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I was just reviewing a web hosting package for someone I know and came across an add-on package that tells you whether you are publishing SEO-friendly content or not.
Do these “SEO packages” really help? What about the SEO add-ons? I recently removed an SEO plug-in from my WordPress setup.
SEO is of two types:
Structural SEO
Content-based SEO
Although there are also on-site and off-site SEO tactics, but in the context of my current blog post, I’m just going to stick to the two above-mentioned SEO types.
What is structural SEO?
This makes sure that the basic structure of your website or web pages/blog posts is SEO-friendly.
To make sense of your web page or your blog post, the search engines like Google take into consideration the keywords within your title. This is debatable, but most of the SEO experts agree that a title containing your keywords is particularly important.
Your title is also important because it appears in search engine listings as a hyperlink.
Screenshot of title and description.
Multiple studies have revealed that if your title contains the words that have just been used in the search query, the greater number of people click your link.
The same goes with the description. Your keywords or parts of your keywords should appear in your description because then these keywords are highlighted by Google.
Hence, every web page for every blog post must have a clearly defined title and a description.
There is also a “keywords” meta tag but it is no longer relevant.
Another important aspect of structural SEO is, how easy it is for the search engine crawlers to access your main content.
If the crawler has to go through lots of source code (JavaScript, CSS, HTML, add-ons and plug-ins) before accessing your actual content, this negatively affects your search engine rankings. It is because sometimes the crawler leaves your website or a particular web page or blog post without even evaluating your main content because most of its time goes into crossing the jungle of your source code.
How fast your web page or blog post loads also has a direct impact on your overall search engine rankings. Make sure that your web pages and blog posts load fast, preferably within three seconds.
So, these are the components of structural SEO:
The title containing the main keyword or the search query.
Various combinations of the keyword or the search query in the description.
Easy access to the main content for the search engine crawlers.
Faster loading blog posts and web pages.
Most of the content management systems these days allow you to preset these structural SEO components. For example, in WordPress you can use Yoast SEO to make sure that whenever you publish a new web page or blog post, you separately enter the title and the description.
Structural SEO is not something that you need to do repeatedly.
What is content-based SEO?
It is mostly writing content that is most suitable to the query being used by your user.
Suppose a user looks for “Which is the best content writing service in India?”
To satisfy this query, you can either list 10-15 content writing services and then choose the best among them, or you can explain why your content writing service is the best in India.
In both the cases, you should remain true to the topic. You must talk about the best content writing service in India. When the user visits this link, he or she should get the answer he or she is looking for.
This doesn’t mean that the answer must be perfect. Maybe the search engine user doesn’t want to find information about your content writing service or why your content writing service is the best. He or she may be just looking for a comparative analysis of multiple content writing services.
Whatever you write, just make sure that you are providing an answer to the question being asked.
The next thing to keep in mind is, mention the main query or the keyword within the first 100 words. There is a logical reason.
The search engine crawler doesn’t always go through your entire text. It may simply go through the first few paragraphs, or even less. Hence it is important that the crawler comes across your main keyword or the main search query string as early as possible.
Other than this, there is no need to obsess about SEO. Focus on the quality, and to an extent the quantity of your content. Publish regularly. Right on relevant topics. It doesn’t matter whether you write 400 words or 4000 words.
What matters is the substance. Don’t necessarily extend the length of your web pages or blog posts simply because research has proven that most of the web pages and blog posts that get featured on the first search result page contain more than 1300 words. It differs from industry to industry.
The importance of SEO copywriting in search engine marketing.
Search engine marketing or SEM involves improving your organic search engine rankings and search engine advertising through PPC campaigns or other engagements.
The importance of SEO copywriting rests in the fact that it improves the quality of your SEM strategy from multiple angles.
Many businesses use a combination of organic SEO and paid search engine placements.
I have observed that if you initially pay Google for placements, even your organic search engine rankings begin to appear faster in the search results.
Hence, it is better that if you have just started publishing quality content and Google hasn’t yet started crawling and indexing your content on regular basis, you can gain quick visibility through running up few PPC campaigns.
How does SEO copywriting help you in SEM? Why is it important?
As mentioned above, how you define search engine marketing depends on your strategy.
You may want to completely depend on improving your organic search engine rankings.
