How important is SEO in copywriting?
How important is SEO in copywriting? How do you ensure you strike a balance between content that search engines will rank and content that users will like?
Sure @Hatty Bell!
SEO is to online copywriting like space is to time. They should be one and the same.
The job of the copywriter is to get the SEO component as good as they can make it (the on-page SEO) to make the life of the off-page SEO consultant easier. The copy shouldn't be "stuffed" with keywords so only a machine can read it; it should have the right words attracting the right customers. The limitation should breed creativity in how you deliver the message once it's found.
Sometimes what you can't say really hones what you can say. You may sell something such as super-strong nylon tethering straps for 4WDs; but what you really want are people looking for rope since your product is new and intended as a replacement for rope. The tag that greets them? "The End of Your Rope." (If you sell nylon tethering straps, please call me!) It satisfies the SEO test and (hopefully) the persuasion/memorability test.
So SEO needs to be strategic (who are you trying to attract and why) and tactical (the words you use to persuade people to buy your product.)
