Can I just write?, asked A.
All the SEO stuff bores me, and it kills my writing voice.
Sound familiar?
Often it may feel like writing for SEO means we can’t write well—as if writing for SEO doesn’t leave space for creativity, as if we have to choose between writing for readers (and for ourselves) vs. writing for Google.
But that is not true.
Here’s why …
A concise history of SEO writing
When writing for SEO came into existence around 2000, it meant writing purely for Google; and that meant stuffing your text with keywords.
The result was that online writing became almost unfit for human consumption.
But times have changed.
Google becomes smarter every year.
Google doesn’t want you to try to beat its algorithm. Google wants you to share your expertise, to create trustworthy, authoritative, helpful content—content that delivers what visitors are looking for.
Here’s how Andy Crestodina explains it:
To write for SEO, write the best page on the internet on your topic. If you make the best page on the web for your topic, there are 2000 math PhD’s at Google trying to help you rank and get more traffic. If you don’t do that but try to take shortcuts, there are 2000 math PhD’s at Google trying to stop you.
These days, when your blog strategy is clear and reader-focused, you’ll fulfil the basic requirements for SEO, too.
So, here’s what you’ll need to do to write for SEO:
- Have a clear blog purpose
- Use your audience as primary keyword research tool
- Focus on tiny topics
- Write about each topic just once
- Write for your reader, optimize (a little) for SEO
Shall I explain?
1. Have a clear blog purpose
A clear blog purpose helps you write for your readers and stay on topic so you get recognized for your expertise by both Google and readers.
What’s more, a good blog purpose energizes you and your audience. Your audience recognizes you’re writing to help, and that’s why they’ll come back for more. Plus your blog purpose kindles your creativity and keeps you wanting to write more.
You don’t require a grand blog purpose. You can start small. A few examples:
- Help students to manage their finances so they can graduate with lower debts
- Help 1,000 single mothers to start their own online business
- Get rid of gobbledygook on small business websites
To discover your blog purpose, follow your own curiosity.
When your blog purpose fires you up, you’ll share your expertise with more enthusiasm. You’ll know the most interesting stories, you’ll dig out the most useful examples, you’ll share more in-depth advice, and write truly helpful content. That’s the foundation of writing for SEO.
How to define your blog purpose (and attract more clients)
2. Use your audience as your primary keyword research tool
Most SEO experts will tell you to do keyword research before deciding on what to write about.
But I don’t like keyword research and I’ve never based my topic choice on keyword research.
Keyword tools can make you forget who you’re writing for. You’re not writing for a robot or algorithm but for real readers—for impatient readers who like to get their questions answered.
So, what’s the best way to decide what to write about?
Listen to your readers. Pay attention to:
- The aims they want to achieve, for instance many people discover Enchanting Marketing because they want to improve their writing skills; that’s what they’ve googled before arriving here.
- The questions they’re asking, for instance: Is my writing good enough? That’s a question people google, too.
- The problems they’re struggling with, for instance: How to make boring writing more interesting.
- The assets they’re looking for, such as examples, ideas, checklists, templates, trends, or quotes. For instance, many people find Enchanting Marketing when they google copywriting examples.
Your audience is your best keyword research tool. If you sneak into their minds, you’ll understand their struggles, goals, and questions, and you’ll know how your blog can help them and what they’ll google to find you.
This doesn’t mean that keyword research is not useful. I use keyword research to fine-tune my blog topic selection.
For instance, for this blog post, I checked whether more people searched for SEO copywriting or SEO writing; and the latter was more popular (and less competitive) according to the MOZ Keyword Explorer:
I used to think I was an outlier in my focus on readers rather than keyword research. But it’s becoming a more common approach.
For instance, content marketing ageny Animalz has worked with companies like ZenDesk, Amazon, and Wistia, and they propose a mixed approach. For bottom-of-the-funnel blog posts (i.e. posts written for people who are close to buying) they suggest answering customer questions; for top-of-the-funnel posts, they suggest keyword research.
