What is SEO content writing? - For Business Owners

SEO content writing sounds like some kind of weird black-magic art; weird words (CPC, Search Traffic, Seed Keyword, Golden Filter, metadata) that sound like spells, and the outcomes depend on the stars. In this article, I'll show you how to engage with an SEO content writer to help your business get organically ranked on the front-page of google. Plus, I'll give you a FREE template you can use to help you when engaging these SEO content writing creators and marketers. 



How do I tell your SEO content writers what I want?

One of the great things about SEO content writing is that it is a very collaborative process. The goal of SEO content writing is to help you get in front of customers with the intention to educate, evaluate, and purchase. In order to do this effectively, we need to understand your business and what you're trying to achieve with your website.

One way to help us get started is by providing a brief on what your business is about and what you want to achieve through the content. For example, maybe you want to promote visitors to your perfume atelier gallery, or maybe you want to get customers to book a session with you online. This will give us a better understanding of your objectives, what your customer persona is, and where in the customer journey the SEO writer will be working on.


What would be the customer's takeaway?

In your SEO blog post, or whatever content you want, you need to give something to your intended customer. Share some value with them, such as know-how in the form of a PDF or infographic, or short video masterclass, or even a coupon for a special you're running. If you have some of these at the ready to give to your SEO writer, that would help them shape the content.


How much does it cost to hire an SEO writer?

Rates for SEO content writing will vary depending on a writer's expertise and experience, location, and market conditions. An experienced SEO writer may command higher fees but also work faster, have more specialized areas of expertise, and deliver a higher-quality product.

The best practice here is to prepare a briefing for your SEO writer before you engage them. To do that, you need a template to use as a conversation piece with your writer. You can get one at the end of this post. During the initial engagement, they will respond to you with a quotation before you start.


How can SEO content writing help you rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs)?

SEO content writing can help you rank higher in search engine results pages by including relevant keywords and phrases in your content. This will help search engines better understand what your page is about and match it with searchers' queries. In addition, high-quality SEO content will also engage and persuade readers, which can lead to more paying customers.



What are the 7 tips for optimizing your writing for search engines as a business owner?

Writing for Search Engines is different to writing for the end customer, or even yourself. While writing for customers sometimes calls for fancy language, that's not what Google sees. It's after something that addresses the needs of the customer immediately. In this section, I'll be giving you some tips you need to look out for when checking the work of your outsourced SEO team.


Screening your Writers 

Start by looking at Upwork's high-quality up-and-coming SEO writers and hire them if they fit your needs. Ask for their portfolio of work and conduct research on their past client base.


Right Keywords for the Right Time

Make sure you target the right keywords for your audience at the right time. Repeat: Right Words at the Right Time. This means that depending on what part of the customer journey you are working on, you need to use the words that match the search journey of the customer. For example, if they are looking to buy equipment to play MMORPGs or FPS Games, you would be aiming to use words like "Best Gaming Computers for First-Person Shooters" or "Where to buy Graphics Cards to customize my PC for MMORPGS". This is an example of matching intent with words.



Research Competition 

Research what your competition is doing and find new ways to stand out. You can do this using a variety of tools. My personal combination is using both Keywords Everywhere and Ranktracker. While Keywords Everywhere is great for scooping up keywords for you, Ranktracker tracks how many words your business ranks for. The ranking indicates the association your business has to a search term. The more strongly you're associated with a certain word, the more likely you are going to show up to the customer in your space. 


Optimize your Metadata and Titles for Google 

Optimize your titles, meta descriptions, and images for search engines. Make sure these factors are optimized and address exactly what your customers are intending to search for. Similarly to the second point on this list, Google also needs to understand what your article is about and where it sits in the customer journey. But instead of reading the whole article, give it a summary through succinct and punctual headings, sub-headings, and alt-tags (for multimedia) that tell Google the general gist of the post.



Don't get too Zealous with Keyword Stuffing! 

Use keyword density to make sure you're using the right amount of keywords throughout your content. Sounds like a contradiction, but while you may want to rank for a certain word or association in the Search Results, avoid stuffing too many of the words together because Google can penalize you for "keyword Stuffing". Instead, spread it out and make sure the words flow.


Writing for the Customer AND for Google's Bot 

Write in a way that is easy for both people and search engines to understand. It can start off short, but adjust and lengthen your content for better rankings. Also, don't forget to include RELEVANT multimedia, such as your own images, videos, URLs, etc. Send these to your SEO writer for reference.



SEO Content Writing (and Digital Marketing) Brief 

Have a briefing prepared for the SEO writer. They are not among the Gods - they are human beings who need clarity and time to understand your needs. If you want to know how to brief a marketing team, at the end of this post, we have a downloadable briefing template PDF and tutorial on how to use it.