SEO Content Writing Samples (pdf, doc)

Intro 0:00 SEO copywriting is a challenging craft because you need to create content that’s easy for search 0:05 engines to read and understand. 0:08 But that exact same content needs to be appealing to human users too. 0:13 Now, search engines and people that use search engines don’t need to be looked at 0:18 as mutually exclusive. 0:19 There are ways you can satisfy both while writing in a very natural and organic way. 0:25 And that’s what we’ll be talking about in this SEO copywriting tutorial. 0:29 In fact, I’ll actually do the steps with you for a hypothetical example to give you 0:34 a better idea of what SEO copywriting looks like in action from a workflow standpoint. 0:39 So to paint a scenario for this tutorial, let’s say that our company sells sleep-related 0:44 products and the topic for the page we’ll be creating content on is “how to get better sleep.” 0:50 Alright, so we’re going to tackle this copywriting tutorial in three stages. The research stage 0:54 The first stage is all about research. 0:57 And the steps we take in this stage are going to set us up for ranking success. 1:02 Now, the first and arguably most important part of this research phase is to check 1:06 search intent for your target query. 1:08 Search intent represents the reason behind a searcher’s query. 1:12 And Google actually gives us clues into searcher intent right within the search results page. 1:17 For example, if you search for “slow cooker” in Google, the search results are mostly made 1:22 up of shopping ads and product pages. 1:25 It’s basically telling us as creators that in order to rank high for this query, we’d also 1:30 need to have a page that’s transactional and commercial in nature – like a product page. 1:36 Now, change your search to “slow cooker recipes,” and you’ll see that all top-ranking pages are blog 1:41 posts that show lists of slow cooker recipes. 1:44 The search results are informational and in order to rank for this query, we’d need something similar 1:50 because that’s what searchers want. 1:52 So because our target query for our example page is “how to get better sleep,” I’ll start by 1:57 searching for that on Google. 1:59 Now, if you look at the top results, you’ll see that nearly all pages are listicles with tips to 2:04 get better sleep – not step-by-step guides or tutorials like the query might suggest. 2:09 So that’s the content format and angle we’d want to run with too. 2:13 The second part of the research phase is to create a thorough outline based on data. 2:18 Now, with SEO content writing, your goal is to get your page to the top of Google 2:23 search for your target query. 2:25 So naturally, the best place to actually start building your outline is to look for similarities 2:31 among the top-ranking pages. 2:33 After all, they’ve made it to the top of Google most likely because their pages are satisfying users. 2:39 Now, looking at the top articles on how to get better sleep, you’ll notice that they all talk 2:44 about how alcohol can negatively impact your sleep, how a sleep schedule or routine can help, 2:50 and to reduce naps to get better sleep. 2:53 These are foundational sleep tips so let’s take note of these things and we can include 2:58 our own take on these tips in our post. 3:00 Now, if we go back to the search results page, you’ll also see that there’s a People Also Ask 3:05 box that shows related questions. 3:08 This one on getting 8 hours of sleep seems interesting because it’s what many people 3:12 searching for this topic would aim to achieve. 3:15 Also, this one on the causes of lack of sleep would probably be good information to add 3:20 to our post too. 3:22 The last thing I’ll do is check for common keyword rankings among the top-ranking pages. 3:27 And the reason why I’m going to do this is because it often reveals insights about 3:31 what your target audience is looking for, the language they use in search, and the topics 3:36 that Google considers to be closely related. 3:39 To do this, I’ll use Ahrefs’ Content Gap tool. 3:42 And all I’ve done here is put the URLs of the top-ranking pages for my target 3:46 query in the top section. 3:48 And if we run the search, we can see all keywords that these pages rank for 3:52 and their ranking positions. 3:54 So based on the results, you’ll see that people are using language like getting a “good night’s sleep.” 4:00 They want to get more “deep sleep.” 4:02 Then there’s a keyword here which gives me the idea to include information on 4:06 the recommended hours of sleep by age. 4:09 Finally, this one on sleep schedules affirms that we should definitely include a tip on that 4:14 in our post. 4:16 Now, before we continue, it’s important we talk about copycat content. 4:20 SEO copywriting is not about copying information from top-ranking pages. 4:25 What we’re doing at this stage is extracting potentially important subtopics and industry 4:31 jargon that may be required to cover a topic in full. 4:35 Think about it like this: 4:36 If Google’s job is to show the most relevant results for any given query, then that means 4:41 the top 3 results are the most relevant pages for that query – at least in Google’s eyes. 4:47 And because Google has spent billions, maybe even trillions of dollars to get 4:51 their search algorithms to where they are today, their non-human ways of understanding user 4:57 satisfaction are probably better than our human ways in most cases. 5:01 So look at this analysis as a way to understand how you can best serve visitors to your page. The drafting phase 5:07 Alright, we’re done with the research phase so let’s move on to the next part 5:10 of the SEO copywriting process which is the drafting phase. 5:14 Now, while writing styles will vary a lot, content writers all have the same goals: 5:20 to educate, entertain, and/or delight our readers while ideally leading them closer 5:26 to a conversion goal. 5:27 So with that said, I’ll give you a few copywriting tips you can use for different sections of your 5:32 content, starting with the intro. 