What is SEO copywriting - a complete overview of the concept, examples + a guide to SEO copywriting for beginners

You will learn what SEO copywriting is and how it differs from regular copywriting, how to become a professional SEO copywriter and where to get training in this specialty

Hello, dear readers of the HeatherBober online magazine! With you is a permanent author of the publication and a professional SEO-copywriter - Denis Kuderin.

Today we will talk about SEO copywriting - one of the most important concepts of the modern Internet space.

The article will help novice copywriters improve their skills, acquire new knowledge, skills and abilities.

1. What is SEO copywriting - a complete overview of the concept: definition, history of occurrence, practical meaning

SEO-copywriting (SEO-copywriting) is a relatively new concept, so in modern dictionaries you will not find its exact and generally accepted definition.

This concept is built on the basis of conventional copywriting and can be based on .

Moreover, even among information technology specialists and creators of relevant Internet content, there are different views on SEO copywriting and related issues.

The definition of this term that is closest to the truth is as follows:

SEO copywriting- the activity of writing a text aimed at optimizing it in order to move to the top positions in the search engine results.

Why do you need SEO copywriting?

The second option is more efficient and more affordable financially: competent SEO copywriting promotes articles and site materials to the TOP of search engine results quickly and at no extra cost.

What is search results and why is it so important

In simple terms, search results are the list of results that you see on your computer screen when you enter a phrase or word into the search box.

Articles do not appear in the list of results by chance - each of them is carefully checked by a search robot (software algorithm), determining the uniqueness, structure and usefulness for a potential reader.

The tasks of SEO copywriting are as follows:

• ensure that the article gets to the top positions of the search results;
• increase traffic (resource traffic) and ensure a stable growth in site conversion (orders for goods, file downloads, creation of requests for a callback, and so on);
• attract the target audience;
• make the site user-friendly, useful and popular.

If, after SEO promotion, the site’s conversion increases, and its owner’s income increases, then the work has been done correctly and you should continue to move in the same direction.

Abbreviation SEO comes from the English phrase search engine optimization, which is translated as search engine optimization.

Thus, the literal translation of the concept of SEO copywriting will sound like “writing texts for the purpose of search engine optimization”.

SEO copywriter- a specialist in the creation of SEO texts, this is precisely what such a specialist differs from the usual one.

A professional "seo specialist" must understand the peculiarities of creating texts for the Internet, understand the algorithms of search engines and at the same time write competently and interestingly. His long-term goal is to turn the site into a source of constant profit for himself or the client who ordered these texts.

2. What is the difference between SEO copywriting and ordinary copywriting

There is a misconception that SEO-optimized texts are articles intended exclusively for robots. In fact, these are unique, useful for readers and well-written articles with keywords organically embedded in the content and text.

There are more “keywords” (words and phrases that perform the function of promotion) in an SEO article than in a regular one, but for an ordinary user this circumstance remains invisible.

The art of a professional lies precisely in the ability to competently and harmoniously fill the content with keywords and make the text attractive to the search algorithms of Google, Yandex and others.

Copywriting is the creation of interesting and unique articles, SEO copywriting is the creation and promotion of such articles in the TOP of search results. In fact, these are interrelated and complementary processes.

A professional who creates content for Internet resources must have SEO-optimization skills without fail, this indicates his qualifications.

Signs of a competent SEO-optimized text:

• structured (the text is easily perceived with a cursory glance at the page);
• ease of presentation;
• literacy;
• the presence of key phrases and words;
• the presence of internal links (desirable);
• uniqueness;
• optimal "nausea" and "water".

I will explain the essence of the last terms in the practical part of our article.

An SEO specialist works exclusively in the Internet space and is well versed in the specifics of text ranking, search algorithms, meta tags, and other internal factors that affect the promotion of articles.

3. How to perform SEO copywriting of the text - a step by step guide for beginners

The issue of filling sites is relevant for each owner of a commercial or informational network resource. Perhaps there are site owners who write for their portals themselves, but there are only a few such people.

Articles created by business owners are often practical and useful to readers, but their structure, readability, literacy, and other qualities of great writing are usually far from ideal.

For this reason, resource owners, administrators and people responsible for filling the site have to hire copywriters. SEO copywriting is ordered at content exchanges, copywriting bureaus, specialized agencies engaged in professional optimization and website promotion.

To become a professional SEO copywriter, you should create articles according to a certain scheme. The instructions below are intended for those who are generally familiar with writing texts for the Internet and are interested in SEO promotion.

