SEO Writing is a very important skill to be acquired by aspiring content writers in the rapidly growing Gig Economy. A Gig Economy is where you pay per gig that you get done from the market places like Fiverr, Upwork, Internshala etc. Read more on what is Gig Economy here.
Content Marketing is one of the largest pillars of digital marketing. Here is one article that describes: Content Writing Jobs & Search Engine Optimization: A great source of work for stay at home moms (mompreneurs). Not just for Mompreneurs, or stay at home moms, content writing and SEO Writing are great sources of work for anyone who wishes to work remotely from the comfort of home.
One day not so long ago, I got an email from an anonymous person aged 26 (it says in his letter) who had been frustrated in a very famous company in Delhi. He is a content writer himself but has been writing only Ad copies for 20 months. See the screenshot below. He wanted me to guide him in his career prospects. He is willing to learn. But where could he start?
He could start with learning SEO, right?
If you are a content writer, then SEO is the next best thing that you could learn. Who better than Sanjay Shenoy can help you out in this? Sanjay Shenoy is India’s leading content marketer and SEO expert as of 2021. I have personally attended close to 3 SEO courses and none came anywhere closer to Sanjay’s HIIT SEO Training.
So, if you can do a bit of content writing, then you can learn SEO easily, well … with some effort, YES!!!
SEO Writing and Content Writing FAQ
Are SEO professionals required to do content writing?
Yes, content writing is one crucial skill that every SEO professional should possess.
Even if it is just for writing optimized titles (h1, h2, alt-tags, descriptions) or curating the ready-made content (written by a copywriter), an SEO professional should have above average content writing skills.
Because, after all, in SEO you are optimizing the “content” for attracting search engine traffic and ranking higher on search pages.
Is SEO writing the same as content writing?
If the purpose of creating the content is to attract search engine traffic (which, to be honest, is what all online content is for!), then yes, writing for SEO is the same as content writing.
Typically, good online content writers incorporate SEO elements in their writing without realizing it.
A good SEO content writer additionally understands how to create content to improve search engine rankings without stuffing keywords and sounding spammy.
Why should u still need SEO after content writing, or vice versa?
Content writing is just one part of SEO. A lot of SEO is technical in nature and involves many steps that require no content writing.
The technical part of SEO could include checking index status, identifying crawl errors, creating sitemaps, redirects and so on.
What skills are involved in SEO content writing?
Content writing for SEO should keep in mind the main keywords and topics relevant to the site. Different skills are involved in SEO content writing.
When it comes to optimizing the titles, tags, and descriptions of each page, one requires content summarization skills. This is where writing short ad-copy like the text is vital.
When writing the main content, it is important to keep in mind the audience as well as the keywords relevant to the page. When you use a keyword in a title, you elaborate on that keyword in the following paragraph. Every paragraph should be relevant and optimized for keywords. This is where keyword optimization and elaboration skills come into play.
Do I need to know SEO to do online content writing?
Don’t worry about SEO if you are just starting out as a content writer. Concentrate on honing your content writing skills first and be ready to research a fair bit on the internet.
In the era of internet marketing, you need to research well to write anything and everything before you publish your words on the net – be it on a blog or social media.
But do remember, people, come before search engines! So if you create content that is appealing and compelling to your audience, chances are it will rank well on search engines as well.
Note on Using Long-Tail Keyword for SEO Writing Success
Customers use keyword terms on search engines to search for products and services or to find information. And business owners want to show up in search engine results pages (SERPs) when someone searches for keywords or phrases that are relevant to their products and services.
That is why Keyword Research is usually the first step when we start a new SEO writing project.
It is vital to choose the right keywords to target in our website copy and/or blog content. Having each page focus on a unique, relevant keyword helps potential customers find the right content page and lead them to a conversion.
Keywords can be classified into two kinds: broad or head keywords, and long-tail keywords. Head keywords or phrases are those that relate to broad topics and are usually shorter in length. Long-tail keywords are those that are more specific and maybe longer terms.
Broad keywords typically have high search volumes but also have very high competition. Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, may have low search volume but not too many sites would be competing for these keywords. So the chances of your site showing up for one of these keywords are higher than if you were competing for broad keywords with bigger, more established brands.
Let’s illustrate this with an example. Say, you run a small boutique store specializing in organic cotton clothes. Your head keyword could be something like “organic clothing store” or “organic cotton clothes”. Just running a search on Google for these terms throws up millions of results.
If you’re just starting out, you would not want to compete with so many sites to get to the first page of search engine results. What you need to do then is to narrow your focus. That is where long-tail keywords come in.
Here are three tips on how you can use long-tail keywords to increase your site’s SEO ranking and generate more qualified traffic to your website and store.
- Add product or service terms
Appending terms related to specific products or services and leading traffic to pages that sell that particular product will help you reach the people specifically looking for that kind of product or service.
For instance, if you have a selection of bagru print sarees or dresses, using those keywords in your product pages will get you more relevant traffic with less sites competing for the same keywords.
- Add geographic terms
If you have a store serving a particular city or area, you could use geo-qualifiers in your titles, descriptions and page content to attract more visitors from those areas.
- Add question terms
Customers are always looking for more information on how a certain product is made or sourced. You could use long-tail question terms to come up with ideas for blog posts which will help spread the word about your brand and, in turn, increase traffic to your site.
For example, you could write a piece on how organic cotton is better for the environment or where you source organic cotton from, and so on. You could also add an FAQ section in your site that answers these questions and explains your processes in detail.
Head on to alsoasked.com for getting actual questions that people have typed into google and other search engines. This is one great source of getting relevant, highly intentional questions.
Of course, SEO is so much more than just scattering long-tail keywords across your website pages. Use these long-tail keyword tips along with other standard SEO optimization practices to help your website reach the most relevant audiences and increase your conversions.
Understanding Search intent and Semantic Search
Search engine algorithms try to understand the deeper meaning of each search query. Search query is the group of words that we type inside the search box of the search engines. Let us take the above example: “how is organic cotton grown”. Based on the search intent in this question, the search engine will give a highly relevant result page. The results would feature
- What is organic cotton?
- Different types of organic cotton
- How-to websites
- Where-all one can find organic cotton
- People also asked questions
- Q&A on Google
It may not show,
- Local organic cotton shops,
- Organic cotton suppliers & shops
- Offers for organic cotton
This is because the semantic search based on the search intent shows that the intent of purely that of seeking information. The intention is not that of purchase or buying intent.
So, if you are a content writer, then optimizing your content with informational keywords will greatly improve your search rankings. Here is an amazing article on understanding search intent and semantic search.
If you need help managing your SEO strategy and increasing your website’s SERP rankings, do contact renjini at hello@renj.in
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Hey Renjini,
Well nicely articulated article giving insights about SEO writing for today’s world. Well Done!!