Whether you’re looking for search engine friendly copywriting services, SEO copyediting or have some SEO friendly copywriting on hand (and you’re ready to publish it correctly) – this guide is for you.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is all about writing compelling, helpful content that is published (correctly) to your website – with the view to show up in relevant search results. Search engine friendly copy is a branch of SEO that focuses on choosing keywords and crafting content that appeals to Google, but more importantly, your readers. This guide is a perfect example of search engine friendly copywriting: you’re looking for easy-to-understand and practical steps to publish your new SEO friendly copy and I’ve written this blog. Win-win!

SEO copywriting doesn’t have to be scary, stagnant or over-stuffed with keywords. Explore search engine friendly copywriting & SEO copyediting services I offer.

Results will always vary, but quality SEO friendly copywriting can increase click-throughs by 335%

This is a photography client who I built an SEO strategy for 12 months ago. I write just one blog (with SEO friendly copy from start to finish) each month and it has improved her website clicks by 335%. Blogging regularly has a positive flow-on effect to core webpages too – think along the lines of your homepage and services/ product page/s. This client’s homepage saw a significant 211% increase in average position – and research consistently tells us that’s where the highest chance of conversion lives.

How to tell if content is SEO friendly copy?

SEO friendly copywriting is more complex than jamming keywords into AI-generated text. In fact, Google prohibits this – and using it as a tactic to “improve” your ranking violates their spam policies. Compelling, authentic search engine friendly copywriting is about answering specific questions with interesting, relevant and accurate information. Your readers must always be your first priority.

You’ll be able to spot quality SEO friendly copywriting because it will:

• Puts readers first (not robots)
• Maintains a cohesive tone of voice that enriches the personality of your business
• Reads fluidly with paragraphs that link together both meaningfully and logically.

If you are struggling to write your own SEO friendly copy (or not seeing the results you hoped for) you may be selecting the wrong keywords. High volume keywords aren’t necessarily better when it comes to search engine friendly copywriting that converts. Booking a 60 minute SEO strategy call can be helpful to unpack what’s most appropriate (and lucrative) for you to target.

Time to publish: Making the most of your SEO friendly copywriting

Step 1. Update your meta title and meta description

Metadata is what helps Google match a readers search query with content that’s going to answer their question. It consists of titles, meta descriptions, and image tags. In a bid to become more ‘human’ Google will sometimes merge some of your metadata with content from your webpage, to create the best reader experience.

Nonetheless, metadata is still very important. Here at Esme Copywriting Studio, your titles and meta descriptions can be found at the end of each page. All SEO friendly copywriting should come with metadata. If you’re unsure where to paste your metadata, here’s a Showit example. Take care to copy your metadata exactly and to the correct corresponding page – otherwise you may create duplicates (which Google in penalise).

Step 2. Upload your new SEO friendly copy

Here’s a quick guide for uploading your new copywriting in the correct format.

H1: This is your main page heading (usually it’s the largest font size and there will only be one per webpage)
H2: A secondary heading, or subheading (typically used to break up paragraphs of copy for readability)
H3: Another subheading (usually the smallest font size, used to accent headings or further break down bullet points)
Body: The ‘body copy’ or ‘paragraph’ copy (usually an easy to read font like Arial, size 14-18).

Step 3. Using image titles and descriptions to enhance SEO

To get the most out of your SEO friendly copywriting, utilise the keywords listed underneath your metadata to rename all of the images on the corresponding webpage. Fill in both the image name and image description fields. For example, if one of the SEO keywords for your homepage is ‘Purple Ladybug’, save the image name as ‘Purple Ladybug – Homepage header image’ and rename the image title as ‘Purple Ladybug’. You can also add a location onto the end of the image description. For example ‘Purple Ladybug Sydney’.

Step 4. Triple check links and formatting

Your SEO copywriter has carefully formatted your copy and it’s important that you re-produce and publish it in the same way. Pay close attention to:

• Full stops, colons, semi-colons, en dashes versus em dashes (– used to break up a sentence), words or phrases that are bolded or italicised and paragraph breaks
• Call to Actions (CTAs) and buttons
• Footnotes and research attributes
• Links: links are a very important part of SEO and you should replicate all links exactly as your writer has stipulated in the copy.

Tracking and maintaining your SEO friendly copy

Publishing your new SEO friendly copywriting is an exciting step to an improved organic ranking on Google. And remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. You won’t see overnight growth and in the cases of new websites with limited backlinks, it can take up to 3-6 months to see improvement if you are focusing primarily on on-page SEO.

At Esme Copywriting Studio, the keywords I select for your business are keywords which you have a good chance at ranking for based on your current position, health and speed of your site, how many keywords you are already ranking for, your website authority and existing backlinks. By sticking to niche, thoroughly researched keywords, I see quicker success for my clients.

To get the most out of your SEO friendly copywriting, I recommend setting up Google Console and touching base in 4-6 months time for a quick SEO report.

Ready to see what SEO friendly copy can do for your traffic and visibility? Contact me.