Writing a powerful SEO content seems like the easiest thing in the world, but only a handful of companies in every niche can actually win over the audience and earn the highest search engine ranking.
What seems to be their secret?
A simple answer is that industry leaders keep track of changes in search engine algorithms and find ways to adapt quickly. This is a serious advantage given the fact that Google changes its ranking formula at least a hundred times annually.
Bearing in mind that 93% of all traffic comes from a search engine, it’s easy to figure out why you should embrace ground-breaking SEO principles and stick to advanced optimization tactics in 2020. In this article, we will discuss seven things you definitely need to know about SEO copywriting. Let’s take a look
Identify Keywords That Match Users’ Intent
Keywords remain a quintessential component of SEO in 2020, too, but the feature comes with a simple tweak. It’s not enough to brainstorm different ideas and use tools to find dozens of more or less relevant keywords. On the contrary, now you also need to identify keywords that precisely match users’ intent.
For instance, let’s say you are creating a new post with the main keyword being “Olympics.” If you don’t narrow it down, how can search engines guess whether you are ranking for the Summer of Winter Olympic Games? You have to make it more precise in order to reach the target audience.
This is just a small example, but it should be enough for all of you content creators out there to learn how to select your keywords accurately.
Take Advantage of Free Tools
Knowing users’ intentions is crucial, but you still need to utilize online tools to conduct comprehensive keyword research. Luckily enough, the Internet is flooded with free platforms that will help you to detect the best search terms and phrases with no extra costs whatsoever. You probably use some of these tools already, but we will mention our favorite solutions:
- Google Keyword Planner: The fact that it comes from Google directly makes this platform extremely beneficial for SEO copywriters.
- Google Trends: Sometimes you can ride the wave of popularity and create content dedicated to frequently searched topics.
- Google’s Related Searches: You can also follow digital leads and see similar topics in the “Related Searches” section.
Headlines Are Still Fundamental
Do you know that 80% of readers never make it past the headline? In other words, only 20% of searchers and website visitors will read your post unless you craft an attention-grabbing headline. This is by no means an old SEO rule, but it doesn’t seem to lose strength in 2020 as well.
How can you come up with a great topic? It depends on the preferences of your audience, but we can give you a few suggestions that work well in most cases.
The first idea is to rely on numbers. Namely, people love numbers because they make topics feel tangible and practical, so you might as well take advantage of this tactic.
Secondly, you can use humor to grab the attention of the target audience. This is particularly important for content creators trying to approach younger audience groups.
And thirdly, you can test titles using a tool called CoSchedule Headline Analyzer. The platform quickly scans each headline and gives simple recommendations on how to make it more appealing.
Write Concisely and Keep the Copy Up to the Point
Now that you’ve earned readers’ attention with a good headline, it is time to focus on the copy. The basic rule is to write concisely and keep the copy up to the point. Website visitors don’t want to waste time reading long and boring paragraphs, so you better indulge them by writing briefly and directly.
Use a well-known structure that divides articles into introductions, body sections, and conclusions. That way, a typical reader will understand the structure of the post instantly and find a way through it quickly. Besides that, you should use actionable language, eliminate jargon and buzzwords, and emphasize key points that the audience is supposed to remember.
Write High-Quality Posts
Although most copywriters believe SEO is a technical process, it actually depends on sheer quality. Think about it for a moment and you’ll realize that Google and other engines appreciate articles that are popular among users. And what do users love? They love high-quality posts.
According to Backlinko, the average Google first page result contains 1,890 words. It means that online searchers want to read in-depth posts that are packed with clever insights.
Therefore, you need to provide readers with excellent posts that add value to the overall user experience and make your site worth visiting. Try to develop a unique style of writing and make your articles data-rich because it makes the content look trustworthy.
Besides that, make it highly engaging by asking questions and inviting your audience to share their opinions in the comments. All these tricks will convince search engines that your content is relevant, which will make a substantial impact on your search engine ranking.
Use Different Formats
Who says article writing is all about plain textual content? Although it takes the majority of each post, keep in mind that there are many other features you can add to enrich the content on your website.
Video content has been dominating the digital realm in the last few years, so feel free to embed a nice video from YouTube or Vimeo if it can augment the textual part of your post. But it’s not only about videos as there are so many other formats to think about here. Here are only some of the popular choices:
- Images, logos, and watermarks
- GIFs, memes, and animations
- Infographics
- Charts and tables
- Songs and audio podcasts
Prepare Content for Voice Searches
SEO reports suggest that nearly 50% of all searches will be voice-driven in 2020. It’s a sensational figure that proves the importance of voice search optimization in 2020 and beyond. What can you do about it?
To answer this question, we need to explain the nature of voice-powered searches. Namely, people mostly use voice assistants to ask questions, so you ought to create copies that answer the basic 5W+H questions:
- Who?
- What?
- Where?
- When?
- Why?
- How?
The Bottom Line
Millions of websites publish fresh content every day, but only the best creators deserve one of the first 10 positions in search results. If you want to achieve the same level of professional efficiency, you need to understand the state of the art optimization principles.
In this post, we discussed seven things you definitely had to know about SEO copywriting in 2020. Remember our tips and make sure to use them in your everyday work – it will help you to rank higher and outperform niche competitors in the long run!
