• 4-minute read
• 3rd May 2019

5 SEO Tips for Copy Writers

Every modern business has a website. And if you have a website, you need an SEO strategy to help customers find you online. But how does this affect website copy? In this post, we run through a few SEO tips that you can use when writing online content.

1. Picking Keywords

SEO is all about keywords. These are terms people search for online to find your website, so it is crucial to use the right words in the right places. And this means working out the keywords your target customers are searching for and building online content around them.

A good starting point for this is using a keyword research tool. Alternatively, you can check competitors’ websites to see which terms they use.

2. Integrating Keywords

Working keywords into copy is crucial. For instance, you should try to:

• Use the main keyword(s) in the title of the page
• Include the main keyword(s) in the first paragraph of copy
• Use keywords in subheadings within the copy
• Highlight keywords with bold or italic formatting where appropriate
• Include variations of keywords within the copy

These small touches can make a big difference to SEO results.

3. Humans Are More Important Than Computers

Keywords are good, but not if they come at the expense of readability. This is because, ultimately, your site visitors are human beings. And the best way to boost SEO is to write good content that people want to share.

In the old days, you could get away with loading a webpage with keywords and search engines would still find them. This was known as ‘keyword stuffing’. But now, if you use too many keywords on a single page (more than 5% of the word count), Google may reduce the ranking of your website.

Consequently, you should always focus on writing good content for human readers first. This also means making sure your website is error free and easy to read, so don’t skip the proofreading!

4. Writing a Good Meta Description

Getting your website to rank on search engines is part of the battle. But you also need people to click through to the site when they see the search results. And this is where the meta description is key. This is the text that search engines use to ‘preview’ a page in a list of results.

It should therefore provide a summary of what the page is about. To do this:

• Keep it short (ideally between 155 and 320 characters)
• Explain how the page will solve the reader’s problem

For example, for this page, we could write:

Check out our SEO tips for copy writers to boost your page ranking. Simple solutions for increasing traffic to your website. Perfect for businesses seeking a competitive edge online.

In three short statements, we’ve made sure the reader will immediately know what the page is, what following our advice will achieve, and who we’re targeting with the page.

5. Strategic Linking

One of the most important SEO tips is to work hyperlinks into your copy, including both internal links to other pages on your website and external links to other sites:

• Internal links should direct readers towards relevant information on other parts of your site (e.g. service pages, products or and FAQ).
• External links to trusted, high-quality websites can make your site seem more authoritative and boost its reputation.

If another site sees that you have linked to them, moreover, they might return the favour, which will boost your SEO results. However, don’t link to sites that rank higher than you for the same keywords, as this will be counterproductive. Focus instead on links to sites that cover related topics.

Summary: 5 SEO Tips for Copy Writers

If you are writing copy for a website, keep these SEO tips in mind:

1. Research keywords and pick the right ones for your site.
2. Work keywords into the page copy effectively.
3. Make sure your work is easy to read for humans as well as computers.
4. Write a strong meta description so that people click through to your site.
5. Use internal and external links in your copy.

Doing all the above well should help boost your website traffic.