A craveable, delicious, delightful blog post isn’t much different from a pastry.
As long as you follow the recipe, steps included, you will create a post your readers are hungry to devour – and might even return for more.
The good news is you won’t make a special trip to the grocery store to get started on the perfect blog post. Everything you need is in your virtual pantry – you just didn’t realize it.
Writing a blog post, especially in today’s competitive market, is intimidating. Once you break it down and understand the ingredients, however, you can whip up these readable bits on the fly and stay up with the trends for the future of blogging in 2023.
So, What Do You Need to Craft the Perfect Blog Post in 2023?
The future of blogging has certainly changed. What worked last year doesn’t necessarily apply today. Therefore, staying up on the latest blogging and SEO trends is essential so that you know what Google expects – and, more importantly, what today’s reader wants.
The Perfect Blog Recipe
Before you start to type, you want to make sure you have the following essentials ready to add to the mixing bowl:
1 click-worthy title
1 attention-keeping introduction
A pinch of creativity
A few cups of informative, scannable subheaders
A splash of succinct body copy
A handful of authoritative research and your expertise
1 part formatting
1 delectable conclusion
A dusting of enthusiasm for the topic
A garnish of passion for your niche
Putting it Altogether – How the Future of Blogging will Change How You Use These Ingredients
As you can see, the ingredients haven’t changed, but how and when you use them has.
We will break down each portion of this recipe so that you know how to mix it all in and get your readers to come back for more.
Creating Your Title
By far one of the most essential ingredients!
Your title sets the stage for what the reader can expect, even determining if they ever get past the SERPs to read your blog.
Spend time on this stage of your recipe. In fact, whatever you title it as your “working” title, be prepared to come back and rework it until it is just right later.
Don’t hastily toss forth the first title you have in mind. Instead, let it sit and rest, and the flavors meld together. Think of title creation as a slow, steady simmer rather than a rapid boil.
A good title mixes intrigue and information and is not too long.
Yes, Google says there is no limit, and the length of your title will not influence your search engine results. Instead, it affects whether or not someone will click on it. The first 60 characters matter the most – so make those count even if you have a 100-character title.
Whatever you do, don’t over-sprinkle in the keywords for your title – not only will it kill your readability factor and turn off any enthusiastic taster, but it will turn away Google too.
Roll Out Your Introduction
Your introduction supports your title. So perhaps you may not create it until you have solidified your intro – and that’s okay.
An introduction requires time and patience. While you will mix up something short, sweet, and enticing, you will also want it to rest a few hours before you revisit and rework it again. While adding a keyword to the introduction is essential, ensure it is not the highlighting flavor.
An introduction gives readers just a taste of what else is to come, but the full flavor doesn’t explode until the end. Of course, if your introduction isn’t tasty enough to keep reading, the end doesn’t matter much.
So, take your time, rework it after the entire blog is done, and ask yourself, would I eat this up?
Never Forget the Power of Creativity
Too many recipes lack creativity.
Think of those five-star restaurants – are they working with “vanilla” recipes used over and over again?
Of course not.
They are hashing out something unique that stays with their branding but still tantalizes the tastebuds.
Never leave out a pinch of creativity in your content – all of your content. Creativity should be tossed in from the start; if you can’t taste it, add more.
Start Rolling Out Subheaders
Subheaders help your reader scan and understand what they are about to digest. They should go in an even flow, make sense, and inform.
Ideally, subheaders are introduced every 300-500 words max (there’s nothing wrong with adding them in fewer words as long as the words in between pack a powerful punch). Subheaders are a great place for optimizing with secondary keywords but don’t overdo it.
Time to Mix in Your Body’s Copy
You have a working title, and you’ve rolled out the subheaders. Now comes the time to mix together your blog’s body.
But before you add anything, do your research. You may be an expert in your niche, but that doesn’t mean you won’t need resources to back up what you say. Today, using authoritative, high-quality links is still a must-have for any recipe. Search Engine Journal states that every site needs credible, authoritative, and trustworthy content – and a reader can’t take you at your word without some citations.
As you mix up that copy, make sure to spice it up enthusiastically. Nothing turns a reader away more than negativity. So, likewise, be as passionate about your niche as you want your reader to be as you create your blog – if you are not excited about it, why should they be?
A few other things to keep in mind while you mix up your body’s copy:
Optimize Gently. Optimizing your content is like working gluten. Too much, and it’s gotten too chewy, stiff, and undesirable. Yes, keywords matter in 2023, but how and where you use them has changed.
Focus on Your Brand’s Authority. What Google praises more than keywords are brand authority and trustworthiness. Ever heard of E-E-A-T? Nowhere in that acronym is keywords. What is, however, is expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness.
Be Unique. Today, readers are overwhelmed with choices. You won’t stand out in the crowd if you are the garden variety. Personalization is important.
Focus on the Reader and Not on Google. Yes, Google matters, but the person you are talking to in your blog post is not a search engine but a reader. Center your content’s quality, information, and focus around the reader; you’ll win them every time. Focus on keywords and search engines, and your recipe falls flat each time.
Arrange Your Formatting
No matter where the future of blogging goes, one thing is sure: the wall of text is never coming back.
Today’s reader doesn’t have the patience. Today’s reader prefers the amuse-bouche rather than traditional hors d’oeuvres. They want all of the flavors in a quick little nibble rather than having to enjoy it in a few more bites.
UX planet estimates that readers only take in about 20-28% of the body.
To increase the amount read, make it pretty – after all, we all eat with our eyes and not our stomachs.
Ensure you have an excellent mixture of:
H1, H2s, and H3s to break up the chunks of the body
Sprinkle in bulleted or numbered lists to get to the point
Add images to keep the reader’s attention on the page
Top it Off with a Conclusion
Your conclusion is where you drive action. The reader has stuck with you until the end, so this is an essential piece of content to deliver. Just as with your introduction, keep the conclusion short and sweet. Nothing over-the-top, nothing out of character. Just end the blog on a tasty note with a solid CTA that tells your reader where to go for their next meal.
