20 Tips for Becoming an SEO Writing Superstar

Table of Contents 

• How to Become a Good Writer as a Beginner
• 20 Tips on How to Write Good SEO Content
• Conclusion 
• FAQs

Like any endeavor, knowing how to write good SEO content also requires time and dedication. The Google algorithm keeps changing, but if you familiarize yourself with SEO writing tips, you will learn how to write a great article.

Luckily for you, the fundamentals of SEO don’t change like the Google algorithm. You just learn new ways of how to be a good content writer, and constantly improve with new projects.

How to Become a Good Writer as a Beginner

SEO writing may seem overwhelming when you start out, and if you’re wondering how to be a good content writer, it starts with learning how to write good SEO content. The internet is packed with content and if you want to dominate a niche, you have to bring something valuable to the table. 

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Rising up the SEO rankings and optimizing your content are all learnable, and they become easier as you start working. While you need to take the effort and time to succeed at becoming an SEO writing superstar, it is totally doable. Especially if you like to research and are good with words, this profession is going to reward you. Packed with 20 ways to capitalize on your SEO writing journey, this blog covers some SEO content writing tips to guide you through the process. 

20 Tips on How to Write Good SEO Content

If you’ve been in the industry for some time, you know the value of SEO writing tips. There are so many areas that you can improve in, even if you have a decade’s worth of experience. And learning how to become a good writer requires patience and persistence. Here are 20 tips that will teach you how to write a good article.

1. Adopt an audience-centric approach

The first step to learning how to write good SEO content is understanding your niche and the pertinent target audiences. Unless you know what they are most likely to relate to, you won’t be able to pick the right words to reach them. If your content is not audience-centric, you have a long way before you can become an SEO writing superstar. 

So, what is audience-centricity? Having a clear idea of your target audience and the type of content they consume is vital to strategizing each blog post or web copy. If not, then you are advised to build multiple audience personas to align your writing and identify an audience segment that clicks. That’s the number-one rule for writing SEO content. Know what your target audience wants to read and give them personalized content that builds loyalty.

2. Employ a fair share of long-tail keywords

Among the many SEO writing tips, the use of long-tail keywords deserves special attention. That’s because keywords help match your content with the search intent of your users looking up information. The saturation of content on the internet makes it hard for SEO writers to rank for commonly used, single-word keywords. That’s where long-tail keywords bring the magic. 

As part of your keyword research, make a list of long-tail keywords that are related to your main topic. That’s how you identify and rank for the exact search queries your ideal audience is looking for. For example, if you want to rank for “SEO services”, you may stand a better chance with long-tail keywords like “Best SEO services” in my area. That’s because people search on the internet like how they speak.

3. Long-form content is indispensable

When learning how to write good SEO content, you must familiarize yourself with long-form SEO writing. Writing detailed, long-form posts increases your chances of connecting with the readers. That’s because a well-researched long-form article is informative and fits the purpose of the reader. Long-form content gives you more space to use different types of keywords and boost the visibility of your pages. 

Paired with a thoughtful topic, your long-form blog can gather a lot of traffic when executed correctly. However, it is important to maintain a certain level of quality to ensure that the users who liked your post come back for more.

4. Strategize your SEO efforts

“By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail,” said the famous Benjamin Franklin.

Learning how to become a good content writer is not just about knowledge, but preparedness and planning. In content creation, planning can help you save time and pick the right resources for your research in advance. Something as simple as putting together a rough outline will help retain the quality of your work and avoid trailing off the thought. Develop an efficient method to strategize your keyword research, topic research, blog outline, etc., and you will learn how to become a good content writer in no time. 

5. Research is key

If you want to know how to write good articles, start with learning how to research well. To become good at SEO writing, you need to become good at research. A good way to research is to compile 10x more information than you will possibly use and pick the right content to suit your article’s flow. The more research you do, the better your article turns out to be. And readers can sniff out the difference instantly. 

So if you want the most widely appreciated SEO content writing tips, it is to make the most of Google & Bing. Please don’t hesitate to delve into related books as well. Watch videos and listen to audio related to your topic. Research is fundamental. Commit to honing your research skills and you will be able to gather, impress, and retain your readership online.

6. Analyze competition in your niche

Part of how to write good SEO content is to know about the competition in the market. You want to land readers because you have the best to offer. For any given topic, if you want to outrank the competing results online, you have to know what makes them successful and what they aren’t doing right. That way, you know what’s out there and can provide readers with something unique and valuable. 

A simple way to study the competition is to find out more about the results that appear when you look for your topic. You can go as far as looking at the results on the 3rd and 4th pages. Just be sure to take notes and identify what makes them rank well. Understand who you’re competing against and make better content by employing the right keywords and laying out practical insights.

7. Identify and employ a promotional strategy in advance

There’s plenty of information out there, and if you want to gain visibility, you have to take some extra steps. Knowing how you’re going to promote your article even before you start writing is an effective way to gather better results. 

For example, if you want to increase the domain value of your pages, make sure you have a plan to obtain quality links before you spend all your time writing. Or if you want to get more reads, leverage social sharing and guest blogging to do that. Most of the time, content goes unnoticed because writers don’t have a promotional strategy in place. By preparing a promotional plan, you can set yourself up for the many rewards of learning how to be a good content writer.

8. Write for real humans

Among the holiest of SEO content writing tips is the ability to engage your readers by writing to and for them. At the end of the day, if you want to learn how to write a good article, you have to learn how to write in a conversational tone. That’s because if people who read your content really enjoy it, they will share it with others.  And the best way to engage your audience is to write like you’re having a conversation with them.

