formatting content

Writing content for SEO (search engine optimization) is a necessary, vital skill for online marketers. Just look at some of these stats around search… 70.6% of ALL web traffic on the entire web now originates from Google, per a Backlinko/Sparktoro study. Publishing valuable SEO content brings in 67% more leads than NOT publishing strategic SEO content, says a HubSpot study. More than 71% of B2B buyers read blogs during their buying pathway (3-5 blogs is the norm). Add in to that the fact that the ROA on an ad funnel is as low as .66x. While the purpose of content is to be helpful and useful for readers, it also needs to appear in search engines — otherwise, you’re losing out on the potential your content could have. Like all types of online writing, however, learning how to write content for SEO is a skill that you must learn. With this in mind, let’s dive into how to write content for SEO, and what proactive steps you can take to make your online content visible, relevant, and interesting. How to Write Content for SEO: 7 Steps  Here’s a sneak peek at the 7 steps we’re going to cover in today’s blog. 1. Outline and ideate the content in your head before you write it. 2. Structure your content for easy readability & long-tail keywords. 3. Format all of your content into short chunks. 4. Make your headings descriptive. 5. Nail the transition. 6. Have other people proofread your posts. 7. Have other people proofread your posts. 8. Make sure your articles are long enough to provide ample main content. [bctt tweet=” 70.6% of ALL web traffic comes from Google — a reason why SEO is critical for every business’s content marketing. No idea what SEO is? Don’t worry. @JuliaEMcCoy guides you through the basics on how you can write for SEO! ” username=”ExpWriters”] What is SEO? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. By making online content easy for the crawlers of search engines like Google to understand, good SEO principals help written material rank more efficiently. They can even make it easier for readers to find your written material online! There are two different segments of SEO: technical SEO and on-page SEO. While technical SEO refers to the links, structure, and code of a website, on-page SEO is the keyword inclusion, length, outbound links, images, and style of a post – all of which help Google “read” it and rank it accordingly. Both technical and on-page SEO are methods of optimizing content and getting it to rank in a favorable manner. Common SEO tactics involve keyword research and inclusion, image optimization, link building, and content formatting. Need step-by-step guidance on how to write SEO content? After earning 20,000+ keyword rankings in Google across 8 years, I’m now teaching SEO writing! Download for FREE: The SEO Content Writer’s Cheat Sheet. How to Create Content That Supports Good SEO: 7 Formatting & Structure Tips Today, good SEO and good content go hand-in-hand. If your content is poorly formatted, improperly structured, or carelessly thrown together, it’s going to be difficult to shape it into something that supports effective SEO. With that in mind, here are some tips to help you correctly develop all of your blog posts, starting now: 1. Outline and ideate the content in your head before you write it. While nobody is saying you need to sit down and create a “brain map” of your various ideas, content that supports good SEO is the opposite of an impressionist painting. Instead of being random and sudden, it is methodical and categorical. Because of this, brainstorming content is a powerful way to ensure that you’re including all of your main points and topics, and that you can use the content to input links, keywords, and other important SEO elements. To this end, think about all of your content, with these questions, before you write it: Who are you trying to reach? Which keywords will you include? What’s the overall point of your material? What do you want the content to communicate? By thinking through the course and structure of your content clearly, it’s easier to publish great content that lends itself nicely to SEO. 2. Structure your content for easy readability & long-tail keywords. Great blog posts rely on great structure, and good SEO does, too. With this in mind, consider mapping or outlining your blog posts before you write them. In addition to giving you a structure to abide by, this simple task will also help you lay out your introduction, body, and conclusion, and ensure that your content is easy to read, which, in turn, makes it more reader- and search engine-friendly. Long-tail keywords are your best friends in terms of optimizing for keywords that won’t break the bank (take too long or too much $). Read my guide here for more on how to go after long-tail keywords, including which tools to use. 3. Format all of your content into short chunks. A large brick of text is intimidating to readers, and it will push people away. With this in mind, be sure to divide all of your content into readable chunks of text, with a beginning, middle, and end. As a general rule, paragraphs should be only 3-4 sentences in length, and you should do your best to insert subheaders at intervals of every 300 or so words. This makes your content easier for readers to approach and helps keep it from feeling intimidating on the page. It also has the potential to improve your click-through rate, which can boost your overall SEO scores. Look through some posts here to see examples of readable content: Our own Write Blog Search Engine Journal (well-formatted articles) QuickSprout (readable blogs) 4. Make your headings descriptive. Beyond just using headings, you need to know how to make them descriptive and useful. Headlines are meant to guide readers through your blog post, and headlines that are highly descriptive and include target keywords will do the best … Read more