You may not want to spend a lot of money and effort on high quality content, but you quickly want to increase your search engine visibility and you’re ready to pay for every click that you get.
Normally this happens when people are not aware of the benefits of improving their organic search engine rankings through strategic SEO copywriting and instead, they want to go for a quick fix.
Paid advertising is costly. You are paying for every click.
The search engine users know that since you cannot improve your rankings naturally, you are paying to increase your visibility.
Hence, trust factor is lower compared to organic SEO.
I’m not saying that you should refrain from paid search engine marketing altogether.
In fact, you can make strategic use of it.
But you shouldn’t make it into a major search engine marketing strategy.
The ultimate goal is to improve your SEO organically, and this is where SEO copywriting can help you.
Below I am listing a few reasons why SEO copywriting is important for your search engine marketing strategy whether you want to pay for your visibility you want to improve your SEO organically.
SEO copywriting reduces your PPC costs
When you pay Google for your search engine placements, you have a PPC arrangement.
There are also other modes of advertising, but this is the most prevalent one.
You pay for every click.
Your listing appears in the “sponsored” section.
Google declares it openly that you are paying for the placement and your content is not appearing in the search results because of its inherent quality and relevance.
This happens with every search engine. I’m using the name of Google because it is one of the most used search engines in the world with more than 97% market share.
So how does effective SEO copywriting reduce your PPC costs?
In two ways:
Through actual reduction in the amount of money you pay per click.
Through improving your ROI – you generate more business per click.
It is in Google’s interest that more people click your sponsored link because you are paying for every click.
But then, after a while, it will be counter-productive because paying for every click will prove to be so expensive that you may have to deactivate your campaign for a while.
Google doesn’t want to kill the goose that lays golden eggs.
Hence, it rewards you by reducing your PPC rate if your placement generates more clicks.
The amount of money that you pay is inversely proportional to the number of clicks you can generate.
Through efficient copywriting, you can make more people click your paid placements and as a result, end up paying less to Google.
Suppose, initially you pay $ 0.5 per click for your current placement.
The copy of your ad is really good and it encourages more people to click your advertisement.
After a while, Google begins to charge you $ 0.45 per click for the same position.
This way, Google will go on decreasing your PPC if more people click your ad.
This is one way copywriting brings down your search engine marketing costs if you are paying for your placements.
The other way is by increasing your ROI.
In a PPC campaign, you use aMr landing page.
If you get 100 clicks from Google, you expect to make at least 5 sales.
If your SEO copywriting is not convincing, you may make 2-3 sales per 100 clicks, or even less.
If your copywriting is convincing, you may make even 10 sales per 100 clicks.
Hence, the success of your PPC campaigns depends on how convincing and well written the copy on your landing page is.
SEO copywriting organically improves your rankings for your main keywords
You need to resort to paid advertising on Google because you don’t have good organic search engine rankings for your main keywords.
If your links naturally appear in the SERPs, then there is no need for you to pay for the placements.
Just imagine – if you go for paid placements, you are paying for every click.
Referring to the above example, if you are paying $ 0.5 per click, for 100 clicks, you will be paying $ 50. For 1000 clicks, you will be paying $ 500. And so on.
But what happens if you organically improve your search engine rankings?
People can find your links among the top results and when they click your links, you don’t pay for those clicks.
Hence, whether you get 100 clicks or 10,000 clicks, your cost doesn’t increase.
In fact, it is free traffic.
Can you easily increase your rankings for your primary keywords?
Not if you have great competition.
For example, if I want to improve my search engine rankings for “SEO copywriting services”, it may be very difficult because top content writing and copywriting services are already ranking quite high compared to my website.
So, what do I do?
This brings us to the next topic…
SEO copywriting organically improves your rankings for longtail and related keywords
While you continue with your effort of improving your rankings for primary keywords, you should first focus on improving your rankings for longtail and related keywords.
Hence, instead of aiming for “SEO copywriting services”, I may aim for “The top 10 benefits of SEO copywriting”.
If you’re running a real estate business in Mumbai, instead of trying to just improve your rankings for “real estate business in Mumbai” you can write content around “Why it makes sense to work with a local real estate business in Mumbai”.
Longtail keywords may not directly bring your business, but they increase your visibility and then this visibility brings you business.
If you publish informative content covering your longtail keywords, other websites and blogs have a reason to link to your website or share your link on their social media timelines.
