Tips for effective SEO copywriting

Perhaps the most sought after copywriting on the web is SEO copywriting. SEO is an acronym for search engine optimized content. This simply means that your article has been embellished with keywords that the search engines, such as Lycos or Google will find very friendly.

Unfortunately a lot of SEO copywriting is not very easy for people to read. That is because most people think that the key word has to be repeated ad nauseum in order for it to rise to the top of the search engines. The repetition of a keyword phrase can help your search engine rankings but reading unfriendly garbled copy that is ridden with too many of the same words can make the every day visitor to your site think you are an idiot that knows absolutely nothing about grammar or spelling.

Remember that the goal of effective SEO writing is to not only to improve your searchability and search engine rankings but also to read the copy so they can be lead to the goods or services that you have to sell on your web site. The last thing you want your carefully crafted SEO paragraph to do is lead the visitor's mouse to click and close your web page. However this is precisely what happens when people find a badly written SEO paragraph that is a tad too heavy with the keywords. To put it succinctly, a hard sell is a turn off because it makes you look desperate for business.

The key is to find a happy balance between copywriting for people and copywriting for the search engines. Here are some tips to writing more effective SEO copy.

Use About three different keywords per page - Notice this is about using keyword phrases (a couple of words that someone might type into a search engine) not just a single word. This can help the search engine spiders drive target customers to your site, as opposed to just people who are pinging your hit counter in frustration.

Don't write less than 250 words- When it comes to copy for search engine optimization it is important to be as concise and to the point as possible. However it is possible for an SEO article to be too short.  People are very, very irritated when they search for some time for a focused subject only to be led to the same vague plagiarized definition over and over. If you need to write longer SEO copy in order to get your point then divide it into seperate sections or pages.

Be subtle about the use your keywords- Your keywords should not dominate or overload the piece. Try to write in grade six level conversational language. If you are really stuck and you are writing these yourself, then try writing the way you talk and then incorporating the keywords into the copy. Supreme search engine optimized copy never sounds like the sentence was built to accommodate the keyword. Keywords that are too obtrusive or omnipresent are a turn off for everything human that can read. Even if the search engine spiders find them friendly, lousy, forced sounding content is only going to have your visitor clicking the little X at the right hand corner of the browser window after they have decided your writing is incomprehensible.

If you can try to use keyword phrases in headlines, titles and sub titles. There is no point to trying to do this if the keyword phrase that you are trying to incorporate completely ruins the title of your article. Never use a keyword in a title if it turns it into something nonsensical.  Your best bet is to try to keep the title a complete sentence well at the same time trying to capture the gist by using one or two well chosen, high ranking keywords.

Use keywords in the first sentence, last sentence and at least once in each paragraph. This is a rule that many professional SEO copywriters follow in attempt to make their technical writing sound more like "natural language."  Natural language is a term that SEO copywriters use to describe the process of having to transform spider engine food into something that is understood by humans.

Use keywords as part of bolded, italicized or Bulleted Lists. This type of treatment can help highlight the words or phrases, not only to the reader, but also for the search engine. In terms of people, this type of layout is supposed to perform a bit of subliminal seduction when it comes to them retaining the memory of what your site is supposed to be all about in the first place.

Avoid using focused keyword phrases when a more general term is required. Not every generic phrase that you see is an open call to insert a keyword phrase. For example, try to avoid writing "search engine optimized business opportunities" instead of the word "opportunities" if you can help it. Trying to fit several keywords into a sentence structure that only requires one word makes your copy sound stiff and stilted.

Also avoid using the same keyword phrase several times in a paragraph if you can. An example would be "You can become a free affiliate banner user by registering for free affiliate banner programs that are run by a free affiliate banner network also known as a free affiliate banner network."

In conclusion the only sure way to test your keyword optimized search engine friendly copywriting is to test it by posting it and then searching for it in an engine such as Google or Overture. If type in the keyword phrase and it turns up, then you have done an excellent job as at SEO copywriting.

Comments

[punctuatecopy]

These are excellent tips, thanks for including them all in one place.

One tip to include is to focus primarily on ranking in Google first before other engines. The user statistics are consistent across the board: 60% use Google, 30% Yahoo, 5% MSN, and 5% all other minor players. If you first concentrate on Google, you will find SEO on other engines to be a piece of cake.

Thanks again!

Geoff
www.punctuatecopy.com

[Mikael Jisander]

Thanks, great article. The art of SEO writing is very exciting, and someting every copywriter need to master.

[Luis L. Montecillo]

So bottom line: it's still preferable to hire writers to turn out content written by humans than rely on machines to pack visitors in?

I recently came across a Newsweek article which tlks about "crunchers," computer programs which can turn out better work than humans. I also know for a fact that there are programs (like James Brausch's Glyphius) touted as lead generators.

[Agent A]

Crunchers can understand an algorithm and also generate (I deliberately avoided the use of the word 'write') lines that are sympathetic to the rules of grammar. But it's going to be a long time before a machine will be able to give your site or brand a tone of voice that readers will find appealing.

We use an artificial intelligence system in our business. But we have him answering the phone.

Bottom line, a machine can get people there. But it can't get them to return.

[Andrew Witherspoon]

Great tips! As I always say, or was told by a friend, it always pays to listen to professional advice!

[Seo Copywriting Services]

thanks for sharing this

really worth reading

thnaks!

[Eamon]

Useful and interesting article.

In particular, the bit about using at least 3 different keywords which makes sense but hadn't really thought through properly.

The point about writing posts that are too short is important too. And, of course, posts that say something original / put in a different way that offers up an interesting insight.

[Saman]

Nice article.I have articles on nearly the same subject on my blog too.

[Russell]

Great post. I've recently took over SEO work for copywriting agency Stratton Craig ( http://www.strattoncraig.co.uk ), but it's such a black art and as such I'm constantly learning.

Thanks for the tips!

[Russell Cavanagh]

I agree with the other "Russell" ... This is a really useful post - thanks.

Keep up the good work!

[orange county seo]

Great article, Effective SEO writing is to not only to improve your search ability and search engine rankings but also to read the copy so they can be lead to the goods or services that you have to sell on your web site. Thanks for the post.

-faith-

[Michael]

Good information on SEO copywriting.

A good copywriter will keep a number of things in mind when copywriting. SEO adds another challenge, but shouldn't be a barrier to good copywriting.

I cover the basic elements of copywriting on my copywriting blog at http://www.wordnerds.com.au

[George]

This SEO copywriting post is very good. Thank you for share it. Very useful.

Also could be useful www.keysentencestool.com where we will find how to improve a little more the sentences, scoring the headlines.
Regards,

George

[Jeff Paul Shortcut to internet]

Its a useful source of information making SEO writing improve your searchability and search engine rankings but also to read the copy so they can be lead to the goods or services that you have to sell on your web site .

[twitter.com/aatwebmaster]

wow! this is nice post on seo copy writing thanks for sharing your ideas.

[Ramesh]

Wow! this post is nice on seo copy writing thanks for sharing your ideas.

[Ramesh]

wow! this is nice post on seo copy writing thanks for sharing your ideas.

[Laboursurprise]

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[Angerresy]

I would have added something of course, but essentially says almost everything.
http://interest-site.ru/girl1/prost24.php

[chkbse]

Captain Peacock is still alive last time I looked at Wikipedia. To your next comment: May they all rest in peace!! I too, wish it had at the time received a broader audience than just PBS. many don't watch PBS.
avk

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