SEO Copywriting and Copywriting (in general)

This is a common riddle looming in the heads of the majority of the people. So let us finally resolve this riddle and understand what the difference is between normal copywriting and SEO copywriting.

Copywriting in general is a way of writing that is meant to sell a service or product. It encapsulates everything from email promos to webinars and promotional campaigns across all social media platforms. Although the intention of all forms of “copy” is to sell, when you add the term SEO to it, it definitely has a more serious connotation and we mean business.

An SEO copy is more focused, structured and strategic in terms of the content, its value and abiding by the rules of SEO in order to fulfil its end goal.

Important Distinction Between The Two 

SEO copywriting is all about converting those potential customers from your user traffic to customers buying the services. That is the end goal of an SEO copy.

To achieve that goal, obviously one needs to structure and plan their content appropriately. It involves a lot of strategies that are used in order to write in a way that improves sales. The writing needs to be compelling and the content valuable with target keywords so that it is relevant to the users’ search. Such content commands authority and credibility helping it rank higher on search engines results.

Now that you have a fair idea of what SEO copywriting is, we are sure you are aware of some popular websites that have popped up to the top of the search engine result pages (SERPs) over time. So how do they do it?

Just being aware of SEO copywriting is not enough equipment especially when Google is constantly tweaking their search algorithm much to the users’ satisfaction and the dismay of content and copy creators. 

Every process requires a lot of research, awareness. Improvisation and implementation of key rules or tips that work, no doubt. But here are some fundamental tips that are here to stay and will help the copywriter heave a sigh of relief.  

While we encourage you to find out what works because adapting is the way to go, here are some recommended tips of SEO to improve your SEO copy:

 Tips to Improve SEO Copywriting

1. Satisfying the 3 Cs of user search intent

Now this is something that one would be aware of if one is a writer of the internet. Because whatever content you are creating/writing, fulfilling user intent is a MAJOR factor to feature in the top of their searches. That is literally the whole point afterall! 

 It is easier to understand with an example. If you are a seller, you might want to use such keywords that resemble “buyer keywords” rather than something that would lead the user to a blog.

Say “basketball shoes”, with close to 50,000 searches every month in the US, the term definitely seems like a good term to write a blog on. But if you type in the term into the search engine, you are most likely to see ecommerce websites pop up.

What this means is that most users that use this term are buyers looking to make a purchase rather than learning about it. And that is what Google does too by ranking retailers and ecommerce websites atop the search results.

 So, understanding target keywords and the search intent is the first thing one needs to do to be able to help their website achieve its full potential. Now what are the 3Cs that you need to follow to fulfil users search intent?

Content Type, Content Format and Content Angle.

Now there are primarily 5 different types of content that one is likely to prefer: Blogs that are popular and common, videos, product catalogues and landing pages. And for blog posts or articles, here’s an example to understand the difference:

The search results for “Bluetooth earphones” vs “Best Bluetooth earphones”. For the former, the search results that pop up are most likely ecommerce pages while for the latter, it is mostly blogs helping the person make a better-informed choice.

                             

Once you figure out the type of content, get a framework of the structure. From experience you might know that short, precise formats work the best for blog posts and so do listicles and how-tos. Including a table of contents is another great tip. It helps users with readability making it a winner! That is the format taken care of.

Content Angle is basically just the main selling point. Every kind of content and business has its selling point. Figuring that out takes a little bit of homework and research. For example, most of “how to play chess” content is aimed at beginners or amateurs. Using the target keywords that focus on the selling point is a win for the sellers/websites that will help the search engines rank the page higher in the search results.

In addition to doing the above, what would help is for you to use tools like SEMRush, Keyword Explorer and Site Explorer and look at what your competitors are doing to stay on top of their game.

2. Backlinks & ASMR Rule

Now there is a whole blog dedicated to this that you can access to learn in detail, but in short, here’s the thing: Backlinks are like the votes your website earns and hence, greater the votes, higher your website ranks in the SERPs. Simple.

And the way to earn those backlinks mostly is to create unique content because if you do your research, you will see that the websites that are linked to the most have something unique about them. It could be including statistics, surveys, images and videos or just the presentation itself. Learn and adapt the ways, so you can get going and start earning those backlinks!

Proceeding to adapting the ASMR rule, let us look at what it entails.

All of us are extremely aware of our attention span in the age of digital media and smart gadgets! Not more than a few seconds spanning up to a minute maximum, that is if the content is that gripping or important.

