If you want to fuel your business with leads, one of the best things you can do is invest in a website that gets the attention of your audience and Google. 

While having a website that’s as catchy as a good Taylor Swift song is great, it’s not enough to help you reach the top of Google’s search results.

So, before you publish your next piece of content, it’s important to understand SEO content, like what search engines consider high-quality content and how to write it.

Because when it comes to your website, you need organic traffic to fuel your business further.  

Whether you’re looking to write SEO-friendly content in-house or planning to hand it off to the pros, knowing the 5 dos and 5 don’ts of SEO will help you understand what’s most important. 

Best of all, knowing this will help you create content with evergreen value that appeals to search engine algorithms and humans alike. 

But before we dive into the details, let’s start by answering a few questions you probably have brewing in your mind.

What is SEO content?

If you haven’t heard of SEO, it’s short for Search Engine Optimization, which is the process of optimizing your website content to rank higher in search engine results. 

In other words, SEO content refers to any piece of content like website copy, blog posts, articles, or product descriptions that are specifically created to attract organic traffic from search engines. 

Translation? Content that helps more organic traffic flow to your website! 

The main goal of SEO content is to provide valuable information for your target audience while satisfying search engine algorithms.  

If it helps, you can think of creating SEO content, like brewing your favorite latte. Like blending your espresso, milk, and flavors to perfection, crafting SEO content involves mixing keyword research, understanding user intent, and a healthy dose of knowledge about what makes search engines tick.

So, if you want to increase the likelihood of your content appearing in search results, optimizing content with relevant keywords and structuring it so it’s easy for search engines to crawl is key.

But enhancing your visibility is more than just sprinkling in keywords—it’s also about optimizing meta tags, headings, and images. 

What are SEO keywords?

According to the dictionary, a keyword is “a significant or memorable word or term in the title, abstract, or text of a document or other item being indexed, used as the index entry.” 

But we like to think of primary keywords more like the breadcrumbs you intentionally leave behind every time you write website copy, product descriptions, blog posts, etc., so the right people can find you. And by ‘right people,’ we mean your future clients or customers. 

These primary keywords play a vital role in telling your audience what the piece is about and help Google, Yahoo, and Bing understand the context of the content so they can rank it accordingly.

Often, this may be information about an essential product or service you offer or a related question your target audience may have.

When sprinkling keywords into your content, try to think beyond just words. Your focus keyword should be like a spotlight, shining brightly on what matters most to your audience. 

It should also be something people are already searching for. To ensure the content you’re about to write is already in demand, check out keyword tools like SEMrush or Google Trends.

Finally, you’ll want to steer clear of keyword stuffing. Google is all about quality over quantity. While you could get away with stuffing a keyword into your page back in the day, now it’s a surefire way to tank your performance, get flagged, and be removed from search engine results pages (SERPs) faster than you can say, “keyword overload.”

What is the value of SEO content writing?

In addition to improving your ranking, implementing SEO best practices in your content creation strategy can help you establish your brand as the go-to authority in your industry.

By consistently churning out high-quality, optimized content, you’re also building a solid foundation of trust and credibility with your target audience. And hey, that’s the secret sauce for fostering a stronger long-term connection and loyalty with your customers.  

And that’s not all! The real value lies in your ability to track how your content is performing. With SEO tools like SEMrush, Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, Google Analytics, and more, you can see exactly how your content is doing in real time. 

Now that you’ve better understood SEO content, let’s dive into the five do’s and don’ts of writing SEO content. 

5 Dos of Writing SEO Content

1. Do write a compelling title

Have you heard the saying, “The hook is 80% of the post?” Well, when it comes to copywriting, this is spot on! 

In other words, the title of your content piece should feature a relevant keyword for your audience and make them want to read more about it.

This is one of the most essential SEO content writing tips.

When coming up with titles for your original content piece, here are a few tips & tricks to ensure it’s liked by both Google and humans: 

• Dive into your audience’s pain points and fears 
• Uncover what’s standing in the way of your potential customer’s success
• Think about the quickest way to convince a stranger in an elevator about why your topic matters 
• Add the primary keyword where possible 

Take this piece, for example. In addition to targeting the long tail keyword “how to write SEO content,” we’re tapping into the anxiety surrounding potential mistakes when writing SEO with five things not to do. 

2. Do interlink to other essential pages on your site

Think of Google as an expansive library. You probably wouldn’t bother checking it out if you knew it only had one book, right? 

Your website works the same way. If your content strategy omits internal links, you’re telling your readers and Google that there’s nothing else for them to see here. 

So, if you want to avoid the latter, link your primary and secondary keywords to other relevant pages on your site to help your audience learn more about the subject.

Doing this alone can help strengthen and enrich your piece and set the stage for it to become evergreen content.

3. Do build quality backlinks

Backlinks play a vital role in your content’s ranking and credibility. Yet, this is often the most challenging and overlooked aspect of writing SEO content. 

If you’re unfamiliar, backlinks or externlinks act like signposts scattered across the internet from other trusted websites that point back to the content on your site.

