How To Learn SEO Content Writing In 2024 (The Ultimate Guide)

If you’ve been tapping into the world of content writing, you might also know that writing content isn’t enough. Only the content that’s ranked on search engines holds value. 

According to Ahrefs, 96.55% of the content written never gets ranked on the first page of search results. Imagine the months of effort and money you put into content only to see it ignored. You now know how complex and crucial it is to get your content visibility. 

That’s where SEO content writing comes into play, as it ensures your articles/blogs can get the visibility they deserve. Even Google has said they assess whether the content is relevant or not as a ranking factor.

That’s why, today I’m sharing:

• What is SEO writing?
• What are the elements of SEO content writing?
• How to learn SEO content writing?
• How to create SEO-optimized content?
• Difference between SEO content writing and SEO copywriting?

Let’s get started!

What is SEO Writing?

In simple terms, SEO writing is the process of writing content that gets ranked. According to Google’s helpful content update, the search engine ranks only the original content that satisfies the visitors. 

So, if your content is not helpful and doesn’t meet Google’s other ranking factors, you will most likely end up on the search result’s 2nd, 3rd, or even later pages. 

Let’s think this: You Google your query. Would you care to visit the second page when the first page offers promising results? Moreover, you won’t go past the first 5 results. A study by Backlinko shows the first result gets the most clicks, 27.6%, followed by the second and third results. 

So, if you want traffic on your website without any paid advertising, then the organic approach of SEO is the way ahead. And nailing SEO content writing will help you increase your website traffic.

What are the basics of SEO writing?

SEO content writing is simple but not easy. As the content needs to meet Google’s algorithm standards, it needs to be written with the factors that affect the algorithm in mind. 

Google or any search engine aims to display only the content visitors find helpful. And all the factors I’ll discuss will help you make the content helpful.

On-Page SEO

Search engines need to understand the content before deciding if it’s rankable. That’s why you need on-page SEO. 

On-page SEO refers to optimizing individual web pages to improve search engine rankings. It involves optimizing content, meta tags, headings, and images. 

Effective on-page SEO ensures that your content is relevant to your target audience and easily understandable by search engines, increasing the likelihood of ranking higher in search results.

Off page SEO

Will you buy a health drink if it’s only the company promoting itself? Or will you choose the one other customers refer to?

You’d go for the latter because self-promotion doesn’t last long without anyone else supporting you. Off-page SEO ensures others promote your content.

Off-page SEO focuses on activities outside your website to improve visibility and authority. This includes building backlinks, social media engagement, and influencer outreach. Off-page SEO signals to search engines that your website is credible and trustworthy, contributing to higher rankings.

Technical SEO 

Website optimization doesn’t stop at content. You also need to optimize the technical aspects of your website to enhance its search engine performance. 

This includes: 

• Improving site speed
• Making site mobile-friendly 
• Ensuring proper indexing by search engine bots. 

Technical SEO ensures that your website is user-friendly and meets the technical criteria set by search engines for optimal visibility.

Audience research 

Search engine optimization is a way of reaching your audience, so it naturally needs a deep understanding of your audience. Audience research includes knowing:

• Who they are?
• What pains them?
• Where are they looking for a solution?
• What stops them from trusting a solution?
• What would happen if they don’t find a solution?

In short, audience research is knowing them like a best friend. 

Keyword research:

Knowing what keywords to use decides if the blog will succeed or fail. The different keywords are:

• Short tail keyword: Phrase with 1-2 words or broad keywords. They have a high search volume and are difficult to rank. Example: “SEO tools”

• Long tail keyword: Phrase with 3-5 words having a targeted approach. They’re used when the user looks for something specific. They have a low search volume. Example: “Best SEO tool for blogs”

• Low intent: The user is in the learning or awareness stage. They’re looking for educational content to better understand their problem. Example: “How to do on-page SEO for B2B blogs?”

• Medium intent: They’re used in the buyer’s journey when the user researches different options to solve problems. They understand the problem but want to explore the best solution. Example: “Ahrefs vs. Semrush keyword research tool”

• High intent: The user is ready to make a decision. They’re ready to purchase and explore one specific solution. Example: “Ahrefs Pricing”

• Branded keywords: These are company-specific keywords, including your brand name. Example: “Ahrefs”

Targeting each keyword is important.

