Well let’s get this one fact straight. Most of us who are writing today are trying to get some benefits out of that writing. We either want to rank high on Google, or want loads of traffic from that content to our website. In short, everyone is trying to get some Google love for their content through which they can reach their targeted audience. That in very basic terms is what I would call SEO copywriting. Let’s understand this a little bit better SEO and website copywriting SEO and Website copywriting can be explained simply as this – writing with the intent of getting ranked by Google. This is how it is done – You find keywords that you know rank well for your category You write content around the keyword You share it in different places and get people to share it to so that there is valuable traffic coming to your website. You also want Google to rank you for that particular keyword. That is what people the world over are doing. And yet as Brian Clark of Copyblogger points it out that “If there’s any one thing that can be said about SEO with certainty, it’s that it manages to cause a lot of confusion.” A lot of people even today get SEO and website copywriting completely wrong. One of the main reasons for that is the world over there are millions and zillions of SEO agencies who want nothing but a tribe of copywriters who can churn out endless articles of 500-1000 words. The ultimate aim of these website and SEO copywriting articles or content is this: Use the keyword that is relevant for the client business and use the content in several places around the Internet to get traffic. The end result that we all want from this sort of SEO writing or SEO articles is this – The client should rank on Google for that particular keyword. Is that; wrong. Well definitely no. We are all in it for the same thing. So what is wrong? While this sort of keyword-pushing SEO content writing has been happening for a long time, Google decided to get smarter with the sort of content it was bringing to its people. And there is enough reason for it: When it comes to search, Google is the godfather. Being the largest search engine, Google sends more traffic to your site than anyone else. Google has even created a whole course to make you understand what Google wants from your content. Here are the main points that Google highlights: Create quality content that is useful for everyone. Make it exciting and engaging Do your research well and write the good stuff. Don’t bother with rubbish writing. Write content that is unique. Don’t copy paste. So now that we know what Google wants, let’s understand more about how we can write for the search engines. We all know that Google and its algorithms are getting better by the day. Their engineers admit to releasing over 500 changes in a year – that’s almost two a day. These are changes that aim to increasingly put forward content that people perceive as valuable. Some are minor like Google experimenting with the change in colour of its links from blue to black to major ones, like giving a boost to mobile friendly updates. Between the Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird and Pigeon updates (may be they’ll get creative and name the new ones Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion soon), the one fact that remains unchanged is this- Google wants you to write content that is of good quality and original keeping people in mind. If you are reading this article, you probably want to create powerful, targeted content that can convert these readers into customers. And the steroid that’s going to accelerate your reach and put your content in front of them – when they are looking for it – is SEO. If you are in the mode of writing SEO articles and blogs where you simply stuff it up with keywords without paying much attention to what is getting written, it’s time to stop since you are not likely to rank for it. Even if you do rank for a particular keyword, your visitor will most likely never visit you after the first time. Google immediately notices this and scores your content accordingly. It definitely wants to take its viewer to places where they can find relevant information. Google explains how the process works in its very elaborate “Document scoring based on document content update”. So what should you be doing in order to write SEO copy and also get some Google love. The single most important factor that should influence your SEO content writing is the GOAL behind writing it. SEO writing works with a simple equation – better ranking is equal to more traffic. What most people fail to do is ask a key question – “What happens after you get the traffic flowing?” Some sites like those thriving on advertising or affiliate marketing do have traffic as their key goal so it works for some. But it’s different for brands. Brands that put out content in their blogs need to learn to use content as a business tool – just like a presentation or sales pitch. In addition to content being original and relevant, it needs to link to your brand’s goals. It needs to create measurable impact and value in the long run for you to consider it as a front runner in your marketing arsenal. SEO content writing is about the romance between the principles of SEO to the creativity of copy writing Copy writing serenades, engages, appeals and finally persuades the reader into taking action. SEO requires specialized expertise with knowledge of tech that will get the content in front of readers when they are looking for it. Marry the two off in your writing and you have a winning formula. 1. Get into the “Inception” mode. Get the
