In today’s digital landscape, any business or individual looking to establish an online presence must have a website that is easily found by search engines. One of the most important aspects of this is creating search engine-optimized content, also known as SEO-friendly content.
Table of Contents
Use keywords in headlines and throughout the text
Keywords are the words or phrases that people use to search for content online. By including relevant keywords in your headlines and throughout your text, you can make it easier for search engines to understand the topic of your content and for users to find your content when searching for those keywords.
Keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs and SEMrush.
For example, if you’re writing an article about “vegan baking,” you might include the keywords “vegan,” “baking,” and “vegan recipes” throughout the text, and use the phrase “Vegan Baking 101” as your headline.
Create unique and high-quality content
Search engines value unique and high-quality content because it indicates that your website is providing useful and informative information to users. Creating unique content also helps you to stand out from your competitors.
Marketing tools for creating unique and high-quality content: Quillbot, Grammarly and Yoast SEO.
For example, rather than writing a generic article about “how to make a cake”, you could write a unique one about “how to make a vegan gluten-free chocolate cake”
Optimize images and videos
Search engines can’t “see” images or videos the same way humans can, so it’s important to provide context to them by using descriptive file names and alt tags. This will help search engines understand the content of your images and videos and make them more likely to appear in image or video search results.
Marketing tools for optimising images and videos include Canva and Invideo.
For example, instead of naming an image “IMG234.jpg,” you might name it “vegan-gluten-free-chocolate-cake.jpg” and add an alt tag such as “A delicious vegan gluten-free chocolate cake recipe.”
Utilize internal and external links
Internal links are links that go from one page on your website to another, and external links are links that go from your website to another website. Both types of links can help search engines understand the structure of your website and the relationships between different pages. Additionally, external links can help to establish your website as a reputable source of information.
For example, if you’re writing an article about vegan baking and you mention a specific recipe website, you could link to it.
Optimize your URL structure and permalinks
Search engines use URLs to understand the structure of a website and the relationships between different pages. URLs that are short, descriptive and include keywords are more likely to be indexed and ranked higher by search engines.
For example, a URL for an article about vegan baking could be “https://www.example.com/vegan-baking-101” instead of “https://www.example.com/p=1234”
Use meta tags and descriptions
Meta tags and descriptions are HTML tags that provide information about your website to search engines. The meta tags include the title tag, which appears at the top of the browser window, and the meta description, which appears under the title in the search results. These tags should include relevant keywords and give a brief summary of what the page is about.
For example, a title tag for an article about vegan baking might be “Vegan Baking 101: Tips and Tricks for Making Delicious Vegan Treats” and the meta description might be “Learn the secrets to making delicious vegan cakes, cookies, and more with these easy-to-follow tips and tricks.”
Optimize your content for readability and user experience
Search engines take into consideration the user experience when ranking websites. This means that having a website that is easy to navigate, with content that is easy to read and understand is important.
To optimize your content for readability, you can use short paragraphs, use bullet points and numbered lists, use headings and subheadings, and include images and videos to break up the text. Additionally, you should make sure your website is mobile-friendly and loads quickly.
Final thoughts
Writing plays a significant role in SEO. Search engines use complex algorithms to determine the relevance and authority of a website. One of the key factors in these algorithms is the quality and relevance of the content on a website.
Writing SEO-friendly content is also about understanding the user’s intent behind the search query, and providing the information they are looking for. This means that the content should be well-structured, easy to read and understand, and should include relevant keywords that match the user’s intent.