Content marketing agency Grow & Convert has worked with companies like Patreon and CrazyEgg. When designing a content strategy, they start with defining customer pain points before doing keyword research. They call their approach pain point SEO.
The better Google becomes, the more important it becomes to focus on your readers and to deliver what they’re looking for.
So, use keyword research as a complement to not a replacement of understanding your audience and knowing how you want to help them.
A beginner’s guide to keyword research by Britney Muller and the Moz staff.
How to do keyword research for SEO by Tim Soulo at Ahrefs.
3. Focus on tiny topics
One of the biggest mistakes I see bloggers make is that they focus solely on big questions.
The advantage of big topics is that they may get more search traffic but it’s also harder to get your content to rank on page 1 of Google. Plus blog posts about big topics often end up either vague and superficial, or unwieldy and boring.
To show off your expertise, narrow down your topics so each blog post can deliver truly helpful content. For instance, a big aim of my readers is to improve their writing skills, and you can break this down into much smaller aims, such as:
A valuable blog has a mix—a couple of articles about big topics and a lot of articles about tiny topics.
A blog post about a big topic presents an overview; it gives readers an introduction and guides them to more actionable, detailed blog posts.
My blog post 29 ways to improve your writing skills gives an overview of writing skills; the information is not actionable; links guide readers to more detailed, actionable blog posts.
While big topic posts provide an overview, posts about tiny topics provide truly helpful, actionable guidance.
Tiny topics are called long-tail keywords in SEO. Such keywords may have less potential for search traffic—few people search for them. However, it’s often easier to rank for tiny topics and generate traffic.
What’s more, the long-tail traffic can be more relevant than the search traffic generated by big topics. Plus posts about tiny topics show off your expertise best, and they’ll help you get ranked for the bigger topics, too.
My blog post about transitional phrases gives detailed guidance on and examples of 6 types of transitions; a reader can implement the advice straightaway.
A good blog post about a tiny topic gives people detailed instructions so they feel inspired to implement your advice after they’ve finished reading.
To write a valuable post about a tiny topic, ask yourself: What do I expect readers to do after reading this post? What guidance do they need to take that action?
How I turned 31 measly words into a valuable blog post
4. Write about each topic just once
Blog posts about the same topic compete with each other. It’s called cannibalization. Google won’t know which one to send traffic to, so you get less traffic. And readers browsing your blog might get confused, too.
So, again, Google’s wishes are aligned with your readers’ wishes: Write a single post about each topic.
That’s why tiny topics are so useful. The number of tiny topics you can write about is almost endless. You can dive deeper and deeper into your material, and share more useful advice. For instance, if you’ve written a list post with a number of tips, you can most probably write a single post about each of those tips.
My blog post with 11 copywriting tips links to blog posts that explain each tip in more detail with extra examples.
5. Write for readers, optimize (a little) for Google
You can do a lot of research on secondary keywords and check out what others are writing about your chosen blog topics.
But such an approach mostly creates content that is similar to everything that’s available on the web already. It becomes almost like a cut-and-paste, and for me that’s sure to kill my creativity and strangle my voice. I’d quickly lose the will to write.
So, my approach simply starts with the reader.
Remember, a good blog post topic helps a reader in a specific way. It helps them achieve a tiny aim, solve a tiny problem, answer a tiny question, or it presents an inspirational collection of assets such as diagrams, examples, or quotes.
So, to write the best blog post on a topic, define the specific purpose of that blog post and focus on helping your reader achieve that purpose. If you do that, your blog post mostly gets optimized for Google, too:
- In your headline, mention which tiny purpose your blog post fulfills—this is the keyphrase (such as improve writing skills or make words more powerful) that your audience might google to find information.
- In your opening paragraph, empathize with your reader and promise what your post will deliver—use the target keyphrase to show both readers and Google what your post is about.
- In the main body of your post, answer your reader’s question or explain step by step how your reader can achieve their goal or solve their problem; it helps if you mention the keyphrase in at least one subhead.