This brings you the much needed visibility.
When people link back to you, it also improve your search engine rankings for your primary keywords.
Effective SEO copywriting brings down your bounce rate
Your bounce rate has a direct impact on your search engine rankings.
Your bounce rate tells Google whether you have valuable content on your website or not.
If people immediately leave your website after finding your content in search results, it tells Google that people are unable to find what they’re looking for, for the keyword they are using and finding your content.
Here is a small video that explains the relationship between your bounce rate and search engine rankings:
Hence, your content begins to lose its current rankings for the keyword.
Again, I will give my own example.
If someone searches for “best SEO copywriting services in my area” and comes to my website and within a few seconds goes back to Google to carry on the same search, Google downgrades my current rankings for the search term “best SEO copywriting services in my area” because it assumes that my website doesn’t have relevant information for the topic.
On the other hand, for the same search term when someone finds my link and goes to my website and spends some time going through my web page and even explores other webpages for a few minutes, it tells Google that my website has relevant information and consequently, it upgrades my rankings for the same search term.
This is how your bounce rate affects your current search engine rankings.
Relevant SEO copywriting gets you more backlinks
Getting authoritative backlinks is an inalienable part of your SEM.
All these attributes can be incorporated through relevant SEO copywriting practices.
Concluding remarks
SEO copywriting is a big part of your search engine marketing strategy.
It renders a direction to your SEM.
It brings down your costs.
It gives you lasting search engine visibility once you have been able to convince Google that your content is relevant for particular keywords and search terms.
Main copywriting mistakes covered in this blog post:
Writing without having a central vision.
Ignoring search intent or buyer intent.
Not doing methodical keyword research.
Using too many complex and compound sentences and big paragraphs.
Not using the main keyword synonyms and LSI alternatives.
Not writing the copy from the user’s perspective.
Using main keywords when linking to internal links (something new that I have learnt).
SEO copywriting is intended to improve your search engine rankings.
Want to know which SEO copywriting mistakes to avoid so that you don’t harm your SEO?
There is a complete branch dedicated to such writing.
There are numerous blogs that teach you how to improve your search engine rankings through targeted web copywriting.
The problem with pursuing web page writing mainly with the objective of improving your search engine rankings can be a double-edged sword.
Standard SEO copywriting process.
Normally, people who want to improve their SEO do the following
Create a list of keywords and search terms they think people should be using to find their websites.
Create titles and topics around those keywords and search terms.
Write and publish content based on those titles and topics.
In theory there is nothing wrong in this approach but then there may be something completely wrong in it.
Remember that the purpose of optimization is not to get traffic for your keywords.
The purpose of optimization is to help people find your useful content so that they can find the information they are looking for.
Hence, if you’re using copywriting just to improve your SEO, you may be harming your search engine rankings instead of improving them.
Fortunately, most of the copywriting mistakes are easily avoidable and you just need to make some tweaks and keep in mind certain aspects when preparing the copy of your web page.
I’m listing below some copywriting mistakes that are bad for your SEO.
1. Not having a vision for your
In my profession, content writing and copywriting are often interchanged so for the purpose of this blog post, you can assume that whatever I’m writing about SEO copywriting, I’m also writing about content writing.
Although, in terms of advertising and sales copy writing, copywriting is different from content writing, but when it comes to writing for the web, many people use this term interchangeably.
With this minor detail out of the way, whenever you’re writing the copy of a web page or blog post, it is very important to have a vision.
What does “vision” mean here?
What is the purpose of writing that web page?
What do you want to achieve with this blog post?
What am I trying to achieve with this blog post?
The simplest answer would be, I’m trying to improve my search engine rankings for the phrase “SEO copywriting” and even “copywriting mistakes” and I won’t deny that.
But, better search engine rankings for these phrases will be a byproduct.
In the video below, I have explained this concept by comparing your higher search engine rankings with the money that you earn by providing a product or a service.
My primary aim is to provide you the best possible content on this subject.
After reading this blog post, you should have a list of copywriting mistakes that you can avoid to improve your search engine rankings.
Instead of just talking about this copywriting mistakes and listing them, I’m also suggesting improvements.
Similarly, for every web page and for every blog post, you must have a clear vision, a clear purpose, of what you’re trying to achieve, not just in terms of improving your SEO, but also in terms of providing the best possible value to your readers.