So, if you’ve written a quality piece about backsplashes on your company site, having a Home & Garden Magazine link to your content would add instant credibility.

On top of boosting credibility, building quality backlinks can also help enhance your content’s visibility and reach.

But let’s be honest, scoring those links can be a tough gig, especially if you’re flying solo in your business. That’s where hiring a content marketing company can boost your chances of higher content ranking for your piece of content.

4. Do think about conversion

While there’s no denying that educational content is valuable, your business needs lead generation and conversion to survive and thrive.  

Therefore, your content should also entice your audience to further the conversation with you.

To help encourage the conversation, consider adding CTAs (Calls to Action) or CTCs (Calls to Conversation) that let your audience know how they can work with you or learn more without coming on too strong and scaring them away. 

5. Do support your content month over month

Let’s face it: posting high-quality SEO content is hard work. So, whether you’re doing it yourself or hiring expert content writers, ensure you have a long-term plan. 

In other words, when you publish content, your goal should be to support it for several months afterward to give it the best chance at ranking.

Here are some key ways to support your content: 

• Link to your content from social media 
• Reach out to industry pals and ask them to link to it or promote it on their site 
• Add more media to your content as you go 
• Include some frequently asked questions
• Revisit it and update it if changes happen in the industry 

Now that we’ve covered the five critical pillars of every high-performing SEO content strategy, let’s talk about the 5 key things you should avoid.

5 Don’ts of Writing SEO Content

1. Don’t write without a target keyword in mind

Diving headfirst into writing content for search engines without data is like going on a road trip without a GPS—you’re bound to get lost somewhere along the way. 

In other words, if you think what you’re writing about is what your audience is searching for, you’re already behind the eight ball. With keyword research tools readily and freely available, you can ensure that what you’re writing about is something your audience cares about, too. 

Take this piece of content, for example. Instead of aimlessly diving right in, we used SEMrush and Google Trends to inform the title of this post.

Initially, we considered titling this post “How to Write Copy for SEO,” but after some research, we realized that there wasn’t any search volume for this exact keyword phrase. 

So, we kept digging and found that “how to write SEO content” had many more searches. 

So, before you explore your preferred subject matter, remember to ensure that people in your target audience are actively looking for it.

In addition to Google Trends and SEMrush, tools like Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, and SEranking are great for finding ideas worth writing about.

Once you know what you’re writing is relevant content to your audience, you can shift your focus on crafting valuable content. 

2. Don’t overuse a keyword too much

We can’t emphasize this enough. While you need keywords, writing a top-ranking page will only happen if your content is valuable, relevant, and helpful. 

That means repeatedly using the same keyword or phrase tells algorithms you have nothing valuable to say. 

To make matters worse, if you overdo it, Google may flag your site for suspicious activity. That means you can say goodbye to the ranking and organic search traffic you wanted to get in the first place. 

3. Don’t write big blocks of text

When it comes to engaging content, we’re big believers that user experience plays a pivotal role. Nothing will make your reader lose interest faster than leaving them to sift through long-winded sentences and heavy blocks of text.

After all, attention is the new currency. So, if you overwhelm your audience with a tsunami of text, you can pretty much guarantee they won’t stick around for the punch line.  

Plus, algorithms also care about users’ opinions. So, do yourself a favor and feed two birds with one scone by breaking up your copy with shorter sentences, valuable resources, and, most importantly, media.

4. Don’t publish fresh content without media

While creating valuable long-form content is key, breaking it up with media is just as essential to keep your reader engaged. 

Whether this is eye-catching imagery, infographics, audio, or captivating video content, you’ve got to dish out the right mix of media to keep your audience hooked. 

In addition, these content types perform exceptionally well; they’ll always capture and keep your reader’s attention better than paragraph after paragraph of text. 

5. Don’t sell too much

While many digital marketing companies may disagree with this, effective SEO writing is more than selling your products and services. 

It’s also about delivering valuable content to your audience that follows the I.D.E.A framework. 

Inform

Dive deeper into a subject your audience is already interested in. 

Delight

Deliver an enjoyable experience by answering frequently asked questions your audience has about the topic and then some. 

Enlighten

Encourage your audience to go deeper with other comprehensive content, like additional pages on your site, engaging videos, and more.

Allow

Shed light on how your company can lend a helping hand on the topic with your company’s capabilities in the final paragraph or two. 

By following these 5 dos and avoiding the 5 don’ts mentioned above, you’ll be well on your way to crafting compelling SEO content that attracts more organic traffic, connects with your audience, and boosts your website’s rankings.

Curious how Freshly Brewed Copy can help you with high-ranking SEO content?

You’re in good company! We specialize in writing irresistible copy for impact-driven entrepreneurs and brave leaders (like you). In addition to helping you map out your brand strategy, we also know how to create a streamlined content marketing workflow with design in mind that delivers meaningful results in weeks—not months.

So, if you’re looking for expert support with your content projects, we’re the creative copywriting studio for you. 

Ready to fuel your business further? Book your virtual coffee chat with us today!