- In the final paragraph, inspire your reader to implement your advice—be sure to take away any objections to implementing your advice.
When you write an engaging, well-structured, and helpful post for your reader, you mostly make Google happy, too. There are a couple of other things to take care of:
- Mention the keyphrase in the URL of your blog post
- Include at least one image
- Use the keyphrase in the file name and alt tag of that image
The complete guide to on-page SEO by Backlinko
Install the Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress. The plugin warns you when you’ve already targeted a keyphrase in another blog post, and it uses a traffic light system to suggest when your post is sufficiently optimized.
We’ve been saying since 2006 (…) that the most sound SEO strategy in the world is to operate as though there were no search engines at all, that Google didn’t exist. That strategy is more true now than ever. How would you market if search didn’t exist at all? How would you stay in front of customers, remind them that you exist in ways that still provide them value? Whatever that strategy is, do it.
~ Christopher Penn (7 May 2022)
How to write for SEO without killing your creativity
Remember A. who hated the idea of writing for SEO?
If you’re a solo-blogger like her, your priority is to make blogging fun and rewarding.
So, follow your curiosity and write valuable content. Sneak into your own mind to discover what’ll make you jump out of bed in the morning to write your next blog post.
And sneak into the minds of your readers to understand what they’re struggling with, so you know how you can help them.
If you provide genuinely valuable content, there are 2,000 math PhDs at Google working hard to send more traffic to your blog.
Happy blogging!
Recommended reading on seo writing and blog strategy:
Blog strategy: Why most of us get blogging wrong
How to define your blog purpose, and attract more clients to your blog
A 5-day plan to blog regularly—even when you’re crazy busy
Hello Henneke, I really loved all the five points, mainly #3.
I agree on how narrowing down a big topic to topic clusters help in keeping the audience engaged and interested, and give an opportunity to rank for long-tail keywords. Beyond all, the tactic help you achieve topical authority in no time which is quite important to maintain search rankings in the long run.
PS: I am surprised to learn that you are non-native speaker from your “about”. You write stunning and you’re inspiring!
Yes, my native language is Dutch and for a very long time, I believed my English wasn’t good enough. I am glad I eventually ignored the naysayers and picked up the courage to start writing in English.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Mudassir. I appreciate it.
Yes, I believe you should always write for your audience first. Google searches are important, of course, but real people readers are more important. I’m glad you have the same opinion.
I’m glad you agree. Thank you for stopping by, Margareth.
Hi Henneke,
In few, clear, and clever words you brilliantly explained how to balance the creativity and SEO in content writing. If people love your content, Google will love your content.
Sending you lots of love 🙂
Thank you so much, Mehera. I appreciate all the love. 💜
Hi Henneke,
I find your SEO writing guide very helpful,
I’m new to the industry and sometimes my creativity juice just won’t give me a squeeze; I’ve learned a lot from you and it made me realize that there is really so much to learn from this industry. Hoping to learn more knowledge from you about SEO.
Thank you so much & Regards,
Chris
Hi Chris,
I’m glad you found this guide helpful.
You’ll have to look elsewhere for more advice on SEO—for instance, check out the articles I’ve linked to in this post.
The focus of my blog is teaching how to write for readers. I wrote this post about writing for SEO to explain that my approach is compatible with getting more SEO traffic.
Happy writing!
I find when I try to write for Google, it did take the creativity and place it in a box. I appreciate the great ideas for writing in a way that is still fun to read while thinking about how it will be judged by the bots.
I’m glad you found this useful, Aaron. Happy writing!
I always ran into a doubt whether to write for google or to write for the user.
How content that I wrote for google would fulfil the user’s intent.
Your post opened my eyes wide. Lol
thank you for creating a wonderful piece of content.
I’m glad it was useful, John. Happy writing!
Hi Henneke I totally agree with you about the fact that you should write for people and Google will, as you say, mostly like it. I never write something thinking I have got to cram keywords into the article I just try to write naturally.
I’m glad you agree, John!
