EDITS.WS

Tag: SEO copywriting

  • How to write naturally beyond exact keyword matching

    Exact keyword matching used to be an important SEO tactic, but those days are long gone. Now search engines can understand when similar phrases and related terms mean the same thing. Adding too many exact match keywords might make Google think your post is just another piece of spam. We’ll explain how to write naturally while still using your keywords. You’ll be seeing green bullets in no time!

    As we mentioned in the introduction, focusing on just exact keyword matching isn’t really necessary anymore. It can actually be harmful to your SEO by making your writing seem spammy. In fact, in Google’s helpful content update, they said they wanted to see: “helpful content written by people, for people”. This means that the quality of your content could have an even bigger impact on your rankings. So you should focus on creating content that’s written in a natural way, using a variety of related keywords and phrases. Automatically-generated content or content that’s spam-full with keywords simply won’t work anymore.

    What does writing naturally mean?

    Using a natural writing style means that if someone reads your text aloud, it sounds like normal human speech. Think of the way it sounds when a friend, family member, or teacher explains something to you — that’s ‘natural’. In contrast, a legal document or a technical handbook is written in an ‘unnatural writing style’; very few (if any) people speak in that way.

    A natural writing style has lots of benefits! It’s usually more comfortable for users to read, and can be a lot more engaging. Many people find writing in a natural way easier, too. Think about it — reading a magazine article feels a lot more enjoyable than reading a set of terms and conditions. It feels like the author is talking to you, and you can get to know the person writing.

    Natural writing and SEO

    Let’s say you’re preparing for the holiday season. You want to optimize your site so people can find it, which is great! But thinking too much about keywords and calls to action can be a distraction. The result? Clunky, hard-to-read text with too many keywords or keyphrases squeezed in where they don’t belong. Unfortunately, those keyphrases aren’t likely to help your rankings much, and any user who does find your page in the search results probably won’t read your content.

    Does that make it harder to optimize your text for search engines? Not at all! Especially if you use the Yoast Premium SEO analysis because this feature recognizes related keywords, synonyms and variations of your keyphrase as well. It allows you to write high-quality content for your visitors and much more natural-sounding texts! Because when we speak naturally, we say the same thing in lots of different ways too.

    “Yoast SEO only recognizes my exact focus keyphrase”

    So, what’s the difference between the Premium SEO analysis and the free version? Is it really worth getting the premium version to prepare your site for Black Friday (and other holidays)? While the free version of Yoast SEO is great for getting a general idea of how many times you mention your focus keyword, our premium plugin helps you write more naturally. You’ll get high-quality content and the best SEO results. Not convinced? Let’s look at an example.

    Imagine this: You’re trying to optimize your post for the term [guinea pig]. In your text, you’ll probably use guinea pig (singular) and guinea pigs (plural). However, if your focus keyword is the singular [guinea pig], the keyword density check in the free version does not recognize your plurals and will give you a red traffic light.

    Screenshot of the Yoast keyphrase density check counting only one exact keyphrase match
    In this text snippet, the term guinea pigs is used three times and guinea pig only once. That means we get a red traffic light…

    The free version of Yoast SEO is great for getting a general idea of how many times you mention your focus keyword. But if you want to write naturally and get the best SEO results, our premium plugin can help.

    How our premium analysis can help you

    So how does the analysis in Yoast SEO Premium help you to write more naturally? Firstly, in the premium analysis, plurals and past tense are recognized as occurrences of your focus keyword, so they’ll count towards your SEO assessment and will help you get those bullets green!

    Let’s look at the example again. With our premium plugin, both guinea pig and guinea pigs are highlighted:

    The premium analysis recognizes both the singular and plural versions of my keyword. Which means: no red traffic light!

    Why is the analysis a premium feature?

    Recognizing plurals and past tense isn’t easy. And it’s different for all languages. Simply put, it’s a lot of work. That’s why we have an entire team of linguists working on it, making sure we’re adding more and more languages.

    You can ignore the keyword density check in the free version of our plugin. But if you do, it’s still important to check for yourself that you’re using your keyphrase(s) in a varied and natural way. This will cost you time and effort, however. And with Black Friday and the holiday season coming up, you might want to save yourself the hassle of manually checking your keyphrases by using the Yoast SEO Premium analysis!

