Writing is already tough enough as it is, thanks to writer’s block and all the different kinds of content you have to write for your business  — trust us, we know. But then you throw in SEO copywriting on top of all that? Ugh.

SEO copywriting doesn’t have to be a drag, though. And if you want to improve your brand visibility through your content, great SEO copywriting can help. 

Er, what is copywriting again?

As a full-service content and copy studio, we at Uncanny Content get the “do you write content or copy” question a lot. Understandably, because people are always trying to differentiate the two. To us, you can call it copy or content — what matters above all is the strategy behind it. 

But, if you have to have a definition for it, we define copywriting as the act of creating written text that will help sell a product. (In comparison, content is a broader category that includes copy, but also non-salesy stuff like blogs or social media posts, and even images or videos.)

And what about SEO?

SEO, or search engine optimization, helps your website rank higher in non-paid search engine results. The better your ranking, the more visible your website, and the more site traffic you’ll get. And more site traffic means a higher chance of reeling in new customers.

SEO is an entirely different beast on its own, so if you want to learn more, we put together a big ol’ guide to SEO.

Why you should care about SEO copywriting

If copywriting means writing to sell a product, and good SEO means trying to get your website to rank higher in search engine results, then SEO copywriting means writing search engine-friendly copy that can boost your rankings.

Cool cool cool. Is it really that important, though? What else does good SEO copywriting do other than boost your rankings and drive traffic?

Glad you asked. It can also help you sell more of your evergreen offers and position your business as a trustworthy, authoritative source of information or products. Think of it like this: You’ve created a new website template for people to buy. Great! But if you just call it “website template,” are people going to find it when they Google that? No.

SEO copywriting means you go a couple steps further and ask yourself: What kind of website template am I selling? Is it for a specific platform, like WordPress or Kajabi? Is it for a particular type of business, like an artist or a coach? Is it a particular branding style, like feminine or dark purple? Adding those keywords into your meta details and even the webpage itself can help connect Google queries to your products or offers.

And this is a self-fulfilling prophecy! When you meet your audience’s needs through your copy (i.e. they click your listing and then spend time on your site), search engines like Google will deem your website worthy and move it up in rankings. That means more traffic, but also high-quality traffic, or people more likely to be in your target audience who just might buy what you’re selling.

Tips for improving your SEO copywriting

So now that you know why it’s important to optimize your copy for product pages, offers, and your website in general, let’s talk about the SEO copywriting technical bits. How do you ensure your copy is boosted in search?

Use good keywords

Ah, keywords. Google’s algorithm is ever-changing, and so are recommended keyword techniques. There’s no one right answer, and what may be a best practice today could be outdated months from now. Take our advice with a grain of salt before you treat it as a magical cure-all to your SEO.

Anyway! Our one piece of advice regarding keywords is to use them naturally. Once you find good keywords for your business — we cover that in our SEO guide blog post — find natural spots to sprinkle them into your webpages. 

Don’t stuff your copy so full of keywords that it sounds awkward or distracts the reader. A well-optimized page does not sound like it’s been optimized. Your message should always be the focus of your copy, not the keyword. But like we mentioned before, get specific with your keywords. Don’t just use “website template” in your meta description and H1. Think about specifics like, “Kajabi website template for coaches.” That’ll connect more people to your offers than a generic keyword any day of the week.

Create content that your audience wants

Put keywords aside for a second. Are you even creating content and writing copy that your audience wants to read? Don’t just think about what site traffic can do for your business. Turn that around and think about what your copy can do for your audience.

One way to do do this is to figure out questions your target audience is asking so you can answer it in your copy. An SEO tool like Answer The Public can help, but you can also just play around with Google’s SERP features. Pay particular attention to the People Also Ask (PAA) box. You can use this information to boost your product description pages, your sales pages (YES those need keywords, too), and your website in general.

Check out your competition

We’re not saying you should steal from your competition. Don’t do that, it’s not cool. But look at top-ranking pieces of content for your keywords and figure out what makes them tick.

Ask yourself questions like:

• Is the content long or short? 
• Are they product pages or blog posts? What’s the content format?
• What are the meta descriptions or page titles?
• How readable is their content?
• Do you see lots of images, videos, or infographics?

This exercise will help you figure out where you stand among your competitors and how you can do better with your SEO copywriting.

Think about the type of content you’re creating

Optimizing a blog post will be different than optimizing a product page. For one thing, a site visitor who lands on your 1,000+ word blog post about learning how to use their DSLR camera has a different intention than the site visitor looking at your photography course sales page.

That hypothetical site visitor looking at your blog post is looking to learn about a topic or get their question answered. If they’re on the sales page, they’re probably more ready to buy. So, think about what keywords you’ll use and what copy you’ll write to appeal to your site visitors.

Pay attention to the other details

No matter what you’re writing or what keywords you’re using, you need to format your copy and content so that it’s easy to read. 

Don’t forget to:

• Include headers, which break up walls of text and also make great spots for keywords
• Use images, along with descriptive alt text for accessibility (also a great spot for a keyword)
• Make it skimmable with short paragraphs and bullet point lists (seriously, this applies to sales pages, too)
• Write in your brand voice
• Check for proper grammar and spelling
• Add internal links where they’re relevant and make sense

These little details take your copy and content to the next level, making them valuable and trustworthy sources of information. This is the kind of stuff Google likes, increasing your chances of ranking higher in results.

Write for your audience, not for search engines

The best SEO copywriting tip we can give you? Write for your target audience, your potential customers, your people — not for Google. Like we said, the algorithm changes constantly, and you’ll just waste time trying to game the system. Google is getting smarter (the robots are rising), and that means their algorithm will likely be able to connect your content to how people search even without technical keywords soon. That’s kind of exciting, right?

Plus, when you write for search engines and not your audience, you come off sounding awkward, desperately salesy, or like a bot. Focus on providing helpful, high-quality content (using good keywords) to your audience, and we promise your SEO copywriting will feel much easier.

Don’t have the time or energy to figure out your own SEO or content strategy? We can help! Let’s chat.