• Learn the secrets of SEO content writing and create content that Google loves in 2018
• How to generate more traffic and reach your target audience?
• Here are some useful SEO content writing tips to improve your content and the best out of what you do.

At this moment in time, making sure Google falls in love with your content should be your main priority. But what can you do to make this possible? You can either hire website content writing services to help you or you can do it yourself.

In the past, adding keywords into the body text and into page tags alone could make your content rank higher in Google; but it is much different in 2018.

Based on a recent Searchmetrics General Ranking Factors report, relevance and quality of the content have more weight than adding some keywords in the title or heading tags.

Every time a user searches through Google, its algorithm works to understand the purpose of the search query. The most relevant results based on relevance to the user will be displayed.

Thus, it is crucial that your content stands out from the rest to make sure you will be on Google’s first page when someone searches for it.

How is SEO Defined Today?

Search Engine Optimization’s main objective is to optimize your website so that it can rank higher in the SERP and drive more traffic and awareness to your brand, product or service.

SEO is not just about stuffing keywords in the content. Not, anymore. In order for Google to find your content, you need to optimize it. There are things you need to cover to guarantee an SEO-friendly content.

You need to apply the right SEO technique. Let this post guide you on how you will do it and outrank your competitors.

What is Historical Optimization?

It is a way of updating old blog content to produce more search traffic and conversions than your present articles may bring in.

Historical optimization is a method for blogs that have been around for many years and are performing well and have the possibility to bring in more new leads and readers with a few modifications.

The word change can be a bit scary for some people, but you need to optimize your past blogs and write new posts out of them because of the following reasons:

1. The need for content is growing.

More and more businesses are starting to realize that content creation is a vital part of their marketing efforts and this number will continue to grow in the future.

2. The need to produce more leads.

HubSpot gives some insight on how optimizing their past blogs has helped their site rank higher. After they have determined what keywords were ranking high, they updated what their content offers and CTAs to show these searches. Through the keyword-based conversion process, HubSpot increased the conversion rate by 240%.

3. It ensures content is relevant and up-to-date.

Your content can keep up with the most recent trends like the design, colors, images, typefaces, and others. Although it may not bring in new conversions, optimizing your content is the best way to make some updates.

4. Easy to do without additional cost.

The best thing about this is that it does not require additional cost, but the return is impressive.

To help you get started here are some effective SEO tips for writing content.

SEO Content Writing Tips

Our tips are a combination of the traditional and the latest SEO techniques for writing effective content. These guidelines will help you characterize your content strategy and identify your audience effectively.

Keyword research

This is still a vital step for any blogger in writing SEO-friendly content.

Although some may think that it is no longer as useful as before, Moz’s article on keywords shows the other way around. According to the post, you should not ditch keyword targeting completely.

Keywords can help you start with your content creation. Some SEO experts suggest that you focus on your topic rather than on the keywords. But, it is still best if you combine keywords with relevance to get to the top and be ahead of your competitors.

Based on a blog article by Neil Patel, over 66% of the total clicks landed on the top 3 positions of the SERPs. If you are aiming to be in the top 3 spots, then you must learn how to research for the best keywords.

Focus on your target audience and writing useful content.

When writing, focus on your target audience, make sure you know them very well. Provide them with relevant and useful high-quality posts.

Position yourself in their situation and offer your audience what you want to have, in the way you would prefer to read it.

But don’t forget Google and other search engines, they will serve as your second targets.

Words are powerful. They drive engagement.

If you can put the words together effectively to produce valuable content, your target audience will surely love it, and they will surely stick around.

The number of blogs that generate great and fresh content is growing each day. (worldometers.info) Keep in mind that duplicate content, low-quality content and keyword-stuffed content will not help your target audience. It will drive them away. This is not a good SEO practice.

However, there is a study that shows it is not enough to have useful content, it needs three elements - optimizing keywords, backlinks and evergreen ideas - to drive organic traffic.

Determine which keywords your competitors are ranking for.

To help you find competitor keywords you can use multiple tools like the one being offered by Semrush.

Keep in mind to target the keywords your competitors are using on their ranking articles but do not copy the way they write. If you do that, you will sound like them, and it will be hard for you to create anything unique.

The SEMrush tool is easy to use, just insert your competitor’s URL and you will find out which keywords your competition is ranking for.

Be brave, go for longer content.

Focus on writing great long-form content. But make sure your content is relevant and interesting. Keep in mind Google loves content that is both useful and relevant to their users.

