Is Your SEO Copywriting Really Helpful? 6 Key Points to Focus On

Do you create content for your SEO strategy? Or are you using your SEO strategy to create content for your audience?

They are not the same thing.

If you have trouble with SEO copywriting, you might be writing for Google instead of your audience.

To succeed in search engine optimization copywriting, you need to switch gears. Write for people, not search engines.

Here are six ways to improve your SEO copywriting, along with tips on prioritizing people while boosting your search engine rankings.

What Is SEO Copywriting and Why Is It Important?

Let’s take a look at the relationship between SEO and copywriting and answer some common questions.

What does SEO copywriting mean?

SEO copywriting is creating content that will appear in search engines.

Why is SEO copywriting important?

Focusing on search engine optimization is crucial. About 68% of online experiences begin on a search engine. The higher you rank, the more traffic you attract, as long as your content engages readers.

Do you need to learn SEO for copywriting?

You don’t need to know SEO to be a copywriter—but it helps improve your search engine ranking.

Should you hire an SEO copywriter for your website?

If you are unsure how to optimize your content for the web, an SEO copywriter can help. They bring extensive knowledge and experience in creating content that is audience-focused and optimized for search engine rankings.

Is Your SEO Copywriting Working?

We can all fall into the trap of wanting visibility at the cost of our audience. Gaining visibility is only the first step.

To make your SEO copywriting helpful, look past the initial search engine ranking. Think about the reader who will click on the content and interact with it.

Our end goal is to reach people, not to appease an algorithm. Google’s search engine is merely the avenue to move your content to your audience.

Google prioritizes content that is truly helpful to people, even if you don’t follow all the SEO rules.

What the Google Leak Revealed

I know, putting your checklist of SEO strategies on the back burner feels risky. However, Google itself advised SEO writers to do this.

Earlier this year, the Google SEO leak revealed more about what goes into the search engine algorithm. It showed what Google aims to achieve with its algorithm, not only revealing the ranking factors it uses, but also how it might evolve in the future.

Google aims to find the most valuable and relevant content for the audience and bring it to the front. Today, the algorithm uses keywords and backlinks—tomorrow, it might use new methods to sniff out top-quality content.

To prepare for future algorithm changes, create content that is just what Google is looking for: audience-centric, high-quality, relevant information.

Here are a few ways Google evaluates content quality:

• Effort: Google assesses how much effort went into the content. It looks for well-thought-out, innovative material rather than half-thoughts.
• Relevance: Google prefers up-to-date content. Typically, this means content published or updated within the last two or three years.
• Originality: Google does not want duplicate content. If two copies are floating on the web, it will only rank one version. It may also penalize anyone who copies someone else’s content.
• Notoriety: Google notes what others are saying about a business. How many mentions do you receive? What credentials and experience do you have to support your claims?
• Variety: Google ranks more than just blog posts. It also features videos, products, and images. If your blog isn’t getting visibility, try adding multimedia to increase your reach.

6 SEO Copywriting Tips to Improve Your Quality

Now that you understand where Google’s algorithm is going let’s look at six SEO tips for copywriters. These tips will help you improve your writing and address key ranking factors.

1. Understand Your Audience

Your end goal is to connect with people and communicate how your brand solves their problems. When your audience finds your content, they should engage with it and respond to its message.

Google puts people at the center of its algorithm by promoting relevant and helpful content. So, when you focus on your audience, you indirectly optimize your content for search engines.

To better understand your audience, conduct research and create audience personas outlining who they are. As you write, imagine you’re writing a letter or email to that person. Discuss what motivates them or what they’re struggling with.

Write naturally—like you are speaking to a friend.  This makes your content conversational and engaging, not just a string of keywords.

When your audience finds your content, they should think, “That’s written for me!” They should recognize themselves in your content and solutions.

2. Focus on User Intent

Every visitor to your website has a purpose behind that visit. They may be seeking information or looking to buy a product. This purpose, known as user intent, will affect how they interact with your content and impact your SEO ranking.

To succeed in SEO copywriting, understand what motivates your reader. User intent is the reason behind a user’s action. Many marketers call it search intent because you can deduce a visitor’s purpose from their search keywords. You can identify intent using a keyword research tool or by tracking on-page behavior—like visiting a pricing page, which might indicate readiness to buy.

