SEO Writing Tips by Prin Dumas Sielski
As an SEO writer, I’ve come to learn a few things about search engine optimization (SEO) through the years. Before I go any further, I’m going to answer a very popular question:
What is SEO Writing?
SEO writing stands for search engine optimization writing. In short, this is the content you see online almost everywhere from news sites to small businesses and big corporate advertising. You find it in travel blogs and social media, and you consume it daily whenever you are online.
Many clients still look at me as if I’ve spoken to them in a foreign language when I explain SEO ideas. Simply put, SEO writing is what makes a website or brand show up in searches. Whether you are a small business or a rock band, you want your “online stuff” to show up when someone types in certain “keywords” in the search engine. I’m a small LLC in New Jersey and I service very specific clients in the NYC metropolitan area as I work from home, and that means I create SEO content that serves my business goals at different times of the year.
It doesn’t matter if it’s through Google or any other platform, SEO content and SEO in social media boost your online presence and reach your target audience – clients, customers, listeners, readers, etc.
SEO Writing Tips
There are different thoughts about SEO writing, but these are some of the rules I use to help clients. “Rules” also change throughout the year. I’ve worked in SEO since the early 2000s, and I feel I’ve seen it all in SEO trends. I’ve worked in the days where we hid content in websites to boost searches until the robots got wiser, and I’ve seen the advent of artificial intelligence with ChatGPT. Everything changes. Sometimes, SEO methods that worked last year are already obsolete or counterproductive. I take pride in creating real and organic content that stands the test of time with limited changes over the years. I’ve had clients who still benefit from SEO content results years later without any need for changes or new content. I’ve also had clients in different industries who need refreshed content to keep their websites relevant. Below, you will find some basic tips that anyone on your team can apply to improve SEO content.
- Make sure each page of your website or blog site has a name after the .com (or other), not a number (i.e. About Us vs. Page2).
- Use different keywords and meta descriptions for every page. Make sure you use the keyword inside the meta description and make sure the keyword is in the title and headings of the content itself.
- Pick 10 keywords for your home page and 5 keywords for the rest. That’s it! If you overdo the keywords, you’ll simply not write enough content in your website that will justify those keywords and Google will punish you. Yes, the robots will punish you and your crafty website. That all being said, don’t go too intense on keywords that make no sense for your business. Add geolocations to fine tune the targeting, but use keywords that you can honestly stand by as a business and service.
- Write a minimum of 500 words per page (Contact Page may be an exception) and aim for 750 words or more for content-friendly pages (About Us is a good space for lots of written rambling and SEO content). Pages and blog entries are not the same thing. Blogs may be shorter or longer, and they can link to news sites and interesting stories or anecdotes. They carry their own SEO content style and rules, but ultimately, your website and your blog posts have slightly different goals. Pages should be succinct and informative, easily promote to the call to action of contacting you for business. However, the longer the content, the better the “word density.” You have to find a balance there.
- Mention your main keyword at least 4 times and no more than 8 times for every 400 words. This is a rough idea. Using your keyword too many times is NOT a good thing. Using it scarcely is not good either. Most writing platforms offer you a word density analysis. Many years ago, SEO content philosophy ranged from content filler approaches – SEO writers who created nonsensical and poorly written material to make SEO keywords fit. We still see this often on some news sites when they outsource writing. It’s important that your SEO content is real. That’s a personal rule. Even with AI content, you have to ensure human input in the editing before publishing.
- Create articles and blogs. Articles link to reliable news and research sources, and blogs are free to be more opinionated. You need both to diversify your content. Most people call all of it blog posts, but you do want to keep the posts interesting for return readers.
- Use social media accounts with your keywords. This helps match website content to what you share online on Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, TikTok, and any other social media platform.
- Let go of old SEO content trends quickly. While I’ve been in this business as a freelance writer for over 20 years now, I always find it interesting when professional peers give outdated advice, or conversely, give too trendy advice that does not match the client’s needs. Be mindful of what your business goals are and what your customer base wants to see online. Trends don’t really matter if your ideal customer isn’t going to be impressed.
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Writing By Prin 