Let it Rest before You Do the Rest
If you are self-editing your blog posts, you’ve mixed, mashed, sprinkled and dashed, but now it is time to let it rest. A good four to six hours is all your blog post needs before it is picked up again.
Come back refreshed and ready to cut out the fluff, trim the fat, remove unnecessary ingredients in your copy, and add a few more splashes of your brand’s unique voice where it seems suitable.
You’ve Followed the Recipe – Now What?
You’ve followed the recipe, but it is not quite time to plate it.
Before you plate your dish and send it out, you want to make sure you have social media posts and your email newsletter ready to fire off the second your blog goes public. Share across your favorite social media platforms with the same enthusiasm as you did in your piece!
Crafting great content is a lot like creating a great recipe. Not all of us are natural-born chefs, but we don’t have to be. While the future of blogging continually changes, one thing that will never change is the power of hiring talented people to craft your delicious content.
Without good SEO practices, your content will miss out on the possibilities of earning traffic and leads through organic user searches.
The opposite, bad SEO, will make readers and Google look a little like Steve Carrell in this scene in the 2014 movie, Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day:
Not good.
That’s why, this April, I presented a webinar for Search Engine Journal on the top seven bad SEO tactics to abandon forever – ones that are dragging down your search rankings, confusing users (see above photo), and leaving your content in the dust.
We had an amazing turnout for this webinar. Over 300 people tuned in live!
For those who missed it, or those who want the highlights, keep reading – I’m recapping the major points, here, too. ✔
Before we get into the bad SEO tactics and practices people are still using, we need to answer one question…
[bctt tweet=”Get your own content marketing all geared up for the ROI you’ve been waiting for with the help of good SEO. Watch @JuliaEMcCoy’s @sejournal webinar about the 7 Do Not’s of #SEO in 2019″ username=”ExpWriters”]
Why Does SEO and Google Matter?
Two reasons:
1. Most Internet Users Rely on Google
About half of the world’s population uses the internet. That’s no joke. Of those internet-users, about 60% begin their browsing with a Google search.
Most web traffic comes from Google, and Google is all about that end-user. From their Search Engine Evaluator Guidelines to their Webmaster Central Blog, the user experience takes center stage. When your SEO and website experience tick off human users, you tick off Google, simultaneously.
Therefore, good SEO practices are all about keeping users and Google happy. The better you do, the more highly you will be ranked in search (and loved by users!).
With that out of the way, let’s get into the bad SEO tactics that will make your two most important audience members (humans and Google) confused, annoyed, and fed-up.
[bctt tweet=”SEO-focused content marketing has powered our own organic marketing at Express Writers for years. Know why SEO matters with @JuliaEMcCoy’s @sejournal webinar about the 7 Do Not’s of #SEO in 2019″ username=”ExpWriters”]
7 Just-Plain-BAD SEO Tactics You Shouldn’t Be Using Anymore
1. Using Your Target Keyword the Wrong Way
An outdated SEO practice we need to do away with is targeting one keyword per page – especially similar or semantically related keywords.
Instead, it’s better to target both focus keywords and secondary, related keywords in the same piece of content. This will align your SEO strategy with modern semantic search, which is what Google is focusing on moving into the future.
Semantic search looks at a page’s overarching topic vs. individual keywords to determine whether it’s relevant to a user’s search query.
On the right side of this diagram, each keyword is targeted individually. A better SEO practice is to target related terms like these within the same piece (left).
Using a focus keyword + variations, related terms, and synonyms all within the same high-quality content piece signals to Google AND users that the page is topically relevant to the search query.
2. Developing Thin Content That Doesn’t Go the Distance
Short, thin content pieces are not SEO-worthy. If you want a page to rank, you need longer, in-depth content.
How do we know? Look at the data: From BuzzSumo’s analysis of over 100 million articles, long-form content (over 3,000 words) was most-shared. A Backlinko study came to the same conclusion – long-form content = higher search rankings.
To write longer content, focus on answering the user’s question(s) thoroughly and deep-dive into your topic.
3. Posting Content Whenever You Feel Like It
You can’t post content erratically if you want to rank higher in search. Many studies have shown that consistently publishing high-quality content leads to more ranking opportunities.
For one example, a HubSpot benchmark study found that companies that posted over 16x/month earned the most traffic and leads.
That doesn’t mean you need to start blogging like a madman (or madperson), though. If you push out tons of posts but your quality sucks, you still won’t get anywhere. That leads us to bad SEO tactic #4…
4. Focusing on Quantity Vs. Quality
Pushing out blog posts just to get them on the web is never a good idea for SEO. Quality matters more than quantity for rankings and readership.
If you can’t feasibly publish fantastic blog posts on a consistent basis (say, 2-3x/week), cut back. One amazing post per week or month is better than 3 mediocre or crappy ones.
Tip: Check out the top 5 search results for your focus keyword in Google. Try to create a post that’s better than anything in that top 5.
5. Publishing Duplicate Content
According to SEMrush, a study of over 100,000 articles showed the most common SEO error is something we can all easily avoid: duplicate content. Nearly 66% of the articles in the study suffered from this problem.
It happens when multiple pages appear very similar or match 100%. Usually, this is unintentional, but some people do plagiarize content. Either way, you will be penalized.
Luckily, this mistake is easy to avoid. Do it by running all of your content through Copyscape before publishing. Rewrite any pages that have a percentage match.
6. Using Shady Tactics like Link Buying
If you really want to get on the wrong side of Google, link schemes and link buying are the way to do it.
Google specifically states in their quality guidelines that “Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.”
If you violate those guidelines, bet on getting de-ranked faster than you can say “blackhat SEO”.
Instead of trying to sneak your way onto the SERPs, make every piece of content you publish link-worthy. Then, amplify that content using every resource in your power (social media, email marketing, networking, and connections).
