaging than not using them at all.

The importance of keywords in SEO content writing is going to prevail for many more years not because there is no other way but to rely on this, the so-called “outdated strategy”, it’s just that, using them makes perfect sense. This is how you speak. The keywords are a part of your language. They are always going to be important.

Should you always be writing optimized content to improve SEO?

Leave a reply

dont-let-you-need-to-always-optimize-stop-you-from-writing

You publish content on your website or blog for a reason, right?

Out of scores of reasons, one of the biggest reasons why people want to publish content regularly on their websites and blogs is to improve their SEO.

Many SEO experts and content marketers suggest that never publish a piece of content without optimizing it for search engines.

Here, I’m assuming that when they say “optimizing” they don’t mean needlessly stuffing your blog posts and web pages with keywords.

What they mean to say is, make sure that you publish something, you target your effort in such a manner, that it helps to improve your SEO.

There are some great tools available that can help you search-engine-optimize your content.

For example, if you manage your website and blog with WordPress, you may be using one of the SEO plug-ins. I use SEOPressor. People also use Yoast SEO and All-In-One-SEO.

They are great tools to help you publish posts that are optimized for your chosen keywords.

A great thing that I like about SEOPressor is that it helps you see if you are over-optimizing your content.

Since I don’t intentionally overuse my keywords, when I use them, it is unintentional.

Sometimes, just in the flow, I tend to use the same expression again and again, mostly to sound lyrical.

This optimizes my content and consequently, my SEO suffers.

SEOPressor tells me when I have used the keywords more times than necessary.

But this small post is not about optimizing or over-optimizing for better SEO; this post is about not getting bogged down by the fact that you have to optimize every web page and blog post just because you have got tools with you that help you optimize.

For example, the SEOPressor tells you whether the web page on the blog post you are working on is well-optimized or not. If it is well optimized, you see this nice green response:

SEOPressor screenshot

The problem here is (it has nothing to do with SEOPressor) that sometimes one tends to get psychologically bogged down by the fact that, that icon has to turn green. The entire focus is shifted on optimizing the web page instead of delivering the message.

Optimization is needed.

If you want to draw targeted traffic from search engines, there is no other option but to optimize your individual web pages and blog posts.

But you don’t need to obsess. You shouldn’t let your need to optimize every possible web page and blog post stop you from expressing yourself.

Optimize when you really want to, need to, optimize, but otherwise, let yourself be free.

Don’t dilute your content by writing about everything under the sun – stick to your core competency (in my case it is content writing and content marketing) – but sometimes if you don’t want to pay attention to the optimization aspect, don’t.

You don’t always have to write more than 1500 words.

You don’t always have to use your keywords within the first 100 words in the last paragraph.

No need to always worry about keyword density.

No need to worry about an optimized title.

Just write and publish.

This is very important for you as a professional and a professional who promotes himself or herself through his or her writing.

Your writing begins to get stunted when you focus more on optimization and less on your core message.

Again, yes, optimization is necessary and unavoidable but keep it a mix of free flow and optimized content.

Let it be like, in every 10 web pages and blog posts, don’t bother for optimization for 2-3.

Remember that what is important is that you publish regularly.

Don’t feel discouraged that right now you cannot come up with a completely optimized web page or blog post.

Publishing something is always better than publishing nothing.

10 fundamental qualities of effective SEO content writing

Leave a reply

fundamental-qualities-of-SEO-content-writing

Effective SEO content writing involves writing content for the search engines as well as human beings. SEO content writing has some fundamental qualities. If you stick to these qualities, you experience a significant improvement in your search engine rankings.

With a big share of search engine traffic coming from Google, whenever we talk of search engines and SEO content writing, we normally assume its Google.

Over the years Google has evolved its ranking algorithm in such a manner that it isn’t just the the fundamental qualities of your written content on your web page or blog post that has an impact on your search engine rankings. Social proof of the quality of your content is as important as the content itself.

No matter how advanced the search engine ranking algorithms become, it is going to be very difficult for them to match human intelligence because human intelligence doesn’t just depend on mathematics and logic.

Human intelligence depends on past experiences, emotional biases and future expectations. So, when people access your content, when they view your content, an entire ecosystem of emotions, experiences and bits of knowledge is used to evaluate your content.

Effective SEO content writing takes into account all these factors when creating optimized content for your website. SEO content writing takes into account the needs of humans and the factual information that the search engine algorithms need to process the nature of your content.