Develop a content strategy so you can target all audiences from the beginner stage to those ready to purchase. 

Make sure each article targets one primary keyword. Focus on long-tail keywords with specific search intent and a super-specific audience. 

Search intent 

How would you feel if you owned a massive adventure park but never sold a single ticket? That’s what it feels like to get your search intent wrong. 

You write an entire article just never to have a single visitor. That’s why search intent matters. It shows what the readers are looking for. 

The search intent for the keyword “How to learn SEO content writing” is an informational guide. Readers don’t want tools that can assist them in SEO writing. They want to learn it. So, the blogs you create should be a guide.

Use the SERP to find the search intent. What type of blogs are ranking for your target keyword? That’s your search intent. 

Internal & external linking

Building a good linking structure is like creating a map for your website. It helps search engines find your blogs and interpret how they’re connected. 

Internal linking involves connecting pages within your website, providing a hierarchy, and helping search engines understand your site’s structure. 

External linking involves linking to authoritative external sources, adding credibility to your content. 

Both internal and external linking contribute to better SEO by enhancing user experience and signaling to search engines that your content is well-connected and reliable.

Featured snippet

A featured snippet is a concise summary of information displayed at the top of search results. Obtaining a featured snippet can significantly boost your content’s visibility. To optimize for featured snippets, structure your content logically, provide clear answers to common queries, and format your information so search engines can easily extract and display it.

How to learn SEO Content Writing? Creating SEO Content

Now that you know the basics of SEO writing, let’s see how you can write SEO-optimized content. 

Choosing one topic

The first step is to find a topic your target audience will be interested in. You’d already have found your niche. Here are 3 ways to find topics within your niche using audience research:

• Directly talk to your audience: Your audience tells you everything; you just have to listen. Take a subgroup of your target audience and conduct surveys. Ask them to fill out questionnaires or get them on a call and ask your questions. Calls help you dig deeper because you’re talking directly with your target audience. 

• Check out places your audience hangs out at: Find out the social media platforms your target audience where your target audience hangs out. The type of platform tells a lot about their preferences. If they use Quora or Reddit, find questions and subreddits to see their pain points and concerns. If they interact with content on Facebook or Instagram, see what content type attracts them. The place they hang out at reveals a lot about them.

• Competitor research: Your competitors are already doing what you need to do. Check out famous blogs and YouTube channels in your niche. Their topics give you a basic idea of what you need to focus on. 

| Suggested reading: How to do content research?

Structuring Your Content

Step 2 is creating a smoothly flowing and logical blog outline. It matters because a well-planned structure holds the reader’s attention and navigates them without leaving any questions unanswered. It includes:

• Aligning all headers in a logical sequence
• Organizing your thoughts and research
• Eliminating every unnecessary part that creates friction.

Crafting Engaging Headlines

Headlines are the gateway to your blogs. Create one that fails to entice readers, and they’d never consider opening it. 

But readers can’t resist getting in when the headline is:

• Engaging
• Curious
• Providing value
• Making a promise
• Stating a fact

Here’s how you can nail the headline without making it clickbaity:

Use long-tail keywords

For the right audience to land on your website, you need to make it easy for them to find your blog. 

Users searching long-tail keywords are more likely to read the complete post to seek information. It helps you attract the right type of traffic to your website.

The wide topic is the blog post headline. Specifying that the post offers 4 steps to writing powerful blog headlines is using a long-tail keyword for the topic.

Use power words

Words that trigger a psychological response are called power words. These words evoke emotions like fear, curiosity, trust, etc.

Adding these words to your headline makes it more impactful. 

Example: How to write blog headlines that guarantee clicks.

The word “guarantee” in this headline evokes a feeling of trust.

Use numbers

It is an age-old technique, but it still works. Numbers appeal more to the human brain than words. 

They are easier to understand. They set clear expectations of what to expect from the blog.  It makes the value of the post clear.

Make sure the headline is short.