[bctt tweet=”Make every piece of content you publish link-worthy. @JuliaEMcCoy #SEO” username=”ExpWriters”]
7. Not Paying Attention to Customer Reviews (or Posting Fake Reviews)
70% of online consumers read reviews of a product or company before buying. If you’re forgetting or ignoring the customer review portion of SEO – why?!
Some marketers go in the opposite direction and resort to posting fake reviews to boost their reputation. (Did you know The Washington Post discovered 61% of electronics reviews on Amazon are fake? Yikes.) It’s not like this works, though. Review platforms are becoming more advanced at sniffing out and deleting fake reviews.
Fake reviews aren’t necessary if you know how to earn glowing ones from customers. A few tips:
Ask happy customers to review you on the platform that contributes most to building your reputation (social media, Google review, Yelp review, etc.).
Seek customer reviews when they’re super happy with your business. Say you exceeded their expectations or delivered a quality product early – those are prime moments to ask.
Offer free samples to influencers and ask them for an honest review in return. This works especially well if you have a feature-worthy product.
Online reviews are a big part of building your reputation and authority. Seek them out from happy customers instead of resorting to fakery.
Turn to the Light: Good SEO Practices Are Worth It
Outdated, blackhat, or downright lazy SEO practices will make human users and Google shun your site like it has the plague.
What you really want is a site and content that shine like a beacon, beckoning and welcoming users with the warm glow of usefulness, quality, depth, and insight.
Look at what we’ve achieved at Express Writers, for example. 99% of our leads and revenue have come to us through our SEO content.
That’s what good SEO helps you achieve. Avoid the bad stuff and focus on the good for best results. Come back into the light!
As the final months of 2018 loom ahead, it’s time to start thinking about our strategies for next year.
It’s that time of year to already start asking our marketing selves…
How can we begin 2019 with a pop, sizzle, or a bang?
Better yet, what can we do right now to ensure we get nothing but positively sparkling results (like the fizz in champagne) as we think about a new calendar year? Achieve the ROI we’ve been looking for? Make sure our online content hits the mark?
How about finally earn more killer organic Top Three spots in Google we’ve been hankering for, for months?
Today, I’m sharing with you five key SEO trends for 2019 that I think will be big.
In fact, I think they’ll play a major role in content ranking success (or failure). Follow along and let’s see what tactics, strategies, and more will help you have a banner year, including SEO tips from today that are still relevant.
[bctt tweet=”1. Be Mobile-Ready for Mobile-First Indexing 2. Featured Snippets Rankings Will Go Up in Value …these & 3 other top #SEO #trends for 2019 by @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
5 Must-Do SEO Trends for 2019 to Follow Today
Unsurprisingly, SEO trends in 2019 are all about keeping up with technology, staying on top of Google’s latest developments, and reinforcing your commitment to content. Let’s get right to it.
1. Be Mobile-Ready for Mobile-First Indexing
Our first trend is one that’s continuing from recent SEO trends in 2018.
Back on March 26, 2018, Google announced they were rolling out mobile-first indexing on their Webmaster Central Blog.
Previously, Google web crawlers looked at the desktop version of your pages and content to populate the SERPs. However, with the switch to mobile-first, this means that Google will be looking at the mobile version of your pages for indexing and ranking.
So, what if you don’t have a mobile version of your website? (Oh, the horror.)
What happens?
Google will still look at your desktop site version to rank your pages.
HOWEVER:
Your pages probably won’t display properly for users on mobile devices (or they’ll be difficult to navigate, read, and use).
THUS:
Your page rankings will most likely suffer (if they haven’t already).
In other words, why haven’t you updated your website for mobile browsing yet?
[bctt tweet=”Top #SEO trends for 2019? @JuliaEMcCoy got you covered in this information-packed, ROI-focused blog. #contentmarketing ” username=”ExpWriters”]
To be as mobile-friendly as possible for all shapes, sizes, and types of devices, Google first and foremost recommends using responsive design.
However, if you have two versions of your website (a desktop version and a mobile version), the search engine has some best practices you can follow for good results (via the Google Developers guide):
These best practices include:
Making sure your mobile and desktop sites have exactly the same primary content
Including metadata like titles and descriptions on both site versions
For best results, ensure you have all of the above items checked for your site. What worked for technical SEO in 2018 will roll over to 2019.
Lastly, consider updating your site design so it’s responsive – it’s a better practice for the overall mobile user experience (UX).
2. Featured Snippets Rankings Will Go Up in Value
Overwhelmingly, featured snippets are taking over the top spot in Google rankings for lots of keywords.
This is a big deal – users see these results at the top of the page, where the #1 ranked piece of content used to appear. In other words, that prime real estate is no longer guaranteed. Many marketers are thus calling this highly desirable snippet spot “position zero.”
Naturally, you should want key pieces of your content to shoot to top placements in featured snippets – but how?
A. Create Content that Ranks on Page 1
Before you can even think about getting your content in featured snippets, first, you need it to rank on its own.
In particular, the majority (90.1% of featured snippets) tend to get pulled from content pieces that rank in the top 5 positions.
It’s all about choosing the right keywords, writing great content for your audience, and providing value. (See trend #4).
B. Focus on Answers to Questions
According to a SEMrush/Ghergich & Co. study of 6.9 million featured snippets and 80 million keywords, only around 7%of generic keywords include featured snippets in the results.
In comparison, 41.59% of keywords with questions include featured snippets in the results – a 480% increase!
In particular, question keywords almost always include paragraph featured snippets. These types of snippets include a chunk of text that answers the question the user searched for (according to the study, these average out to about 46-84 words in length with a maximum of 370 characters).
You can thus earn your ranking content a featured snippet by framing short, succinct paragraphs of text as authoritative answers.
For example, when I type the question/keyword “how many counties are in Iowa” into Google, the results show this featured snippet that directly answers that question AND provides supporting details:
Question/keyword: How many counties are in Iowa?
