What is SEO Content Writing?
Ask ten people to define SEO, and you’ll likely get ten different answers that include terms such as keywords, backlinks, ranking in search, and technical best practices, to name a few.
And, while each of these is integral to SEO, none of it matters at all if your content doesn’t
Speak to the individual segments of your audience
Demonstrate to them that you understand their pain points
Clearly describe how you have a solution to their problem
This is why the first rule of SEO is to write for humans first and algorithms second.
Strategic content engages your audience by demonstrating your ability to resolve their pain points. SEO research tells us the language your audience uses, the questions they ask, and the user experience they seek. SEO Content Writing leverages these tools to provide value to your audience and inspire engagement.
7 Steps to Include in Your SEO Content Strategy
Segment your audience
The priority of creating impactful content is understanding your audience. Most businesses have more than one customer, so when you segment them according to shared characteristics, you can tailor your content to speak to the specific needs of each group. Steps to audience segmenting include
Define your business's identity, the solutions you provide, and how those products or services solve a problem for your audience.
To begin organizing your audience, use high-level demographics, such as profession, roles within an organization, or type of organization.
Align segments according to their pain points and how to address them.
2. Keyword research
Discover your customers' specific language and questions when using a search engine. There are myriad ways to complete keyword research. I recommend using reputable SEO tools like semrush.com, ahrefs.com, and moz.com. for the scope of information they can provide. Regardless of the tool you select, I recommend the following steps:
Website analysis: This will provide a list of known keywords currently used on your website, organized by average monthly search volume, search intent, and current rank.
Competitor analysis: Evaluate the keyword profile of one or more competitors compared to your website. This information can help identify keyword gaps.
Keyword suggestions: Enter a high-level search term to see what related terms are associated with it
In each of these exercises, select the results for terms that are most relevant to your business and have an average search volume of >100 per month, and organize according to search intent. Search intent refers to the user’s goal in using the search engine. Options include:
Make a purchase - Transactional
Learn or answer a question - Informational
Research before a purchase - Commercial
Locating a specific organization’s website - Navigational
Source: Moz.com keyword suggestions
Understanding the distinction between the different types of search intent is essential to using your keyword research effectively.
3. Keyword query research
Don’t overlook keyword queries. When using Google et al., these questions your customers ask are a slam dunk for understanding what your audience wants to know, so it’s a no-brainer to include answers to these questions in your content.
Like search term research, keyword queries can be found in various sources. I recommend going right to the source—Google. Enter your primary keyword into the search bar, then scroll down to “People also ask”—boom—actual questions that searchers ask. Answer them.
Source: Google
4. Brainstorm content topics
Using your audience segmentation details and keyword research, brainstorm high-level content topics. Organize each topic according to audience segment, pain point addressed, search intent, primary search term, and questions answered. This list will be the basis for your content planning going forward.
5. Create editorial calendars
Make a plan for creating and publishing your content. After you’ve brainstormed content topics, create an editorial calendar to plan when you will create each content piece. I recommend choosing just one topic per month and beginning with one long-form content piece. I recommend this be a blog post (more on that in future articles…), then repurposing it into email and social media content.
When planning your editorial calendars, consider whether your products or services are seasonal and plan accordingly. Begin with a blog editorial calendar, following the “just one topic per month” rule. Then, use an email marketing and social media editorial calendar to repurpose that blog content for the same month.
6. Audit existing content
New blog posts aren’t the only content you can repurpose. A content audit allows you to take stock of your published content by creating a content archive. Types of content to include in your archive include blog posts, videos, marketing emails, high-performing social media posts, etc. Organize the archived content according to
Platform where it was published
Format
Audience segment
Topic
Primary keywords
Search intent
Link to published content
Refer to this archive when planning content and creating your editorial calendars.
7. Create, publish & optimize
Now, you’re ready to create content. If you’ve followed the first five steps, your blog editorial calendar will give you everything you need to get started: audience, format, problem to be solved, primary keywords, and questions to answer.
Side note about publishing frequency: I recommend just one blog per month and one email newsletter monthly. Trust me, your audience is NOT expecting more. For social media, aim for 2-3 times per week. Quality of content and consistency are more important than frequency of publishing/posting.
Once you’ve drafted your content and are ready to publish, be sure to include on-page SEO elements,* including HTML header tags, alt text tags for graphics and images, internal and external links, and finally, optimize the title tag, meta description, and URL slug.
And Repeat.
Step 7, that is… Once you’ve completed steps 1-6, there’s no need to complete the whole process each month. It’s reasonable to revisit your research every six months - particularly keyword and query research, unless there is a change to your business that impacts your audience, products, or services or if you notice any anomalies in the content analytics.
Are you ready to take a deeper dive?
If you’d like to learn how to create an SEO content strategy, check out my new online master class, SEO Content Strategy. Simplified. In this self-paced online course, I’ll walk you through my proven process for efficiently researching, planning, and publishing content that engages your audience and drives results.
*Open the link, click on file, make a copy, save.
