What is SEO Writing?: Beginners Guide to SEO for Blogs (with Examples!)

SEO is a term that stands for “search engine optimization” and SEO writing is a form of SEO content.

SEO writing can be used by blog owners and SEO specialists to improve the website rankings on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

SEO writing is written with keywords in mind so that when someone searches for those terms, the SEO content they find most relevant will be your site.

To do this, you need to use SEO writing elements such as keyword research, meta tags, anchor text, and backlinks – which are all ways to increase the relevancy of your site.

This all sounds complicated now, but by the end of this guide for bloggers, you’ll understand exactly what you need to know to use SEO to rank on Google!

What Does SEO Stand For?

SEO stands for “search engine optimization”. This is essentially the language that search engines like Google use to understand your site.

Think of it like you are translating your site into another language so a robot can understand it. You need to make certain changes to ensure that Google can interpret what you are saying so it doesn’t skip past your article.

I’m going to teach you how to write for SEO so you’ll rank higher on Google and get more page views.

What is SEO Writing?

At its core SEO writing is the practice of using SEO techniques to increase a website’s traffic and ranking by increasing SEO rankings. It involves using keywords and key search phrases in your content to increase your visibility on search engines.

But SEO writing isn’t just adding in keywords all over the place to make Google happy. SEO is about making your reader happy.

Proper SEO writing should result in highly readable content that answers your reader’s question about a topic, and outdoes other potential answers on the search engine.

Let’s discuss the important elements of SEO writing that will help boost your blog.

Important Elements of SEO Writing

There are SEO essentials that every SEO writer should keep in mind when writing content on their blog.

Do Proper Keyword Research

A good SEO-written blog piece starts with research.

This research involves:

• Find out what your reader is asking about your topic to brainstorm useful content ideas.
• Use SEO keyword tool to find long-tail SEO phrases related to your topic.
• Find out how much competition there is for those SEO keywords. Are they too competitive? If you can’t rank, don’t bother using them in your SEO content.
• SERP analysis on your competitors’ blog posts to understand how to outdo them.
• Ensuring you’re answering the entirety of your reader’s question so they won’t need to go elsewhere for more information.

You also need to be realistic about keywords. A small site with a DA of 2 isn’t going to rank for “laptops”. But they could rank for “best laptops for digital nomads 2021”.

Yoast even found this of their users:

One of the biggest mistakes we frequently encounter is that site owners optimize their pages for generic keywords. 

Make Your Titles Pop

SEO writing starts with your title.

A great SEO title tells your reader what to expect, includes words that people would search for, and uses numbers where possible.

A good SEO title will result in more shares, higher rankings on Google, and more clicks from readers.

For example, you’re less likely to click on a blog post titled “What Not to Do in Toronto” than an article titled “10 Worst Mistakes Tourists Make in Toronto”.

This title includes a number, tells you who it’s for, and includes the word “mistakes” which is more likely to be searched for than “what not to do”.

SERP Analysis for Your Outlines

Many writers start going without a clear idea of what they’re writing.

This may be better for their train of thought, but it’s terrible for their time management and their SEO.

SEO works best when you outline a post so you know exactly where you’re going with a topic.

I started this post with an outline based on SERP. I used longtail keywords, Google questions, and my competitors’ outlines to develop an outline based on what people actually want to know about SEO for beginners.

Without this outline, I would need to do significant edits to categorize my post afterward and it still might not help my readers.

Always outline your SEO posts so you know exactly what questions to answer for your audience.

Write the Best Content

People always ask me how to write SEO blog posts that rank. My answer: write the best content!

You’re sure to beat out others on Google over time if you have the very best post on a subject.

How exactly do you write the best content?

Research your competitors to see what they’ve done. Do they answer the full audience question? Do they have multimedia in their post? How readable is their post? What is the word count?

Find any questions left unanswered or any openings where you could add additional media or resources to benefit your audience. A blog article that only answers the question “how” isn’t going to capture a reader’s attention for very long. Your SEO writing should answer the ‘why’ and ‘what’ before providing advice or information

Write for the reader, not for SEO! This seems counter-intuitive, as we’re talking about SEO writing, but it’s actually the best way to write SEO content. You need to focus on the user first to ensure that what you’re writing is actually helpful and informative.

I could write an amazing post on SEO keywords, but if it is unreadable to the user because it isn’t properly formatted, is one long run-on sentence, or because it has zero examples, it isn’t likely to rank.

Keyword Density vs. Reader Experience

Every SEO plug-in will tell you about keyword density. This is the measure of how often you’ve used your keyword within the content.

The issue with this metric is that it only focuses on a specific keyword, not on the myriad of variations you’ve used.

In this post, for example, my keyword is “SEO writing”. But I’ve used “write for SEO” in some places. Google is smart enough to understand that this is a derivation of my original keyword. However, SEO plug-ins are not.

Take this measure with a grain of salt rather than relying on the checkmark from RankMath.

Instead, use your keywords as often as you can without it sounding unnatural.

This is why it’s important to know your keywords before you write your post: so you can add them in throughout rather than having to rewrite an entire post after the fact.

This post from Oberlo.com shows excellent use of keywords for SEO writing. See how often their keyword is mentioned in this paragraph?

Proper Heading Distribution

Headings are essential in SEO writing, yet so many people forget about them.

Proper SEO heading use will break up a blog post so it’s more readable to audiences.

Chartbeat found that 55%. of users stay on web pages for 15 seconds or less!

Since readers tend to skim blog posts, headings are signposts that offer them information they can read quickly to see if your post is worth their time.

Your headings should be able to be read independently and seem like a quick summary of your post.

It’s also a great chance to add in keywords, as keywords in your SEO titles will boost you in Google’s eyes.