Answer/featured snippet: “There are 99 counties in the U.S. state of Iowa.”
C. Use Numbered and Bulleted Lists, Especially for Subheaders
To get your content in list-style featured snippets, always make sure you use properly formatted subheaders (H2s and H3s) to break up and organize your text.
Google often uses subheader information to populate list-style snippets, like this result for “what countries are the Disney princesses from”:
3. Create the Highest-Quality Content
In August 2018, Google confirmed a major core algorithmic update that took a full week to roll out.
According to SEOers like Barry Schwartz and Glen Gabe, this update was all about quality. It particularly affected sites that had low E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness).
Barry Schwartz studied over 300 affected sites and found that 41.5% of those belonged in the health, medical, wellness, and fitness industries. He nicknamed it the “medic” update as a result.
Why were these sites hit hard?
Most health pages belong in the YMYL category – pages that Google says can affect the health, income, happiness, or financial stability of users. Low-quality content on these pages can directly impact people’s lives.
With this update, Google underlined their commitment to serving users the highest-quality content. If you’re not creating the best of the best, you will miss the mark and end up on page 3, 4, 5… or worse.
[bctt tweet=”Featured snippets will dominate #SEO in 2019. @JuliaEMcCoy explains how content gets to star in Google’s featured snippets in this information-packed blog post. #contentmarketing ” username=”ExpWriters”]
4. Keep Voice Search on Your Radar
Another SEO tactic for 2018 that we need to keep on our radar for 2019 is voice search optimization.
As voice search technology improves and becomes more accessible, it will become even more common.
According to Stone Temple’s most recent voice usage trends survey, more people than ever are comfortable using voice commands and voice search on their mobile devices.
And, a study Google commissioned found that 55% of teens and 41% of adults use voice search multiple times a day, every day.
It’s pretty safe to assume these numbers will continue to go up as time goes on, too.
To stay ahead of the game, optimize your content for voice search where it makes sense.
A. Optimize for Local Search
Most voice searches are local. According to Bright Local’s Voice Search for Local Business Study, 46% of those who search via voice are looking for local businesses on a daily basis.
If it makes sense for your brand, use geo-targeted keywords, build up your positive customer reviews, and make sure your NAP (name, address, phone number) are consistent across all of your online business listings.
B. Use FAQ Pages
To rank for questions as well as answers, create high-quality FAQ pages to compile the most common ones you encounter regularly.
C. Make Sure You’re Mobile-Friendly
Finally, to rank for voice search queries, you have to make sure your pages are mobile-friendly. Google will not pull voice search answers from sites lacking in this area!
5. Improve Your UX (and Understand RankBrain) – a MAJOR SEO Trend for 2019
One of the major SEO trends for 2019 is the emphasis on RankBrain. This is the part of Google’s core algorithm that uses machine-learning to serve users better search results based on their search intent.
(Back in 2015, in an interview with Bloomberg, Google revealed that RankBrain is their third most important ranking signal.)
RankBrain helps the algorithm interpret complex, long-tail search queries and the intent behind them. It can “see patterns between seemingly unconnected complex searches to understand how they’re actually similar to each other.” Additionally, it can “understand future complex searches and whether they’re related to particular topics.”
In other words, it’s smart, and the more data it collects, the smarter it gets about user search intent.
Specifically, RankBrain looks at the context of user searches.
What are synonyms/related terms for the original search query, and which pages containing these synonyms have relevant information for the user’s search intent?
To figure out if the algorithm returns good search results, it looks at how users respond to them:
Which user actions indicate the search results satisfy them?
Low bounce rates (users are staying on the page after clicking the link in the SERP)
Longer dwell times (users are staying to read more than the first few paragraphs)
Higher click-through rates (more users are clicking on results in the SERP)
Which actions indicate the search is unsatisfying or the results are not what the user had in mind?
High bounce rates (users are bouncing back to the SERP after clicking on results)
Low dwell times (users aren’t staying on pages to read past the headline or introduction)
Low click-through rates (users aren’t clicking on results)
To simplify it further, let’s borrow a good comparison from Backlinko’s detailed RankBrain guide.
Before RankBrain, Google looked at instances of keywords on a page with zero context. It guessed at whether the results it returned were in the realm of what you meant:
After RankBrain, Google knows what you mean when you enter search queries that could have more than one meaning. It gets your intent behind the search:
Understanding RankBrain is one thing. Using that knowledge to your advantage is another. The savviest content marketers will be on top of this for their SEO strategy for 2019.
A. Optimize Your Metas and Headline to Be More Enticing
Since RankBrain looks at the actions and context surrounding a search, use that to help boost your rankings.
For example, what can you do to increase click-throughs on your search engine listings? Pay attention to your meta titles (your H1/main headers) and your meta descriptions for each page. If they’re descriptive and enticing, you may pull in more clicks, which can equal votes for your content in the SERPs.
[bctt tweet=”Understanding RankBrain is one thing. Using that knowledge to your advantage is another. This and more #SEO insights as @JuliaEMcCoy talks about the top 5 SEO trends for 2019. #contentmarketing
” username=”ExpWriters”]
B. Pay Attention to Page Usability
Once users click on your result in a search, you want them to stay on the page. One way to do that is to improve your page usability. In other words, make it as easy to use as possible.
To learn more about usability, user experience, and how to make it better, the resource Usability.gov is a great starting point.
Guide Your SEO from 2018 to 2019 – and Beyond
SEO trends are constantly changing, so it’s important to stay updated – and stay relevant.
In 2019, some SEO trends will roll-over from 2018, but others are based on the future of technology and Google’s recent updates.
Keep ahead of the curve and update your 2018 SEO strategies so you’re ready to face 2019 with a bang!
Today and in the future, our audiences are changing the way they consume information and discovering new ways of accessing answers to the questions that drive them.
(Bob Dylan was right — the times, they are a-changing!)
And their evolving questions are the ones you — or your company — want to provide an answer to.
So, how do you let people know you’ve got the answers they seek?
