You’ve heard of “copywriting,” and you’ve heard of “SEO,” but what about SEO copywriting? Well, you’ve come to the right place because I’ve been a professional SEO copywriter for 5 years, and I’m about to drop some major biz lore straight to your little square (or rectangle) screen.
What is SEO Copywriting?
SEO copywriting (or search engine optimization copywriting) refers to writing keyword-rich copy that is intended to provoke customer action and improve discoverability by search engines.
Which is just a fancy way of saying that SEO copywriting uses the words your audience is already searching for to make them click buttons and buy stuff.
Now, depending on how much you know about either topic, you’re either scratching your head, saying “wtf,” or you’re nodding along, somewhat bored and waiting for the so-called “lore” I just mentioned.
Fear not, my friends. Everyone is welcome here. If you’re a beginner in copywriting, SEO or content writing, keep reading. If you’re a pro, feel free to skip the first couple of sections. I’m not your mama, ok?
SEO Copywriting vs SEO Content Writing
First up, we need to address the elephant in the room. SEO copywriting is not the same as SEO content writing.
SEO Copywriting: Writing that drives your audience to take action and drive organic search traffic. This mostly shows up as website copywriting, sales page copywriting, landing page copy, social media copy and ad copy.
SEO Content Writing: Writing that informs your audience to build trust and drive organic search traffic. The most obvious form of SEO content writing is blog writing, but it can also be seen in social media content and on platforms like Reddit or Substack.
Both very important, but very different marketing vehicles.
Different Types of SEO Copywriting
A couple of obvious statements, and a few lukewarm takes:
SEO Website Copywriting
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, website copywriting is essentially all of the words on the main pages of your website, while the rest of the content is considered long-form content like blogs.
Now, add SEO onto that, and you get a fully optimized website for search engines. Or in other words, a website that shows up in search results and converts the hell out of your prospects.
SEO Ad Copywriting
If you read this and disagree with me, send me an email. I’d love to hear your POV. But from where I’m lying (currently in bed), Ad copywriting is absolutely a form of SEO copywriting.
Hear me out: when you run Ads, you’re writing copy with a very specific target audience in mind, and you reach them by using the same words and concepts that said audience searches for and obsesses over.
Social Media SEO Copywriting
Another lukewarm take, because people LOVE to claim that social media is not copywriting and should be categorized as content writing, and I disagree (again).
When social media first came out, it was pretty freaking social. But these days? Not so much. Most people are using social media for advertising, and Meta’s launch of a new indexing feature on IG proves that’s not just some theory I’m making up.
People are constantly writing captions that end with a CTA, prompting their audience to take action, using stories to sell and cold-pitching in the DMs. Not to mention, your social media posts can become mini ads with the click of a boost button.
And if they’re smart, they’re packing their captions and social media content full of keywords to make them easily discoverable.
Is all social media considered SEO copywriting? No. But is there a lot of SEO copywriting on social media? Hell ya.
I rest my case.
SEO Copywriting (Backend)
Last but not least, SEO copywriting is used to optimize how your website pages appear in search results. Each page is SEO-optimized with a primary keyword, supporting keywords, an SEO Title, a Meta Description, a Slug and Alt text. This one may be considered more SEO than SEO copywriting, but I figured I’d include it since most copywriters who write website copy will also provide their clients with the metadata to match.
How to Write SEO Copywriting
Okay, now it’s time to get into the juicy lore that I promised you, which is how to write SEO copy. For this specific breakdown, I’m going to write with SEO website copywriting in mind, but these steps are applicable to all SEO copywriting.
Step 1: Map Your Target Audience & Ideal Clients
Like most business strategies, the first step is figuring out who the hell your target audience is. Without this knowledge, you won’t be able to write SEO copy that targets them.
And to get the biggest bang for your buck, I highly recommend taking this step a little further and mapping out your ideal client(s).
Your target audience: A broad group of people that your brand or business plans on targeting
Your ideal clients: A hyper-specific person, or people (max 5) that you plan on targeting
Get your free ideal client profile guide here: Find Your Million Dollar Audience & Make Bank Online
Step 2: Plan Your Content & Pillars
This step is technically more for SEO blogs, so I’m not going to go into much detail here. But choosing three to five core topics that your brand plans on talking about will help quite a bit when it comes to executing keyword research. For example, my SEO strategy focuses on copywriting, brand messaging, SEO and marketing strategies.
Step 3: Dig Into Keyword Research
Now comes the fun part! If you want to write good SEO copywriting, you have to get really good at picking out keywords. SEO Keywords are the words and phrases that your audience is actively searching for.
Some of my favorite Keyword Research tools (and yes, I use all of them) are: SemRush, Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, Google Trends, Answer the Public, and Google Keyword Planner.
Pro tip for SEO copywriting is to categorize your keywords by search intent:
- Informational: Used to provide information
- Navigational: Used to access a specific website URL
- Commercial: Used to target warm leads researching before purchasing
- Transactional: Used to attract people ready to buy
Step 4: Write Your SEO Copy
Next up comes writing your SEO copy! The best way to write copy (regardless of the type) is to use a proven framework before getting started. This allows you to clearly write from start to finish without getting sidetracked.
Tips for writing SEO Copy
I’ve learned a few things over the years when it comes to writing good SEO copy, so I’m going to wrap up this blog with some golden nuggets for your writing journey:
Spread out keywords evenly throughout your text
The key with writing SEO copy is to distribute keywords throughout the text. Typically, you’ll want to use your primary keyword in the page title, page headers and body text. But don’t trip if you don’t hit all of those marks. In my experience, good quality content is more important than keyword distribution.
Avoid keyword stuffing in your content
A big no-no in search engine optimization is keyword stuffing, which is the practice of cramming too many keywords into a piece of content solely for ranking purposes. When you’re writing, write conversationally. If the keyword fits, leave it. If it sounds forced or doesn’t make sense, drop it.
Focus on content alignment and quality
The content and copy on your page should clearly match the keyword that you are targeting. For example, if I choose the keyword SEO copywriting, the page should introduce that topic at the top and discuss it in detail through to the very bottom.
Use good text structure
Believe it or not, the structure of your writing is extremely important when it comes to SEO. If you’re writing a website, the headings should clearly describe the content in each section and be ordered in a way that makes sense to your reader. You should also aim to include your primary keyword in at least one header and one subheader.
Create logical links between pages
Another aspect of SEO website copywriting is to strategically insert text that can be linked to other pages on your site. This creates a web of information that signals to both search engines and your readers that you know your stuff and keeps people on the page for longer.
Write clear CTAs
The whole point of SEO copywriting is to get people to take action, which means strategically inserting a call to action throughout the text. When writing your CTAs, be sure to keep them short, direct, and personable. It’s possible you can get away with fun and creative CTAs, just make sure your reader knows what they’re clicking.
Hire a professional SEO copywriter (like me) to scale your biz!
If you got to the end of this and thought to yourself, “Wow, my time would be so much more valuable if someone else learned this for me,” shoot me an email at cydney@thecopyplanet.com or fill out my contact form, and I’ll be in touch with you shortly!