Readers are short on time. You have to grab their attention and promise value in a few seconds. Headlines 70 characters long get the highest click-throughs.  This way, you also ensure your headline is completely visible on the SERP. Google cuts off headlines larger than 60 characters.

Your headline won’t work if the content can’t keep the promise you make in the headline. Keeping the reader’s interest in mind and crafting a valuable blog post prevents your headlines from becoming clickbait.

Writing High-Quality Content

Coming back to content, here’s what you need to know: Your content needs to be the best solution to the audience query that Google would want to rank first. 

That’s the key to SEO writing success—high-quality content. And that means an all-around content. 

To write all-around content, give every information your audience would need for that keyword:

• Use expert opinions
• Add data and statistics
• Use google related searches, and people also ask 

The more you give, the more you’ll beat your competition, who is doing the bare minimum and calling it a day.

Aim for a higher word count. The usual 800-1000 word blogs won’t do any good if you want to stand out as the best solution. 

A study by Backlinko said that the average word count for the first page of Google is 1447. You need more than just surface-level stuff to get across to your audience. 

But remember, the need for a higher word count doesn’t justify fluff. Your content needs to give value through and through. 

Another important point—headings.

• Optimize headings to maintain a clear hierarchy from H1s to H4s. Incorporate secondary and semantic keywords naturally into headings while ensuring they align with the content. 
• Make headings descriptive and engaging, providing a clear roadmap for both users and search engines.
• Add breadcrumbs to make it easy for search engine crawlers to find what your content is all about. 

Imagine you going the extra mile while others are happy where they are. Won’t the search engines reward you?

| Suggested reading: How to write your first blog post?

Keyword placement

The path to ranking also goes through keyword placement. Adding your target keyword at certain places makes it easier for the search engines to understand your article better. 

Insert the primary keyword in:

• The title
• Meta Description
• URL
• The first paragraph of the blog
• The headers whenever it’s relevant 
• Conclusion

Here is an example of how HubSpot uses the target keyword in the URL, meta description, and blog title.

The Importance of Readability

Digital content is seen before it’s read. If it doesn’t appeal to the readers visually, they won’t go ahead with reading. Make your content readable and visually pleasing by:

1. Creating separate paragraphs every 2-3 lines. 

2. Creating lists wherever needed. 

3. Adding 5-6 images every 1000 words.

4. Making important sentences bold. 

Optimizing Visual content 

• Image Alt Text: Add descriptive and keyword-rich alt text to images, helping search engines understand the content of the images.
• File Names: Use descriptive file names for images, including relevant keywords where appropriate.
• Image Compression: Optimize image file sizes to improve page load speed, a crucial factor for SEO.
• Responsive Design: Ensure images are responsive to different devices for a seamless user experience.

Optimizing Meta description, Image tags, url slug

• Title Tag: Craft a compelling and concise title tag (up to 60 characters) that includes the primary keyword and encourages clicks.
• Meta Description: Write a compelling meta description (around 155-160 characters) summarizing the content and prompting users to click.
• Header Tags (H1, H2, H3): Use header tags to structure content and highlight important points. Include variations of your target keyword.

How can I learn SEO content writing for free?

You shouldn’t pay for any course when you can learn the same through free resources. When it comes to SEO writing, you can fall back on a handful of free courses and resources. 

But SEO content writing is best learned when you’re practicing it daily. That’s why I suggest you start your own blog to experiment with: 

• SEO
• Content writing
• Keyword optimization
• Monitoring the results over time

Can you suggest any better way to learn? I’ll wait. 

But while you’re creating and running your blog, these resources will make SEO very easy for you:

1. Online Courses and Tutorials:

Explore platforms like Google Skillshop, which offers free courses on SEO fundamentals. Dive into modules that cover keyword research, on-page SEO, and content optimization.

2. Blogs and Industry Websites:

Follow reputable SEO blogs and industry websites such as Moz Blog, Search Engine Journal, and Neil Patel‘s Blog. These platforms regularly share insights, tips, and case studies that can deepen your understanding of SEO.

3. YouTube Channels:

Leverage YouTube channels like Brian Dean and Ahrefs for in-depth video tutorials on SEO content writing. Visualizing concepts can enhance comprehension.