Through recognizing the importance of SEO in content creation and negotiating the ever-changing landscape of the content economy.
Here’s the thing…
SEO has alwaysled the way in driving traffic to websites.
Yet, like other online phenomena, SEO content creation is evolving to meet the needs of a new generation of online consumers.
[bctt tweet=”SEO content creation is evolving to meet the needs of a new generation of online consumers. Learn how to create future-proof SEO content in this guide from @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
This change is, in part, pushed by trending technology like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home and a literal explosion of tablet and mobile device usage.
So, how is the modern online user changing the landscape of SEO?
Let’s jump right in with the two most impactful trends in the industry, and then we’ll go into a super actionable, nitty-gritty guide on how to create SEO content this year in a way that boosts your traffic and end profits. Ready?
The Top 2 Trends in SEO Content Creation Today
1. Voice Search
Now that people no longer have to key in search terms at a computer, the way they are searching is changing.
For example, if I want to know what’s playing at my local movie theater and I’m on my phone, I might key in “Movies Cinemark,” because I know Google will use the closest theater to me named “Cinemark.”
However, if I’m using Alexa, Amazon’s assistant, I’d ask using more natural language, like I’m talking to a person, “Alexa, what movies are playing at the Cinemark in Austin, TX?”
This is voice search, and it’s one of the leading trends in content marketing this year.
To optimize SEO writing in the past, we used to take out all the “filler” words from a search query.
So,
“Where can I find the best coffee beans in Texas”
Became:
“best coffee beans Texas”
Targeted, yes.
Easy to fit into a smooth-flowing piece of SEO content? Definitely not.
Fortunately, the new, natural-language search terms are making SEO copywriting easier and more compelling — a winning combination.
But, it’s more than search itself that is changing.
People are also changing the way they consume content.
2. Video Content
According to Wyzowl, video marketing has surged, with 81% of companies using it to market their audience.
And there are many reasons to include video in your online content creation campaign, including:
Allowing customers to form an emotional — and trust-building — bond with you and your product through voice cues, facial expressions, and dynamic content.
Providing content versatility through a range of possible video content — quick demos, longer courses, hands-on tutorials, and more.
Encouraging engagement with touch-of-a-button sharing and embedding engagement options.
Keeping up with current technology — such as tablets and mobile devices — and the changing ways people are devouring content.
This isn’t the first time that marketers pivoted when video brought consumers a more engaging form of content.
The Buggles wrote “Video Killed the Radio Star” back in 1979 in response to MTV’s popularity with the music-consuming crowd who was turning from songs on the radio to videos of songs on television.
We all know how that turned out.
Despite all the fear, there was no apocalypse, no sudden loss of musical talent. The savvy merely repositioned themselves and moved on.
So, if you’re a creating SEO content for your website — get ready to pivot.
Video content is growing as mobile usage takes the lead over desktop for the first time in 2017.
And what better example of a website using video content to drive SEO than SEOmoz?
What started out as a simple whiteboard video became so popular that they were renamed Whiteboard Fridays and offered on a regular basis.
Here’s a great example of how they produce engaging SEO content from their list of topics of advanced SEO techniques — Using the Flowchart Method for Diagnosing Ranking Drops.
This screen capture, below, shows you just how fresh and personable this low-tech the video is while appealing to high-tech on-the-go users.
Neil Patel notes that one Whiteboard Friday video drew 402 links and more than one thousand social shares.
Of those links and shares, over 37 different domains participated in spreading love for the SEOmoz blog — proof that good video content encourages engagement.
3 Keyword Research Strategies That Deliver
Let’s be careful not to get ahead of ourselves.
Building great, truly compelling content is only possible after proper keyword research. As Backlinko so aptly puts it:
“Without keywords, there’s no SEO.”
Content is not something you should attempt willy-nilly. You need a strong plan of action in place before you spend time — and money — on SEO content creation.
That plan of action is keyword research.
The good news is, there are lots of brand-new strategies out there to help make your SEO content strategy even more on-target. All you have to do is engage them.
Let’s start with the basics.
1. Focus on Niche Topics
If you want to know how to write SEO content that points directly to your audience’s pain points, their natural curiosity, their need for spot-on information, you’ve got to put in the research.
Your first order of the day should be to determine your niche topic — your product or service’s unique standing in your industry and the things related to your product that your customers are interested in.
Understanding how to turn your customers’ interests into content will help you narrow keywords with laser-focused efficiency.
This, in turn, will contribute to the creation of compelling SEO content that tugs are your customers’ heartstrings — and wallets.
So, let’s say I’m running a business that sells coffee, because, you know — who doesn’t dream of an unending supply of java?
You can probably come up with some niche topics right off the bat. How about:
Coffee mugs
Coffee roasting guide
How to grind coffee at home
Best coffee beans for roasting
Espresso machine basics
There are probably over a million choices of niches, so concentrate on those that are important to your audience.
And there’s no better way to do that than to pin down exactly who your audience is, in the form of a persona.
How to Find Niche Topics
[bctt tweet=”Learn how to find hot niche topics for better results with your SEO and online content, using @BuzzSumo’s updated Content Analyzer tool (via @JuliaEMcCoy)” username=”ExpWriters”]
Susan Moeller, Business Development Manager at BuzzSumo, gave me a few inside tips on how to run a content analysis that will help you discover how much traction a topic is getting inside BuzzSumo.
When we ran a few “coffee” topic ideas into the BuzzSumo Analyzer, it was a clear choice – How To Grind Coffee is a hot topic!
Here’s how to get to this section of BuzzSumo:
After you’re logged in, click on the Content Research tab at the top, and then on top of the search bar, switch the tab from “Search” to “Analysis.”
Under Analysis, you’ll find the new content analyzer tool. When BuzzSumo added the comparison tool, they changed up the configuration a bit. (See the product announcement here.)
I love BuzzSumo and use it on a regular basis for content insights. The Analysis feature is a great way to get your hands on some trending niche topics.
