Using SEO to write engaging content can be easy as long as you remember to follow these three main guidelines: make sure each piece of content is reader-focused, be consistent in your use of keywords throughout your content, and always remember to proofread your work before sharing it with the world.
Furthermore, If you keep these things in mind when you’re writing content for your website, you will have readers hanging on every word and more traffic than you know what to do with!
Write about Something You are Passionate About
Have you ever visited a company’s website and found that their content doesn’t actually reflect their business? It can be an unfortunate experience. Fortunately, there are some easy ways to write engaging content for your business or organization.
Here are three of them:
1) Write what you know;
2) Think about what would benefit people who visit your site;
3) Keep it conversational, not corporate-speak.
Ultimately, having great content on your website is all about catering to your audience by offering them valuable information. You want readers who can connect with what you’re saying even if it means writing articles on topics related to your industry that aren’t necessarily business-specific.
After all, that extra research may lead to additional exposure for your brand through social media and other avenues. Whatever you do though, try not to bore your reader your content should come across as genuine (and maybe even a little fun). If you stick with these tips, chances are good that your visitors will keep coming back for more (and so will Google).
Write in an Interesting Way
Engaging content is one of those buzzwords that gets thrown around a lot these days, but what exactly is it? It doesn’t take much effort to write an informative piece and while informative articles are important, they’re not always engaging. And engagement is something readers appreciate.
In fact, people today expect good content to grab their attention and hold it until they reach its end. With so many distractions online, how can you as a writer make sure your writing truly stands out from all that noise?
Here are some tips:
1) Create more content breakouts According to Joe Pulizzi (The Content Marketing Institute), by 2020, more than 80% of B2B marketers will be producing more video content; his prediction extends across every industry and sector. So why are videos such a powerful tool in content marketing?
Well, because they have the ability to be both instructional and interesting at once; think about TED Talks or educational videos on YouTube. The video makes it easy for viewers to consume information quickly. 2) Break up long-form content with call-to-actions.
Do you know that over 70% of consumers share company content within 24 hours after consuming it? That means there are plenty of opportunities to get new readers interested in your content before they move on to something else; Call-to-action buttons help keep them engaged just enough until clicking share feels natural.
Choose keyword-rich titles and subtitles
Content Writing is one of those things that sounds a lot easier than it actually is. When you’re writing an entire piece of content, it can be tempting to fall back on familiar phrases and words or cliches that sound nice but don’t add anything useful to what you’re saying.
You want titles and subtitles that are keyword rich because Google rewards relevant search terms which means if you choose good titles, people will find your content in search results. Don’t overdo it: more keywords won’t necessarily get you better rankings, so just go with commonly used words and phrases related to your topic. Make sure each sentence relates directly to your content:
If a sentence doesn’t directly relate to your main points (or title), cut it out. Many writers use fluff sentences like It has been said that. or In recent news, while their goal is clearly to share factual information; if it doesn’t relate, cut out these sorts of extraneous details.
Include 1-2 keywords per Sentence
Search engines like Google reward sites that have lots of quality content. That's why it's important to develop an SEO strategy when you're writing content. Make sure that each sentence has a keyword that people might be searching for on Google.
This will make it easier for people to find your site in search results. Also, use common phrases in titles, headers, and other tags (such as read more) and put them in bold. This helps a lot with search engine optimization.
More importantly, Don't overdo it though. You don't want your content to sound unnatural or spammy just because you're trying to rank higher in search engines. Instead, strive for great content that attracts users who may then share it on social media or link back to your website naturally. Think about what kind of content would help someone solve their problem after reading your post.
We can focus so much on making sure we hit the target keywords that we forget to think about user experience. Content should serve both ends: readers first, search engines second. Always write with what makes sense to readers at heart--it'll pay off in getting links from bloggers who enjoy sharing good content they'd actually recommend to their readers!
Use simple Language (Most Important Step)
Don’t throw your readers into a maelstrom of jargon and acronyms. Start simple and build complexity only as necessary. Keep reading level at a third-grade level. If you wouldn’t put it on a billboard, don’t write it.
That does not mean you can never use terms like SEO or HTML, but try to ground them in everyday language when possible; e.g., make reference to a search engine, not just SEO; talk about building links back to our site, or writing content that we can embed.on our site.
Make sure your audience understands what you’re talking about before using any terminology more complicated than a common word with a specialized meaning you want engagement, not confusion. And remember: if part of what you do isn’t immediately understandable without prior knowledge, there might be something wrong with how you communicate it!
Optimize images with Alt-text
Since search engines can’t read images, you need a way to tell them what’s inside. That’s where alt text comes in. Alt-text is additional information that describes an image and helps search engines figure out what it contains.
The alt text also lets screen readers software designed for visually impaired users access your content. When using WordPress or any other content management system (CMS), set your default image settings to display: none; that way if someone sees your page without seeing all images, they don’t have a jumbled mess on their hands.
Also, include relevant keywords as part of your alt text whenever possible; many SEO experts believe Google may use alt tags as part of its ranking algorithm at some point in the future. There are plenty of tutorials online about how to do so.
BONUS TIP: Optimize Your Page Titles & Meta Descriptions For Better Rankings and Traffic Opportunities
All good content is optimized for both humans and robots, making sure search engines know exactly what each piece of content on your site is about. Your page titles (the actual text that shows up in searches) are an important part of that process, as they’re often displayed as clickable links in search results.
Without them, many people wouldn’t ever see your content appear in their results it can be easy to overlook a small detail like that when you’re knee-deep in creating amazing content!
Add Descriptions to all links
Please add a few sentences describing what visitors will see on each page they click on. This is just so we know what type of content each link leads to and how it’s relevant to our audience. Let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to reading your descriptions!
You have done a great job! Thank you for adding descriptions. Here's some extra-credit work... Can you add at least one of these words: unique, firsthand, or hot? We would love to see them used in those descriptions. It doesn't have to be all three, but we think they'll make your articles sound more interesting and unique. See if you can work them into one or two descriptions. Thanks again and let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Test out variations of Headlines and Descriptions
Put yourself in a position where you must judge others' work on a regular basis. Doing so will give you insights into what works and what does not and can help sharpen your judgment of how to frame information in ways that appeal most to readers.
As an editor, you'll likely spend much of your time evaluating submitted articles and determining which are worthy of publication. While grading these submissions, keep these principles top-of-mind:
It's important to remember that Write What You Know is good advice only when your topic falls within a realm with which you have sufficient knowledge.
If you don't know enough about science or interior design to writing competently about them, it would be best not to attempt either one unless another writer is more qualified than you are and willing to collaborate with you.
Update your Blog Frequently
Writing articles, blogs, e-books and other types of content requires a high level of commitment. Ideally, you should be able to come up with multiple articles per week. The more content you publish on your site, the better it will rank on search engines and social media sites and that means more people reading your words.
Also, new posts create new opportunities for advertising revenue. We’re not saying you need to put out one post every day. But if you write great content regularly (as in, at least once or twice a week), you’ll attract readers and become well known within your niche.
That’s definitely a good thing! If blogging is not really your thing but business writing is, check out our guide: How to Write an Article. This guide offers helpful tips for writing successful content regardless of format or target audience.
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