2. Ignoring search intent when copywriting
This is one of the most important SEO copywriting mistakes to avoid.
Search intent is gaining importance with every passing day.
What intention do people have when they search for your content?
Here is a small video I created to explain what is search intent.
For example, what intent would there be, when people are looking for this blog post?
They want to improve their search engine rankings.
They want to avoid content writing and copywriting mistakes so that they don’t inadvertently harm their search engine rankings instead of improving them.
They want to learn from the mistakes of the others.
Knowing the search intent helps you take the right direction.
Your copywriting must always be focused on a particular search intent.
Do you simply want to educate and inform (like this blog post)?
Do you want people to buy from you after reading your web page or blog post?
Do you want them to download your e-book or white paper or case study?
Do you want them to subscribe to your newsletter?
Search intent is also known as “buyer intent”.
3. Not doing proper keyword research
All said and done, keywords are still matter.
Google, when analyzing your text, looks for patterns to make sense of what you’re trying to say or convey to the reader.
It analyzes every possible combination.
For example, for me, what matters is the keyword “copywriting mistakes”, but to Google, in the above paragraph, even “when analyzing your text” is as important as “copywriting mistakes”.
The Google algorithm is least bothered with what you think is your important keyword.
It goes through every single word and every single phrase and does its computations.
Hence, the words that you use when you are writing your copy are very important.
It is an age-old advice: choose your words carefully.
The same applies to selecting your keywords when copywriting.
Not making a list of the right keywords may send you on a tangent and you may end up optimizing your copy for all the wrong keywords.
Wondering why your traffic is increasing but your business is not?
It is because you are attracting traffic for all the wrong reasons.
You may be optimizing your content for the wrong keywords.
4. Not using simple sentences when preparing your copy
A few years ago, I read that the processing power of a supercomputer is less than the processing power of the brain of an earthworm.
No matter how smart machine learning becomes, it gets confused when you use compound sentences.
I often come across webpages and blog posts containing complex sentences.
People use lots of ands, alsos and buts.
Compound and complex sentences may make you sound smarter and intelligent, to the search engine algorithm, they are confounding.
For better SEO, it is always advisable to use simple sentences.
Don’t use multiple sentences in a paragraph.
Try to limit your sentences to 5-10 words and not more.
Of course, it is not possible all the time, but whenever you are talking about the central theme, for example, the biggest benefit of doing business with you, use single, simple sentences in every paragraph.
5. Ignoring to use synonyms and LSI keywords
Instead of saying “I want to improve my SEO” every time you need to use this expression, sometimes you can also use “I want to improve my search engine rankings”, or even, “I want to improve my Google rankings”, or even, “I want higher rankings for my web pages”.
You need to dominate your copy with the central theme, and this may require you to use your keywords repeatedly.
Hence, instead of “harm your SEO”, I can also use “hurt your SEO” or “adversely affect your rankings”.
This is because if you keep on using your main keywords Google may take it as keyword stuffing, which it actually is.
If you repeatedly use your keywords without alternating between LSI keywords and actual keywords, it will harm your SEO instead of improving it.
LSI stands for “Latent Semantic Indexing”.
It is a natural language processing technology that helps Google understand the context of your content rather than merely analyzing keywords.
For example, when you search for “what are the benefits of having an apple everyday” through LSI Google knows that you’re talking about the fruit and not the company.
There is another benefit of using LSI as well as synonym keywords.
Not everyone uses the same search term when looking for information.
For example, instead of someone searching for “copywriting mistakes”, he or she can also search for “bad copywriting” or “copywriting blunders” or “what makes my copywriting harm my SEO?” or “what makes my copywriting suck?”
Hence, accommodating different keywords and search terms increases the scope of your content being rank for different keywords without diluting the central topic.
6. Not writing from user’s perspective
Again, one of the most common SEO mistakes to avoid.
This is important for your rankings as well as conversion rate.
Why does your content exist, after all?
It exists to serve your readers.
Why do search engines like Google exist?
They are there to help you find the information you’re looking for.
From every angle, it is a human angle.
If you ignore the human angle and write your copy only to cater to the algorithms, the entire purpose of SEO is defeated.
The Google search algorithm depends a lot on how people perceive the quality of your content or copywriting.