    Besides allowing variants of your keyword, the premium analysis also lets you add related keywords and synonyms. For instance, instead of always using the keyphrase guinea pig, you can switch it up and refer to cavia or cavy instead, which is another name for the guinea pig. When you add cavy as a related keyphrase, you’ll get another SEO check for that phrase too.

    Let’s look at another example: if your focus keyphrase is [playing with your cats], it will recognize that keyphrase in the sentence ‘You can use toy mice to play with your cat‘. Or, if you want to optimize for [games for cats] it will recognize the sentence, ‘Another game your cat will love …’ as well. The analysis is able to recognize these variations on your keyphrase and add them up to your total usage of the focus keyphrase.

    Yoast SEO Premium makes it easier than ever to write SEO-optimized texts in a natural way. And it gets even better — by using synonyms and related keyphrases, you increase your chances of ranking for different related queries in the search results too! Read more about this in our post about how to use synonyms and related keywords.

    Focus on writing naturally

    You want your visitors to find and love your content. And you want Google to love it too! In order to achieve both, you should focus more on writing naturally, which is the whole idea behind our premium analysis. No more awkwardly rewriting your sentences, so the SEO analysis picks up on your keyword. No more wondering if you really didn’t use your keyword often enough, or if the plugin simply doesn’t recognize every instance. Our plugin will give you little nudges to optimize your text a bit more, without tempting you to chase the green traffic lights with exact keyword matching. You’ll write quality content that users will enjoy reading!

    Read on: The Yoast SEO Premium analysis »

    The post How to write naturally beyond exact keyword matching appeared first on Yoast.

  • 5 blog topic ideas for your ecommerce site

    A blog can be a great marketing tool for your ecommerce site. It gives you the possibility to tell readers all about your brand, products, and company. Plus, by blogging on a regular basis you’ll increase the chances of your site ranking in the search results. That being said, coming up with new ideas can be difficult. In this post, I’ll discuss 5 topic ideas that will help you maintain an awesome blog on your ecommerce site!

    Why should you blog?

    It might seem like a lot of work, but maintaining a blog on your ecommerce site is definitely worth your time. A blog allows your audience to learn more about your brand and products. You’ll be able to tell the story of your brand and products from your own perspective, and inform your audience about new ideas or plans you might have. This builds trust between you and your audience and increases their engagement.

    But that’s not all! Maintaining a blog contributes to SEO as well. Every time you publish a new blog post to your ecommerce site, you’re adding fresh content. Which Google loves. You can use these blog posts to answer questions your potential customers have (and for which your products offer a solution). Or use them to show your expertise on topics that are related to your business. By blogging regularly and using the right keywords, your blog will help increase the overall rankings of your ecommerce site. Including your product pages.

    Read more: The ultimate guide to blogging »

    5 blog ideas for ecommerce sites

    A blog can help your audience to find you online. But maintaining it can be hard. You’ll have to continuously come up with new and unique ideas for your ecommerce blog. On top of that, you’ll want to create awesome content to make sure your audience keeps returning to your site. So, let’s start with a first and quite essential step in creating and maintaining your ecommerce blog: keyword research.

    1. Input from keyword research

    You can write about whatever you want on your blog, but before you start, it’s important to do proper keyword research. Keyword research will help you understand which search terms your audience uses, and therefore which search terms you want to be found on. You might have an idea of the search terms you want your site or products to be found on, but make sure to research them to make sure you’re using the right ones. Who knows, your audience might use a totally different word for a product you offer, which means you’re missing out on potential customers by focusing on the wrong search term!

    You can Google the keyword you came up with to check the searches Google suggests (while you’re typing). Or use tools such as Google Trends to research how often your search term is used compared to similar terms. But keyword research is so much more. And if you spend the time to do it properly, this will pay off by providing you with a list of focus keywords that will help you rank for the right search terms.

    Keep reading: Keyword research: the ultimate guide »

    2. Current events and news

    A great way to come up with new topic ideas for your ecommerce blog is by following current events and writing about them. Keep an eye on different news sites and write posts in which you give your view or expertise on news in your niche. To make sure you don’t miss anything, you can even set up alerts for specific topics. And if a holiday or event is coming up, write a post about how your products could be used during that holiday or event.

    The fun part? You’re writing about something people are interested in at that moment. Because it’s happening now. And if it’s an important event in your niche (or in general), that means that your audience will be probably want to read more about this topic.

