When your customers turn to Google for information, your website should appear near the top of search results. These coveted spots are key to attracting new audiences and generating sales. But to rise through the ranks, you need rich content optimized for both search engines and readers.
Expert SEO content writers can help you build a steady output of articles, blog posts and other content to boost your online visibility. In this guide, we’ll look at how optimized content helps achieve your business goals and the role SEO content writing services can play.
What Is SEO Content Writing?
SEO content writing is the creation of high-quality content that gives your site prominence in search engines. The content should use search engine optimization best practices for optimum ranking and be insightful and compelling for readers.
What Does SEO Content Look Like?
To land one of the top spots in the SERPs, your content needs to clearly satisfy a search query, cover a topic comprehensively and demonstrate that you’re a trusted, expert source. You can read more in our previous post about optimizing content for SEO, but here are some best practices to follow.
Incorporate Relevant Keywords
Each piece of content should focus on a different primary keyword. Most SEOs recommend placing the primary keyword in the title, the introduction, one H2, the meta title and the meta description. Primary and secondary keywords should also be used at least once naturally in the body.
Understand User Intent
Make sure your content answers a user’s query. For example, determine if someone who searches for “nutritious baby food” is interested in ideas of what to feed a baby or actual products they can purchase. You can research user intent by entering the keyword into Google to see what kind of content is currently ranking.
Write for the Reader
While you should optimize your site for search engines, don’t get caught up in the algorithms. Your SEO content marketing strategy is most effective when you write naturally for the reader and aim to deliver comprehensive, useful information. Readers should find value in your content and leave your site feeling their questions have been answered.
Make Content Easy to Consume
Readers should effortlessly understand your content, so be sure to edit for logic, flow and grammar. Write clearly, use multiple headings to organize content and make use of bullet points or lists.
Guide Readers With Internal Links
Improve user engagement and experience by adding internal links to other sections of your site, such as service pages or blog posts. These links help direct readers to additional information they might be interested in to keep them on your site longer.
Build Backlinks
Inbound links from other sources demonstrate your site is trusted and contains useful content. You can earn backlinks through guest posts or reach out to other sites and ask for links from resource pages or business mentions.
Why SEO Content is Important
Every piece of content on your site is an opportunity for your business to rank in search results and be discovered by audiences. In this way, SEO content writing is an investment. As long as content is evergreen and optimized, it can remain on your site and continue working for you long after it’s published. Here are a few ways SEO content can help you achieve your goals.
Improving Search Visibility
When users plug a query into the search box, they may not know your business exists. If you can create content that readers find valuable and that Google determines is trustworthy, you can reach a whole new audience and increase brand awareness.
Driving Organic Traffic
It’s worth it to aim high in search rankings. According to Backlinko, the top three search results generate half of the clicks on the page. On average, moving up a position improves click-through rates by almost 3%.
To help turn your high ranking into leads, use compelling meta titles and descriptions or add schema markup to your pages to create rich, visually appealing results.
Establishing Topical Authority
To rank well, your site must be authoritative. One way to signal your credibility to Google is to demonstrate expertise, or topical authority, in your field. The more thoroughly you cover a topic, the more authority you have.
Expand your digital footprint for a topic by using SEO content services to publish regularly and create clusters of expert articles.
Improving Customer Engagement
Once customers arrive on your site, engage them with stellar content. Publish blog posts on interesting topics and create eye-catching infographics, free downloadable templates and other helpful content.
This is also an opportunity to gently lead visitors through your marketing funnel. You might link from a service page to a case study, for example, to demonstrate how impactful your business is. Or you can end a blog post with a compelling CTA and a sign-up form for a free consultation.
Building an Effective SEO Content Strategy
A good SEO content strategy begins with keyword research. You need to know what your customers are interested in and searching for so that you can tailor content to answer their queries. Once you have a list of keywords, begin planning the content and create an editorial calendar to roll out new posts. An SEO content service can help manage output. Here are some types of content you can outsource.
Blog Posts
Blog posts are an opportunity to incorporate keywords into your website and create compelling content. When you regularly publish blog posts, you give readers a reason to return to your site and build trust and engagement.
Service Pages
Create a separate service page for each of your offerings. This gives you an opportunity to rank for different queries. A photographer, for example, could create individual pages for wedding, newborn and portrait photography. You can delve deeper into what each service provides, improving user experience and, of course, ranking for more keywords.
Local SEO Content
When your business relies on local customers, it’s essential to appear in searches that specify “in” or “near” your community. Local SEO starts with your Google Business Profile, which can be optimized to highlight products and services and provide mini-updates. But you should also create website content with a local angle. A fitness studio might publish a blog post on local running trails, and a landscaping company can provide tips on plants that grow well in the climate.
Ebooks and White Papers
Long-form SEO content marketing, such as white papers and ebooks, helps you showcase your expertise in your field and drives interested customers to your site. Typically used by B2B companies, these assets provide readers with in-depth information about a problem or challenge. Ebooks and white papers should be based on solid research, provide actionable advice and focus on educating rather than selling.
According to a 2022 survey by the Content Marketing Institute, 67% of the most successful B2B content marketers incorporated ebooks and white papers into their marketing mix, compared to 56% of all respondents.
Product Descriptions
Customers looking for a specific product may not always know where they want to purchase from, so ecommerce companies need compelling product descriptions for every item in their stores. Product descriptions should incorporate a keyword and be as descriptive as possible to stand out in search results.
Category Pages
Include SEO content on category pages to help rank for other keywords. You can add a few paragraphs with an overview of products or tips on choosing the right one. A store selling rugs, for example, could create content for their outdoor rug category with information about different materials and how to care for the rugs.
Leverage Experts and Influencers
Another way to drive traffic to your site is by focusing content on experts or influencers in your niche. You could interview them for a profile or mention their work in an article. This provides an opportunity for them to create a backlink to your page or share it on social media. Your page might also appear in Google searches for the person or company.
Guest Posts
A guest post is content that you create but is published on another site. Guest posts help raise brand awareness and expose your business to new audiences. These are often used as part of a link-building strategy, as sites usually permit you to add a link back to your site.
Accomplish More With SEO Content Writing Services
It can be time-consuming to produce well-written, high-quality content. Streamline your efforts with Crowd Content’s SEO content writing services. Our qualified writers can create keyword-rich blog posts, landing pages and product descriptions to help engage your audiences and grow your traffic.
