If you’re doing SEO and it’s driving results, then you won’t ever need any other marketing strategy. 

Websites that have mastered SEO will come up on the main page easily, get more clicks, shares, likes, and customer engagement. How can your business achieve this? SEO friendly content!!

SEO-friendly is the cure-all for websites that want to crack SEO and achieve results. 

If you have a team of in-house writers, or if you have freelance writers, if they aren’t able to write SEO-friendly content, they’re not helping you in anyway.

Creating SEO content for your website that actually delivers results is tough. However, the content generates results far better than ads and other marketing methods. 

In this guide, we’ll break down the steps you can follow to write SEO-friendly content. 

What is “SEO-Friendly” Content?

As the name suggests, SEO-friendly content is the content that helps in achieving higher search engine rankings. 

Unfortunately, most marketers consider SEO-friendly content to be full of keywords. But that’s not the case. While keywords are important for search engines to understand what the content is about, they’re not meant to be stuffed into the content. 

SEO-friendly content should be easy to understand, should be clear, and should convey the point you’re trying to make. Stuffing the content full of keywords, reduces the overall quality of the content. 

Steps to Make Your Content More SEO-Friendly

#1. Conduct keyword research

SEO writing is changing, it is now more focused towards creating thought-leadership type of content. This subtle shift in content has changed how SEO marketers see the use of keywords in content. 

However, keyword research still remains a major part of content creation. 

Before you choose target keywords, here are some things you need to keep in mind:

• The volume of searches for a specific keyword in a specific time frame. Using wrong keywords can lead to wasting time and efforts. 
• Have a clear understanding of search intent and if they’re the keywords you want to use in your content. 
• Use resources that help you create content that can rank on competitive keywords and rank on top positions. 
• Focus on using long-tail keywords with ideal intent. These keywords have low competition and search results. They are easier to rank on.

#2. Create a content structure

Planning, structure, and a flow is what makes the content great. Without a structure, your content will always struggle to rank on SERPs. 

Imagine this, you’re reading a blog on how to delicious sweets. The recipe starts off with the ingredients, but suddenly, in the middle of the recipe, the content starts talking about issues with eating sweets. 

You’re obviously going to close the blog, right? That’s what happens with your content if it doesn’t have a pre-defined structure. 

Figure out the main part of your blog, and then divide it into multiple parts to make the content writing and reading part easier.  

Take this content for example. What’s the primary talking point? I’m covering the checklist on how to craft SEO friendly content. Notice how I’m breaking it down in points, giving examples for each point? That’s what a good content writer has to do. 

Your content shouldn’t just aim to please the search engine algorithms, it should resonate with your audience. It should match the user’s search intent. 

Here’s a basic structure you can follow:

• Introduction of the topic
• Main body text
• and Conclusion.

In between these sections, you can divide your content into as many talking points as you want to.

You can also use ChatGPT to create a structure for your content. How? Check out the example below:

Once you have a structure in hand, you can add and remove sections as per your preference. 

Moreover, make sure to end with a strong conclusion. Your conclusion should include a CTA. After all you’re creating the content to get more eyes on your business right, a CTA will help your users take an action. 

1. Write catchy titles

Titles have a huge impact on your SEO efforts. Your title serves two purpose. It clarifies what your content is about to the user and the search engine. 

A good title also increases your chances in ranking higher. Let me give you an example of a good title.

• How to write SEO Friendly Content - Plain title, not catchy.
• 8 Tips That Can Help You Write SEO Friendly Content - Clear intent, helpful, and catchy title. 

Which one do you think a user is going to click on? 6 out of 10 users are going to click on the second title. Even if the second title blog is ranking lower than the first title blog. 

Why? Because the second title tells the users what they’re going to get from this content. The quantifiable tips highlight how much effort it may take to learn to write SEO friendly content. 

There are specific words you can use to hook your audience and increase your CTR, such as:

• Best
• Amazing
• Free
• How to
• “this many” steps/tips to
• Surprising

1. SEO friendly URLs

Every content writer who wants to become well versed in SEO writing, should learn to create SEO-friendly URLs.

URLs are one of the biggest ranking factors, so it makes sense that every writer should know how to write good URLs.

Here are some rules that every writer should follow while writing URLs:

• Always include the primary keyword of your topic. Doing that will improve the chances of your URL being discovered by search engines. 
• Don’t make your URL too long. In just 2-3 words, you can create a good SEO friendly URL. The ideal URL length is 60 characters.
• Use lowercase letters. Having uppercase letters can result in redirects or 404 errors on some servers.
• Don’t use words like: a, an, but, and or.
• Make sure your URLs are simple, compelling and relevant. 

1. Use small paragraphs

To make content more user-friendly, keep your paragraphs short. Some writers take this too far and break a paragraph after every line. Make small paragraphs, around 2-3 sentences as they’re easier to read and understand for users. 

Use different formatting options, such as bullet points, highlight text, and change your font.

1. Add contextual links

Whenever you write a new blog post, include some contextual links. Links as the one that we’ve mentioned above. They help readers explore a topic more in depth while staying focused on the main point. 

Internal linking help users learn more about the topic. They also help search engines understand the relevance of the context. If you’re writing in extension to another topic, you can link back to them in your blog. 

1. Optimize content for mobile

Did you know that 56% of internet traffic comes from mobile? If you don’t optimize your blog for mobile users, you’re missing out on crucial traffic. 

Optimizing your blog for mobile devices is crucial for search engines, as mobile friendliness is now a huge ranking factor. It’s therefore essential to have a responsive website design as Google penalizes non-mobile friendly sites. 

1. Use content optimization tools

If you want to craft incredible content, then using content optimization tools is a great idea. There are a number of content optimization tools you can use, such as:

• Grammarly - Helps you get rid of small grammar mistakes.
• Hemingway Editor - Offers the same functionality as Grammarly, but with more features.
• Read-able - Read-able judges your content based on readability. The higher the readability, the better the content quality.
• Yoast SEO - If your website is on WordPress, you can use the Yoast SEO plugin to check the SEO quality of your content.

Final Take - Time to Write SEO Content

This marks the end of this guide. Just follow the tips, and keep the content as easy as possible. Writing quality SEO content is a skill that comes with time. If you need any professional help, then reach out to Fastor7.