SEO Copywriting Commandments
SEO Copywriting : Attract Spiders now!
Managing the content of your website in such a manner that it is “Search Engine Optimized” is the best way to gain traction. Did not get what I said? Let us break it down for you. We all know that people all around the world use various search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and in rare cases Duck Duck Go, to search for anything and everything that comes to their mind. When someone hits the search button they get a list of results.
How do they get search results? Each of these search engines has their own algorithm. So they have these programs called “spiders” (yeah literally spiders) that fetch data from various web pages and then the algorithm analyzes the fetched data and accordingly displays the result.
Now our aim is to rank on the first page itself!!! In short attract the spiders. Because it is a proven fact that more than 60% of users never go to the second page. And if in case unfortunately you do not feature on the first search result page, it is high time now. Pull up your socks. Read the commandments, chew them, digest them and get them flowing in your blood.
10 Commandments For SEO Copywriting of Your Website
1. Remember you are writing for humans and not for search engines
Do not write for search engines to find your content. Write content that will educate and help people when they read it. No one wants to read text and paragraphs loaded with keywords that can only make sense to people who write them. Ease down, write for people, your content is your sole driver. The better the content is in terms of innovation and clarity, the better the chances are for it to be traced by search engines.
2. Keyword density – A thing of the past!! (Stop stuffing keywords, it is content, not your Christmas turkey)
Earlier if our keyword density was high that is your keywords appeared way too many times in your content then it would help search engines to find your content easily. But the times changed and even the search engines have become smarter. Now your content is no more like your favorite “Aloo ka Parantha” where you stuff it more, to the brink as it tastes better. Now you have to use your keywords like salt; only where it is necessary o else you’ll spoil your dish!! So do not play around writing the keyword in every sentence you write, it will only hamper your rank.
Stuffing keywords is not cool
3. Use related keywords and synonyms ( Use a thesaurus!)
Google and other search engines use LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) to find matching keywords and other relatable words in search results. So you can actually make your work more authentic by using synonyms and other near keywords without actually stuffing your content with keywords. It on the other will make your content more relevant in terms of search results and will respond to more searches.
4. Long tail always helps (and not just for monkeys)
So wondering what long tail means? See there are keywords which are very broad in spectrum and hence cost very high. So for example if I run a shoe store, “shoe” as a keyword will be highly competitive and hence for AdWord bidding, it will cause a huge hole in my pocket. But then comes “Long Tail” keywords which are used for more refined searches. They will bring a set of very targeted audience to your website. In case of a shoe store, they can be, “brown boots”. So for someone searching precisely for this the search result will show your site if in case you bid for this keyword. Also, because it is a very unique phrase so it won’t even cost that much.
Long Tail Keywords cost less and return of investment is high
5. Write loooooongggg quality content with explanations (Yeah you got me right! 10 marks answer it is)
Write Long In-depth articles
Remember your school times? The exam question paper with 10 marks question? And you’d write long answers with explanations, images and more explanations! Yes that is what search engines are looking for: Quality, in- depth content that answers all queries. But yes just like your teachers, search engines are smart enough to differentiate between lengthy explanatory articles and just plain junk repetitive lines. So always try to write your best insightful articles that will help people in understanding the subject matter.
6. Sharing is caring (Yes in the SEO world too)
Social media channel “likes” and shares also mean a lot to search engines. If a content has been shared by lots of people, search engines assume it to be relevant and knowledgeable. So do not forget to get sharing apps like Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, Pinterest and also find ways for people to share your articles. Encourage sharing using pop-ups or contests.
Social Media Sharing Is The Need Of The Hour!!
7. Do not ignore Meta (If you annoy it, it will screw your SEO)
Meta description is the description of your article that comes just below your article when search results show. Something like this
META text is also one qualifier for search results
Now the algorithm searches for keywords in the meta and title resulting in SERP (Search Engine Result Pages). So always ensure that you somehow incorporate the keywords in your title and meta description in such a manner that it sounds natural.
8. Don’t over optimize your link text (Seedhi baat no bakwas)
Do not over optimize your text. It is a BIG mistake. It means unnecessarily putting keywords in your `URL text which have no relevance to your subject matter. This may have been ok a few years ago, but with the recent algorithm changes, it becomes a tough task. So make sure your anchor text is not over optimized.Optimizing link text to match keywords and phrases perfectly is not a wise SEO move these days. You could be penalized using this approach, also knows as “link schemes.”
9. Do not neglect the images ALT tag (Neglect that and the spiders will ditch you)
Every image has an ALT text that shows when the image is not loaded. The search engine spiders look for that ALT text while searching for results. The ALT text makes your images more relevant to the spiders. So do not forget to put the ALT text for each and every image keeping in mind the keywords as well.
ALT Text in images help search engines in identifying the image
10. Regular updating is required (Just like your Anti Virus Software)
You just cannot seem to target the same keywords over years. With time, the search patterns change and people tend to look and search for other things. To check the recent terms try searching for our keywords in Google, Yahoo or Bing. There you can get the recent trends of searches. You have to keep updating your keyword list accordingly.
SEO results take time to show. It is not that you make a change today and expect the results to show on the day after. Given some time and regular practice of the given, you can expect to see results in the coming future.
All you need to remember is that you don’t have to be an insect to attract spiders!