If you’re a content writer, you’re probably aware of the ever-increasing need to improve your SEO content writing skills. SEO is virtually a science, but it’s also a modern-day art form.

As an SEO writer, your job is to keep your mind open, research new trends, and find the best way to please your biggest fans – your readers and search engines like Google. 

However, what works for readers may not work for Google and vice versa. So, the trick is to develop a unique style that can satisfy both your target audience and the most popular search engines in the world.

Just as you need to feel the pulse of your audience to produce the best content that’s a real treat for their needs, you should do the same for search engines. You need to learn some of the essential SEO content principles and practices to do that. 

This short guide will share some facts on the best SEO writing practices, the essential SEO terms you should know, and some valuable tips for writing top SEO content.

SEO writing and types of SEO content

types of content on laptop

Any content that aims to achieve as high a ranking as possible in the search engine results pages (SERPs) is defined as SEO content. Writing such content requires high-quality writing skills and analytics proficiency.

You need to make your content SEO-friendly if you wish to see it rank high in SERPs. However, optimization isn’t enough to achieve your goal of writing perfectly optimized content for search engines. 

The texts you write must achieve two primary goals:

  • Conveying your message and emotion to resonate with the reader’s sentiment;
  • Providing all the necessary facts to explain the target keywords and phrases.

To achieve these goals, you should synonymously optimize your content for both your audience and keywords.

Google is designed to address the needs of internet users. If your content can please the needs of your readers, they’ll spend more time reading it, which will improve your traffic and click-through rates. 

The result will be an astonishingly high ranking for your content and more than a satisfying bounce rate. For your information, bounce and click-through rates are two vital ranking factors.

Now that you have some basic information about SEO writing, let’s list some of the best content types for top SEO ranking:

  • Lists – top 10 most popular tools, web design ideas, Google searches in 2022, etc.;
  • Guides – guides are articles that provide in-depth explanations on a particular topic, including tips, definitions, strategies, etc.;
  • Articles – news, features, interviews, etc.;
  • Videos – ranging from long-form videos to bite-size clips, video content is the most popular and engaging on the internet; 
  • Blog posts – a blog is the best way to connect with your target audience, answer their questions, and improve your SEO ranking by targeting specific queries and keywords;
  • Infographics – the best visual presentations to provide in-depth explanations for internet users looking for quick answers and capture quality organic traffic;
  • Product pages – serving as landing pages for PPC campaigns, product pages provide product descriptions to help readers understand how specific items work and what they can do;
  • How-to guides – articles that provide step-by-step instructions on how to use a particular product, tool, program, application, etc.;
  • Slideshows and images – presentations, graphics, charts, etc.

Now, let’s move on with the essential SEO terms every modern-day content writer should put their finger on.

Essential SEO terms for your content-writing vocabulary

SEO terms on sticky notes around laptop

Here’s a comprehensive list of the critical SEO terms to keep in mind.

Long-tail keywords

Containing 3-6 words, these are sets of specific keywords, terms, or phrases.

SERPs

As mentioned earlier, SERPs are search results pages on a search engine. When an internet user performs a query, they will see the results that they can further explore.

It’s vital to mention the position of SERPs or the accurate ranking in Google Analytics. The best listings are those that appear on the first page of Google.

Anchor text

Anchor text can be a word or a phrase that contains a hyperlink that leads to the desired web page, blog post, etc. It’s an excellent way to direct your readers to another blog post to keep them longer on your website.

Meta description

Since internet users have a short attention span, you need an engaging and attention-grabbing summary of your page that can compel them to click on a result in their SERPs. Keep it short, concise, and between 155-160 characters.

Click-through and conversion rates

A click-through rate is a percentage of clicks for a particular result in SERPs that shows how many times users have searched for that result. A conversion rate tells you how many users have clicked on your website, blog, or a specific page to take the desired action.

Organic traffic

Organic traffic is the number of users who deliberately landed on your website via a search engine.

How to write SEO-friendly content

Content marketing

Here are the top tips on writing SEO-friendly content.

  1. Avoid keyword stuffing and add keywords naturally to keep your audience engaged.
  2. Provide content that answers the essential questions of your target audience.
  3. Create your SEO strategy by adding keywords throughout the content, including the introduction, last paragraph, and headings.
  4. Make sure your content is clear, error-free, and readable by using bullet points, short paragraphs, coherent sentences, and subheadings.
  5. Add keywords to meta descriptions to encourage readers to engage with your content.
  6. Add images and short descriptions to make your content more accessible and searchable.
  7. Add videos and other visuals to increase engagement and ranking.
  8. Add backlinks to direct your readers to high-quality content on authoritative websites. 
  9. Make sure your articles are reader-friendly, relevant, informative, accurate, and unique.
  10. Know the language of your readers and cater to it.
  11. Add internal links to help search engines understand your site structure and index and rank your website.
  12. Use long-tail keywords to create engaging headings.
  13. Make sure your content contains LSI-related keywords.

There, now you’re free to knock yourself out by writing the most SEO-friendly content of your life.

Conclusion

We sincerely hope this short guide helps you rank your content much higher than before. SEO is an ever-evolving science that will never stay the same. It constantly grows, changes, and transforms from one shape to another. Keep in mind that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for writing top-grade SEO content. 

It all comes down to how much time, effort, and resources you’re ready to invest in discovering the endless SEO possibilities. Always put your readers first and revisit your content from time to time to make sure it follows the latest SEO practices.