Where is your audience coming from? What problems your visitors are trying to solve? What information they already have? What are their backgrounds?

SEO content writing needs to understand where your visitors come from

There can be hundreds of such attributes that can only be thought of by human beings, and only professional SEO content writing can achieve this feat.

Therefore, in its ranking algorithms, Google has incorporated user behavior also. So, no matter how great your SEO content writing is, unless it earns social validation, unless people react to it positively, it is not going to enjoy good search engine rankings.

Fundamental qualities of effective SEO content writing may include

  1. A compelling title
  2. Main keywords in the title
  3. Keyword and search phrases within the body text
  4. Focusing on a problem and its solution
  5. Quality of SEO content writing
  6. Ease of reading
  7. Linking to other internal webpages and blog posts
  8. Strategic use of images
  9. Formatting and arrangement of the text
  10. Length of web pages and blog posts

These fundamental qualities of SEO content writing may be described differently on different websites and blogs, but the underlying features never change.

Universal concepts of SEO content writing remain the same

I repeatedly say on my blog that there isn’t much difference between quality content and SEO content. Quality is of utmost importance.

The only thing that changes in SEO content writing is that you arrange your content in such a manner that it’s easier for the search engine crawlers to access the main part of the content, analyze it, and then rank it for the right keywords.

Below I’m discussing in detail the points listed above

A compelling title for your web page and blog post

Your title is so important that it has a direct impact on the rankings of a particular URL. Some people also call it the “headline”.

Why is your title important?

The concept takes its cue from the traditional printing business. Ever heard the phrase “screaming headlines”?

importance of headlines in SEO content writing

People used to buy newspapers and magazines after reading the headlines. If the headlines were not compelling or interesting enough, those newspapers and magazines wouldn’t sell.

On the Internet, people don’t click your link if you don’t have an interesting headline.

Whether your link appears in search engines or on social networking websites, it’s the headline, your title, that prompts people to click your link.

Your title is the promise you make to your visitors, of what you are going to deliver. Headlines and titles are so important that many SEO content writing services charge extra money for coming up with creative and optimized titles.

Main keywords in the title

Main keywords in the title in SEO content writing

In terms of effective SEO content writing, what does a keyword mean?

A keyword isn’t just a random word or expression to lure people to your website through SEO content writing. It is an expression being used by your prospective customers and clients to find you.

It’s important that your keyword phrase appears within your title or headline. People tend to click your link more if your hypertext contains a search term they have just used.

Keywords and search phrases within the body text – most important part of SEO content writing

Although a greater number of SEO experts discount the overall importance of keywords in the body text of your web page, they matter for effective SEO content writing.

Keywords and search expressions, when used naturally through SEO content writing, convey to the search engine algorithms what you are talking about.

If keywords didn’t matter, how would the search engines distinguish one link from another?

The use of keywords within your body text also keeps your SEO content writing focused. Writing SEO friendly content doesn’t mean going on a rampage with your keywords.

Just make sure you don’t overuse them. After a certain number of times, their appearance in your content writing begins to have a negative effect on your SEO. High quality SEO demands a judicious use of keywords while professionally dealing with the topic.

Effective SEO content writing means focusing on a problem and its solution

Why do people use search engines?

They are mostly searching for solutions to their problems. They are seeking answers to their questions. They are looking for opinions and reviews. They are looking for suggestions.

They want answers to their questions. They want solutions to their problems.

A quality SEO service knows that.

Are you solving their problems? When they visit your link, do they find what they are looking for?

Google has a way of finding whether you are delivering the promise you have made through your headline or not.

Web pages in the form of questions and answers, problems and solutions and lists of tips fare better on Google.

When people ask, “What do SEO writers do?” I tell them SEO writers convince search engines that they have exactly the answer people are looking for.

Quality of SEO content writing

Quality SEO content writing

The quality of your SEO content writing is as important as the keywords and search phrases that you use. In fact, the quality of your content is MORE important.

Effective SEO content writing these days involves writing optimized content as well as highly engaging content. Unless your writing is able to engage people, it is not going to enjoy higher search engine rankings.

Quality SEO content writing means

  • It is well-written
  • It is written in a conversational style that is easily understandable
  • It does not have factual errors
  • It delivers on the promise made in the title
  • It does not have spelling and grammar errors
  • It is unique and not a rehash of something published somewhere else
  • People feel encouraged to share with and engage with it
  • Ultimately, it convinces people into doing business with you

Ease of reading

SEO content writing and ease of reading

As mentioned above, your SEO content writing should be conversational and easily understandable, and this is one of its fundamental qualities.

