SEO Copywriting

Kent Austin – search engine optimisation copywriter

SEO Copywriting Tips

“Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content. Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it…Google’s technology analyses the full content of a page and factors in fonts, subdivisions and the precise location of each word…”

www.google.co.uk/intl/en/webmasters/guidelines.html

An important note

Before reading this section, please take note that I’m not just a theorist. I actually practise what I preach by achieving first page SEO copywriting results in a fiercely competitive market. You probably found my website because it featured on the first page of a search engine listing.

Check out the latest Google page one results for my own website by doing a Google search on any of the following terms (and many more too numerous to list):

‘Copywriter (ing) Brighton’

‘Copywriter (ing) Sussex’

‘Freelance Copywriter (ing) Brighton’

‘Freelance Copywriter (ing) Sussex’

‘Website Copywriter (ing) Brighton’

‘Website Copywriter (ing) Sussex’ 

I occasionally slip back to page two, such is the nature of SEO, but I inevitably return to the first page. Which brings me on to my next point. It’s important to understand that no SEO website copywriter or SEO link building specialist can guarantee you a first page presence on Google. Anyone who claims they can is in all likelihood using ‘black-hat’ spamming techniques which will inevitably be picked up by the search engines and cause serious and lasting damage to your page rankings. Be warned. Your page listing is affected by number of factors, including the level of competition, the frequency your site is updated, and the number of links leading to it. But while there are no guaranteed quick fixes, with skilful SEO copywriting it is often possible to achieve a first page ranking in a relatively short time.

A note on link building

The internet is awash with companies selling link building services. But in my experience, and in the experience of my clients, link building campaigns are in most cases a costly waste of time, and have only a fraction of the impact of good SEO copywriting. It’s possible to significantly increase your page ranking without the need for expensive link building strategies.

Unless you’re in a ruthlessly competitive market such as finance or insurance, where SEO link building may be needed to reinforce a website which has been optimised with SEO copywriting, then you’ll be better served spending your money on pay-per-click.

If you do decide you need link-building services, make sure you employ a trustworthy provider with a proven track record. Page ranking is affected by links from other sites, but only relevant links. Some less-reputable link building services will place links to your website on sites which have no relevance whatsoever to your own product or service. Google will instantly identify such miss-matches, and penalise you for your troubles.

On-page SEO Copywriting Tips

Clarity. Brevity. Structure. They’re critical elements in any form of writing, but online these qualities take on an even greater significance. Because good web copy is determined by its immediacy. Any hint of long-windedness or ambiguity and we’ve lost our reader at the click of a mouse. End of story.

However, that’s only half the battle. Website copywriters not only have to allow for the diminished attention spans of modern web users, they also have to satisfy the diverse and fickle demands of the search engines, and in particular the mighty Google. Search engine optimised copywriting is without a doubt the single most important factor when getting noticed by the web crawlers.

Website copywriters must also be adept at SEO copywriting.

SEO copywriting is an art which involves finding the right balance between optimising a webpage with targeted keywords for the search engines while ensuring that its message is maximised to convert visitors. Sadly, however, many SEO content writers seem to forget that websites exist to be read by human beings and not just web crawlers.

But there’s no point in attracting search engine traffic to your website if it fails to convert.

For this reason, on-page optimisation cannot be achieved effectively by amateur writers. Stuffing a web page with keywords without due regard for the flow and impact of the copywriting is a recipe for disaster.

And even if you do attempt to optimise a web page with keywords that are excessive, incoherent or otherwise out of context with the remainder of the content, it’s highly unlikely it will fool the likes of Google, as modern search engines are trained to detect such inconsistencies. Yes, these robots can actually read! So if anybody tells you that all you have to do is achieve a 5% – 7% keyword density to be successful with SEO copywriting, they’re living in a fantasy.

So with this premise firmly in mind, here are some steps you can take to make sure your website is properly optimised to be found by the search engines.

Body text keywords

Search engines love unique and frequently updated content.

Every new website page should be built around a small number of carefully selected keywords or phrases. Your keywords should feature throughout the body copy, and most importantly in the first and final paragraphs.

For search optimisation purposes, as well as for the benefit of your readers, your content should be tightly focused on the subject matter of your specific keyword phrases. Bear in mind also that pages with fewer than 300 words can struggle with ranking over a page with lengthier content.

That said, keyword density is not in itself a formula for success with search engines. If only it were that easy! Simply repeating keywords for their own sake does not help with on-page optimisation. What matters is the context and relevance of your copy divided by the number of ‘naturally occurring’ keywords. In other words, if your copy doesn’t make logical sense, or if you’re deemed to be keyword ‘stuffing’ then you’ll get slapped down by Google for spamming!