2. Focus on Your Audience Persona
A persona is a representation of your target audience’s likes, dislikes, pain points, and more all rolled into one “Everyperson” whose opinions you can use to help focus your content.
Creating a persona is a necessary part of developing content for your website that really packs a punch.
Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, underscores the need for laser-focused personas in order to create actionable, effective marketing when he says:
“If your content marketing is for everybody, it’s for nobody.”
So how do you create a persona?
You go through a series of questions that delve ever deeper into your fictional Everyperson’s goals, responsibilities, lifestyle, and more to uncover what really makes them tick.
You can find online persona creators that will walk you through the basics, but don’t stop there.
You need to interview some of your prime audience members in-the-flesh and incorporate their feedback into your targeted Everyperson.
Just like Pinocchio became a real boy through Gepetto’s love and attention, your persona will become more real — and more useful — the deeper you can go with your research.
Here’s a screenshot of a persona example featured on Alexa.com.
I chose this one because coffee is the lifeblood of most successful geniuses.
If you don’t believe me, check out this article in Entrepreneur.
[bctt tweet=””Coffee is the lifeblood of most successful geniuses.” @JuliaEMcCoy via” username=”ExpWriters”]
Look at the detail in this mini-biography. You’ve got her habits, her fears, what motivates her, and what can help her achieve what she wants in life.
That’s information that gives you a perfect way to produce SEO content that’s laser-focused to suit her needs and attract her — and others like her — to your website.
3. Find Long Tail Keywords
[bctt tweet=”Creating content around long-tail keywords is the shortest way to a big payout. @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
Let me explain with the following analogy:
Do you wait until there’s a huge jackpot before buying a lottery ticket?
It’s not the smartest move since with everyone opting in, there’s even less chance that you’ll be going to Disney after the winning numbers are chosen.
Yet, many marketers treat writing SEO content in much the same way. They reach for those top three search terms that bag 60% of the organic traffic.
You know – the ones everyone is targeting.
But what they’re missing is this — the remaining 40% of traffic is prime real estate for savvy content creators.
The trick is to use long-tail keywords to divert that traffic to your site.
For beginners, you can start with the Google Keyword Planner. (I don’t recommend this tool for advanced SEO content marketers because if you can afford a tool, you’ll get better results – Google can actually skew their results and hide truth about search volume on keywords, to influence you on on buying Ad spots.)
I typed in “content creation” to get this list:
I took a high-ranking term from this list (social media content creation) and re-entered it.
That gave me these:
Now, I have a more in-depth group of long tail keywords from which to choose.
And the more specific you can get with what your persona wants and needs, the more traffic you’ll drive to your site.
Look at that keyword grow — from “shoes” to “men’s shoes” to the one that holds the key to customer interaction — “red Nike mens running shoes.”
[bctt tweet=”So, don’t waste your marketing dollar on keywords that everyone is using. Expand your reach with in-depth, long-tail keywords. @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
Long Tail Keywords Just Got Longer: The Debut of the Long Tail Keyword Phrase
If you’ve been creating effective SEO content, you already know about long-tail keywords.
But did you know that in 2018, just like the Grinch’s heart, these keywords grew two sizes? Enter the world of long-tail keyword phrases, brought to you by the changing face of search.
Powered by devices such as Alexa, Google Home, and smartphone assistants, voice search is becoming increasingly familiar.
In fact, ComScore indicated that voice will account for 50% of searches by the year 2020, so optimizing your keywords for this phenomenon now is critical.
So, what’s the difference between search input through a console and voice search?
Simple. Voice search adds back in what fast, to-the-point typing leaves out.
For example, if I want to learn about optimizing my content, I might type
“effective content creation”
on my keyboard if I’m at my computer.
But, if I’m talking to Siri, Alexa, or another virtual assistant, I’d speak as I would to another person, saying, perhaps,
“Alexa, how can I optimize my online content?”
or
“Alexa, what kind of content creation is effective for coffee sales?”
Cool, right? Now, how can you take advantage of this trend?
One executable tip is to meet your customers where they live — online and in person.
Simple ways to get in touch with the pulse of your customer’s queries include:
Conversations – face-to-face or through email
Forums – check out Reddit, comment threads, and other chat spaces relevant to your product or service
Social media – LinkedIn, hashtags, product pages on Facebook, your competitor’s social media
FAQs – frequently asked questions pages on competitor’s websites or sites related to your audience or industry.
For most of these, just type in the group and add your keyword. For example, forum + coffee gives me these results:
I can click on to any of those sites to find out what’s got my customers talking right now.
Now, if I want to delve into social media chatter, my search might look like:
#coffee
This gives me:
Not only can these results help super-focus your keywords, but they can supply ideas that may not have come up in a standard search.
For example, see that hashtag on the second result above? #ethicallysourced? Those words represent a perfect idea for a page built around the niche topic of ethically-sourced coffee.
You could also expand this into a long-tail phrase such as:
where to find ethically sourced coffees
Basically, anywhere you can get a feel for the way people are asking questions about your product or service is the golden ticket to long-tail keyword phrases that convert.
Leverage New Search Trends to Build Powerful SEO Content
Remember those natural-language search terms we talked about earlier?
Here’s your chance to incorporate them into your keyword strategy to build powerful, on-target content.
Don’t let this new way of doing things throw a wrench in your SEO strategy — have some fun with it! There are some pretty neat tools out there to help you generate ideas.
For example, click over to Answer the Public for some awesome visual (or data-oriented, if you’re so inclined) cues for long-tail keywords that will set your SEO writing on fire.
Check out this screenshot of the “answers” I got when I typed in the phrase “content creation.”
For those of you who prefer simple data, the same information is available like this:
And Answer the Public’s riffs on your content go deep.
Here’s a screenshot of yet another way they generate responses, the “Comparisons” chart.
The even give suggestions by alphabet, one list for each letter. That’s 26 lists of ideas to get your content idea mill churning!