When writing copy for your web pages and blog posts, you’re often encouraged to link to other inner pages of your website and even external pages when you want to link to the source of your information.
Google sees this as an act of manipulation.
Since you cannot control how people link to your website, Google doesn’t penalize you if your main keywords are used as anchor text from other websites, but for interlinking (linking to your own web pages and blog posts within your domain), instead of using something like SEO copywriting as anchor text, use a long phrase.
Until a few years ago, I remember this was a prevalent advice that you should use your primary keywords as anchor text when linking to different parts of your website or blog, but it remains no longer kosher.
You can read in the above link, you can get penalized for this.
Concluding remarks the most common SEO copywriting mistakes to avoid
Whenever you are copywriting there is a 99% chance that you are doing it to improve your search engine rankings.
There is nothing wrong in that.
The biggest mistake I have come across is that when clients approach me for my copywriting services, they are less concerned about providing value to the readers and more concerned about “the keyword density must be around 3-5%”.
It rarely happens that a client says that I should first focus on quality and then, if possible, I should include the main keywords.
Anyway, the purpose of writing this blog post was to throw some light on the issues that can negatively impact your search engine rankings while in the sincerity of your heart, you are trying to improve it with certain copywriting practices.
Ummm… yes, I know, the above sentence is not good for SEO.
Voice search optimization means writing your content in a language that people use when speaking.
You write shorter sentences. You avoid using complicated words. You write in the form of questions and answers.
30% of all search is voice search these days. More than 60% of Amazon Echo and Google Home users don’t plan to go back to using keyboard for looking up for information.
2019 voice search statistics
Voice-enabled interfaces are increasingly being used, including Siri, Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant.
As the number and sophistication of voice-controlled and voice-enabled devices increase, it is becoming more important to take voice search optimization seriously.
What is voice search optimization?
Optimization for search engines still includes using the right language and the right keywords. Keyword optimization isn’t going anywhere.
Voice search means writing your content the way people talk, the way people use their voice to interact with their devices.
You must know that the way we talk and the way we write are different.
Normally, the words and phrases that you use when you’re writing, are quite different from the words and phrases that you use when speaking.
Write like people converse
When you speak, you use more day-to-day words. You speak smaller sentences. You don’t use lots of conjunctions.
When you use voice search, you don’t use very stiff language. You use conversational queries. You talk as if someone is sitting in front of you.
Another very important thing is that you don’t use monosyllables or mere keywords to search. You use complete sentences or complete questions.
Remember longtail?
Suppose you have a mobile app development business and you are looking for a content writer for your website. When using voice search, you may say, “who is the best content writer for my web design business?” Or “find me the best content writing service for my web design website”.
Since it is easier and convenient to say instead of write, people tend to use very precise queries.
You optimize for longer expressions, sometimes complete sentences.
You use very simple language, and to the point, shorter sentences.
Include the most important information in the beginning itself because when people use voice search, their devices talk back to them based on the information they find on your web page or blog post.
Another big reason why the language that you use must be very simple and straightforward is because when people speak into their devices, they hear back from their devices.
So, for example, if someone uses the Google Assistant to search for information, and if Google finds your link, it is going to read the first paragraph to the searcher.
It will be easier for the searcher to understand what is being said if the sentences are shorter and straightforward and the words are easier to pronounce.
Why optimize for voice search?
People use voice search because it is faster. Of course it helps that it is also becoming easier and more accurate. Even back in 2017 the Google Assistant was almost as efficient as humans when it comes to understanding and processing language.
Sometimes you don’t even have to pick up your phone. You can just trigger the voice enabled interface (“Hey Google”, for example) and search for information. Then through the speaker you will hear the result. You can go on doing whatever you are doing without having to physically interact with your device.
Devices are becoming more efficient in listening to what is being said and then finding the information accordingly. Which means, many people use voice search and voice commands just by default, without even realizing how the technology has advanced over the years.
Why optimize for voice search?
Because optimizing for voice search helps you whether people are using voice to search for you or typing using the keyboard. Voice optimization also helps you optimize your content organically.
Search engines like Google are preferring voice-optimized content over traditional content.
How to optimize for voice search when writing content
Many people fear that if they right very simple content it doesn’t sound professional.
This is not the case. You can see it on my website or blog. I don’t use very complicated or highfalutin words.
Nonetheless, you won’t say that my writing is unprofessional.