5:34 As cliche as it might sound, having an intro that pulls in your readers is critical because 5:40 it tells them they’re in the right place and that they should continue reading. 5:44 A simple, yet effective method you can use is the PAS formula. 5:47 This is where you point out a problem, agitate it, and then offer a solution. 5:52 So for our hypothetical article on how to get better sleep, I might say… 5:57 “Everyone wants to sleep better, but unfortunately, you can’t just “will” yourself to a good night’s rest. 6:03 Beyond feeling groggy, research shows that the absence of quality sleep can 6:07 lead to weight gain and negatively impact your daily brain function. 6:12 Fortunately, many physicians have found that people who follow sleep 6:15 schedules are 98% more likely to feel “at their best” throughout their days. 6:20 So today, I’ll share 7 evidence-based sleep tips to help you build your sleep routine and 6:25 consistently get 8-hours of sleep every night.” 6:28 Now, as for the body of the content, this is when your outline that you made in 6:32 the research stage is going to be clutch. 6:35 For landing page copy, the body is where you’ll sell your products by showcasing features and 6:40 use cases. 6:42 And for blog content it’s where you’ll resolve the reason for a visit which can help build trust 6:46 with your audience. 6:48 The purpose of the body is to provide immense amounts of value. 6:51 You’re basically delivering on your headline and you want to give it your all. 6:55 Now, because we’re in the drafting phase, I wouldn’t worry so much about having perfectly 7:00 optimized content because we’ll be handling that stuff in the next phase which we’ll get to 7:04 in a bit. 7:05 The final piece of the content is the conclusion. 7:08 And this is where you’ll wrap things up and direct visitors to a destination. 7:12 For example, on a landing page, that might be to a sales or checkout page. 7:17 And for a blog post, that might be a recommendation to read another 7:20 blog article, watch a video, or to go to a sales page. 7:24 The main thing I want to communicate with the conclusion is that you shouldn’t 7:28 leave them at a dead end. 7:30 For example, in our hypothetical “how to get better sleep” article, 7:34 the main point of my content might be to set good sleep habits to build a proper sleep schedule. 7:40 Now, as a business, I probably want to send these readers to some of our product pages, but it’s not 7:45 exactly organic to recommend them here. 7:47 So instead, I can actually try and point readers to other informational content 7:52 that’s related to getting better sleep and recommends our sleep-related products. 7:57 For example, my conclusion might say: 8:00 “Building great sleep habits is an essential part of getting good sleep consistently. 8:05 However, it’s also critical that you’re using the right pillow as the wrong one can cause 8:10 neck tension that no sleep schedule can fix. 8:14 Read our review on the 15 best pillows to help you get better quality sleep.” 8:18 And of course, that best pillows guide would have links to our products. The editing stage 8:23 Alright, now once you’ve finished the draft, it’s time to move on to the final stage which 8:27 is editing. 8:28 Now, many people overlook this stage and just do a final read through to check for typos. 8:33 But editing is just as important as drafting. 8:36 It’s where you ensure your messaging is right, that all your on-page SEO optimizations have 8:41 been done correctly, and where you’ll ensure the content flows smoothly. 8:46 Basically, you want to make it easy for people to consume your content. 8:50 A simple process you can follow is the… ASMR method. 8:56 The A stands for annotations. 8:58 These are good to add within your content to make certain parts standout. 9:02 For example, we use side notes to bring notice to an important point without 9:07 breaking the flow of the content. 9:09 The S stands for short sentences and paragraphs. 9:12 This helps improve readability and digestibility. 9:15 When editing, look for instances where you used transitional words like “and,” 9:20 “because,” and “that,” and consider breaking them into shorter sentences. 9:24 The M stands for multimedia. 9:26 Consider adding videos, images, and gifs to help illustrate your points without having 9:31 to add extra words. 9:33 And R stands for read. 9:35 Make sure you actually read your copy out loud to pinpoint areas where your 9:39 content may not flow smoothly. 9:42 In addition to these checks, consider simplifying the complexity of your content. 9:46 That means using simpler language when possible and removing industry jargon 9:51 when it’s not absolutely critical. 9:53 There are tools like the Hemingway app which you can use to get a graded score. 9:57 As a general rule of thumb, aim for a sixth to eighth grade reading level. 10:02 Now, you might feel like you haven’t really done much so-called “SEO copywriting.” 10:07 And that’s because the copy you write for search and humans doesn’t have to be all that different. 10:12 Google has evolved quite a lot compared to the days when you had to include exact 10:17 match keywords in order to rank for them. 10:20 Those days for the most part are over. 10:23 The outline we created in the first stage where we analyzed competing pages was 10:27 a big part of the SEO copywriting process. 10:31 We found subtopics and key phrases that people use to search for a topic. 10:35 In much the same way, Google analyzes “entities” to ​​categorize information and 10:40 understand relationships. 10:42 Now, in addition to our research, drafting, and editing stages, we still practice on-page SEO 10:48 best practices and you probably should too. 10:51 If you want to learn more, watch our full tutorial on the on-page SEO checklist we 10:55 use which I’ll link up in the description. 10:57 I’ll see you in the next tutorial.