Now, if Ask didn’t generate what you need, you can move over to Soovle, another sweet content idea generator that lists top autocomplete terms for major online platforms — Google, YouTube, Amazon, Wikipedia, and Answers.com.
Here’s Soovle’s contribution to our “content creation” idea list.
While Soovle’s lists aren’t as extensive as Ask the Public’s, they are more focused.
Because Soovle’s response pulls directly from the most-searched terms closest to your input word or phrase, it can help you narrow down the key phrases that may be most likely to draw attention.
So, now that you’ve found your niche, your persona, and done your keyword research, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start SEO copywriting your little heart out!
Creating Strong Search-Optimized Content: 3 Killer SEO Copywriting Tips
SEO content creation is not just about optimization — it’s about writing, too. So, let’s start there, with the writing.
You may have a fantastic SEO content strategy ready to roll, but you’re not quite sure how to arrange your topic so that it makes sense and is readable.
Don’t reinvent the wheel.
Here’s a quick trick that I learned from nonfiction authors I know who check out bestsellers in their genre and use the table of contents to help them organize their own thoughts on a subject.
Great SEO copywriting examples are everywhere — if you know where to look. Backlinko recommends, and I concur, that you check out Udemy for inspiration.
You’d type in whatever your audience interests were, but I continued to riff on coffee for my example. When I typed “Java” into the search bar, it gave me the following results:
Look at that top class — over 50,000 people thought this was the mother lode of knowledge, and they shelled out money to prove it.
Now, click on that top course and scroll to “Curriculum.” There it is — what my author friends would call the “Table of Contents.”
Let’s look.
This snippet gives you the perfect outline for an article, blog post, or content series that you already know resonates with your audience.
Plagiarism is a no-no, as I’m sure you understand, but you can use this strategy to fire your creativity in a way you know will resonate with your persona.
1. Use Latent Semantic Indexing in Your SEO Writing
If you want to rank higher, you’ll need to give search engines a little boost. That’s where latent semantic indexing (LSI) comes into play.
Also known as semantic keywords, LSI helps Google and other search engines understand what your content is really all about. You’ll need to sprinkle these throughout your article to be effective.
But how do you find them?
There are two ways I like. One is through Google itself. Simply type in your keyword (I used “ethically sourced coffee”) and you’ll get a series of snippets for results.
Here’s mine:
Notice those bolded words in the snippet — ethical sourcing and coffee sourcing? Those are your LSI words. You can comb through all your snippets until you get a nice handful to add to your content.
The second way is to use a free online tool, like lsigraph.com. I typed in my search term, and got this:
While some of the results generated here can be off-topic, you can see there’s a rich variety of material to be used as an SEO content strategy template.
2. Get Social with It
It’s not just enough to learn how to write SEO-friendly content — you have to share it, too. Every article should have a call-to-action (CTA).
Why?
Because you’re always selling something — your website.
Each article should, at the very least, have a CTA that encourages readers to share — through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites where your target audience hangs out.
Brian Dean of Backlinko did this with one of his posts, which got 2900 tweets by adding a Click-to-Tweet button as a CTA at the end of the post.
It’s free at Click-to-Tweet.com. Just sign in with your Twitter account, post your message and generate a clickable link for the end of your content, like so:
Why? One reason is that sharing takes less time than reading and it still garners interaction from friends and the online community.
But what attracts those readers to share an article they haven’t read? The headline.
3. Create SEO Headlines that Increase Engagement
The headline is the most critical part of your SEO copywriting template. It’s the thing that draws the reader even when they don’t read the article.
As influencer Jayson DeMers says in an article for Forbes:
“The body copy of your content is still important, but these days,
headlines are the true kings of content.”
SEOMoz breaks this down nicely into five actionable steps:
Determine your audience and your goals.
Optimize your headline for the channel that’s most demanding.
Write a simple, no-frills headline.
Now write one that’s optimized for clickability.
Now combine Steps 3 and 4 and include appropriate keywords.
Now, I’m going to throw in a little extra for all of you looking for a hard-and-fast SEO copywriting template — a couple of great little headline analyzers to help you nail that shareable title.
First, the Advanced Marketing Institute’s Headline Analyzer. Select your category — I’m still all about the beans, so I’ll choose Food & Dining.
Now, input your proposed headline, like so:
And get your results.
The best headlines have intellectual, empathetic, and spiritual elements, but that, of course, varies according to your audience.
Looks like my headline could use a bit of work, and Coschedule’s told me exactly where I can improve. Here’s one that fared better, even without the emotional twist.
But watch what happens when we add a dollop of emotion — kablam!
Now that’s a clickable headline that can drive traffic to your site and garner shares and engagement — just what you’re looking for when creating unique SEO content.
6 Tips for Writing Down the Line: How Authentic Content Wins Readers
Finally, one of the most tried-and-true SEO content writing tips is to write with passion and with the aim to share something valuable with your reader.
Authenticity and relatability are important, and valuable content drives traffic.
Adweek notes that more than 80% of consumers research before they buy, and your site can offer the information they need.
Or, you can offer a platform for engagement, which draws social sharing readers to you.
An SEO content strategy always involves a calendar to help your team coordinate toward a singular content goal. A calendar gives guidance for deadlines and helps with advance planning of strategic releases of pivotal content.
2. Know your audience and segment them into reachable groups.
We already talked about the importance of knowing your audience. If you have more than one persona that typically buys your product or services, then you’ll need to divide your content production efforts among each persona.
3. Make sure your content is evergreen — meaning always useful.
Once you’ve got solid cornerstone content going on, break it up into different pages for each segment of your audience. This can be separate landing pages or by categories in your header or blog.
4. Spread your content around by diversifying.
Use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and other platforms to share with your audience. The more diverse your content, the more likely it will be seen — and shared.
5. Consistency is key.
Make a style guide and ensure that your team sticks with it. Have one “voice” across all content — whether that’s witty, fun, professional, serious, intellectual, or whatever resonates with your audience.