4. SEO Webinars and Workshops:

Keep an eye out for free webinars and workshops conducted by SEO experts. Platforms like HubSpot Academy often host webinars covering SEO strategies and best practices.

5. Online Communities:

Join SEO-focused communities on platforms like Reddit (r/SEO) and LinkedIn Groups. Engage with discussions, ask questions, and learn from the experiences of seasoned professionals.

6. SEO Tools with Free Plans:

Utilize free versions of essential SEO tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Ubersuggest, and AnswerThePublic. These tools provide valuable insights into keyword performance and site analytics.

| Suggested reading: Best AI Content Writing Tools (Under $50)

What skills make a prolific SEO content writer?

An SEO content writer should understand how to craft clear, concise, and easily digestible content for readers. 

But their ability goes beyond crafting content. They need to be proficient in conducting keyword research and optimizing the content for on-page SEO.

A good SEO writer knows that content starts and ends with the audience. They must grasp the user intent to create content that addresses user needs. 

SEO is ever-evolving, and so is the search engine algorithm. SEO writers must stay on top of industry trends to adjust strategies and have a learning mindset. 

Research and content planning is essential for an SEO content writer, as are data analysis and interpretation. These skills can propel any writer into becoming the best SEO writer. 

SEO Writing Services

Here are some of the common SEO services for an SEO content writer or SEO copywriter:

• Emails
• Checkout screens
• Product pages
• Website copy
• Landing pages
• Brand Messaging
• Ad Content

Avoid these Common SEO Writing Mistakes

SEO writing becomes doable and easy when you steer clear of these mistakes:

• Keyword Stuffing: Overloading your content with keywords may seem like a shortcut to higher rankings, but it can harm your content’s readability and authenticity. Focus on natural keyword integration instead. 
• Ignoring User Intent: Tailor your content to match the intent of your target audience. Understand their needs and preferences, and create content that provides value and answers their queries.
• Neglecting Quality for Quantity: Quantity alone won’t guarantee success. Prioritize quality content that engages readers and provides valuable information. Google’s algorithms increasingly favor well-crafted, insightful content.
• Lack of Mobile Optimization: With the rise of mobile users, it’s crucial to ensure your content is mobile-friendly. Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites, so optimizing for mobile devices is a must.
• Ignoring Meta Tags: Neglecting meta titles and descriptions means missing out on an opportunity to improve your click-through rate. Craft compelling meta tags that accurately represent your content and encourage clicks.
• Duplicate Content: Search engines penalize duplicate content, as it can confuse them when determining which page to rank. Ensure each piece of content is unique and valuable to your audience.
• Neglecting Image Optimization: Images play a significant role in user experience and SEO. Optimize your images by using descriptive filenames, alt text, and appropriate file sizes to improve page load speed.
• Ignoring Analytics: Regularly analyze your website’s performance using tools like Google Analytics. Monitor traffic, user behavior, and other relevant metrics to make informed decisions for ongoing SEO improvement.

Tips to Learn SEO Writing

• Understand SEO Basics: Familiarize yourself with fundamental SEO concepts such as keywords, on-page optimization, backlinks, and the importance of user experience.

• Keyword Research: Master the art of keyword research to identify relevant terms your target audience uses. Utilize tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to discover high-value keywords.

• Stay Updated: SEO is an ever-evolving field. Stay informed about the latest algorithm updates, industry trends, and best practices through reputable sources, forums, and blogs.

• Practice Regularly: Apply your knowledge by creating and optimizing content. Practice helps solidify your skills and allows you to adapt to the dynamic nature of SEO.

• Learn from Case Studies: Analyze successful SEO campaigns and case studies. Understand the strategies and tactics employed by others to gain insights into what works and what doesn’t.

• Experiment with Different Formats: SEO writing encompasses various content formats, including blog posts, product descriptions, and meta tags. Experimenting with different formats will broaden your skill set.

• Build a Portfolio: Create a portfolio to showcase your SEO writing skills. Include examples of your work, highlighting the impact on traffic or rankings when possible.

Frequently Asked Questions