    To give an example of how we do this at Yoast, a while ago Google announced Web Vitals – a new set of metrics to measure speed and user experience of websites. Because we know our readers will want to know more about this, as they are often concerned with optimizing their site, we wrote different blog posts explaining what these Web Vitals are and what impact they can have on sites.

    3. Audience questions or comments

    It might seem a bit scary at first, but giving readers the possibility to leave comments on your blog is a great way to get input for new posts. Inviting people to leave comments on your blog means you will probably receive feedback and questions. Which you can then use to determine what subjects your audience wants to know more about and what you can write a new blog post on.

    Also, this interaction is a great way to connect to people and make sure they’ll come back to your site. If you’re still a bit hesitant about allowing comments on your blog, we have a post that will help you handle comments on your blog.

    4. Blogs with a personal touch

    Writing blog posts allows you to add a personal touch to your site, and with it your brand and company. Even a large company or brand can really benefit from a blog that appeals to people on a personal level. One way to do this is by showing the authors of your blog. Let your readers get to know the people who write your blog posts and their expertise. And, if possible, let your CEO (or experts in your team) write about their own view on the market or the ways they use the products your company sells. By giving your blogs a personal touch, you’re giving the company and your brand a face that people can relate to. That helps people connect to your company and might even convince them to return to your online shop.

    If you’re having trouble standing out in a sea of similar ecommerce blogs, this article about staying unique in a competitive niche might help you find your tone of voice. Which will make it much easier to add a personal touch to your blog posts and connect with your audience.

    5. Stories about your products

    Your product page is the perfect place to describe your product. Your blog, however, is a perfect place to share stories about your product. If you sell cleaning supplies, write blogs about which stains are best removed with your products. If you sell kids clothes, write blog posts about children playing while wearing your clothes. And don’t underestimate the importance of photos, so make sure to add lots of them! If you don’t have any, try to add images that are related to your business or brand to liven up your posts.

    Tell stories about the different ways people use your products and make these stories informative and entertaining. Don’t make these blogs too salesy. Show people why they should buy your stuff instead of telling them they should buy it.

    Tip: Want to make sure your product pages perform well in the search results? With our Yoast WooCommerce SEO plugin, you can take advantage of Yoast SEO’s excellent structured data to get rich product results. Plus, you can preview what your products look like in the search results! And if you run a Shopify store, that’s no problem either. Yoast SEO for Shopify will help you boost your traffic and optimize your content.

    Customer stories

    Another great way to do this is by asking your customers to share their stories. Ask them about their experiences with your products and if they have photos you’re allowed to share on your site. With the permission of these customers, you can write beautiful blog posts based on their experiences. Or you could ask your clients if they would want to write a guest blog.

    Read on: How to use storytelling in a blog post »

    Let’s get blogging!

    As I said before, a blog can be a great marketing tool for any ecommerce site. Which is why it should, in my opinion, be part of your ecommerce SEO strategy. It will allow you to get more people to your site, increase their engagement, and present your brand and company the way you want to be seen. I hope these 5 blog ideas for ecommerce sites will provide you with enough input to start and maintain an awesome blog!

    If you want to learn more about writing content that’s optimized for search engines, then you might be interested in our SEO copywriting training. Among other things, you’ll learn which steps you need to take to create a ready-to-publish text for your website. Plus, how to come up with a list of relevant keywords for your website. Useful, right?

    Keep on reading: 5 tips to write readable blog posts »

    The post 5 blog topic ideas for your ecommerce site appeared first on Yoast.

  • A Beginner’s Guide to SEO Copywriting

    Helping your content rank in the SERPs is one of your primary objectives as a website or business owner. A major piece of this puzzle is making sure you incorporate SEO copywriting into your site, as well as any relevant content and marketing materials.

    If you’re new to SEO copywriting, then you’ll need to learn how to incorporate SEO keywords into your overall content strategy. In this post, we’ll walk you through the basics of SEO copywriting, show you what the process looks like, then share some best practices to get you started on the right foot.

    What is Copywriting?

    Copywriting is the process of writing sales-driven copy that prompts your audience to take an action that results in conversions, revenue, or both. You encounter copywriting every day, whether you’re browsing a website, opening an email, or scrolling past a Facebook Ad. Its primary aim is to drive conversions and sales, which means you’ll see a call-to-action (CTA) with a clear next step, such as clicking a button, signing up for a newsletter, or purchasing a product.

