Does SEO copywriting spoil the inherent meaning of your copywriting? Does SEO copywriting even exist as a real concept? Is it a compromise or an advantage to indulge in copywriting that creates SEO content for your web pages? I don’t think so. Without losing the true meaning of your web copy you can easily use SEO copywriting to improve your search engine ranking. You just have to take care of two things:
SEO copywriting means writing search engine friendly content.
SEO copywriting doesn’t mean writing copy that makes no sense to human readers.
There is no dispute in the ineluctable fact that we all need relevant traffic from various search engines. SEO copywriting is a potent tool for that. Of course SEO copywriting is not a sure-shot way of appearing at the top of search engine rankings — many factors play a crucial part in that and SEO copywriting is one of them. SEO copywriting prepares the ripe ground for the successful evaluation of your website by the search engine crawlers. It tells the search engines that the page being currently crawled actually contain the information the search engine user is searching for. SEO copywriting definitely doesn’t mean needlessly stuffing your copy with keywords and key phrases.
In the beginning I asked if SEO copywriting really exists as a concept? Many dispute it is just a way to get money from over-eager, unsuspecting clients. They say there is only good content and bad content and there is no thing such as SEO copywriting because if your content is good, search engines will automatically find it. Theoretically I agree, and practically I disagree. Theoretically, SEO copywriting should mean writing just the good copy and then leave it on the search engines. With so many factors involved in getting a better ranking, it naturally raises doubts about the efficacy of SEO copywriting. They are wrong.
SEO copywriting conveys the true essence of your business in a language the readers understand, and this is precisely why you should use your keywords in the copy. Just see how many times I’ve used the phrase “SEO copywriting” in this article. Does it feel like I’m stuffing it? Not at all. I’m writing about SEO copywriting and hence I’m using the phrase wherever it is needed. If you want to read something on SEO copywriting, you know for sure this is the page for you. The same holds true for the search engines: if they want to index a page for the phrase SEO copywriting, they can easily make out that this page talks about the topic.
Similarly, if you write about handmade coasters you’ll use this expression in your writing. If you write about self-propelled wheelchairs, you’ll use the expression “self-propelled wheelchairs” repeatedly. The key is, use the keywords strategically, use them at the right place, and use them with the right combination of tags. Below I’m highlighting two points that make SEO copywriting good copywriting.
SEO copywriting is all about using your keywords at right places
For instance, search engines love the header tags — <h1>, <h2>, …<hn> — because they make your text scannable. They highlight the main points. A person should be able to read your headlines and get the overall idea of your copy. That’s why when your keywords appear within the header tags, they are taken very seriously by the search engines.
Your keywords should also appear
In the title of the page — Some search engines use the title of your page to rank it and some don’t. Using your keywords in the title is always a good policy because your title appears highlighted in the search results and if the keywords the user is looking for appear there, the user is more likely to click the link.
Within the list/bullet tags — You use lists — <li></li> — to create a list of your main points. Lists are also a good source of information about the page and are used by the search engines to rank your web pages for specific keywords.
As anchor text — Anchor text is the text that appears between <a> and </a>. If you are writing about a topic then you would like your users to read more on that topic from either an external link, or a link on your own website. It shows you have got more sources for the same information
SEO copywriting is about creating reader-friendly content
You write because you want readers. No matter how much traffic your SEO copywriting generates if your readers cannot make sense of what you are writing, it’s all a big waste. Worse, you could be giving them a wrong message by shady SEO copywriting practices. Use your keywords judiciously, without confounding your readers. Talk about the topic at hand and stick to it, be enthusiastic about it. Always remember the writing for your readers is far more important than writing for search engines.
The best policy is to first write a generic copy. Make it as compelling as possible. Keep refining it till you feel you have nothing more to say, and no better way of saying it. Then take out the list of keywords (preferably, just one or two keywords/key phrases) and see how you can incorporate them into your existing copy. Find it if you can group your copy under different headings and if you can use your keywords in these headings. See if you can represent some of the points in bullets and if those points can include your keywords without sounding incoherent or manipulated.
SEO copywriting definitely has to be good copywriting too and they have to co-exist, other wise you neither have an SEO copy nor a good copy.
