This is a guest post written by Allie Nimmons. Thanks, Allie!
Writing content for a website is one of the hardest parts of the process. Often, this falls in you, the business owner, who may have never written a word of website copy before. What do you say? How much is too much or too little? And more complicated still, how do you make what you write work for SEO?
This part is simpler than you may realize. All SEO-rich content means is that the content must be keyword rich and organized. Here’s a simple how-to on how to make sure that your website copy is optimized for SEO.
Keyword Rich
Your keyword is what you want to rank for on Google. A bakery in Ft Lauderdale may want to rank for “bakery,” “Ft Lauderdale bakery”, and/or “best Ft Lauderdale bakery.” You can have more than one keyword focus as long as they are all similar. This is something your ideal client or buyer would type into Google to be able to find you. Here’s how to weave your keyword(s) into your website content:
- On every page of your site, you should include your keywords in the title of that page. Heading titles are typically coded as h1s. Google looks to headings and subheadings to explain what the rest of the content is about.
- On each page, make sure to use that keyword. The exact number of times is hard to define. Many people say 3-5 times for every 400 words. Basically, you want to use it as often as is necessary, but Google does penalize sites that stuff keywords in all over the place.
- On every page of your site, you should have at least two links. One that goes to another page on your site (Google likes to see that there is a relationship between the pages on your site) and one that goes to another site altogether (Google likes to see that you rely on other resources to provide support for your content, like citing your resources in a school paper).
- Include links that use your keyword as anchor text. (Anchor text is the text you make clickable that leads to another page or site.)
Organized
The way your site is organized is very important to Google. Think about when you are doing research online. We like to find articles that are easy to read, meaning the content isn’t too long, it’s broken up into sections so you can find which part you should read, there are lists to explain processes, there are images that complement the content and there is bold and italicized text to communicate the most important pieces of info. Keep in mind that while you may find your site fascinating, most times, people will only skim your site and won’t sit down and read every single word.
When writing and organizing website copy, consider these points:
- Make sure each page has at least 300 words of text on it. It doesn’t have to be all in one place.
- Have at least one heading and one subheading (remember to include those keywords!)
- Include a numbered or bulleted list wherever you can. If you find you’re explaining steps or listing items in a paragraph, break it into a list. It’s much easier to read!
- Every page needs at least one image. Make sure to write captions with keywords for those images.
- Find places to use bold text or italics. Believe it or not, Google does recognize this. By doing this, you’re creating a hierarchy of information, which is what it’s all about.
Some of these guidelines may be tricky to accomplish depending on your site. You won’t be penalized if a page or two on your site doesn’t mean all the above guidelines. However, attempting to check off every item on every page will make your on-page SEO stronger.
Outline It
Next time you have to write SEO rich website copy, fill out each of these items like you’re outlining a paper. Here’s an example:
Target Keyword: Ft. Lauderdale Bakery
Heading: The Best Bakery in Ft. Lauderdale
Subheading 1: History of Ft. Lauderdale’s Best Bakery
Subheading 2: Why Ft. Lauderdale Loves This Bakery
List: Examples of things we bake
Image Caption: This amazing cake was baked for a Ft. Lauderdale wedding in 2016.
Link 1: Place an Order Page
Link 2: Yelp page with our reviews (Anchor Text: We were reviewed as one of the best bakeries in Ft. Lauderdale)
So there you have it! Now you know how to write amazingly SEO-rich website copy yourself.
Allie Nimmons is a web designer who loves working with people from all over who have one important thing in common: the desire to grow their business. She helps with quality web design that focuses on branding, usability, and conversions. She uses her knowledge of strong SEO strategy, social media marketing, e-mail marketing, and content creation to help you make the most of your new website. You can find her on her website or on Instagram.