Avoid using complicated jargon. Use simpler and shorter sentences. Use shorter paragraphs.

When you are writing SEO content, you are not aiming for a Pulitzer prize. You just want better search engine rankings along with creating engaging content.

This is not just important for your human readers, it is also important for search engine algorithms because when you use simpler language and a simple structure, it’s easier for them to analyze your content.

Many SEO and content experts recommend that you follow the Flesch–Kincaid readability criteria, though, I wouldn’t advise you to over-obsess with it. Just use your natural style.

The Flesch–Kincaid readability grade followers recommend that use a writing style that is easily understandable to a 6th-8th grader.

simple SEO content writing doesn't mean writing for dumb and dumber

Again, there is no need to over-simplify content because on many blogs I have seen people go to ridiculous lengths to create even single-sentence paragraphs.

Having said that, I sometimes use single-sentence paragraphs these days when I feel that a paragraph has said what it means to say.

Try to capture one thought in one paragraph.

When you are trying to find SEO writers for your SEO content writing job, make sure that your writers are not obsessed with their writing styles and understand your need.

Linking to other internal web pages and blog posts

This technically may not be a part of the fundamental qualities of effective SEO content writing. Linking to already existing web pages and blog posts on your website makes it easier for search engine crawlers to access an index content.

This also helps you avoid creating duplicate content. If there is a concept that you have already explained in another web page or blog post, why rewrite it? Using the appropriate hypertext, link to the web page of the blog post, instead. Linking to appropriate content within your website and outside of it, is an integral part of SEO content marketing.

For example, read this if you want to know what is SEO content.

Strategic use of images

Importance of images in SEO content writing

Aside from the cliché that “one picture is worth a thousand words” visuals actually help you keep your readers focused on your content.

Including images these days is an integral part of effective SEO content writing.

Most of the SEO tools advise you to maintain a particular ratio of text and images and if you don’t maintain that ratio, you get negative markings for your SEO score.

Formatting and arrangement of the text

Of course, text is important for meaningful SEO content writing, but you also need to make it easier for people to read and comprehend your content.

To achieve this, you need to format and arrange your text in a user-friendly manner. Most of the people will be accessing your content from their mobile devices. So, make sure that your content is easily readable on mobile phones.

Use headings and subheadings to organize various sections of your web page or blog post. If you need to list multiple points, use a bulleted list.

Also use the bold font type to emphasize in particular sections or words of your text.

Basically, make your text easily scannable. The information should be organized in such a manner that if a visitor simply goes through the headings, subheadings and the bullet points, he or she should be able to get the gist of your entire web page or blog post.

Length of web pages and blog posts

Google these days prefers longer web pages and blog posts. This is to weed out what they call “thin content”.

Longer web pages and blog posts are difficult to write and hence, they act as a deterrence for spammers and people who just want to create junk content to generate search engine traffic.

Try to write normally 1100-1500 words.

Does it matter?

My personal observation is, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. It depends on the sort of web pages and blog posts you are competing with.

Longer web pages and blog posts are preferred, yes, and they definitely have a positive effect on your SEO, but there is no need to go on and on if you have got nothing to say.

Remember that ultimately it is the quality of your content writing that makes the difference, not how long or how short it is. Make it relevant. Try to provide as much information as possible. Try to make it as comprehensive as possible.

So, these are the 10 fundamental qualities of effective SEO content writing. The way they are presented may change, but their inherent implication remains consistent.

Looking for a content writer for SEO? 20 qualities to look for

Leave a reply

looking-for-a-content-writer-for-SEO-20-qualities-to-look-for

Are you looking for a content writer to improve your website SEO? Hiring the right content writer for your business website and blog is very crucial.

Need web content writer for SEO?

Although it is very easy to find a content writer for SEO on the Internet, in case you end up with a bad choice, you won’t just be wasting money, you will be wasting your precious time and you will also end up with lots of poor-quality content.

Before I discuss other aspects of choosing the right content writer for not just SEO but also for your overall website conversion rate, let me quickly list 20 qualities to look for before deciding.