9. Never forsake the introduction

Among the many SEO writing tips, prioritizing your blog introduction is a no-brainer. That’s because the first few lines determine whether the reader either continues reading or bounces off the page. Right after the headline, the most important part of your content is the introduction, where you summarize what the blog is all about. By keeping the intro short, crisp, and engaging, you can evoke the reader’s curiosity and interest in the topic.

10. Bring your unique style to the show

If you want to learn how to be a good content writer, you have to be ready to bring your unique style and views to the fore. While many SEO content writing tips revolve around how 5 million blogs are published each day and that you should find ways to trick the algorithm, you still need something called a content differentiation factor (CDF). CDF is a response to the key question of why people should read your unique content over the rest. With your unique story and perspective, you can position yourself as someone who needs to be heard. The first step of learning how to be a good content writer is to identify your CDF, what makes your content unique, and why it is better than your competition. 

11. Have a clear purpose

Part of learning how to write a great article is following the “One Big Idea” rule used by the industry’s best copywriters. The rule says that your copy should be focused on one pivotal idea rather than multiple ones. This philosophy should be translated all throughout your content to offer a clear context to the reader. By identifying the core purpose of your content, the flow of ideas will be more organized, and you can effectively engage eager readers to become an expert at conversion copywriting. 

12. Keep the sentences and paragraphs short

This is probably an SEO writing tip that everybody knows because content on the internet is meant for quick consumption. And if you use short sentences, it’s easier to engage with most internet users. It’s likely that most of your readers are going to skim through the entire article without diving in too deep. By using short sentences and paragraphs, you make it easier for them to grasp more information, even if they’re quickly running their eyes through the page.

13. Use everyday words

If you want to learn how to write good SEO content, you should use everyday language. Avoid complicated or uncommon words if you really want readers. SEO writing is not about showcasing your vocabulary but making concepts relatable to the average reader. The use of simple and common words improves the overall readability of your content and creates an uninterrupted experience for the reader. A great tool to test the readability of any content is Readable, which rates your content and tells you practical ways to improve its readability. 

14. Employ relevant visuals

While the quality of your content is more important, the use of visuals also forms an important aspect of SEO content writing. Blogs with images gain up to 94% more views than blogs that don’t have visuals. Considering that 65% of the population comprises visual learners, it’s pretty smart to use relevant images throughout your blog. But don’t overdo it! Make sure that your visuals are relevant to the content and that you use them sparingly, after every 300 words or so.

15. Familiarize yourself with basic SEO

When learning how to be a good content writer, you should also make SEO writing a habit. Knowing your SEO metrics and techniques can help you create content that leads to more direct visits and fewer bounce rates, and maintains the perfect content length. Using keywords at the right place and choosing the right topic can help you write good SEO content. Ranking on the search engine is about following basic SEO rules such as keyword optimization, linking, word count, and meta tags for better visibility.

16. Fine-tune your headlines

Among the important SEO content writing tips is headline optimization for more clicks. Considering that 8/10 people read your headline with only 2/10 actually proceeding to read your content, it’s critical that your headlines pack a punch. Writing the perfect headline can take time, but it’s totally worth it. Be sure to look around the search engine results pages (SERP) for similar headlines and use online tools to modify your headlines and improve the chances of your content getting read.

17. Start building your email list from day one

Getting people to read your content is half the job done, and the rest is to ensure they keep coming back. For this, you have to keep the readers in the loop. Building an email list has many benefits, such as notifying readers when a new blog is out, sharing marketing messages, building relationships, and gathering feedback. With a dedicated area on your blog to gather email addresses, you can equip yourself with a multifunctional resource. You can use an email list to promote your content and build loyalty among your readers. In fact, if you keep it up, your growing email list can turn into a major source of revenue later on.

18. Employ a smart linking strategy

The use of internal and external links is a core aspect of on-page SEO. A healthy mix of internal links can allow readers to explore other areas of your site, while wisely used external links can help validate your content for search engine quality. A smart linking strategy improves the overall navigability of your pages and increases the credibility of your content. It is important to only link to credible sources so that your readers find value and do not go away disappointed. Additionally, when using links, it’s important to link words and phrases that are related to your content to ensure that search engine crawlers befriend your site pages. You can use Moz to find a database of quality links to use in your next blog.

19. Mobile responsiveness is crucial

A mobile-friendly site is more likely to get views, considering that mobile phones are more popular than desktops for accessing the internet. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you will lose out on a vast share of internet users, reducing your chances of conversion. Also, if your site isn’t responsive on mobile, it will hurt your Google search engine rankings. A great tool to check for mobile-friendliness is Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.

20. Use calls to action

When writing good SEO content, the goal is not just to get people to read your posts, but to also drive action from the user. As mentioned above, the ultimate goal is to get them to come back. Using calls to action (CTA) wisely in your content will prompt users to submit their information, visit another page on the site, enquire about your brand, or even leave their feedback for others to see. 

There are many types of CTAs for various purposes and you have to craft one that suits your objective. For example, if it’s an educational piece, you would want people to sign up for future communications. If you’re promoting a product, you may want them to avail a free demo. The magic of a CTA is in empowering readers with the ability to take immediate action. While you can add one final CTA at the end of your content, it’s also a good idea to place them at different areas of the page to increase the chances of conversion. 

Conclusion

In the pursuit of learning how to be a good content writer, leverage every opportunity to grow your portfolio and link up with users across the web. That’s how you grow as a writer and content marketer. Now that you have a clear idea of the journey you need to take, what you need to do now is get started. Set yourself a benchmark to rise above the rest, and climb the ranks as a top SEO professional. Remember to use your time wisely and choose your words carefully. 

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