Simple writing doesn’t mean writing unprofessionally. If you have lots of grammar and spelling mistakes, then your writing is unprofessional.
If you have a very pedantic style of writing, even then you seem unprofessional because unnecessarily complicated writing means you lack confidence.
Here are some things you can do to optimize your content for voice search:
Write in the form of question and answer
Write if you are providing an answer to a question.
For example, do I provide content writing services to help you improve your search rankings for voice?
Yes.
And then I explain how I achieve that for you.
Optimizing for search, or for that matter, even in the conventional sense, isn’t a matter of hurry.
Develop an understanding of how people talk, what words they use, when they talk about your business or the product or service you sell.
Then use that language to write your content.
Provide the answer in the beginning itself
It is understandable that you want to provide as much information as possible on your web page or blog post.
It is often advised that you should create very long blog posts – 3000+ words – for better search engine rankings. So, you must wonder, if you spill the beans in the beginning itself, what do you cover in the remaining copy?
In the beginning, provide the answer in a gist so that when the person hears it, he or she gets the needed answer for the question that has just been asked.
Then, in the remaining copy you can explain various steps.
Since longform content is better than “thin” content, I have observed that many writers needlessly inflate their writing with lots of information and stats. Especially in the beginning.
For example, if you want to learn how to optimize your content for voice search, is it really important for you to know how many people right now are using voice enabled devices?
You already know how important it is to optimize for voice search and this is why you’re looking for information.
Sure, stats are important. Graphs are important. Data analysis is important.
But you don’t have to cram everything in the beginning just to build a case for yourself.
Having said that, if you really want to pack lots of information, you can do that later, as an add-on.
Write simpler sentences
Again, simple language does not mean unprofessional writing. It simply means not beating around the bush.
When you are writing content, every sentence must solve a purpose. It must have a reason to exist. When you are writing a sentence, think whether it is adding value to your overall writing or not. If it is not adding any value and you are using it just to show off your writing skills, remove it.
The same goes for difficult words. When you’re writing professional content – content for a business website or blog – it is not an opportunity for you to showcase your writing skills.
You are writing so that more people convert. For that, without having to make lots of effort, they should be able to understand your copy and then decide whether they want to buy from the website or not.
Hence, be specific. Don’t try to capture multiple ideas in a single sentence. Use one sentence for one idea.
Make your content as relevant as possible
Remember that compared to conventional way of searching, voice search is very precise and at the same time, random.
In the conventional way of searching (using your fingers to type the query) you get to see multiple results in front of you. If you don’t find the first result satisfying, you can click the second or the third result or even the 10th result.
This is not the case with voice search. Google (or another voice assistant) simply starts reading what it thinks is the best result. There are no alternatives. There is only one top result. So, give your best.
Use conversational keywords when writing content for voice search
Spend some time observing people. Don’t depend a lot on “keyword tools” because they create noise and stop you from thinking from the perspective of your users or visitors.
Talk to people if you can. Ask them what they would search for if they need to buy your product or service.
Maybe initially you won’t get the answers you’re looking for. Keep trying.
Make a list of keywords people actually use and then weave your content around these keywords.
Know what is the intention and then write accordingly
Billions of searches are done on Google alone with different intentions.
When optimizing your content for better rankings – whether for voice or for the usual text/typing – knowing the intention of the searcher is very important. Even small things can make a big difference.
Why do people look for the information they’re looking for?
Do they want to compared two gadgets to decide which one is the better to buy?
Do they want to educate themselves to make another, related decision?
Are they simply searching for the name of the company to find the URL and then go to the website?
Broadly, there are three types of search intents:
Informational intent
Navigational intent
Transactional intent
In informational intent, you are simply seeking information, for example, “why were the pyramids of Giza built?”
or “which is the best historical tourist destination in South India?”
or “how to optimize my writing for voice search?”
These are instances of searching for information. You don’t intend to buy something, at least not right now.
Optimizing for informational intent brings you exposure even if does not bring you customers and clients with a desire to buy something immediately. It is good for branding and visibility.
In navigational intent, people simply want to go to the website but either don’t want to type the URL or don’t know what’s the URL.
You may search for “credible content” to go to credible-content.com.
You may search for “Twitter advanced search” to find the section on Twitter that allows you to do advanced search.
“Knitters club website in Wisconsin” to find a website of some knitters club.