20 qualities to look for when you are about to hire a content writer for SEO

  1. He or she should be a prolific writer.
  2. Must have excellent command over the language he or she is writing in.
  3. Your content writer should have very strong research skills.
  4. Having a strong social media presence is a definite plus.
  5. He or she should be a fast learner.
  6. Your content writer should know the intricacies of SEO.
  7. Your content writer should also understand your need for better conversion rate.
  8. He or she should understand and acknowledge the importance of quality content.
  9. Your content writer for SEO must have great proofreading skills.
  10. He or she should be aware of the concept of following writing style guides.
  11. Your content writer must be able to strike a balance between keyword optimization and high-quality content.
  12. Having his or her website is a great plus.
  13. Having his or her own blog that is regularly updated is a very big plus.
  14. He or she should have a great response time.
  15. Your content writer must be a great communicator.
  16. He or she should be able to understand your business needs.
  17. He or she should be able to write on vertically-focused topics.
  18. Your content writer must have a conversational yet impeccable writing style.
  19. He or she should have a very strong bias against plagiarism.
  20. Your content writer should be reachable through multiple modes – email, phone and instant messaging.

These qualities of an SEO content writer will ensure a steady supply of great-quality content for your website or blog for a long time.

10 tips on how to write SEO content for your website.

What is the greatest challenge businesses face, when looking for a content writer for SEO?

greatest-challenge-when-looking-for-an-SEO-content-writer

Accountability is the greatest challenge businesses all over the world face when looking for a content writer for SEO, or rather, a content writer for any other business writing need.

The problem is, very few business-decision-makers, especially those people who are controlling content marketing departments in various companies, are aware of quality content. When they are looking for a content writer, their primary concern is improving search engine rankings through the so-called “optimized content”.

So, when they see that a content writer can cleverly use keywords and key phrases within the content, they think that they should hire this particular writer.

This is not a clever decision.

Read Why hire Credible Content writing services.

If you are serious about content marketing and also about organically improving your search engine rankings, you should look for a writer who is more interested in writing quality content than simply improving your search engine rankings.

Without quality content search engine rankings don’t matter. No matter how great your SEO is, unless your content converts, the writing doesn’t matter.

Consequently, they go with ANY writer. When they go with ANY writer, more often than not, they end up with an unreliable SEO writer, and again, consequently, they end up blaming the entire expertise for their own decision.

I have personally seen that writers who don’t understand content writing are not reliable. They are providing their services simply because it’s easier to provide writing services on the Internet. For them, it is not a business. Their stakes are not high. Many are doing content writing when they are between jobs or when they have got nothing better to do.

It is always better to go with a content writer or content writing service that’s a business.

So, the biggest challenges that businesses face while trying to hire a content writer for SEO are:

  1. Not having a clear idea of what quality content is.
  2. Hiring wrong content writer due to the lack of a clear idea of what quality content is.

How can a trained SEO content writer improve your search engine rankings as well as conversion rate?

trained-SEO-content-writerAn SEO content writer should be aware of the following concepts while creating content for you:

  • How to do keyword research.
  • How to optimize your content for appropriate keywords and search terms.
  • How to organize your content for search engine optimization.
  • Possibly, how to help you promote your content.

Agreed, capabilities mentioned above require greater expertise than a normal content writer can provide you, but if you can get all these expertise from a single source, it will be good for your business as well as your SEO.

Why keyword research is important before content writing?

Thorough keyword research gives you a direction and keeps you focused. It also gives you a clear idea of for whom you will be writing your content.

Suppose you are selling study tables. Will people be just searching for “study tables”? No, they may search for terms like

study table for kids
buy study table online
small study table
study table home delivery
study table with chair
wooden study table
bedside study table
folding study table
study table with cartoon characters
animal shaped study table

… and so on.

If you want people using these search terms to come to your website (assuming you are selling study tables) then you will be optimizing web pages and blog posts using these search terms.

But then, getting people using these search terms to your web pages and blog posts will only benefit you if many among them buy study tables from you.

This is where high-quality content matters.

Whatever people are searching for, if they are not happy with your content, they will go back and look for another website.

Anyway, once you have a list of keywords, you know what content you need to generate. You know what questions you need to answer. You know what things to tell people.

This is why it’s very important to have as comprehensive as possible a list of keywords before you start preparing (or your content writer) SEO content.

A trained content writer understands your need to optimize your content for your keywords as well as have relevant, engaging content that turns visitors into customers and clients.

Normally, when people are looking for a content writer for SEO, somehow, they end up neglecting the conversion part. Remember that the conversion rate of your content is as important as its ability to draw targeted traffic from search engines.