In the past, 500 was the magic number to rank higher in the search engines. But in 2018, a longer blog post could boost the performance of your SEO.

In an article on word count statistics, it was mentioned that the top-ranked searches have an average 2,416 words.

Google punishes websites with thin content or pages full of links. Keep in mind there is a big difference between thin content and short content.

Thin content is full of keywords, taken from other websites and low in quality. Short content is concise and unique and offers great value to readers which Google loves.

Research shows that search engines love the in-depth content of around 2,000 words. There are many blog posts that rank well and are at least 1,500 words long. The longer your content is, the more value you can provide your readers and the least chance of having a bounce rate.

Make it faster for Google to understand and find your content.

In SEO, the only thing that remains unchanged is the title element and body content. Google algorithm changes almost every day. If you are not able to cope up with it, Google will not be able to find you.

So how you will make it easier for search engines to find your content?

Arrange your keywords by subjects and write the content based on the headings structure.

Add your keywords on H1, H2, H3 and so on tags for the headlines. Make sure the keywords are added in the most noticeable parts - H1 title and URL. Add the secondary keywords on H2, H3 subheading.

The keywords should be added to the body content as naturally as possible.

In labelling your images use some keywords so they will rank. The image alt attribute is very helpful for Google Images to get a tremendous amount of search traffic.

Use your keywords naturally.

Some of you may get excited and overuse keywords in your content. The secret to ranking higher is to write naturally.

There is no recommended KW density, just make sure it will appear natural.

Keep in mind, when optimizing keyword relevance is more essential than keyword density.

If you think the keywords will not fit into your content naturally, you can split them, use synonyms or better yet leave them out.

Keep it organized and easy to read.

Organizing your ideas and keeping it easy to read for your readers will make it rank better.

Aside from keeping your ideas organized, make sure that it is attractive and useful to readers:

• Write for humans, but it is important that Google likes it as well.
• Do not forget to highlight the main sentences or words with colors, bold, etc.
• It is much easier to present ideas if you use bullet points.
• Keep clear paragraphs.
• Use transition words like besides, thus, in-addition and others.
• Use videos, charts, and infographics to enhance your content and make your points clearer.
• Keep your sentences short.

Perform a readability check but make sure not to over-optimize it.

Call to action.

Most writers are not aware of this, calls to action or CTAs can help you rank higher in Google.

Convince your readers that they need to act after reading your content. You can ask your readers to buy or to make a comment.

Make the action easy for your audience with a precise Call To Action and the needed form, button, etc. Some of the CTAs you can add are: book a call, download it, read more, get to know us and others.

Title and description.

Create a catchy and attractive title using your primary keyword. It is important that your title is accurate and that it tells something about your content. It should be something that captures your audience’s attention.

This will make the decision to click easy for the user because the title tag sends a powerful signal to Google. Also, the title is the most important factor in the search results to catch the audience’s attention.

Use the keywords to promote and sell your content. Use them on the meta description. Although this is not a rating component, it greatly impacts the click-through rate which is a ranking factor.

The description is where you offer a short and to the point summary of your call to action and your webpage.

Add links to broaden your content.

Why are internal links important?

It is much easier for Google and for the users to search your content and provide your readers with an enjoyable experience.

Some of the links you can add to your content are:

• Blog Articles – It could be a link to an article on your own blog or to other high-quality authority websites. It can be relevant content for readers’ references and additional information.
• Product/Services Categories & Pages - You should interlink from your most linked-to pages into your product and category pages to distribute page authority and ranking power throughout the site. It will help Google and other search engines to crawl as well as index your product and service pages.
• User Generated Content - Build out and link to curated pages on your website by leveraging content created by your fans and followers. Not only will you get free content creation, but internal links will be created in the process.

Place the links as natural as possible in the text, using synonyms or keywords if possible as the anchor.

The power of “what if” questions and providing answers to these questions to backlink can be the secret that will make your content stand out and differentiates you from your competitors.

Final words

The best way to craft content that results in conversions and that Google loves in 2018 involves deep research not just in the art of SEO, but in the art of content writing as well. If you combine these two, you will be able to produce content that gives you an advantage over your competitors.

If you are serious about giving value to your readers, which you want to convert to customers, you need to apply the right SEO techniques or hire the best website content writing services to help you out.

Hope you will find this SEO content writing tips useful for your business. If you think this post is helpful, feel free to share this post or comment below.