SEO copywriting vs traditional copywriting: What’s the difference?
I am as giddy as a 11-year old girl at a One Direction concert this week as I welcome my very first guest blog post here at the Black Coffee Blog. Even before I launched my biz, I was stalking following Kate Toon on various social media platforms. And now she has offered this juicy guest post for all you lucky readers. I confess, while I understand the basics of SEO copywriting, I am by no means an expert – so I’ll hand it over to Kate.
The question I get asked the most, both by clients and budding copywriters, is “What is SEO copywriting, and how different is it from traditional copywriting?”
Many traditional writers are too scared to write Search Engine Optimised copy, imagining all sorts of technical complexities and getting completely bamboozled.
But with hard work and practice you can learn SEO copywriting, and you’ll soon be creating SEO-friendly copy without even thinking about it.
Here’s some advice and pointers to get you started.
1. What’s the difference?
Simply put:
Copywriting is the process of writing engaging words to sell a product or service to a particular group of customers.
SEO copywriting is the process of writing engaging words to sell a product or service to a particular group of customers and rank highly in Google.
You could say that with traditional copywriting you have one audience and with SEO copywriting you have two audiences.
2. Do I need to be a technical geek type to write good SEO copy?
No, not at all. Unless you think a title tag is technical.
3. What’s the point of learning SEO copywriting?
Those rumours you’ve heard about SEO being ‘dead’? Rubbish. Google may change its algorithm frequently, but SEO copywriting is just as important today as it was five years ago.
4. How do I make Google like my copy?
You need to follow two simple steps:
- Choose a keyword phrase you want your page to rank for (say, ‘Alpaca wool knitted mittens’).
- Use this keyword phrases in the copy.
Pretty simple huh?
5. Where should I use my keyword phrase and how often?
There’s no easy or exact answer here. Lots of SEO types talk about keyword density and frequency, but there’s no magic number.
You need to use your phrase often enough that Google ‘gets’ what your page is about, but not so much that it becomes clunky and obvious to your readers.
My best advice is to write your keyword phrase on a Post-It note and stick it above your monitor. Then get on with writing your copy and don’t worry about SEO too much. If you’re writing about alpaca wool knitted mittens then you’ll obviously use the phrase on the page.
6. No fair, I want to some rules to write by.
Okay, if you insist. Here are some very simply guidelines on how and where to use your keyword phrase:
- Once in the URL (e.g. www.nameofwebsite.com.au/alpaca-wool-knitted-mittens).
- Once in the page title and description.
- Ideally once in the H1 or title tag.
- In one sub-header (H2,-H6 tag).
- Once in the first 100 words of body copy on the page.
- Once in bold.
- Once in a link (i.e. instead of ‘read more’, go with ‘read more about Alpaca wool knitted mittens’).
- If there’s an image on the page, use the phrase in the filename and the ‘alt’ tag.
- Write enough copy on the page to justify including your keyword phrases a number of times and also enough to successfully explain or sell your product or service.
Once you’ve read your copy, try putting it through a word cloud tool (such as Word It Out) to see if you’ve given your keyword phrase enough focus. The bigger the words appear, the more frequently you’ve used them.
You should also read this great article for more great tips about on-page SEO factors.
7. So I just need to shove in the keywords a certain number of times and I’m all good?
No, no, no. The guidelines above are just that—guidelines. See why I didn’t want to give you a list of instructions? Go back and read question 5 again.
8. I’ve followed your guidelines but my copy feels a bit too keyword stuffed?
If you read your copy out loud (you always do that, right?) and you feel the keyword phrase stands out too much, then you’ve probably overdone it. Try using some alternative phrases such as:
- Alpaca woollen mittens
- Alpaca products
- 100% alpaca hand knitted mittens
- Alpaca wool gloves
Google is clever enough to realise these phrases are related to the core subject matter.
IMPORTANT!! The best way to avoid keyword stuffing is to stop worrying about keyword frequency and just write warm, friendly, easy-to-read copy.
9. So who’s more important, my customers or Google?
Your customers are more important than Google. Always.
It’s essential to create content that humans want to read and that sells your product, rather than keyword-stuffed rubbish that only makes sense to Googlebots.
As Brian Clark puts it:
“If your content isn’t good enough to attract good, natural links, it doesn’t matter how well ‘optimised’ that content is.”
Producing quality content has always been, and always will be, the answer to driving traffic and engagement. So while SEO is important, it’s great writing that matters most.
Never ever compromise the readability of your writing just to please the Google gods.
Strong SEO just gets the user to your site, strong SEO and great writing helps turn them into customers.
In summary, the more reader-centred your content is, the more people will share it, like it and link to it.
Okay, I’m in. Where can I learn more?
Here are a few links to help you on your SEO copywriting journey:
Copy Blogger: SEO copywriting (Free download)
Word tracker: 7 sins of SEO copywriting
Kate Toon is an award-winning SEO and advertising copywriter with over 18 years’ experience. She’s also a well-respected SEO consultant, information architect, strategist, hula hooper and CremeEgg-lover based in Sydney, Australia.