I always enjoy your content. It’s real and straightforward. Thanks for a clear and concise guide.
Thank you, Ashley. I’m glad you enjoyed this.
What do you suggest for someone who is starting a new brand, I loved reading the tips, but I am thinking to start a digital venture in the HR field. What would you suggest for me?
It really depends on your situation. When you’re starting a new blog, you need to consider how you’re going to build your audience. You may already have an email list or a big social media following but if not, then consider where the very first readers will come from—they’re unlikely to come from organic traffic (unless you have an existing website that has already built some domain authority but I assume that’s not the case for a new brand).
you have the most helpful blog ever! thank you 🙂
Thank you, Tristan. I’m doing my best! 🙂
Awesome advice. Thank you so much. I feel inspired to write!
That’s great. Happy writing, David!
Hi, Henneke! This is my first time here. The thing that I don’t like most in SEO writing is the time that is required for the content to mature. More than 3 months is a lot. Thanks for the article. Regards
I find the unpredictability can be hard. I’ve seen my traffic drop significantly in the past, and then a few months later it magically goes back up. Patience is a virtue.
Hello Henneke!
Great post and well done you. For the record, I used to be subscribed to Copyblogger but not anymore. And I am here with you, so it doesn’t surprise me that your ranking is up up up!
Also, I sent you a Christmas Card recently, I hope you didn’t change your address 🙂
Yes, I got your card. Thank you so much. I’m a little behind but hope to get my cards out soon 🙂
Thank you for keeping reading all these years, and for commenting and staying in touch. It means a lot to me. 💜
Have a clear blog purpose
Use your audience as primary keyword research tool
Focus on tiny topics
Write about each topic just once
Write for your reader, optimize (a little) for SEO.
That’s what I need henneke. You Rock✊
Thank you so much, Mahmudul. Happy writing!
This is the best modern SEO explanation there is. As always, you see the whole, and chew it up for your readers with such a lovely sway. It’s a pleasure to read your blog posts as always…
I wish you the best of Holidays and a great 2021!
Hugs and kisses, Marisa
Thank you so much, Marisa. That’s a lovely compliment.
Sending you hugs from both Henrietta and me; and best wishes for 2021!
A terrific post Henneke! A clinic on that most confusing, and often frustrating topic.
Thanks a million for putting it together. It takes many hours to work in the right copy, and find such a variety of helpful links.
Your writing talents are very much appreciated.
All the Best. Stay safe.
Thank you so much for your lovely compliment, Barry. This was a longer post than I usually write but this topic needed it. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Stay safe, and thank you for stopping by again.
Thank you a lot, Henneke, for your useful and wonderful article. I have never liked SEO as a cold tool which avoid readers’ feelings, pains and dreams.
Just a question, Henneke: how many articles per month a blogger should write starting a new blog?
Best wishes. Maurice
I’m not sure there’s one good answer to that. It depends on the audience, the length of the articles, and your own availability. I’ve always thought quality is more important than quantity but in the beginning it helps to keep a regular schedule, so if possible, I’d go for once a week or every other week. But some people launch a blog writing only once a month, sharing a long, in-depth article.
This is the article I needed.
I’ve recently taken a deep-dive into the real technical aspects of SEO and have been exploring strategies and tactics shared by expert SEOs.
Although I find it incredibly interesting to a degree, I feel this for isn’t the way for me. I honestly don’t feel like spending hours on Ahrefs or Surfer SEO, or jump into 301 redirect / expired domains / PBN type of grey hat tactics.
A human-centric approach is where it’s ultimately at anyway. Though these days there are still loopholes to be found in the algorithm, these over time will close.
Over the long haul great content will win.
It’s good to see you’re referencing Brian Dean, as this guy is all about really great, actionable content (though he’s obviously extremely savvy when it comes to a more technical approach to SEO, too).
Anyway, like I said, this was just the article I needed. It helps clear up some ideas and thoughts I’ve been having lately around SEO. 🙂
Yes, that’s what I believe, too: Over the long haul great content will win because that’s what Google wants us to do, too.