I’ve done this here. You can see that there are a number of headings. My title is H1, my main categories are H2, and these elements of SEO are H3. A reader scrolling through could quickly gather a snapshot of information so they would know the essentials of blog SEO for beginners.

Optimize Your Multimedia with Alt Descriptions

Multimedia, such as graphics, videos, and pictures, are a great addition to any blog post. They help target people who learn differently and ensure that your users will get everything they need to know from your post.

But they require some work.

You need to ensure that they are properly optimized for your blog post.

To do this, add in alt descriptions.

Alt descriptions are what show when an image doesn’t load or what is read by a virtual assistant for someone with is visually impaired. This tells them what the image shows so they can get the full experience of your blog post without seeing it.

Alt descriptions should tell a reader the purpose of an image. Try to add in your keyword if possible, but only if it fits with the image.

Look at how this page description from my travel blog includes a target keyword, who it’s for, and exactly what they’ll learn in the post.

In Gutenberg, I can edit my alt descriptions within the block window. Here is an example of what it looks like:

Build In Internal Links

In each blog post, you should link to other posts on your site.

This creates a map for Google to explore your site and understand your authority. Google will see that you have a link map for articles on hiking and understand that you are an authority on hiking, which will boost your ability to rank for this topic.

Make sure you are doing this authentically, and not adding in random links or adding “read more” style links. Google has learned to give these less link power.

Build Out External Links

Show Google that you are an authority on your subject by linking to other authorities and citing your sources.

Think of your blog posts like an essay or an argument with a really annoying friend. You need proof to back up your claims and show them you know what you’re talking about.

Try to add a few relevant links to authoritative sites (that don’t compete for your keyword!) to show Google that you know what you’re talking about with your SEO writing.

Meta Description Optimization for Google

A meta description is what shows beneath a title on a Google search.

This small 160 character snippet is where you can tell searchers what your post is about and why they should click.

Include an SEO optimized description of your post (usually 1-2 sentences) that tells readers exactly what they’ll learn if they click to read your blog.

Why You Should Care About SEO

SEO writing is especially crucial in blogging because SEO-friendly posts will rank higher than those without SEO tactics.

As bloggers, we spend so much time slaving away over articles that we’re passionate about.

But if no one sees them, what was the point?

Unlike other forms of promoting your blog, like with Instagram, SEO doesn’t require constant daily work to bring it traffic.

Once you’ve optimized a post, you can wait months before you need to do any more work on it. Even then, it’s likely to be very small tweaks that you can make over time.

SEO is the #1 way to grow your blog traffic. Growing your traffic means increased metrics to get you into bigger ad networks, like Mediavine, and landing paid promotions with dream brands. It can even bring in more affiliate revenue!

I love SEO because it was the primary way I monetized my travel blog. It allowed me to make a significant income every month without needing to spend hours each day engaging with others on social media, which I find way too draining.

Instead, I could focus on what I love: writing blog posts that help my audience.

If you want to make an income with your beginner blog, it’s time to start making SEO writing a priority.

How to Write SEO Blog Posts That Will Rank

1. Know your audience’s pain points and write for them
2. Find keywords you can realistically rank for so you start seeing an increase in readers sooner
3. Use more than one keyword in a post
4. Outline your post to ensure you know what you’re writing about
5. Add your main keyword into your title, URL, and meta description
6. Ensure you are writing for the reader and answering their question
7. Add your keyword into your first paragraph
8. Use your keyword every 300-400 words throughout your blog post
9. Use relevant multimedia to enhance your post
10. Ensure you add appropriate alt-text to your images
11. Link to relevant internal links
12. Link to relevant external links that are authoritative

Common Mistakes Beginner Bloggers Make With SEO Writing

I see so many beginner bloggers making these mistakes when they write for SEO. These practices can actually end up ruining your article and even get you blacklisted from Google.

Avoid these common SEO writing mistakes to ensure your blog ranks well.

1. Not writing for SEO until after they’ve finished their post.
2. Only using one keyword.
3. Only using one keyword, and it’s way too competitive to rank for.
4. Not including any links in their post.
5. Writing short posts that are less than 600 words.
6. Not answering their audience’s questions.
7. Writing like they are writing a diary entry.
8. No headers or ways for readers to know what’s happening.
9. Text is long paragraphs with no breaks for the eyes.
10. They never use the keyword in their post.
11. Alt descriptions only have the keyword but no actual information.
12. They don’t add a meta description.
13. Their URL is way too long and doesn’t include the keyword.
14. It’s plagiarized.
15. Keyword stuffing, or using keywords unnaturally so it’s hard to read.
16. Changing their post every 2 weeks to try to rank.

How Long Does it Take for SEO to Work?

Despite what many people think, SEO doesn’t happen overnight!

For an SEO blog post to rank well in SERPS it takes time, patience, and dedication.

So how long does SEO take?

That depends on the individual post but most experts will say 2-4 months before they start ranking well for their target keywords.

Google says:

In most cases, SEOs need four months to a year to help your business first implement improvements and then see potential benefit.

I’ve had blog posts that ranked on page 2 within the week I published the post. Others took a year to rise to page 2.

It will vary depending on the keyword, your blog’s DA, and on what other bloggers are doing.

I recommend giving a post at least 6 months to rank before you check its metrics.

Closing Thoughts on Beginners Guide to SEO for Bloggers

SEO writing is important for beginner bloggers.

When you don’t have a large following yet, it is important to make yourself as visible as possible.

Most social media algorithms don’t make that possible. They take hours of your time every day just to get a few hundred followers in a year.

SEO on the other hand can get you thousands of readers in a month!

If you want to make an income with your blog, SEO is one of the best things you can do.

It’s time to stop writing SEO off as something professionals do and start integrating SEO into your blog posts.

Make SEO a priority this year.

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