Essential SEO Copywriting Insights You Need for 2024 Success
I’m scared to think about it, but I’ve been in SEO copywriting for almost 12 years.
Why scared?
This path was thorny and bumpy, given how fast the niche was developing, how often Google changed its algorithms and, thus, the rules of the game, and how many times my colleagues and I grew and polished our copywriting skills to stay on board.
It’s weird to realize I’m that dinosaur who remembers SEO copywriting as nothing but placing a keyword throughout a text. Back then, everyone chased backlinks quantity, not quality and relevancy to the content topic. I worked in different niches, including EdTech, IT, and an article review writing service like EssayShark, and wrote 500-800 word texts after these simple instructions:
- Place a target keyword in a meta title and meta description.
- Write it in the first sentence of your text.
- Mention a keyword in H2 and H3.
- Include it three times in your article.
- Write it in the last sentence.
Voila!
It was enough for my text to appear in Google and rank high. I proudly called myself an SEO copywriter, though I didn’t know (or didn’t care) about the details like search intent, content usability, LSI, or emotional writing tactics. More than that, I didn’t realize I wasn’t a copywriter but an SEO writer.
Gone are those days.
Today, SEO copywriting is about crafting original, top-notch content that follows E-E-A-T and hits user search intent. Keyword optimization is still here, but the approach to keyword choosing and placing has changed dramatically. If you are wondering how to become an SEO copywriter and what knowledge you need to do it in 2024, I’m here to share some tips from first-hand experience.
Here’s how to structure and optimize content for better visibility and search rankings today:
Table of Contents
Understand E-E-A-T and Search Intent
First, I’d figure out what SEO copywriting is all about:
It’s the practice of building a well-optimized content asset search engines will understand and users — want to read and share. In plain English, I need to write a text relevant to a user’s search query but also original and comprehensive enough for Google to “see” it’s worth ranking higher.
SEO writing goes far beyond… well, actually putting words on paper. It includes preliminary and secondary research, generating content ideas, planning, drafting, editing, and optimizing a writing piece so it becomes more visible, appears in SERPs, drives traffic, engages the audience…
Phew!
…And convinces them to take the desired action.
To succeed with that, SEO copywriters should understand the concepts of E-E-A-T and search intent.
E-E-A-T is for “experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trust,” the factors Google prescribes in its guidelines for content to appear high-quality and worth high rankings. What does it mean?
We should write content that comes from experts (authors with experience in what they write about) and expert sources, is optimized for semantic search, and brings value to users.
How does Google understand if your content brings value to users? It looks at how they interact with your page; if this interaction is positive, Google awards higher rankings. For users’ positive interaction with your content, it should match their search intent.
Search intent is the reason behind a user’s query.
What do they expect to see after typing a particular term in Google Search?
- Do they look for general research? (Informational intent)
- Do they want to compare several products, concepts, etc.? (Navigational intent)
- Do they come to purchase anything or get support after purchasing? (Transactional and commercial search intents)
Google sees if your content meets user’s search intent by analyzing two factors:
- Bounce rate (How fast a user leaves your page after clicking on it and goes back to search)
- Dwell time (How much time a user spends on your page and interacts with your content: scrolls, clicks internal links, examines visuals, comments, shares, etc.)
The higher the dwell time, the more algorithms will see your content as a match, valuable for users, and, thus, worth ranking higher. As an SEO writer, you need to optimize content so users will find what they are looking for.
Place Target Keywords and LSI Like a Boss
SEO writing is still about keywords: Particular terms and lexical items help search engines understand the context behind your text and rank it accordingly.
The catch?
Google gets super intelligent. It’s AI-powered, and it doesn’t care (anymore!) about the number of specific keywords you place in your article. With that in mind, SEO writers change the approach to choosing and placing target keywords in content.
Look:
In 2011, I placed product-defining and short-term keywords in my texts and used those keywords as anchors for backlinks. It was enough for Google to rank such assets high.
Today, Google implements semantic search factors to understand a query and its intent: user context, entity recognition, query stream context, and natural language processing. Besides a target keyword I want my text to rand for, now I also include the following keywords in it:
- User-generated, aka long-tail keywords (queries users type when looking for answers to their questions)
- Vertical keywords, i.e., those coming from niches closely related to mine. They help me attract a broader audience.
- Niche, aka LSI keywords, i.e., synonyms and lexical items conceptually related to my target keyword.
LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords have become even more critical for Google than your direct target keyword. They help it understand the context and topic of your content asset better.
Say I write a blog post about cars. How do I make Google understand I’m speaking about the cartoon, not a vehicle or an eponymous music band? I added LSI words like “Pixar,” “movie,” and other related terms for searchers to get relevant query results.
Master Emotional Writing Techniques
While well-chosen and placed keywords are perfect for Google to see your SEO content, what about the audience? How do you make users want to listen to your message?
Engage them on an emotional level and make them feel something. Write content that aligns with their values and causes emotional resonance.
It’s also about E-E-A-T, and it makes your content stand out in the ocean of same-looking messages and superficial, inexpressive texts that tools like ChatGPT generate now.
Start with your titles (headlines).
It’s the first thing a user will see in search results and decide whether they want to click and read your SEO text. So, focus on emotional headlines relevant to your content yet motivating to click. Kevan Lee explained the psychology behind such headlines ten years ago, but not all web writers use his tips in practice.
Okay:
Once users click on your title, what can you do to hold their attention and motivate them to keep reading?
Get the most out of emotional writing tactics in your SEO content:
- Use storytelling
- Write with power and sensory words
- Appeal to instincts, pain points, and doubts
- Try neuro copywriting tricks when applicable
- Add beneficial adjectives
And last but not least:
Pay Attention to Your Content Structure and Formatting
I mentioned dwell time and bounce rate as factors for search engines to indicate your content as comprehensive, relevant to user search intent, and worth ranking higher. Proper structure and formatting of your SEO content can help you influence them.
Remember the rules of web writing! Online reading is 25% slower; users scan, not read content; so, make this process easier and more comfortable for them:
- Write short paragraphs
- Use a simple text structure
- Consider bucket brigades and transitional phrases
- Break down long text sheets with visuals
- Left-align your texts
- Add quote blocks, lists, bullet points, and other visual elements to hook users and encourage them to keep reading
- Optimize texts for featured snippets and common questions if applicable
Write Texts Both Google and People Will Love
Freelance SEO copywriting can sometimes look dull and frustrating. “Thanks” to the focus on keywords and other technical aspects to follow for pleasing Google’s algorithms, it seems like a niche that gives no place for a writer’s creativity and freedom of expression.
But it isn’t.
The age of AI content brings the enduring importance of human creativity and innovation. Stellar SEO copywriting goes far beyond keywords and templated content structure; now, it’s about quality, authenticity, and added value. Those who love words and know how to use those words to evoke emotions will win.
About the Author
Olesia F. is a freelance content writer from Kyiv, Ukraine. With 10 years in SEO writing, she’s a ghostwriter and contributor to websites on digital marketing, content creation, and self-growth. In love with books, psychological thriller movies, and jazz. In the hope of seeing Niagara Falls and a real panda one day.
