What is SEO writing? Isn’t all web content the same?
SEO writing plays a great part in getting traffic to a website. And if you’re looking to side hustle to start earning money from home or even open up a freelancing business, content writing gigs make for a great place to start!
For the untrained eye, all websites look alike. Search engines though see websites in a very different manner.
What do you think a website owner wants to achieve when they set up a new website and make it look like eye-candy for the public?
Regardless of the niche or the type of website (blogs, forums, business showcase websites), your main goal should be to get as many people as possible to visit it and read its content. In other words, you should generate organic website traffic with the help of SEO writing for your clients.
How does SEO writing help a website (and help you earn money with your new freelancing business)
Besides proper search engine optimization techniques, SEO writing is your best chance at attracting organic traffic for a website (visitors who find you on various search engines, without the help of paid advertising).
Millions of people use the search engines every minute of every day. And they are all looking to find useful information that could help them solve their problems.
Google, Bing, Yahoo and others are still the no. 1 source people go to when they need to look for something specific. And it’s the well optimized, quality content that determines the search engines to push a website to the top.
You could use SEO optimized content to help your clients boost their website or even practice web content writing on your own freelance portfolio.
SEO writing is content written in such a way that it targets a specific group of visitors.
If it’s well written, it will attract search engine traffic. If the content on your website is mediocre, it will probably have the opposite effect.
Other Side Hustle Ideas:
How to Make Money Selling Homemade Cookies
How does SEO writing work
Ever since the 90’s, when the “SEO fever” started, there have been countless articles written about this very topic.
Search engine optimization tips were pouring left and right on the web.
A lot has changed though over the years. Now, website content writing has to be done with care.
Writing ‘just for the sake of it’ isn’t enough anymore. Trying to “trick” the search engines doesn’t work.
But this is great news for readers looking for quality information and for anyone who is looking to start a side hustle and maybe turn it into a serious business! Here’s how SEO writing works and how it can benefit a website.
5 Effective Search Engine Optimization Tips for Content Writers
KEYWORD RESEARCH
SEO Writing Tip #1: Keyword research is essential.
Keywords are the “main actors” in your SEO writing project.
You need to target the readers somehow and you achieve this goal by doing some research before you sit down and write.
How does one go about finding the right keywords?
There are countless tools online you can use to search for targeted phrases to use within your content. Google’s Keyword Planner is probably the most used tool of all. Ubersuggest is gaining ground as you read this article. And a quick online search for “Free Keyword Research Tools” will generate myriad results!
The important thing, before deciding on which tools to use, is finding the right set of main keywords you’re going to focus on, and expand your research from there.
Are you working on a website about health and fitness? Start brainstorming for keyword phrases related to health and fitness.
Are you looking to share cake recipes on a blog? Then think about what would people type if they’re looking for cake recipes.
STRUCTURE YOUR CONTENT
Now that you have a list of keywords, time to write that SEO content!
Website content writing should be an easy task, if you’re passionate about turning thoughts into words. However, just typing phrase after phrase in your notepad is not enough.
First, you’re going to need a title. A suggestive one, of course. Otherwise, how will readers know what you’re talking about?
SEO Writing Tip #2: Come up with a suggestive title based on your keywords.
Second, you need to have your content structured in paragraphs, preferably with a few different subheadings. This will make your content easy to read.
Visitors will appreciate you making it easy for them to scan your articles. Long, disorganized chunks of text will quickly bore your audience, and they’ll most likely leave in search for another website.
SEO Writing Tip #3: Well written optimized content should be well structured and easy to read.
Last but definitely not least, strategically place your keywords.
Place them in your title and headlines, use them in your very first paragraph and occasionally mention them throughout your article.
SEO Writing Tip #4: Use your keywords within your content, but don’t overdo it. A 2%-3% keyword density should suffice.
WRITE FOR YOUR READERS
Avoid writing in a haphazard manner.
It’s important to write your content in such a way that your audience will know exactly what it’s about. They should be able to read it in a few minutes without rolling their eyes.
Since the main idea is to write website content for your readers, let’s go back one step and remember the correct way to place keywords: occasionally.
SEO Writing Tip #5: SEO content should sound natural.
Using your keyword phrases too many times won’t help.
In fact, doing so will have an opposite effect: search engines will ‘read’ your content, they’ll know it’s stuffed with keywords, they’ll ‘smell’ something fishy and they’ll ‘punish’ you for it.
Neither the search engines, nor your audience will care that you spent hours to find the right keywords. Nobody cares you drank a gallon of coffee to stay sharp and write the perfect article.
Readers are there for the information alone. And the search engines are very picky as well!
Optimize your content, but write for your audience. Even if you’re aware nobody knows the amount of effort it takes. That’s the search engines’ job!
Quality SEO writing takes practice. But if you’re looking to side hustle to earn more money or dream about opening a freelancing business one day, optimized content writing gigs make for a good way to start!
