Search Engine Optimization or SEO is an important digital marketing strategy for businesses that want to improve the performance of their websites in terms of online visibility and searchability. This is why they make sure that what they have on their sites is SEO-friendly content.
What is SEO-friendly content?
SEO-friendly or optimized content is written in a way that search engines like Google can easily understand what it is all about.
So, when users make queries, search engines will know that your content is relevant and, therefore, include your page in the search results. In the process, you are able to build and improve your online presence, create brand awareness and identity, generate leads, and drive sales.
7 Steps for Writing SEO-friendly content
1. Search for keywords, before anything else
Before you write, research keywords to use: Semrush writes, choose just one primary keyword and a few additional keywords. Both keywords must be related. The primary keyword must be the focus of the content and then the additional keywords must strengthen the primary keyword.
Now, how do you know which keywords to use? Determine your niche and create a list of relevant topics. Additionally, you can get help from keyword research tools, such as Google AdWords and Ubersuggest.
2. Make each title catchy
Each title must capture the attention of readers so they can easily determine what your content or article is all about and what they can expect from reading it. For it to rank better, optimize your title by including the primary keyword at the start of the title. Keep it short at 60 characters.
3. Use subheadings
Make it easier for people to read your blog post or page content. Separate text into sections using subheadings. For SEO purposes, search engine robots will understand more what you write as it reads your headlines.
4. Create a structure
When your write for your web pages or blog posts, you must create a structure that will make your thoughts organized. In the introduction, start with the topic. In the body, discuss the focus or the information that you want to share. Lastly, in the conclusion, either you draw a conclusion or summarize the topic discussed.
Aside from this, structure your post in such a way that it scores higher in terms of readability. Search engines are fond of pages that are easier to read and are scannable. Here are the ways they want your content to look like:
- Shorten your paragraphs
- Create headings and subheadings
- Breakdown ideas by numbers or bullet points
- Use transition words
- Include images
5. Write unique content
Do not be mistaken. Writing unique content does not mean that your topic or ideas must be original or something that no one has written before. Unique content means that the text must not be an exact copy of somebody else’s content.
Search engines, particularly Google, can easily know if what you have on your website is duplicate content. If it finds one on your site, do not expect your site to rank.
6. Include internal links
As much as possible, link your content or blog post to other pages on your website. Google and users rely on links to find more content on your website. Users click links to navigate to other pages or to visit the content of the pages they are interested in.
Same with Google and other search engines; they will not be able to find a page without links included in the content. Additionally, internal links help Google understand your website more.
7. Consider the length of your blog post or content
A few hundreds of words are no longer attractive. Users want to read more details. They prefer to see the information they need. They want answers to their questions. Check with your competitors and see the average word count for each page. Otherwise, SEO-friendly content must at least contain 500 words.
These are only some of the effective ways to write SEO-friendly content. You will discover a lot more as you continue to learn more about SEO. But, these tips should be enough for Google to index your content and for users to appreciate them because they are informative.
At first, your page may not rank even with your SEO-friendly content. But never give up. Continue writing high-quality optimized content and make sure to do some link building for better SEO, too.