    You’ll see copywriting in places such as:

    • Sales and product pages
    • Ads (both online, in print, audio, and video)
    • Social media posts with a CTA
    • Email newsletters that drive sales or conversions
    • Direct mail materials

    Copywriting is commonly confused with content writing, which also factors heavily into the marketing materials we see both online and off. However, the goals of each writing style aren’t the same. Let’s take a look at the differences between copywriting and content writing.

    How is Copywriting Different from Content Writing?

    While copywriting is more sales-driven, content writing aims to educate the reader with high quality content. Furthermore, content writing is about warming leads rather than asking them to make a purchase immediately. Content writing is more likely to take its time leading you to an eventual sale or conversion of some kind.

    An article like this one is a good example of content writing. In this article, the primary goal is to educate you about SEO copywriting. The main call to action at the end of this article is to leave a comment, not make a purchase. There’s not a hard sales pitch at the end of the blog post. Instead, you’ve got a few different options depending on what you want to do next.

    If you’re familiar with Elegant Themes and your interest is piqued, you can go ahead and check out Divi when you’re done reading. If not, you can move on to another educational post and learn a bit more. Later, you might choose to make Divi part of your WordPress website because of the expertise you’ve gleaned from our content.

    In a nutshell, content writing seeks to add value (first) which can eventually lead to sales (second). Copywriting on the other hand, is sales-driven from the start.

    For a more in-depth explanation, read our post on copywriting vs. content writing.

    What is SEO Copywriting?

    SEO copywriting uses targeted keywords and phrases to help your content rank higher on search engines. Because it’s primarily sales-driven, SEO copywriting uses the power of SEO keyword optimization to create high-converting sales copy that also ranks higher in search results. All in all, it’s a powerful strategy for leveling up your sales copy.

    Both SEO copywriting and SEO content writing use the same basic SEO techniques, although the writing style and overall goals differ. While SEO-optimized copywriting drives conversions, such as on a sales page, it makes appearances in pieces of content writing, too.

    Blog posts, for instance, contain CTAs that drive readers directly to a product or service offer. Other places where your SEO copywriting and content writing might overlap include your email marketing, long-form sales pages (which often educate the reader before the sales pitch), social media content, and more.

    The Process of SEO Copywriting

    Wondering what the SEO copywriting process looks like? It can be subjective based on your business, the client, deliverables, and your objectives. Still, there are some basic parts of the process that should be pretty much the same no matter what. Let’s take a look at those.

    Ideation: Pitch or Assignment?

    When it comes to SEO copywriting, the ideation process may look different from one situation to the next. If you’re writing for yourself, you may come up with your own ideas using keyword research tools. If you’re working for a client, you might pitch your own topics. On the other hand, the client might provide assignments to you. Regardless, for SEO copywriting, you’ll want to make sure those topics topics have the necessary keywords to grow help grow rankings as well as sales.

    Pre-Writing

    Pre-writing involves taking your sales content ideas and prepping them for drafting. This process usually involves SEO keyword research (including search intent), topic research, and outlining

    Here are some of the different scenarios I’ve experienced over the years as a copywriter:

    • Writer pitches the topic, conducts SEO and topic research, and builds an outline.
    • Client pitches the topic, then assigns SEO research, topic research, and outlining to the writer.
    • Client pitches the topic, conducts SEO and topic research, and provides the writer with a content brief (or outline) including the focus and secondary keywords they want to target.

    After you have your topic and keywords in hand, you’ll need to do some additional research on your topic. You can take a look at competitors’ posts to get a feel for what’s already ranking in the SERPs. Additionally, you’ll want to search and compile source materials to help you build your post. Always cite your sources. Make sure to use SEO links including external and internal links. Linking to other websites with domain authority, as well as linking to content within your site, will also help to boost your SEO ranking.

    Once you’ve got your topic, SEO keywords, and research, you can build your title and your outline. If possible, make sure you put your main SEO key phrase into your title and the first paragraph of your post. Then, use an SEO plugin such as Yoast as you write to help you distribute the key phrase at the optimal level.

    Oftentimes, you’ll have more than one SEO keyword you want to target. You should have one primary key phrase, along with some related secondary phrases. Try to include some of those secondary phrases as long-tail keywords into the text, but only where they naturally flow. Avoid keyword-stuffing and strategically place your selected phrases here and there when appropriate.

