Top 10 tips on writing a good SEO-optimized article

A brief historical background: before the launch of the first algorithms based on neural networks (Hummingbird and RankBrain), one of the main criteria for ranking sites in Google was the number of keywords in the text.

Almost 10 years later, in the era of MUM, everything is more complicated and interesting. Algorithms carefully analyze the quality of content, and the most useful for the target audience websites appear in the search results. In this article, we will talk about how to write texts for SEO in 2023 and what you should pay attention to when creating content.

Consider E-E-A-T factors

It’s about expertise, experience, credibility, and trustworthiness.

E – expertise

The content must be written by a professional (an expert in their field). The author must have the appropriate knowledge and education, especially regarding specific topics such as medicine, finance, or construction. It is important to fully disclose the topic in informational articles and sales texts so the user has no questions after reading.

Tip#1. Refer to confirmed research results, and write according to the principle of “more facts, less fluff”. Add drawings, diagrams, illustrations – everything that helps the user easily understand, even Schrodinger’s cat paradox.

E – experience

This factor is new. If you have customer feedback proving your work’s quality, don’t be greedy and share it with your users.

A – authoritativeness

It’s important for search engines that articles are created by authors whose competence is confirmed. Imagine if a pastry chef wrote about healthy eating. Ridiculous, right?

Tip#2. Specify the authors and their position in the company. Leave links to portfolios or previously written material if it’s a blog. You can also make pages about the authors on your site, with detailed information about their education, work experience, and professional accomplishments.

For example, on the Coolerinsights blog, the authors of articles and their positions are always indicated.

T – trustworthiness

Verify the information carefully. You can’t do without fact-checking. The user must trust you as an expert.

Tip#3. Make footnotes and citations, and link to authoritative resources. If you’re talking about text for the home page, add a FAQ block, quality certificates, and licenses.

Optimize your texts

This is a constant rule. Content on the page should not just be selling but also moderately optimized. Let us remind you that in 2023 you should not “stuff” your texts with keywords. They should be harmoniously used in the tags, titles, and text.

“Jewelry Making Chains, buy cheap” – now this wording in the text should not be.

When writing LSI phrases, use words that are relevant to the topic. For example, for the keyword “personalized water bottle”, LSI phrases are custom, birthday, anniversary, special event – everything related to this topic.

Optimize texts for voice search

This tip is closely related to the previous one. 72% of US consumers use voice search through digital assistants such as Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana (Microsoft, 2018). So you need to take this into account when writing texts.

Voice search differs slightly from traditional search – users formulate longer, more detailed, and natural queries, as in spoken language. Few people will say to Alice, “buy inexpensive embroidery kits”. Instead, the question will be, “where to buy an embroidery kit”.

There is no complicated syntax in voice search, but question words are often used: “where,” “who,” “how,” “when,” etc. Even experienced content creators might have some difficulties in writing content for voice search. As a rule, they often reach out to the help of Essay Writer Pro experts to get high-quality articles optimized for voice search.

Tip#5. Add question words where appropriate. For example, you can use questions in headlines to replicate what people would be searching, as Jobber does in its Plumber Salary Guide with the headline “How much do plumbers make in the United States?” Write simple sentences. They are easier for people and search engines to understand.

Write long and informative texts

An unspoken rule is: “There should be more text on the page than the competition”. Of course, this does not mean that all the copywriters in the world should start adding fluff to their articles.

We’re talking about original, complete, and comprehensive material. It’s about the user-friendly facts and answers to all their “how,” “what,” “why,” and “how much.”

The trend has shifted because:

• Quality long reads take longer to read; accordingly, the time spent on the site increases
• Long-form content ranks better in search engines
• Large texts contain all the necessary information, and the user does not need to spend time searching for secondary data

Long-form articles are great for customer education as this type of content allows to answer all the customer`s questions.

Tip#6. Don’t forget to structure your content properly. Use images, graphs, tables, and infographics to make it interesting for the user to read the material.

Update content

It’s not enough to just write SEO-optimized text and put it on the site. It’s important to keep up to date and update the content. Expand the text and supplement it. Suppose a competitor has added a video about his company on the home page. What should you do?

A) He’s good. I’ll watch it and be happy.

B) I suggest hiring specialists to make the video even better for our website because it’s a good idea.

C) I won’t do anything. I don’t have time for silly things.

If you have chosen option “B” – I give you a standing ovation because it is important to follow the changes in the sphere as a whole and the competitors.

Work with highly specialized texts

Niche content works for a specific target audience and attracts interested and engaged people.

Materials on narrow topics should be written by a specialist who understands the field, so once again, we return to the expertise factor. It is better to write about glaucoma to an ophthalmologist or a copywriter experienced in working with texts on the necessary topics.

Personalize content

Copywriters should keep a portrait of the person they are writing for in mind as they work. It is important to focus on your client’s preferences, needs, and pain points to favorably present the service/goods. Personalizing and segmenting your audience will help increase user engagement, loyalty, and trust, as well as improve your article`s influence.

Tip#7. Before writing your text, look at search engine results and see what questions users ask about the topic. Be sure to use this information when developing content.

Structure the text

Content should always have a clear structure: headings, subheadings, blocks with benefits, reviews, examples of work, etc. This is necessary for users to perceive the information without difficulty.

The convenience and comfort of the reader are the main things for search engines. The robots are watching for behavioral factors. If the text is heavy, no one will read it, meaning there will be a large percentage of bounces, reduced depth of views, etc.

Be honest with the client

We have already written about the authenticity of the information, but let me repeat – do not promise the user a mountain of diamonds and a star from heaven in your text. Now it’s about authenticity. The client wants to know who’s offering a product or service. He prefers to read the real stories of the people behind the business. Demonstrate not only the finished product but also show its production process.

Convert text content to other formats

Give your audience a choice – record videos and podcasts. Not everyone has time to read lengthy articles and get into their meaning. Some people prefer the audio format. You can use special tools to optimize converting text content to other formats.

Conclusion

Smart algorithms are being implemented and improved so that users find the information they need faster, and texts become better and more useful.

By the way, ChatGPT appeared in public at the end of last year. Not only is it capable of finding information by generating answers to users’ questions, but it can also write texts.

Against the backdrop of these changes, discussions of “content marketers and SMM specialists will soon NOT be needed; neural networks and chatbots will replace them” have resurrected.

The competition is growing, and the field of content is developing. But this is not a reason to be depressed. In my opinion, change is a great reason to rethink and look at routine processes differently.