Planning Makes Perfect

One of the challenges copywriters face in writing for the web is incorporating proper SEO techniques.  The key to achieving your SEO goals is making sure Search Engine Optimization is a priority from the start. A bit of planning before you begin writing copy will help to ensure that your efforts deliver maximum results. In this article we will be focusing on writing search engine optimized content from a copywriter’s perspective. There are many factors to achieving a high page rank; solid copy is the foundation.  These four exercises will put you on the road to writing search engine optimized copy.

1. Choosing appropriate keywords

To choose effective keywords you must put yourself in the shoes of a prospect or potential customer.  Your potential customers will not necessarily be aware of the branded product or service that you offer.  To bridge this gap, try to identify with the pain point or problem that a customer is experiencing that would have led them to needing your product or service.  This need is what will have initiated your prospects internet search.

Once you have identified this primary business need, try to think about the verbiage that your prospect would use to perform their search.  All to often marketers try to utilize the latest industry buzz words in a effort to display thought leadership.  Keep in mind that your prospects may not have a deep knowledge of technical phrases in your industry.  For example if you have a business selling encrypted external RAID drives, a prospect may search for “secure external hard drive”.  It is important to approach this exercise through the viewpoint of your target audience.  Once you have developed a level of empathy with your prospects you are in a good position to determine targeted keywords and to begin writing optimized copy.

2. Visualize the elements involved in Search Engine Optimization

A search engine looks in several locations to determine your overall page rank. A few of these components are the page title, description, heading, intro paragraph, etc.  Remember Madlibs, where there would be a story written down with blank spaces for you to fill in a random noun, adjective or verb?  Writing search engine optimized content for the web is a similar exercise.  Instead of having blank spaces where a noun or verb should be filled in, think of having certain places on your web page where a keyword should exist. Your task is to write intelligible copy while incorporating your key words into these important areas of your web page.  This is a bit of a simplified view, but this will help you visualize how to incorporate search engine optimized copy into your web page.

3. Writing your search engine optimized web copy

As a copywriter you will primarily be concerned with the content in the body of the web page.  This is the text that is most visible when the web page renders.  There are a few other components that a copywriter should consider.  In addition to the body content copywriters should also consider assisting in the writing of the page title, page description, and alt tags. These elements are important outward facing content elements that a search engine takes into consideration when determining your page rank.  These elements are not as high profile as the main body content on the page, but the play an important role in how a prospect and a search engine interact with your web page.  As a copywriter you should take ownership of these elements and integrate them into your content development.

4. Make an attainable goal

Depending on your industry, achieving top placement with your desired keywords or phrases may be very competitive.  If competition is steep in your industry for your chosen keyword you may have to choose a less competitive keyword or adjust your time frame and the effort involved to reach your goals.  The best plan for success is to choose keywords that will make achieving your goals possible.  You must choose a realistic keyword or keyword phrase to optimize around.

You can get additional keyword ideas and a sense of how competitive your keyword or phrase will be from Google’s Keyword tool.  Good luck!