SEO copywriting involves authoring content for on-line consumption. It requires a different approach from authoring a novel, for example. There is a LOT of information out there competing with yours. When people arrive on your web page, most will scan it and only stop if they find something of interest. Never underestimate their ability to abandon the page at the click of a mouse.
You have seconds to make an impression. Your content must be compelling to keep readers engaged enough to stay and convert as clients and customers. While images remain critically important to draw your audience into your website, words close the deal. Consequently, your prose and paragraphs must be structured to work as efficiently and effectively as possible.
And if that is not all, you cannot ignore the impact of search engines and their AI on your content. Google does not deploy an army of humans to review, evaluate and rank the sheer volume of content that goes through their search engine. All this work is automated via algorithms and web crawlers also known as bots. We need to accommodate for this variable when developing written content.
How Search Engines Work
Google dominates the search engine market by serving up content for over 80% of the world’s queries on any given day. Consequently, SEO means we play Google’s game. Here’s how their search mechanism works:
When you launch a brand new website, Google crawlers will discover it via a link from a site they have already visited. Interlinking between pages on your site is how they find new pages. The bots read and rank every page according to an algorithm with over 200 variables. And Google indexes this information in massive databases. They maintain separate databases for desktop and mobile queries. The mobile index serves up pages optimized and coded for rapid loading on mobile devices. Your pages get matched to “search phrases”, the queries people type in the search box. Google provides answers to these queries on their Search Engine Result Page (SERP). Landing on the first page of SERP’s is what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is primarily about.
The trouble is, Google does not publish explicit information about how they conduct their matchmaking. Experienced SEO professionals know how to maneuver through some of this mystery. And I can guide you with this using non-technical language, so we can perform as a team to give your web content a leg-up.
SEO Copywriting and Readability
Nobody knows if ease of readability is an actual ranking factor for Google. We suspect search engines deploy AI, such as the Flesch-Kincaid reading scores or proprietary equivalents, to evaluate how easy your content is to read. Regardless, we can reasonably assume that if your content is complicated and difficult, readers will “bounce off”.
The bounce rate is measurable for every page on your site. SEO experts strongly believe that pages designed with good user experience in mind will be easier to read and have fewer bounces. They definitely rank better on search engines. When I undertake a writing assignment, my priority is making the articles easy for on-line reading. My skills come in particularly useful when complicated legal, medical, financial or technical jargon requires simplifying. Without these edits, search engine AI may not rank the article favourably.
In a nutshell, that’s what I mean when I refer to writing in “the language of the internet”!
Key Words Ranking
All my clients want content that ranks on the first page of a Google SERP “organically”, i.e., without the use of paid ads. 200+ variables in Google’s algorithm come into play, here. This is a tough area to compete in, however, it can be done. I have successfully authored content for clients that Google has prominently placed as featured snippets, coveted spots on their SERP. These articles resulted in more visibility, clicks and conversions for my clients. I aim high, hoping to land those spots for you.
Regardless of technology rules, I write prose, first and foremost, for human reading. I will not stuff keywords into the copy solely to satisfy a search engine bot. And I remain focused on producing good quality and relevant content for you.
In fact, Google’s neural matching AI makes writing for search engines much easier today because we no longer remain slaves to exact match keywords and phrases. Danny Sullivan of Google describes neural matching as a “super-synonym” system.
“For example, neural matching helps us understand that a search for “why does my TV look strange” is related to the concept of “the soap opera effect.” We can then return pages about the soap opera effect, even if the exact words aren’t used…
Danny Sullivan, Google
Google launched neural matching in 2018 and it was responsible for serving up 30% of searches, then. We can only expect this to increase exponentially over time as the AI acquires proficiency with deciphering words and synonyms.
SEO copywriting: A Long Term Investment
Unlike print material, SEO content can live on indefinitely if managed properly. I therefore like to present blogs as long-term assets. We can freshen up old content and repurpose aged blogs to extend their usefulness. Your SEO strategy would include a plan to populate your website with high-value content on a variety of topics. This allows your site to accrue rich SEO “juice”. Over time, this increases your digital reputation and rank on search engines.
SEO is a long game, akin to a long-term investments portfolio; I create digital assets for your website that work 24/7 to become your best sales tools.
An SEO website, curated with years of good quality blogs, has the potential to generate a sizable portion of sales. This makes it an invaluable business asset. Do not underestimate the merit of hiring an experienced SEO copywriter to grow your business, because words matter in the SEO arena.