What the heck is SEO!? And why is it important for your copy and content?
SEO. Search engine optimisation. What the heck is it? And why is it important to your website copy and content? Two big questions with two big answers! But, don’t worry, I will NOT bore you with all the intricacies of SEO. Instead, in this blog post, I’m going to chat about how SEO works when it comes to writing copy and content on your website - which will really help you if you’re regularly updating the copy and content on your website.
In this blog post, learn:
what SEO really is
why copywriting and content writing is so vital to SEO
easy tips for managing your own SEO through the copy and content on your site
a little about me and my background in SEO, copy and content (in case you want to know!)
Context: about my work in SEO
Skip this bit if you just want the info and tips!
Carry on reading if you want to know WHY I approach SEO in the way that I do - it can help you understand it too!
My work. What do I do? Well, I am a copywriter. I’ve run my own business for 4 years now, and over that time I’ve come to specialise in SEO & website content and copy. However, I haven’t always done this.
My beginnings of my career were in marketing - in a more corporate role. Well, actually, my first role was in an industrial engineering company. Very sexy. But it was a big company with a big luscious marketing budget. So this was in 2013, and there were many exciting developments in digital marketing. Suddenly we were talking about Google analytics, webmaster tools etc etc. and SEO was this super cool thing that we all had to do. I went on courses, did webinars, and I learnt a hell of a lot.
However, one day, I was sat in on a Google Keyword Planner workshop, and I remember thinking ‘yeah tools are great, but are we losing the human approach to what we do?’
So, this brings me to talk about what SEO exactly is - and how you should approach it ‘human first’.
What exactly is SEO?
I like to split SEO into two parts. The first part is website developer/ builder/ design stuff. Like how quickly the page loads or if you’re using javascript. These things impact your SEO.
Then there is a copy/ content side to SEO - the words on your website - which is huge, arguably more important in many cases. This is my bag - and what I do when I help clients is to help them maximise their potential with ranking on Google via the words on their website.
But whether we talk about the techy web-developer angle or my side as an SEO copywriter, there is one thing in common - it’s Google’s business model.
SEO makes things better for people
When we say SEO, we think ugh codes, robots, spiders. Overall we have a feeling of ‘this is complicated’. But when you dig deeper into what Google is doing, you will see that all Google wants to do is connect their users (so people searching on Google) with great results that answer their questions accurately. And these users are real people.
SEO strategy and the words on your website
Want to know my biggest SEO tip? Start thinking about how to make your website copy and your website content better for your audience - and you will naturally make your website perform better in Google search results.
But that does sound a little wishy-washy. I get it. So let’s get practical. Because as much as you’re sitting thinking ‘yes, I get it, Google is all about people’, it’s not always easy to know exactly what to do - especially when your head is dealing with a million other things in your business.
Practical tips to make your website copy and content perform better in Google
The cornerstone of SEO is keyword ranking. So, I am going to give you 4 practical tips to help when it comes to keywords use in your copy and content.
Research your keywords and use your common sense too
There are many amazing tools - like Google Keyword Planner - to find keywords. But in actual fact, you know your customer best, so grab a pen and paper and jot down all the keywords they use to describe and talk about your services/ products.
Read through their reviews and testimonials and pick out the language they are using - and let this form your own keyword and key phrases strategy. yes, use the tools as well - but don’t rely solely on them.
2. Place your keywords/ key phrases in the best place for your audience
So there is a generic rule that in the first 150 words of your copy or content, you should use your keyword. So for example, if you have a web page all about your careers coaching service, you need to make sure you’re saying ‘careers coaching’ in your first 150 words.
Great! Easy to do but crazy how many people don’t do it.
And, if you think about it, this isn’t just a Google-pleasing exercise. Placing keywords in important places helps your audience too - because it reaffirms that they are in the right place when they see that keyword.
3. Place your primary keyword in headings (don’t just bold the text and go)
Did you know that every web page on your website has what is known as a h1 (header 1) tag? And this tag is usually the biggest bit of text on your webpage - and is like a ‘title’ for your webpage.
Now in most cases, your keyword should be in this header 1 tag - and like a book only has one title, a web page should only have 1 title.
In most website content management systems (CMS), you can edit your copy and select text to be a header tag, rather than paragraph text. Make sure you do this to create headings so Google can quickly understand the hierarchy of your page content - and which bits are important. Do this instead of bolding text - bolding text is not the same as tagging up your headings.
Creating keyword-rich headings is also great for your audience, as they can quickly reassure themselves that your website is relevant to their search query. “Oh, this page is about luxury dog beds, I’ll hang around here.” Or equally, if you're optimising a blog post for Google, they can see clear headings, navigate the content and skip to the bits that matter to them.
4. Check out and edit your title tags and your meta descriptions
Say what now? It sounds complex, but all this is that little snippet of text you get for each search result on Google. The blue hyperlink with text underneath.
Did you know you can edit these to improve your click-through conversions?
In your CMS, you will most likely have page/ SEO settings where you can go in and edit your title tag and meta description. My advice is to use keywords that you’re targeting in these small snippets of copy - as it reassures your audience they’re in the right place.
This is a good example of how to do it - although can you see how it’s cut off at the end?
I hope those 4 tips are useful. And, above all….
Stop thinking about SEO as some horrible techy website task!
And think about it as creating and optimising your content and copy to be better for your target audience who are out there and looking on Google. That one simple mindset shift can significantly affect how well your website performs on Google.
Do you need SEO content and/ or copy support?
Book a discovery call today - and find out how I can help you.
Zoe x
About Zoe
Zoe is a copywriter specialising in SEO website copy and content. She lives in Northwich, Cheshire and supports clients both locally and further afield. Zoe has a strong content marketing background and has been offering freelance copywriting and content services since 2018.