There are four primary search intents:

• Informational: The user is looking for information. They are at the top of the funnel and are not ready for a sales pitch. They need high-quality, educational content. Example: Most blog posts are informational, sharing knowledge with general CTAs such as “Contact us.”
• Commercial: The user is looking for products or solutions. They are in the middle of the funnel, interested in buying but not yet convinced about your brand or products. Example: Blog posts with product comparisons or “best of” lists target commercial intent, and they usually end with a product ad in the CTA.
• Transactional: The user is ready to buy. They already know what they want and are now looking for a place to complete their transaction. These bottom-of-the-funnel leads will be most responsive to sales copy and landing pages. Example: Most landing pages are transactional, offering a distraction-free page to direct users to the product.
• Navigational: These users are looking for a specific location or brand. They search for a particular business name. Example: Most websites don’t need to optimize for navigational intent. Repeatedly using your brand name throughout your site/content is enough to attract this traffic.

3. Stick with What You Know about Google

Do copywriters need to know SEO? Yes, they do—SEO strategies still matter. However, they are secondary to content quality.

We aren’t able to read the mind of Google’s algorithms and those behind them. But we do know some confirmed factors. Focus on these basics before guessing at other strategies.

Here are a few basics we know based on what Google has shared:

• Compelling titles: Use a clear and engaging title that states the topic. This is a good place for a keyword that defines your topic.
• Meta information: Write engaging meta descriptions that accurately describe your content.
• Optimize for snippets: Create short answers to common questions to appear in featured snippets.
• Internal and external links: Link to authority sources within your niche, both from your own site and others.
• Multimedia elements: Use images and videos to make the content more engaging.

Google has also shared how they define quality and relevant content. Remember, these are suggestions and guidelines, not the secret to Google’s algorithm:

• Google E-E-A-T: Google defined quality content as demonstrating experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Infuse content with your personal experience and insights to craft something unique rather than simply repeating what others have said. You are also demonstrating that you are a reliable authority on the topic, both of which can help your ranking but most definitely will help your reader view you more favorably.
• Google’s Helpful Content guidelines: Aim for helpful, reliable, people-first content created for the audience, not search engines.
• Google Search Essentials: Follow essential requirements for search eligibility, including technical requirements and what is considered spam. Again, emphasize people-first content.

A common thread in these guidelines is the people-first approach. Time and again, Google has told content creators exactly what type of content they want to rank first: content that benefits the reader.

The more time you spend creating fresh, new, people-centric content, the more likely your content will appear on search results pages.

4. Aim for Quality over Quantity

Creating content should never come at the cost of quality. To avoid having your quality suffer, either reduce the amount of content you create or hire an SEO copywriter.

Begin by setting content goals. What do you hope the content will do for your reader? Will it solve a problem, build relationships, or introduce your brand?

As you write, focus on the message rather than post-length. If you can say everything in 800 words, that’s fine. If it takes 3,000 words, that’s fine, too. Use as much or as little space as you need to cover a topic fully without adding fluff.

Does this seem like a lot to remember? It is. That’s why the time it takes to create one blog is steadily increasing. Google’s algorithm is getting smarter at detecting quality content, so content creators can’t get away with half-hearted attempts at content just for ranking’s sake.

They are starting to realize how much quality impacts their overall SEO success and are beginning to invest the required time necessary to achieve that quality level. For most copywriters, researching and writing a single 2,000-word blog takes an average of five to six hours.

Image from She KNows SEO

Of course, the time spent will depend entirely on the subject matter, the copywriter’s experience, and the complexity of the copy. So focus your time and energy on the quality of the copy over everything else.

5. Stay Relevant

Relevant content is another theme throughout Google’s guidelines. Information and needs constantly change, and your content should reflect those changes.

Publish content on trending and new topics in your industry. Is there a new tool, change in policy, or big news? Share your unique take on these updates to keep yourself relevant.

As you write new content, also refresh old content. Updating older posts allows you to continue receiving traffic from posts you wrote three to five years ago without starting from scratch.

Ensure all statistics are recent—within the past two years. Update examples and writing styles to suit modern readers. Staying relevant keeps your content valuable and engaging.

6. Assess Content Effectiveness

When you finish content, don’t just release it to the world like a message on a balloon, hoping it reaches someone. Carefully monitor your content performance.

If you invested time and money in SEO copywriting services, ensure it’s meeting your goals.

If any content drops in stats, like losing web traffic or clicks, it might be time to refresh it to make it more relevant, better quality, and relatable to the audience.

You can also monitor people’s comments and behaviors, such as shares, to see how they respond to the content. Use this feedback to improve that article and future content. Always ensure your content is people-centric.

Is Your SEO Copywriting Meeting Google’s Standard?

Are you ready to shift from an outdated search engine-first model to a modern customer-first approach?

Let’s talk!

Our experienced team of SEO experts can provide tips and services to gain the authority, relevance, and quality needed to outrank your competitors. Even more importantly, we build customer-centric strategies that keep your buyers at the heart.

Contact us to find out more about our customer-first SEO copywriting services.