    Writing

    Now, it’s time to start drafting your article. If you’re writing for your own website, you likely have a good idea of how long you want your content to be. However, if you’re not sure, we’ve created a guide on the best word count for SEO.

    SEO copywriting should tell a story that compels your readers to take action. Storytelling is one of the most important aspects of marketing, particularly if you want your audience to feel a profound connection with your brand. As a general rule, marketing content works well when it’s open, approachable, and conversational.

    Your SEO copywriting story should have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Depending on the kind of content and its purpose, you might want to explore different sales copy frameworks to help you determine structure. Ray Edwards’ P.A.S.T.O.R. formula is one of my favorites for sales pages and email sequences. There are many examples out there, so test a few to find out what works best for you.

    Use Plugins and Apps to Aid in Clearer Writing

    One way to make sure your content is easy to read is by paying attention to the readability score in your Yoast SEO plugin. This tool will help you keep your writing clear and understandable. Additionally, you’ll get tips on how to improve it further. Sometimes, I’ll run my articles through Hemingway if I’m struggling to simplify complex sentences.

    As you write, you’ll want to make sure you break your content down into sections with H2 and H3 subheads. Breaking content down into bullet lists can also improve readability. Making your SEO copywriting as accessible and easily digestible as possible can help your overall SEO ranking. If you’d like, we have a more in-depth guide to using heading tags for SEO.

    While we’re talking about plugins, it’s important to note that you’ll need a strong meta description for each piece of content. If you’re using Yoast, there’s a plugin right inside your WordPress interface. We’ve written a more in-depth guide on how to write the perfect meta description.

    Don’t Forget the CTA

    Once you’ve drafted your content, broken it up into sections that flow well and make sense, and incorporated your internal and external links, it’s time to add a CTA. Where does your reader need to go next? What do you want them to do? Here are some possibilities:

    • Sign up for your newsletter
    • Sign up for a free download (lead magnet)
    • Enroll in a course
    • Purchase a product
    • Hire you for a service
    • Click through to a related post
    • Schedule a consultation
    • Buy tickets to an event (online or in-person)

    Revision and Publication

    Once you’ve drafted your content, make another pass to clean up any straggling issues (such as grammar or rambling sentences). You’ll also want to make sure to compress image sizes (Page speed does affect SEO). Then, submit it to your client, if applicable. They might come back to you with editorial requests, at which point you’ll need to make final edits and re-submit.

    Finally, it’s time to publish. That might mean publishing via a content management system (CMS) like WordPress or taking a sales page live on your website. Don’t forget to upload a featured image and include any other relevant images in your content. Then, schedule or publish your post.

    4 SEO Copywriting Approaches, Techniques, and Best Practices

    Now that you understand the basics of SEO copywriting, let’s jump into a few best practices.

    1. Consider search intent. Why are your readers searching for the specific topics you’re planning to write about? Tools such as SEMRush can help you analyze search intent, which ultimately helps you to conduct better keyword research–which ultimately leads to better SEO copywriting.
    2. Use the Inverted Pyramid to structure your writing. The Inverted Pyramid is a writing style that journalists use to structure breaking news stories. It places the main idea of a story in the first paragraph (sometimes the first sentence), ensuring that readers get a quick-hit overview of the topic ahead. This writing style translates very well into some forms of copywriting for marketing, such as blogging and social media copy. As a writer with journalism training and experience, I’ve found myself using the Inverted Pyramid often throughout my marketing career.
    3. Stay on-brand. Your SEO copywriting should be consistent with your brand voice. If the tone of your sales writing veers too far from your copy everywhere else, it’ll feel disjointed to your readers and will affect both SEO and conversions.
    4. Adapt style and tone for specific audiences. If you’re writing for multiple brands and audiences, keep your finger on the pulse of who you’re writing for at all times. You’ll need to be able to shift from one client to the next to maintain consistency for them.

    Conclusion

    If you want your content to rank well in the SERPs, then learning the basics of SEO copywriting is an absolute must. Your copy comes into play in a big way when people use search engines to look for the topics you write about. As a result, you want your content to be easy to find.

    Do you leverage SEO copywriting for your website or business? Thinking about getting started? Leave us a comment and let us know.

    Featured image via Julia Lazebnaya / shutterstock.com

    The post A Beginner’s Guide to SEO Copywriting appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.