While shortcuts continue to exist, I prefer to focus my efforts on getting the basics right because that gets me far enough. And that’s what gives me far more joy than technical analyses or linkbuilding (which I don’t do, apart from pitching infographics once or twice a year to 3 or 4 blogs). Time is limited so I focus my efforts on what’s effective for my business AND what gives me joy.
All I have been doing before now is write for myself and Google.
Thanks for reminding me that my blog is actually for people and not just for SEO.
Courtesy this article, here is what I’m going to do about my blog content: I’ll listen to my audience and connect with them more through my writing than just surf headlines and stuff with words.
Seriously, Thank you.
It’s much more fun to write for real people. Enjoy!
This is a truly good post, and it even breaks down my personal hate of SEO-writing 😉 I have to admit that you are right.
Copyblogger hast lost its former enthusiasm and helpfulness. It is purely a business now. Which is why you may some day even outrank it.
Awww, wow, even your resistance to SEO writing is fading?!?? That would be an achievement! 🙂
If I can make time to publish a little more regularly and to update old blog posts, I do think I have a chance to grow in the coming years. Depending on what “competitors” are doing of course.
Wonderful post Henneke, it’s so easy to get sucked into all the intricacies of SEO that you forget you’re writing for real, breathing humans on the other side of the screen.
And as Google gets smarter, SEO writing needs to become more natural until the point where the best SEO advice will be “just write naturally”.
Agree?
Yes, I agree. Hopefully in some years, there isn’t such a thing as “SEO writing” anymore. We’ll just devise a good content strategy and write for the readers we want to serve.
Hola, Henneke excelentes concejos como siempre, tengo meses dándole vueltas a la cabeza de como escribir artículos en mi blog (hasta ahora solo tengo 1) para hacer mejor SEO y posicionar mi nueva web, así que voy a seguir paso a paso tus recomendaciones. Gracias.
Gracias, Eduardo. Happy blogging! I hope you’ll write and publish a lot more blog posts next year!
I love your writing.🤗
I also read Jon’s blog (smartblogger.com). You both are fantastic.
Thank you, Nilesh. 🙂
Hello Henneke, very good advice. Being creative, original and readable must be the bloggers aim. All good writers suffer writer’s block. How many times have we read a piece we have written only to see it’s rubbish? Taking time out and reading a good book helps me. It’s hard, especially when you are under pressure to meet a deadline. Sometimes that supplies the creative kick you need and then the ideas may flow even into the night. But when you see the client’s smile or reactions to your blogs you get the greatest kicks. Updating old posts can lead to a complete re-write. Google’s burgeoning AI systems and myriads of maths whizz kids will pick that up and then you may have wasted your time. Always best to be original. Tiny topics here I come. Thanks
Yes, so true. The few times I updated old posts, I also found myself spending as much time (if not more!) on the post than on the original version. It can be a big job but it can also give a good jump in search traffic. It’s sometimes hard to prioritize the various blogging jobs. I mostly focus on things that are effective and that give me joy.
Happy blogging, Chris. And thank you for stopping by.
“…a good blog post energizes you and your audience.”
Giving the gift of inspiration. Providing words to live by through multiple writing,(and life), mantras.
You flat out rock!
Thank you!
Thank you, thank you so much, Phil. I appreciate your compliment.
Felicitaciones por el post. Fue increible. Hay pocos post que decido leer mas de una vez y éste es uno de ellos. Su manera de explicar y exponer las cosas es ¡¡amazing!!.
Thanks for your post. It was incredible. There are few posts that I decide to read more than once and this is definitely one of them. How you explain your arguments is simply ¡¡incredible!!.
And I have the chance to practice my English too.
Thank you so much for your lovely compliment, Juan. I feel humbled by readers like you. Happy writing!
It’s not difficult to write for SEO, but it’s understandable that some writers might get overwhelmed by the idea.
