Creating a Search Engine Optimized article takes a lot of practice and might be challenging at first. However, there are tips and ways to help you.
Firstly, understand the topic you are writing on. And then comes the step of understanding your audience.
Secondly, research what the audience is looking for and what you can provide as a content writer. Ask yourself: does your article clarify everything that needs to be covered? And, Will the visitor be satisfied with your content?
Thirdly, there isn’t any doubt that we can find nearly everything on the Internet. There is a high chance that even the article you are willing to write has already been covered by another content provider. Therefore, it is crucial to consider what things you can do differently and in an improved way.
Lastly, even if you provide comprehensive and valuable insight in your article, it is equally essential that the content be captivating, well-organized, and in a readable format.
In brief, dedicating a significant effort towards research and editing is more valuable than solely focusing on the writing to make an article that meets the SEO guidelines.
If you feel overwhelmed by the vast factors that go into creating an SEO-friendly article, don’t worry. This article is designed to provide you with tips, guides, and tools to craft high-quality content that is well-optimized for search engine algorithms.
Table of Contents
- What is SEO Friendly Article?
- Top 7 Tips for writing SEO Friendly Content
- Conclusion
What is SEO Friendly Article?
Higher rank in search engines and optimization for the correct keywords throughout the text, optimized for the right search intent, and providing enough information about the topic are the features of an SEO-Friendly article.
The search-engine-optimized content is created to get higher ranks from the search engines. They are written in a way that makes it easier for search engines like Google, Bing, etc. To understand your content and rank it higher for the people to see it on the 1st page of Google search.
Search engine-optimized content is given more priority. And SEO writing is more than just overusing the keywords in your article. It is about using proper keyphrases, synonyms, and related keywords in a balanced way throughout the article by considering the user’s search intent to capture more organic traffic.
Therefore, make sure the intent of your audience is getting fulfilled. By understanding the user’s interests and concerns, you can create an article that is both user-friendly and optimized for the web crawlers.
Here are the Top 7 Tips for writing SEO Friendly Content
1. Think of the topic
Thinking and preparing before anything is the first step in your journey. Think about the title you intend to write. The subject could be related to your business, product, research, your interest, or something you found that needs to be heard by the audience. If you decide on the genre for your new content, it is time to do extended research on that topic.
2. Research for the keywords
Keywords are the primary part of the topic you choose. The keyword should give the overall view of what you will be offering in your article. You can use tools like Ahrefs, or SEMrush to find out audience intent, and search volume of the keyword. Here are a few things to remember when conducting the research:
A. Search intent
Search intent is the intention of the searcher or the audience. The search intent gives you an idea of what people might be searching for in the post. It is the purpose of your audience while surfing the internet. Identify the aims of your audience and create a post in a way that can provide service for those needs.
B. Long tail keywords and head keywords
Long tail keywords are more specific than the head keywords. It is essential to get the concept of these things for creating SEO-friendly articles. Head keywords are the main word of your blog.
For example, if your blog is related to Homemade Food Recipes, the head keyword you want to be found on the search term is “Homemade Food Recipes.” However, the chances of ranking on the head keywords could be higher due to the vast competition because the head keywords are broader in scope and have a high search volume. The head keywords are less specific too.
Long tail keywords are more specific and have less competition than head keywords. The reason is that most of the visitors begin by searching for more general terms. Meanwhile, long tail keywords closely resemble the search intent, leading to lesser search volume.
For example, if your blog is related to food recipes, the long-tail keywords for the blog can be “Easy and Tasty Homemade Food for the Large Family.” Although the Long Tail keyword has a low search volume, it has a higher conversion rate because it drives more targeted traffic.
Therefore, to create a search engine-optimized business, link your blog posts from the tail to the head posts. When you connect from a low search volume blog to a high search volume blog, search engines understand the structure making it easier to rank higher. It is known as internal linking and is used to direct the traffic to your most important posts.
C. Make a list of keywords.
Making a list of the keywords and thinking about what people might search for is a good practice to ensure your article contains sufficient information. Add the long tail keywords to your keywords to analyze the search-term possibilities. Furthermore, google them and check the searches on ‘Google suggests’ while you type.
Place those keywords in the right places of the content. Also use the synonyms of keywords and semantically related words in your article, not just the keywords, to get more engagement.
3. Analyze the competition
Look out for your competition. You need to check others’ articles and contents and observe them. See how they are writing, what they are writing, and how you can make yours better. This practice gives you an idea of what to do and what not to do when creating your content. You can improve your SEO strategies by identifying the relevant keywords, learning their content strategy, and analyzing their backlinks profiles.
The tools that can help you analyze your competitors are SEMrush and Ubersuggests.
4. Structure the post
It is time to put those thoughts and plans into action. The post in a readable format makes the content search friendly. The structure of your content should have an introductory part, a body part, and a conclusion with a blend of keywords throughout the text in a balanced way.