Transactional intent is for buying. It may not be immediate buying, but the person carrying out a transactional search is about to buy. He or she is just looking for the right thing or the right information. For example “MacBook Pro rates in Washington”.
Hence, for voice search optimization, you may first decide which searcher’s intent you want to target and then write content accordingly.
You can target any intent because they all have their uses.
Conclusion
Finally, all boils down to relevance and ease of use. This is something that cannot be stressed enough.
Be highly useful so that your content comes up in search results for voice. And explain your point as clearly as possible so that people can understand it when the device is narrating your information.
Using SEO copywriting to get relevant search engine traffic
Anybody can get traffic from search engines. Very few can get relevant traffic.
Well thought of SEO copywriting can help you get more relevant traffic from search engines, as rightly suggested by this Copyblogger blog post.
What is SEO copywriting?
SEO copywriting means writing content on your website or blog with the intention of improving your search engine rankings but at the same time, maintaining the quality and the engagement level of your writing.
Copywriting is all about convincing your visitors into performing the action that you want them to perform once they are on your website or blog.
Although, you are mostly writing content for your website or blog, many people prefer to call this form of writing as copywriting because you are constantly selling something whether it is the idea of downloading your e-book or further exploring your web pages or submitting your contact form or subscribing to your email updates.
When you also add the aspect of SEO (search engine optimization) it means using words, phrases and expressions that give Google and other search engines the exact idea of what you are communicating or what information you are providing to your visitors when they visit that particular link.
It then helps the search engines rank your content for those particular words and expressions (what you call keywords).
Using SEO copywriting to get relevant traffic
As mentioned above, relevant traffic means getting traffic that converts. Relevant traffic should increase your sales.
There are many ways you can use SEO copywriting to get relevant traffic to your website or blog.
Use highly focused content for better SEO
The above Copyblogger post suggests that you aim for a “minimum viable audience”. This immediately rings a bell.
Just today I was explaining to a client (mobile app development) that one single blog post shouldn’t try to contain all possible keywords and search terms for better SEO copywriting.
Instead, focus on solving one single problem and then provide a solution.
I know, in the times of longform content it is often suggested that comprehensive blog posts must be created that cover every possible topic related to the main, big topic.
Though, there is nothing wrong in doing that, but as much as possible, don’t dilute your content.
According to recent Google updates, it is not the length of your content that improves your SEO, but the relevance, the value that you provide.
Also, it is not possible for everyone to create 3000+ word blog posts with regularity.
Instead, focus on as narrow a niche as possible.
Don’t overlook location-based SEO copywriting
Suppose you provide accounting services in London. It’s no use optimizing your copywriting for keywords like “accounting services”, “bookkeeping services” and “accountant services” because these are highly competitive terms.
You have a better chance of ranking well if you concentrate on writing content for terms like “accounting services in London” and “bookkeeping services in London”.
Want to narrow down more?
Suppose you mostly serve clients in Notting Hill. Then why not focus on “accounting services in Notting Hill”?
If you can create lots of web pages and blog posts on how well received your accounting services are in Notting Hill, you will surely get relevant traffic and generate more local business.
Aim for less competitive keywords
A bit old advice, but still relevant.
High-competition keywords can take you ages especially when scores of websites and blogs are already ranking well for them. They must have toiled for months and even years to reach that position and you will need to do the same (or wait for a stroke of luck).
On the other hand, make a list of less competitive keywords, what they call “low hanging fruits”.
You may think that you will get less traffic for those less competitive keywords, but at least there will be some traffic in the foreseeable future. It is better than having no traffic.
Follow time-tested SEO conventions during copywriting
An increasing number of Google updates focus less on the language that you use and more on the intent with which you write and publish content. Nonetheless, the words that you use still matter.
Hence, use your main keyword within the first 100 words of your write-up. The logic is that sometimes the search engine crawler leaves your website without reading further. This is why, it is very important to hit upon the main topic as early as possible so that the crawler doesn’t miss the main point.
Aside from this, use your main keyword in the title of your web page or blog post and if possible, let your keyword appear in your URL.
It is understandable that you get a high when Google Analytics shows a rising graph of your search engine traffic. But unless that traffic increases your business, it is of no use.
This is why, when SEO copywriting, don’t focus on generating traffic, focus on getting relevant traffic.
