SEO will help drive traffic to your website but engaging Search Engine Optimisation copy writing will help to convert visitors into sales.
SEO Copy writing must strike a good balance between being Search Engine friendly and remaining engaging and compelling for the reader. There is little point in a Search Engine directing traffic to a web page which is uninteresting, keyword heavy or doesnt answer the visitors needs, leading to high bounce rates.* Remember the end result of SEO is conversions not merely traffic churning up your bandwidth. Here are some basic SEO copy writing tips to optimise your website.
title tags
It is important to place your primary keyword in the title tag and as close to the start of the title as possible. This article focuses on SEO Copy writing at the start of the title and is used to communicate EXACTLY what the web page is about to Search Engine spiders and visitors alike.
Word counts should be aimed at 10-12 words or 70 characters. This is the cut-off point in Google Search Engine results and also helps to keep your title tags concisely targeted towards the most important keywords.
meta description
A meta description tag is a guide for Search Engines to use as summary text (beneath the title) when a website is listed in the Search Engines results. It is important to use keywords within the description as these are bolded in the results. Search Engines may not always use the description you have written but by providing a description, this will encourage Search Engines to use it rather than grabbing text off your page.
More importantly, you must ensure that the meta description tag matches the content on the web page. If you promise in the description that the page will contain certain information, you need to deliver on that promise or your visitors are more likely to bounce off the page. Word counts should be aimed at 160 characters which is the cut-off for Google Search Engine results display.
page headings
Writing titles for the web differs from writing titles for newspapers and/or print magazines. Page titles for newspapers can be quirky, evasive or cryptic to catch a readers interest but titles for web pages must be intrinsic and state exactly what the page is going to be about.
The trick is to write powerful headings that will draw in readers but also improve your Search Engine ranking for your target keyword phrases. This should coincide with the keywords being used to search for your product or service in Search Engines.
keyword selection and density
There is a certain art to writing SEO copy that finds a balance between inserting keywords seamlessly and naturally within the text and keyword stuffing (using keywords too frequently or out of context). Your content needs to appeal to humans as well as Search Engine spiders.
You can also be penalised by Search Engines if they believe you are using keywords in your text out of context or unnaturally within the text to manipulate the Search Engines and boost your Search Engine ranking. Your website may be banned or your ranking may drop in Search Engines.