A. Choose Title
The Title you select should provide an abstract of your content. It must contain the central key phrase that you want your article to be ranked in. It is the first thing the visitor notices when surfing through the internet. The catchier your title is, the more likely people will click on your article.
Therefore, make your title attention-grabbing to convey the quality of your content. Tweak Your Biz is a title generator tool you can use if you run out of ideas.
B. Meta description
A meta description is another thing that visitor notices after looking at the title. It is a short description of your content and appears below the title. The meta description is essential and has the ability to influence whether or not to click on your web page.
Therefore, let your meta description be short and consist of the primary keyword making it a significant aspect of the SEO. It should explain what users can expect from your content. Verify that it is no more than 155-160 characters.
C. Optimize the content
Once you have the title and meta description for the article, the next thing is optimizing the content to increase the visibility, readability, and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). Proper use of Headings, Subheadings, and Paragraphs is the vital element that helps optimize the content.
Headings and subheadings help the readers to understand the parts of your text. Each paragraph should be in a way that covers one vital message you are trying to put out there. Remember that paragraphs shouldn’t be very lengthy and hard to read. Use your keywords strategically within these elements of your content.
D. Optimize the images
Use descriptive file names instead of file names, for example, “img332.” And use the alt tags to describe the image accurately for those who cannot see the image. Add keywords related to your content and pictures to provide the context of the article for the Search engines like Google and Bing.
For better page load and high ranking, compress the size of your image. You can use the online image optimizer, Compress Now, or Tinypng.
E. Optimize the length of the article
Google prefers longer text because it gives more ideas about your content. The text must be meaningful and can provide value to your readers. The length of the regular posts is comparatively shorter than the length of the in-depth post. However, keep it simple and concise so the users fulfill their search intent and stay interested. It is always better to start with short blogs.
Therefore, optimize the length of the article so that you can provide all the necessary information to your audience and maintain their focus.
One of the best tools for your SEO is the Yoast plugin. It checks the readability of your text, checks the use of keyphrases in your text, and more.
5. Internal links
The internal links are the hyperlinks that connect one page to other pages of the same website. You can link the articles you have written in the past with the current article if they are of similar nature. The links to the related articles keep the reader engaged and beneficial for the search engines. It helps them to figure out the framework of your site.
6. Editing the content
After you have written your article, don’t rush to publish it. You can do a few things to make your article better. When you finish the writing, check the text from top to bottom for any mistakes you may have made that need to be corrected. It is always better to revise the text.
A. Mobile Optimization
The audience and visitors can come from various devices like desktops, mobile, tablets, etc. Mobile devices contribute to the majority of traffic. Considering such factors makes your article user-friendly and allows traffic from every device to have a good experience while visiting your website. Not just for the user, your Search engine also prioritizes a responsive design and mobile-friendly websites.
Therefore, after you have completed your writing, see how well it appears in different screen types. Google also considers mobile-friendliness as the ranking element.
B. Check Grammatical errors
The language and structure you use in writing the article show the quality. Grammatical error-free content is preferred and gains the trust of people reading your content. How does this help in building SEO Friendly articles? The grammatically correct post has higher conversions, a lower bounce rate, and an overall good user experience. These facts make your post/ article well-optimized for search engines.
Grammarly is a free tool that will help you with grammatical errors and is simple. It scans your whole document, points out the issues, and gives suggestions for grammatical mistakes.
C. Let someone have a look at your work before publishing.
Letting someone read your content before publishing will emerge suggestions and feedback, creating an opportunity for you to improve. Making these efforts in your writing is the building block toward successful search engine optimization.
7. Things to do after publishing
A. Share on social media
Promote your post on various social media platforms. These platforms may increase the visibility, and engagement with your article, and bring more traffic.
B. Analyze the performance of the article
Tracking and analyzing your SEO performance allows you to monitor your website. It gives you insight into how to optimize your post to gain more organic traffic and set the goal. You can analyze the keywords your post is ranked for, backlinks, and conversions.
The best free tool to analyze your SEO performance is Google Analytics, and Google Search Console.
C. Optimize the post
After analyzing and identifying the issues, optimize the post. After you have published your article, update it to keep it high on rank. If the later posts are anywhere related to the previous articles, optimize them by adding links. You can always improvise your posts and performance.
Conclusion
Start by writing on the content that you have good knowledge of. Put the understanding into the text through keyword research, optimize your post, and analysis of your performance.
At first, write short blogs with high-quality content and be comfortable with them, then move on to blogs with longer lengths and complexity.
There are a large number of tools you can find related to SEO. Try them and use the one that you find most appealing and easy to use. You can create engaging content that increases traffic and interactions on your website with consistent effort and the right tools.