ASMR deals with exactly that issue. It allows a copywriter to learn the trick to designing a gripping copy.

Annotations (A) – Including some sidenotes, quotes or simply a fun fact in between a long copy helps break the monotony of the content. It helps your copy from being labelled TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) in the language of digital media!

Short (S) sentences. Keep your sentences and paragraphs short. Because who has the energy to keep up with a long sentence right? They are harder to understand or follow while shorter sentences make the same easier to grasp.

 Multimedia! (M) Obviously! How can we expect one to stay on the page with a boring black and white copy? Including relevant images, videos and the latest form of media – GIFs is a great way to engage the readers with your content.

Lastly, Read (R) your copy out loud. It may not be something that we are used to doing as we grow up but as a copywriter, it definitely helps when you read aloud and find places that don’t really seem to flow organically. There might be some places where the copy doesn’t feel natural progression. These can be fixed helping fix a HUGE speed breaker or a turn off for readers.

3. Cliché but Catchy Title Is Timeless

Yes, we know, no matter how much time passes, catchy titles will always be an integral part of your website’s success. So spend time and think hard, smart, whatever works for you but make sure your title is a good one!

Here’s a little something to boost your title:

I.                Use Powerful Words

Regardless of the reality, a little boost and power never hurt anyone if it helped one hope! Use powerful words and phrases that instigate a sense of positivity and confidence or simply a feel-good factor!

Here’s an example: “5 Benefits of Running” vs “5 Life-Changing Benefits of Running”, which one is more likely to ignite a sense of excitement to read in you? The latter, right? It definitely makes it sound so much better!

So that is one hack you could use!

II.              Adding the year in the title

 Some search queries might be looking for recent/updated results. And search engines will rank more recent results or titles that say so at the top. Like a smartphone, a consumer looking to buy a phone would want to know the best option of that year. So, giving your page a title that says, “Best Smartphones Under 20k 2021” will help gain higher traffic to your website.

If you have older content relevant to the query, you can get more traffic on it. All you have to do is look for pages from your website on the first result page of Google and give a spin to the title making it relevant to the search query. Tools like Google Search Console (GSC) and Site Explorer by Ahrefs can help you find these pages.

III.             Use parentheses

This one’s optional but adding something interesting in parentheses beside your title is more likely to create trust and spike curiosity. For example, it would definitely compel a reader to click on a blog post that said 5 Benefits of Running (Backed by Science) than one without the parentheses. Don’t you think?

 So, using parentheses is another hack although not absolutely necessary!

Now those are some of the main things to keep in mind to help your copy fulfil the SEO requirements and rank better in those SERPs. But a little extra never hurt anyone, so here are some bonus tips!

Bonus Tips

1.   “Be a roman in Rome”. What we mean is, understand your audience’s language through tools and research. Try and incorporate such keywords and phrases to help better the SEO. Keep the language simple, the idea is to get the information across and not impress anyone with exquisite vocabulary.

2.   ALWAYS include the “need to know” or necessary info in the first   half of your article. Follow this with information that is relevant and good to know but never do the opposite. Oftentimes, websites tend to bury the actual information in an attempt to keep the article fun and interesting. Make it fun but also remember, necessity first!

3. Use the “open loops” method. This works like a cliffhanger in the movies and TV series you watch. Create an element of interest and curiosity at every stage of your article to keep the reader hooked and lead them on to the end of the article. It is a way of improving user engagement.

4. Incorporate a call-to-action at the right time and of the right kind. Not everyone that visits your website wants to buy. Follow the AIDA method in your copy i.e., Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action.

 And at every stage, include the right kind of CTA.

An example to help you understand better is, say you are a seller of VPN subscriptions, you will have a variety of visitors. Not everyone wants one. Your job is to create an interest in a user who is reading “What is VPN” to progress to a link that talks about “How VPN works” or “Why everyone needs a VPN” that you could link internally if your website has one.

At every stage, you are creating awareness among the readers slowly helping them understand and analyse if they need one.

Parting Shot

Creating this progression is a crucial part of a copywriter’s job! But hey, we are copywriters for a reason. And with the help of tools and resources, we are sure you’ll do great! Of course, there’s always more to writing in general to make it gripping, thanks to the ever-changing world! But these are some fundamental old-school tricks and we know those never lie!

Those were our two-cents on SEO copywriting. Let us know what are some things you discovered or if this helped you gain some insight, in the comments below. Keep reading, keep writing!