You need smart content to grow your business. Creating fresh content that benefits both readers and search engines can be challenging, but keeping your readers in mind makes it easier to write good, SEO-friendly articles.
What is a Good SEO Article?
Before putting the proverbial pen to paper, consider the art of storytelling. The ability to grab your reader’s attention is key here. Learn how to weave a story about a painful experience that was resolved or a product that did more than expected. This gives them something to identify with.
Think about the last time you read a great article from a business. It didn’t necessarily make you buy from the business, right? However, it probably made you think of the product or service in a positive light. This is one of the basic emotions you want to establish in your readers.
Let your voice shine through your work; if you’re funny, generously sprinkle that humor all over your content. Whatever your natural voice is, let it work for you as you write to your audience.
Remember that the blog isn’t a personal diary, so avoid jargon when writing to a large audience. Break down lengthier articles into digestible ideas. This is where the art of SEO writing comes into play.
Key Elements of SEO Writing
SEO writing and quality content involve several elements. It’s not just stuffing a few terms in and calling it a day.
Effective SEO writing involves a strategic approach that considers keyword placement, search intent, readability, and user engagement. By understanding these components, you can create content that ranks well and resonates with your audience.
Content Quality
Creating high-quality content is crucial for both engaging your audience and improving your SEO performance. Focus on crafting compelling, informative, and well-structured articles that keep readers interested and coming back for more.
- Start with your title. The title should be compelling, informative, and if possible, use a keyword phrase. You can read the post on headlines to get a feel for how to write a good title.
- Continue with an attention-grabbing thought or benefit. Hook readers immediately by letting them know what they will gain from reading your article. Clearly state this in the first paragraph so they don’t have to search for it. This compels them to keep reading to get to the pay dirt.
- Deliver on the promise: Provide good information to support your initial claim. Edit for grammatical and spelling errors to avoid turning readers off with poor quality.
- Keep it visually interesting: It’s OK if you have a lot to say, but be sure to break it up. People often skim before they commit to reading; you want to pass the scan test. To do this, you can:
- Bold text
- Use lists
- Leave enough white space on the page so people don’t feel overwhelmed.
- Break paragraphs up into bite-sized chunks
- Add images
- Use sub-titles that are compelling so when people scan the blog, the sub-titles stand out and keep them interested.
- Create a summary of key points
Ending Your Article
- Leave them wanting more: Tease your next post and remind readers to check back.
- Invite engagement: Welcome comments and additions to your post.
- Have a call to action: Guide readers to the action you want them to take. Remember, you probably wanted to educate people or build your credibility so they take action. Don’t leave them hanging with nowhere to go next – guide them to take action.
- Sign off with personality: Consider closing off by signing your name. Not everyone reads all your posts, so treat each post like it’s the only one people will ever read. Let them know who you are.
- Don’t be afraid to show some personality and have some fun. Your posts don’t need to be all corporate and stuffy. Inject a little pizzazz, and people will want to keep returning for more.
Using SEO to Dominate
Everyone knows what happens when you search for something on the Internet; the results appear in various positions. You want your site to be as high up in the search results as possible.
Over 80% of the English-speaking world uses Google for their searches, so keep that in mind when following SEO standards. While Bing and Yahoo also serve up results differently, ethical SEO has basic standards to follow that apply universally.
Well-placed, primary keywords in your articles are an excellent way to appear in search engines. However, remember that once you have those readers on your page, you must provide valuable content.
Avoid keyword stuffing! It doesn’t help, and it turns a good piece of content into trash. Place keywords in titles and subtitles, creating a hierarchy of the most important keywords and related phrases. Titles should contain the most important keywords on the list.
Adding pictures with alt text is another excellent way to drive traffic to your articles. Images help break apart content and are still visible to search engines with alt tags. By following these basic SEO guidelines, you can ensure that your content remains visible and engaging.
Technical SEO Tips
Technical SEO is the backbone of your content’s visibility on search engines. Ensuring your website’s structure and components are optimized can significantly improve your SEO performance. Here are some essential technical SEO tips to keep your site running smoothly and ranking well:
- Use H1, H2, and H3 Tags. Structure your content with appropriate headers to improve readability and SEO. These tags help search engines understand the hierarchy and importance of your content.
- Include Categories. Organize your content so blog readers can easily navigate the topics they are interested in. You can assign posts to multiple categories, but ensure they are all relevant.
- Include Title and Description Tags. Craft search titles and descriptions that entice and market your page, business, and product.
- Include a Plugin that Allows People to Subscribe. This helps maintain a loyal audience by keeping readers updated with your latest posts.
You can enhance your website’s structure by implementing these technical SEO tips. This makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your content, ultimately boosting your search engine rankings.
Create Compelling Content
Creating compelling content involves the A.I.D.A. principle, which fosters an emotional connection with your audience. This connection can inspire readers to engage with your content, discuss it with others, and ultimately align with your point of view.
Articles shouldn’t focus solely on selling; instead, they should entertain, educate, inform, and subtly persuade. Your goal is to generate interest and provoke curiosity, encouraging readers to seek more information and start conversations.
A.I.D.A. Principle:
- Awareness: Bring awareness to your brand through various channels like guest posts, PPC campaigns, and YouTube videos. Anything you create should aim to increase your visibility.
- Interest: Spark interest in your product or service. This includes optimizing any pages a visitor will see the first time they visit your site. Whether it’s a specific PPC campaign or a lead generation drive, include links to a dedicated landing page tailored for that content.
- Desire: Create a desire for your product or service in your content. The best way to do this is by answering the questions, “How is this helping me?” and “Why should I buy this from you instead of someone else?”
- Action: Encourage your readers to take action. This involves finding the perfect mix of calls to action (CTAs) such as “Free Shipping,” “Buy Today,” or “Buy One Get One Free.” Test different CTAs, analyze the results, and refine your approach.
- By following the A.I.D.A. principle, you can craft content that not only captivates your audience but also drives them to take meaningful action.
Final Touches
Engagement
Invite comments and discussions to foster a sense of community and engagement. Tease upcoming posts to keep readers excited and coming back for more.
Personal Touch
Sign your name at the end of your posts and let your personality shine through. This personal touch helps readers connect with you and makes your content more relatable.
Stay Updated
Search engines **** fresh content. Regularly update your blog and stay informed about the latest SEO trends, such as mobile-first indexing and voice search optimization. Keeping your content current ensures it remains relevant and maintains good search engine rankings.
Conclusion
Keeping these tips in mind whenever you write new articles for your website will help you generate a much stronger SEO ranking. Not only that, but your growing audience will continue to see your dedication and expertise in the field, which helps improve your own business. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
And let’s face it, we are all pretty busy and don’t have a lot of time to waste. Soooo….if you are spending your time writing, you better be sure it’s high quality and going to get you a response!
By following these tips, you can improve your SEO ranking and build a stronger connection with your audience. Remember, high-quality content takes effort but pays off in engagement and visibility. Now, get to writing…
… or hire us to do your writing for you! Level343 has provided thousands of high-ranking, high-converting pieces of content for hundreds of clients, and we can do the same for you. If you need your content taken up a level, reach out. Let us put our experience to work for you.