6. Check and analyze your data.
This will allow you to see what content is working — and what’s not. If something’s not engaging your audience, pivot and try something else.
And finally, because it bears repeating — be authentic with your audience. Give them value and transparency in your content and you’ll win not just readers — but fans.
The SEO Content Creation Roundup
You can’t live in Austin, Texas without throwing the word “roundup” in an article every now and then. It’s authentic — and it just fits.
If you’re looking for a quick recap of all the bright, actionable ideas inside this article, you’ve come to the right place.
We’ve explored the basics of SEO copywriting and content creation:
Developing a niche target
Creating a persona
Getting a keyword strategy that performs
Building on that, we looked at great new ways of creating SEO keywords that can grab some of that organic traffic for your website:
Long-tail keywords
Keyword Phrases
Semantic (LSI) keywords
Getting keywords from online forums where your audience chats
We’ve looked at new trends in search that are driving changes in SEO content:
Voice search
Semantic keywords
There’s no denying the importance of content in SEO. We’ve discovered new ways of producing content that wins audiences and encourages sharing:
Video content
Click-to-Tweet and social media sharing links
And we’ve outlined a few of the most important — and critical — elements of an SEO content creation strategy that should help you drive traffic more effectively once you implement them.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the down-low on this year’s most interesting changes in the SEO content creation environment — I know I’ve enjoyed pulling them all together for you.
More importantly, I want you to take what you’ve learned and use it.
SEO copywriting tips aren’t meant to just be shared and forgotten.
They’re meant to take your website — and your SEO content — to a whole, new shareable level.
Need great content? Our team can help. Over 16,500 content projects completed to date, with a 99% client happiness rate. View our pricing here.
Search engine optimization is going to look waaaay different in 2018.
It’s true.
We’re forging into the future, and that means search has to change to keep up with technology and user habits/needs.
But what do “they” (the Big G) want? And, where is technology going – and how does that tie in to the search algorithm?
For starters, more people want to ask their virtual, voice-enabled home assistants questions – and get good answers. In addition, more people want to use the internet on their smartphone versus a desktop.
Google is working to accommodate this shift and will soon roll out their mobile-first index.
This means that the search engine will prioritize mobile content in its rankings.
“Soon” is a relative term, however. According to a Search Engine Land report, right now that means sometime in 2018, but it could get pushed back.
Google has also promised not to spring the roll-out of mobile-first on unsuspecting site owners. Instead, they have pledged to be “proactive” about talking to webmasters as it happens. Gary Illyes even told people not to “freak out” at the SMX Advanced conference in June 2017.
Bottom line: If you’re sitting pretty with a website that has a responsive design, you have no worries. If you still only have a desktop-friendly site, now is the time to make some upgrades.
Here’s what that looks like across devices, via W3Schools:
2. Context Will Matter More Than Ever for Content
If your content isn’t contextually relevant to the topic you’re writing about, forget it.
Forget about ranking, let alone ranking well in 2018.
As Google gets smarter, repeating keywords in your content matters less and less for SEO.
Google is no longer a toddler in terms of tech. It’s now a wise-ass teenager who knows way more than you think.
Hence, SEO for content going forward is all about context. It’s about relevance. It’s about diving deep into a topic and leading your readers far beneath the surface information.
According to experts who contributed to SEMrush’s #semrushchat, content may be THE most important ranking factor today.
Not just any content, though – “relevant, well-structured content”:
Of course, this is nothing new.
However, you can expect to see this continue to grow in importance in the months ahead.
The need for high-quality content for outstanding SEO is going nowhere.
3. Voice Search Optimization Will (Continue to Be) a Big Deal
Voice search technology is getting better all the time.
And, as it gets better and easier to use, more people are flocking to nab their own virtual assistants like Alexa on Amazon devices, Siri on Apple devices, or Cortana on Microsoft devices.
According to a recent study from eMarketer, the number of Americans using voice search jumped up by 128.9% from 2016 to 2017.
By 2019, 39.3 million millennials are expected to adopt this technology and use voice search, according to the same study.
It’s easy to see why voice search optimization will continue to grow in importance for SEO. It’s gotta keep up with the lightning-fast speed at which users are glomming onto voice-enabled technology.
4. Sites Will Be Jostling for Spots in Featured Snippets
These snippets appear at the top of search results and give searchers instant answers.
For instance, what if I need to know how far away the moon is from earth? Observe:
Before I can even scroll to the number one search result from NASA, Google hands me the answer in the featured snippet.
Needless to say, it’s prime real estate. Sites that manage to get featured don’t even have to rank #1 to be on top.
Instead, Google pulls text from your content to provide the answer and links to your page – above the number one search result.
Awesome, right?
Plus, voice search results are mainly pulled from featured snippets. If you can get your content featured here, you could really go places.
Because voice search is getting bigger, expect featured snippet spots to get pretty competitive, too.
5. Lazy Guest-Blogging = Not Cool with Google
If you’re guest-blogging with no other intention than link-building, you’re doing it wrong – and Google will punish you.
Google recently pointed out that this behavior is basically in violation of their guidelines. Specifically, it falls under the shady link schemes umbrella.
Search Engine Land has speculated that this announcement signals a warning for webmasters. They say it’s likely that an algorithm update may be coming that targets “manipulative guest posting.”
To avoid a hit on your rankings in 2018, review guest blogging mistakes to avoid and make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons: to provide value to users, and to help you grow your list with quality leads.
The Main 2018 SEO Trend? Search Engines Are Getting Smarter
I think you’ll see one overarching trend for 2018 and SEO: Search is getting smarter, better, and more intuitive.
Of course, we can never stay static for long. We can’t get too comfortable. If we don’t change along with the changing times, we’ll get left behind.
Look forward to these trends this year, and be prepared. Your rankings and site visibility will be better off, and, quite frankly, you’ll sleep better at night.
3. Create the Highest-Quality Content
