When writing content for your website, it’s easy to get tangled up in the never-ending storm of, “What keywords will drive the most traffic?” Next thing you know, you’ve plugged so many keywords in because you think that will catch more people’s attention… all without realizing that this actually diminishes the likelihood of generating quality traffic.
Today, we feature four copywriting tips for better on-page SEO to help you avoid common pitfalls like these.
Both copywriting and on-page SEO are two terms commonly heard in the digital marketing world. However, for people who don’t work in these industries, there can be confusion surrounding what exactly they are and what purpose they serve.
Copywriting, otherwise known as “sales copy,” is a type of writing that is geared towards inspiring its readers to support the transaction procedures of businesses. It is meant to persuade customers that the offer in question is worth spending money on.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is defined as a process that increases the number of people who visit a website because the site has appeared in the higher part of the search results page. As a subcategory of the SEO process, on-page SEO denotes the exercise of enhancing specific web pages so that their search engine rankings and natural site traffic improve.
Examples of on-page SEO include:
Now that we’ve identified copywriting and on-page SEO, let’s take a look at the four action steps you need to take onboard when getting started.
We mentioned keywords earlier and the role they play in driving traffic to websites. In addition to ensuring that you’re not overusing keywords, you want to confirm you’re using the right ones.
You know your topic and you know what you want to say: the only thing left is to find the keywords that your target audience are searching for. Drawing inspiration from your topic for relevant keywords can save you time and will make the writing process easier. Make a list of keywords as you write and then choose the best ones to plug in when your writing is ready to go.
Free keyword tools to help you incorporate both relevant short-tail keywords (search phrases consisting of one-to-two words) and relevant long-tail keywords (search phrases consisting of four or more words) include:
Your keywords can make or break the potential of your website being visited. Target relevant ones to heighten your likelihood of organic website traffic.
Are you guilty of keyword stuffing?
The most common types of keyword stuffing include:
While incorporating relevant keywords are important, it’s vital to pare them down to avoid being flagged by search engines and, in turn, having your existing SEO rankings be demoted as punishment for spamming.
We’ve all read different forms of content online. News, blog articles, and how-to’s are just a few of the many examples you can find on the web. If the content is well-written, chances are there were more than a few parts that really resonated with us.
Relevant content is the best kind of content because it not only resonates with us, but also our audience. Therefore, if we want better on-page SEO, it is imperative to orbit content around existing search trends, related industry news, or frequent customer questions or concerns.
By lining up our content with search targets, we increase the chance of having higher rankings on search engine pages. In fact, statistics have proven that the first link in Google’s natural search results has an average click-through rate of 31.7%... and producing well-written, relevant content is one of the simplest ways to gun for that coveted top spot.
How many times have you gone to read a blog or article, only to give up in exasperation because the words are packed together so closely you don’t know where one word ends and another begins. Frustrating, right? After a few minutes of furrowing your brows and trying to define what’s what, you give up and search for the same topic somewhere else.
Ideally, your paragraphs should be no longer than three sentences. If the sentences are longer than this, chances are your readers will lose interest and not even finish what they are reading.
At first glance, copywriting and on-page SEO can seem daunting to anyone who has not properly used them before.
We hope these copywriting tips for better on-page SEO will increase your confidence… and help accomplish your goal of bringing more traffic to your site!
