Top 15 SEO Copywriting Tips For 2020

Content can be considered as the backbone of any good SEO copywriting and practice. Without it, you’d find it very difficult to rank using only your brand name. And we hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if your business isn’t on the first page of Google, your competitors will get the largest share of the kill.

Google uses about 200 ranking factors and optimized content is on the top ten of that list. Your content not only has to be relevant, but it also has to be highly visible. The best product in the world won’t mean a thing if nobody knows that it’s for sale, right?

Here are the top 15 SEO copywriting tips that you should get for your business this coming 2020:

1. Think About User Experience

Always keep in mind that your content will be read by humans and not algorithms. When SEO is still in its infancy, it’s normal to find content that is peppered with keywords. Content such as “Are you on your way to work and need car service near me?” makes no sense at all, but it’s sad that even today, you’ll still see keyword stuffing like this.

2. Get to Know Your Audience Well

Experienced entrepreneurs are aware that learning about their customers is crucial. When you write with the customer in mind, you’ll get them to read your content even if it’s not top ranking. Take this example when you enter the question of why obesity is wrong.

If you know your customers enough, the article Everything You Know About Obesity Is Not Wrong is the most interesting in the list. It has a higher chance of being read than the others that seem too scientific. This is unless your readers are scientists who are looking for references and not write-ups about being obese.

3. Quality Over SEO

Good SEO practices used on bad content won’t amount to much. But high-quality content will rank even without using SEO on it. We’re talking about SEO copywriting so it’s important to incorporate good optimization on your content but keep it to a minimum. In short, don’t overdo it.

4. Take Advantage of “Bucket Brigades”

For your site to rank, you need people to read your content all the way to the end. Yes, they clicked on your site, but if they didn’t stay long enough, it still won’t rank. This is where you may want to use the bucket brigade or grease-slide phrases technique.

A good example is this article from Penji that starts with a question, Been thinking about starting a small business but not sure where to start? This piques the interest of the reader enough to go from the first paragraph onto the next, up until the end of the article.

It’s the same as building a house and the bucket of cement gets passed on from one person to the other, thus bucket brigade. Another explanation is the first paragraph is greased to let it slide down the slippery slope.

5. Use Language Your Audience Uses

Avoid big words that your audience doesn’t understand or won’t appreciate. Again, insight into your customers’ behavior is key here. If you understand what they need, you’ll know what to give them.

And if they’re into reading opinions, write accordingly. Lastly, if they love cooking, use an informal style of writing. If they’re looking to get definitions, write with authority. Also, you need to take into consideration the nature of your business to decide on a suitable writing style.

6. Structure Your Content

Give your SEO copywriting a nice flow to it for easy readability. An introduction, a body, and a conclusion as a recap work best. A good structure gives the content more impact than a loosely constructed article.

7. Know the Importance of Title Tags

Your title tag is one of the most important components of your article. It’s what viewers will see first when they see you on the search engine. Create title tags that read naturally and convey your content’s topic effectively.

8. Long-Form Content

Size does matter in terms of SEO copywriting. An article with around 1,200 to 1,500 words has more potential in answering the reader’s question than the short 500-word ones. Google wants to point the readers to content that has better quality and long-form content can guarantee quality.

A good example is this article from Patagonia, How We’re Reducing Our Carbon Footprint. It has about 1,300 words and is filled with information that provides a very good read.

9. Use Catchy Headlines

Take advantage of rousing people’s curiosity with a catchy headline. This will get them to read your content and stay longer on the website. Buzzfeed is an expert on this so take your cue from them.

Be sure to deliver and write content that will satisfy their interests. Don’t overdo it. You’ll reduce the bounce rate and keep your readers coming back for more.

10. Don’t Forget to Link

Adding links to your content helps in getting a higher rank. Make sure that you link to an authority website, those that won’t die out on your article leaving you an empty link. To know the domain and page authority of the site you’re linking to, download this MozBar.

11. Do Your Research

Don’t give your readers what they need, give them more! Providing them with thoughtful information will help build authority. Search engines favor sites that are authoritative as well as loaded with focused materials. If you’re teaching them how to plant garlic, you can also write articles with some good recipes for cooking them.

12. Look at the Competition

Look at what the competition is doing. Are they ranking? If so, why and what are their attributes? Take note of the length and the information included in their articles.

Then use these insights to get inspiration on what to write about and how to do it.

13. Write Content that will Get You Links

Generate a huge amount of traffic via articles that others would want to link to. Being informative and authoritative are the keys to getting this done.

14. Write Content that will Get You Shares

If you write articles that are interesting and captivating, people won’t hesitate to share them on social media. This is a good way to generate new prospects and widen your reach.

15. Add Media Files

Add videos and images to place emphasis on your article. Not only are these files great attention grabbers, but you can also rename them with keywords that will help with ranking. Examples are seo-copywriting-tips.jpg or how-to-bake-a-cake.jpg.

Final Thoughts

SEO and copywriting go hand in hand. Learning about the best practices will help you reach more people and increase awareness of your company. Explore and learn how you can create strategies that will keep you on top.