I love that quote by Andy Crestodina, and I’ve used it before, too. I like to picture 2,000 math PhDs sitting at their terminals (or most likely laptops nowadays), waiting for the next piece of content to analyze.
I almost feel like there are 2,000 math PhDs cheering me on and willing me to do well!
I always enjoy your content. It’s real and straightforward. I’ve struggled with SEO in the past and this explains it much better than many of the SEO gurus. Thanks for a clear and concise guide.
Thank you, Mary Ann. I’m glad this was helpful to you. Happy writing!
I am starting a new blog with a tiny niche – a city blog for Vancouver, Washington. This is actually my third time of starting a city blog here – my earlier attempts died to getting a job and losing enthusiasm. Now I am retired and starting again and doing it mostly because it’s fun and a challenge to do deeper into tiny topics than others have done. This post is encouraging to the max to keep doing this. 🙂
I also added an ecard site (which I know no one uses ecards much but I have been doing that since 1998 and I like doing it) and I make Jigsaw puzzles of places in the city – again because I like doing them.
In just two months of doing things the way I like doing them (with a mixture of Pinterest thrown in – again because I like Pinterest) I find that I am on page one of Google for a long tailed keyword.
I don’t think the long tailed keyword I am working for to start with “explore vancouver usa” ) which is also the name of my domain) will result in a lot of traffic but I am having fun and that is what I am hoping will keep me staying the course this time.
Thank you for sharing your free but always valuable content – it is so helpful for my low budget but blogging enthusiast.
It’s so important to have fun. When everything becomes a must-do, it becomes so draining.
I’m glad you’re having fun with your new blog and Pinterest, Patty. Thank you for stopping by to share your story. I appreciate it.
Happy blogging!
Thank you, Henneke! Your post – as usual – was exactly what I needed to read! I got so overwhelmed with SEO mumbo-jumbo that I almost abandoned my pen and paper until post-SEO days 🤣
There’s so much SEO mumbo-jumbo around! It works if you’re an SEO specialist. For the rest of us, getting the basics right can get us far, too.
Really appreciate such a clear, supportive, and helpful post. I’d virtually given up on blogging — not to mention SEO — because of such limited blogging results and frustration at understanding and applying SEO. I feel that this post might help me start again and give me the knowledge and confidence I need to try one more time. Thank you!
Thank you, Matthew. It’d be great if you feel inspired to start again!
In the beginning it can be frustrating because it takes time before you get search engine traffic (and you need a few links, too) but over time it can create a lot of momentum. The vast majority of readers have come to this blog because they found it through Google.
It’s also useful to think about at least one other way to get traffic to your blog (e.g., guest posting, one social media channel, or advertising).
Congratulations! You rock! And have shown it can be done by being authentic, helpful and compassionate. ❤️🎉
Thank you so much, Kathy. It feels so much better to do it my way! 🙂
A brilliant example of how to write for Google and Bing. Thank you.
That’s a good point. It’s not just for Google, it works for other search engines, too.
Thank you for your compliment, Lee.
Fantastic post! I’m one of those people who hate SEO and don’t use it while writing for my blog. Your post may make me change my mind and give SEO a chance! 😉
That makes me happy, Marwa. Go for it.
Hi Henneke, Thanks for explaining cannibalization by Google. I was not 100% sure what it meant but now I do after reading this one 🙂 I have some work to do. Yoast helps me with it but I have some older posts that could use work to make them more unique. It’s hard when you are told to write in a niche. How many topics can you write about one thing, week after week, year after year? Interesting.
Thanks for the tips and I hope you are well and have a great day Henneke.
I agree with you. To keep writing about a topic is a big challenge if you’ve been blogging for a while.
When you dive deeper and follow your curiosity, it’s possible to keep writing. Sometimes, you may want to branch into a slightly different direction to widen your topic (or even write completely a couple of times a year—I do that at least once a year). Also, remember that sometimes you may need a break to refuel and find new inspiration.
I desperately need to spend some time on updating old posts, too, but I just don’t know how to find the time and I prefer writing something new.