The best way to measure keyword frequency against the length of your content is to aim for a naturally occurring keyword density no greater than 5.5%. Anything above this and you’re in danger of undoing all your good work.

Economic use bold and italics to highlight important keywords can also help with website optimisation, although this is only a minor search engine ranking factor.

Keyword research

If content is king with online copywriting, then keywords are queen. Keyword research is the basis of all effective SEO copywriting. It determines the entire structure of your website. Choosing the right keywords and phrases is critical to your success. And these must be keywords that people are actually searching on when they’re looking for your product, not wild guesses.

When choosing keywords it’s important not to rely on guesswork. Of course, many keywords are self evident. If, for example, you’re selling ‘landscape gardening services’, then you’ll want to feature this phrase in the text of your website. But other associated keywords may not be quite as obvious: e.g. ‘garden landscaping design’.

Use a keyword research tool to unearth the most commonly used keywords in your industry – many of which you almost certainly won’t have thought of! But don’t attempt to go it alone. By all means follow a hunch on a keyword, but test it in the real world by running it through a research tool before you decide to use it,

For keyword tools see:

https://adwords.google.co.uk/select/KeywordToolExternal

http://www.wordtracker.com/academy/uk-keyword-research

Title tags

Although it isn’t shown on the web page, your title tag is probably the single most important on-page SEO consideration. A title tag should not exceed 65 characters, which is the Google cut-off point when listing search results. Being restricted thus also ensures your title tags are precisely targeted on the most relevant keywords.

As well as containing your main keywords in your title tag, it’s also a good idea to include the name of your brand. Aim for the main keyword at the beginning of the tag, followed by your brand, followed by additional main keywords.

If someone is searching for, say, London, landscaping solutions and if the word ‘London landscaping solutions’ is in the title of the site then there is a strong chance the site will appear on the first page of a search. If you open the HTML source of this webpage it would look something like this.

<title> London landscaping solutions ACME Landscaping Ltd<title>

Meta description tags

A meta description tag is the brief description of a web page that shows up on the results page when a site is listed by a search engine. Like the title tag, it doesn’t actually appear on the web page.

It’s important to include your targeted keywords in the meta-description tags, as these will be highlighted in bold in the search results, and will increase your click-through rate.

Compose your title tags so as to encourage prospects into clicking on your listing when it appears in the search results.

A good meta description tag works a lot like a pay-per-click ad where click-through and conversion rate are influenced by clearly describing the benefits and features of your product, together with a call to action.

Try to keep the meta description under 165 characters so the full description is visible in the search result.

Headers

Headline tags <H1> and <H2> should feature major keywords, as they provide a guide for search engines when ranking web pages for relevance.

Use an <H1> heading per page to indicate the most important keywords on that page to the search engines. Coordinate your headline tags with your title tags, so that important keywords are targeted as effectively as possible.

Use headings <H2> – <H5> for secondary keywords, and use these for sub-headings.

All title tags and headings should be unique to on each page, so as to target different variations of keywords and to prevent your pages from competing among themselves for the same search terms.

Feature keywords in your URLs

Ideally, the URL of a page should also include a major keyword or phrase which relates to the page content.

Keywords on landing pages

Copy on landing pages for Google Pay-Per-Click campaigns should be optimised with keywords which mirror as closely as possible the keywords you are using in your ad groups.

Internal linking

Link the individual pages of your website to other pages on your website using relevant anchor tags to cross-link related content and additional information. This enhances the relevance of your web pages with the search engines.

But don’t overdo it. Excessive internal linking can be detrimental to the flow of your copy. And wherever possible make sure your links contain keywords – i.e. “keyword phrase” and not “click here”.

Page Links

Page linking is the unifying principle that drives the internet. It is therefore an important factor when optimising a website.

Best practice suggests linking to relevant content early on in the body copy, ideally within 120 words, and every 120 words or fewer thereafter. Add links to internal pages of your own site or to other sites, using relevant anchor text.

Images

When uploading images to a webpage it is important to use keyword descriptive ALT tags, ideally ones which are relevant to your targeted on-page keywords: e.g: /images/keyword-phrase.jpg. This will strengthen your web page for the search engines, and will also help with searches on Google Images.

If you’re looking for a professional freelance SEO copywriter, contact Kent Austin today:

+44 (0)1273 475554 email: info@copy-doctor.co.uk