What is SEO copywriting? SEO copywriting is the process of creating well-optimized content that attracts users and allows search engines to represent your content on SERPs better.

And in this guide, we’ll go over the basics of SEO copywriting and tips and tricks to ensure that your writing is top-notch.

What is SEO Copywriting?

SEO copywriting is content that is well written for both users and search engines. Three simple reasons why you need SEO copywriting for your business:

• To attract more qualified traffic at minimal cost
• To create trust by providing the content your audience is searching for
• To convince readers to take action (download your app, subscribe to your podcast, make a purchase, etc.) and/or convert them into customers

5 Steps to SEO Copywriting Success

Well, let’s get right into it. You want the keys to SEO copywriting success; we’ll give them to you. 

A well-thought-out piece of content starts from the beginning. We’ll outline X steps to ensure that you create optimized content that is easily understood by search engines and users alike.

1. Find the Right Keywords

An SEO copywriter needs to identify the keywords for the content piece that they’re writing. Some of these factors will be important when planning out the strategy for a piece of content:

• Text type (blog post, landing page, eBlast)
• The purpose of the text (informative, subscribe, transaction, etc.)
• Audience
• Style and/or tone of voice
• Right keywords to target

Let’s talk about, arguably, one of the most critical factors on this list: keywords. Keywords are terms that people search for on the internet to find information.

Successfully targeting the right keywords while keeping search intent in mind will help you get there. 

You shouldn’t guess at the right keywords — make use of online software to assist with your keyword research. 

Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool can help. Type in your primary search term (“seed” keyword), and the tool will show you semantically related keywords. Play with filters and group the keywords by search volume, keyword difficulty, or other metrics.

There are a variety of factors that go into choosing which keywords are the right keywords to target. Some businesses or writers may need to focus on high-volume, competitive keywords. However, most writers and businesses should look for mid-to-high volume keywords with low difficulty for targeting, i.e., relatively easy to target, yet have solid search volumes. 

PRO TIP: We recently updated Keyword Difficulty scores to be even more accurate than ever before. Read up on our keyword difficulty update for more information!

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5 SEO Copywriting Tips to Improve Your Content (Plus Some Tools)

Connor Lahey

Jun 04, 202114 min read

What is SEO copywriting? SEO copywriting is the process of creating well-optimized content that attracts users and allows search engines to represent your content on SERPs better.

And in this guide, we’ll go over the basics of SEO copywriting and tips and tricks to ensure that your writing is top-notch.

What is SEO Copywriting?

SEO copywriting is content that is well written for both users and search engines. Three simple reasons why you need SEO copywriting for your business:

• To attract more qualified traffic at minimal cost
• To create trust by providing the content your audience is searching for
• To convince readers to take action (download your app, subscribe to your podcast, make a purchase, etc.) and/or convert them into customers

5 Steps to SEO Copywriting Success

Well, let’s get right into it. You want the keys to SEO copywriting success; we’ll give them to you. 

A well-thought-out piece of content starts from the beginning. We’ll outline X steps to ensure that you create optimized content that is easily understood by search engines and users alike. 

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Find the Right Keywords to Target

with Keyword Magic Tool

Try for Free →

`

1. Find the Right Keywords

An SEO copywriter needs to identify the keywords for the content piece that they’re writing. Some of these factors will be important when planning out the strategy for a piece of content:

• Text type (blog post, landing page, eBlast)
• The purpose of the text (informative, subscribe, transaction, etc.)
• Audience
• Style and/or tone of voice
• Right keywords to target

Let’s talk about, arguably, one of the most critical factors on this list: keywords. Keywords are terms that people search for on the internet to find information.

Successfully targeting the right keywords while keeping search intent in mind will help you get there. 

You shouldn’t guess at the right keywords — make use of online software to assist with your keyword research. 

Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool can help. Type in your primary search term (“seed” keyword), and the tool will show you semantically related keywords. Play with filters and group the keywords by search volume, keyword difficulty, or other metrics.

There are a variety of factors that go into choosing which keywords are the right keywords to target. Some businesses or writers may need to focus on high-volume, competitive keywords. However, most writers and businesses should look for mid-to-high volume keywords with low difficulty for targeting, i.e., relatively easy to target, yet have solid search volumes. 

PRO TIP: We recently updated Keyword Difficulty scores to be even more accurate than ever before. Read up on our keyword difficulty update for more information!

2. Find Questions That People Ask

Search engines are now, essentially, answer engines. Resources like People Also Ask on Google, AlsoAsked.com, and forums like Quora or Reddit can be great starting points for uncovering what questions arise around your topic. 

You can also use Semrush’s Topic Research Tool, which provides headlines, related questions, and more based on the keywords you enter.

Once you have identified which questions pop up most frequently, you can develop a superior answer to what other SERP competitors are writing. See what they’re doing, make improvements, and be sure to answer the question thoroughly. 

Do you need to add every question? No! Just the ones that are relevant to your business. 

For example, if you own a car dealership that only sells cars and doesn’t service them, you likely wouldn’t create dedicated content to answering servicing questions since it’s a service your business doesn’t provide.

3. Identify and Map Search Intent

Each webpage and the content that is placed on it should be focused on user intent. Your content will vary depending on different stages of the customer journey. With that in mind, your keywords should also vary based on the different intents.

By identifying the reason behind a user typing in your target keyword in search engines, you will uncover the “keyword intent.” 

There are four types of intent searches:

• Informational intent: Users want to find more information on a specific topic, product, or industry. Example: “best coffee machines”
• Navigational intent: Users intend to visit a specific site or page. Example: “Nespresso coffee machine types”
• Commercial intent: Users consider a purchase and want to investigate their options. Example: “coffee machines comparison”
• Transactional intent: Users aim to purchase a product/service. Example: “buy a new Nespresso coffee machine”

Your copy should target keywords that closely match the search intent of the user.

4. Check Competitors’ Articles for Your Target Keywords

Enter your primary keyword in Google’s search bar (or using Semrush’s Keyword Overview Tool or SEO Content Template) and look at the top 10 search results to determine what these pages have in common. This is what a good writer should do in the first place to collect optimization and copywriting ideas from your main competitors. 

Semrush makes it easy to quickly get SEO recommendations for your future content using the SEO Content Template. You will see how your top-10 competitors use your target keywords in the article, which semantically related words they are likely to include, the sites that link to them, their readability score, and their text length.

You can export all this data to help you prepare your content outline to ensure you hit target keywords and monitor what domains may be relevant to start planning your backlink outreach.

5. Gather Original Data 

An efficient tactic to engage readers is to share unique and original data. This can help you generate backlinks to your page, which will positively affect your rankings. 

An external writer definitely won’t have all the insights into your company (although they can ask the right questions before starting work). An internal writer may not have enough information, either. So, gathering data is essential. But what if you don’t have enough data to share?

• You can set up surveys and ask customers about their preferences, lifestyle, etc. And then share the results of your poll. Chances are, bloggers and news sites writing on your industry can refer to your survey results or just share them across social media.
• Look through your sales data to uncover patterns. This is especially interesting to look at during times of crisis when many industries are under severe stress (negative or positive). Industry writers will appreciate some inside data to look at.
• You can also use customer-generated content. Ask your customers to share success stories with some stats on how your product or service has helped them increase their sales. Examples: “Save up to 80% more time on keyword research.”

Accurate data, original visuals, and catchy sentences encourage readers to share your message with their followers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Brainstorm and come up with data sources your company has on hand, and start collecting data for content.