If you want to know how to write effective SEO content that ranks high in Google and drives tons of traffic, this is the article you shouldn’t miss. Before moving ahead, you need to read two articles that I covered in the past: How to optimize content for SEO and What is optimized content.
So, how is this article different from the previous ones?
This article covers two key topics that aren’t covered in any of the other posts I have written:
- Why SEO content is important and why you should care
- How to write effective SEO content for your blog.
Excited?
Let’s dive in.
What SEO Content is Important
Imagine you spent more than a week writing a masterpiece and published it on your blog. It ranks for several keywords in Google and has successfully achieved the top position for several keywords. But it isn’t driving enough traffic.
You’ll hate yourself, right?
Because it is traffic that you need – not just the Google rankings. The reason why content marketers and bloggers want to reach Google’s top ranking is to drive organic traffic. If you don’t get enough traffic, all the effort is useless.
Here is an example:
The article has more than 50K shares and the article has well over 7K words. It is a great piece but it only gets 34 visitors a month.
There are several reasons why you receive low traffic with a high ranking:
- You are targeting the wrong keywords
- Search intent ignored outright
- Poor title, description, or URL.
The only way to fix these three issues is via SEO content.
The number one reason why you don’t get traffic after reaching Google’s first position is the lack of SEO content.
Lack of proper keyword research, searcher intent, and poor on-page optimization lead to low traffic despite high rankings.
How to Write Effective SEO Content for Your Blog
Writing content that doesn’t just rank high but drives traffic consistently is what we call great SEO content. You need to follow a systematic approach to writing this type of content that looks something like this:
- Cover proven topics
- Consider search intent
- Write better than existing content
- Ensure on-page optimization (This is already covered in detail here and here, so I’ll not be covering it in this article).
1. Proven Topics
The best way to write SEO content that will drive organic traffic is to go for proven topics. A proven topic is one that is known for driving traffic. How do you check it?
Use a keyword research tool like SEMrush or Ahrefs.
You don’t have to look at the number of monthly searches to identify a topic. Instead, look for estimated traffic for the top-ranking pages. This is a more realistic approach to finding the right topics.
When you look at the traffic volume of a keyword, it shows you the estimated searches for the keyword:
It doesn’t show you how much traffic the top ranked result receives. You need to look at the traffic estimate of the top ranking position for your desired topic or keyword. Here is an example of SERP overview from Ahrefs:
It shows you the estimated traffic each search result receives in Google SERPs. Looking at the above estimates, SEO tips isn’t a great topic idea in terms of traffic that you’ll receive even if you reach the top position.
Keyword search volume isn’t a decent predictor of traffic you’ll receive. It merely shows the overall traffic estimation for that doesn’t always translate into traffic. For example, a lot of searchers don’t click any result at all.
On the other hand, when you use proven topics that are already receiving traffic to write content, you have a decent chance of generating traffic too provided you reach the first page or top position.
2. Search Intent
Understanding search intent and optimizing your content for the searcher intent is the key to SEO content. Search intent is the purpose or goal that a person (searcher) wants to achieve when he/she runs a search query.
For example, when a searcher runs a search query “Justin Bieber songs”, he is interested in nothing but Bieber’s songs. And this what exactly Google shows you:
But if someone simply runs a search query “Justin Bieber”, the search intent isn’t clear in this case. It could be any of the following:
This is what exactly happens when you use keywords without denoting intent. Search engines fail to recognize the intent you are targeting and might show your website for irrelevant queries.
Here is an example:
You won’t click this website even if it appears at the top because it isn’t relevant. And the reason why it isn’t relevant is that it isn’t optimized for searcher intent.
When writing SEO content, you must:
- Identify and define the search intent you are targeting
- Use appropriate keywords, subheadings, and LSI keywords to denote the required intent in content.
There are four main types of search intent:
- Navigational: The searcher is interested in a specific website and knows where he/she wants to go.
- Transactional: The intent is to make a purchase.
- Commercial: The searcher is looking for specific products but has not yet finalized any product.
- Informational: The purpose of the searcher is to find information.
There are certain words and phrases that are used to denote different search intents such as:
Make sure you use these words to rank for the appropriate search intent to avoid getting relevant traffic.
3. Write Better
Once you have identified a topic and relevant search intent, you are all set to write content.
You are trying to outrank already ranked pages so your content has to be much better than what’s already out there. It must have more depth.
I love the 10x content technique where you create content that’s 10x better than the best-performing content out there:
It is a 4-step technique:
- Deep insights
- Unique angle
- Hard to replicate
- Unique presentation.
SEO Content is the Best Way to Outrank Your Competitors
Yes, it is.
If you know how to write effective SEO content that gets all the love from search engines, you’ll drive heaps of traffic to your website.
But it requires testing, experimentation, and consistency.
You can’t predict exact ranking and traffic estimation upfront. Your best of the best content might fail to rank. Be consistent and stick with the best practices covered in this article.
Featured Image: Pexels