Step 1. Selection and analysis of keywords

Keywords for a specific search query are selected by a narrow-profile specialist engaged in semantic analysis - the formation of the so-called "semantic core" ("semantician" or "nuclear scientist").

It finds keywords according to the site's ranking principles and other criteria that ordinary authors don't need to know about.

The SEO specialist needs to analyze the keywords and phrases and choose the most significant of them in terms of matching the main query. You should also try to find out what exactly in this topic interests the reader from the point of view of usefulness.

Then a specific article topic is selected based on key queries. Remember that for each request, you can come up with several thematic texts - informational, analytical, in the form of instructions or combined - like the one you are reading at the moment.

Step 2. Analysis of competitors

A professional necessarily conducts analytical work to study competitors' articles on this topic. You can do this in many ways, but I advise you to use the simplest option - enter a query into the search bar and familiarize yourself with the materials in the TOP-10 list of the most popular search engines Yandex and Google.

Advertising articles can be immediately discarded, as well as purely encyclopedic materials. Is it necessary to read all these articles? If you want to make a unique and interesting text, then yes - it is advisable to take the time to read it carefully.

Step 3 Structuring the Text

Next, we proceed directly to writing SEO text. Here, each copywriter acts according to his personal algorithms. It is easier for someone to first write a “fish” (text frame), and then do optimization, someone works with the keys right away, organically introducing them into the body of the article.

Remember the main thing - optimized text, attractive to search robots, has a clear structure. It is pleasant not only to read it, but also to see it on the page.

What does this mean in practice?

Simple example

If there is an enumeration in the text, then the beginner draws it up, as is customary in printed publications - in a line, resorting to commas. A sophisticated copywriter always uses lists (and meta tags for them).

The order of actions, the enumeration of the signs of an object and phenomenon is best done in the form of a bulleted or numbered list.

Headings and subheadings of 2-5 levels are also used. This makes articles more eye-catching and easier to read. If the reader needs to familiarize himself with a specific item, he immediately “grabs” it from the text with his eyes.

Step 4. Checking uniqueness and other text parameters

The text must be unique - copies or similar articles on the Internet should not be found. It's not just about copyright and plagiarism: non-unique articles are not allowed into the TOP by search robots.

You can check texts for uniqueness on specialized sites or with the help of special programs downloaded to your computer - Advego Plagiatus, Etxt Antiplagiat and others. Usually the customer requires uniqueness in the region of 90-100%. If the exponents are less than these values, the non-unique parts should be changed.

Keys are evenly distributed throughout the text and occur with the desired frequency. This sign can also be checked: on special services, the "nausea" of the text is determined - the frequency of repetition of keywords in the text.

Optimal “nausea” is not higher than 3-8%, above 9% nausea is considered unacceptable and search algorithms may consider such text “over-optimized” and exclude it from search results.

An important indicator is the “water content” of the text: the presence of information that is not directly related to the subject of the request. This also includes "stop words" - prepositions, pronouns, appeals, introductory words and turns. It is completely impossible to do without water, but it is desirable to keep this value within 40-65%.

Step 5. Working with meta tags

A professional SEO copywriter should know what meta tags are and be able to use them. These are special characters used for hypertext page markup on websites. These characters transform plain text into the content of an online resource.

The prices for the services of a SEO copywriter who is skilled in handling meta tags are usually higher than for writing a simple text. With the help of symbols, blanks, lists are created, and text is formatted.

So, for example, the price for 1000 characters of a regular unique text is 40-60 rubles. SEO-optimized text - already 80 rubles and more. If you want to start making money by offering your writing talent, then you just need to learn the science of SEO.

Only in rare cases, non-optimized texts can cost more if they are of short length. There, the price can reach up to "space" 1000 rubles per 1000 characters. But this is if you are a very cool professional with a solid portfolio and an established client base.

For clarity, we will arrange our step-by-step instructions for creating SEO copywriting in the form of a table:

4. Profession SEO copywriter - where to get training in SEO copywriting (manuals, books, courses)

Professional training in SEO copywriting is offered by the same agencies and studios that teach regular copywriting. There are free sources of useful information that beginner SEOs should definitely familiarize themselves with.

For example, a good free course is offered to everyone by the content exchange. After spending a couple of days, you can study the basic materials on this topic, after which you need to pass the test.

There are other educational resources that are freely available.

There is little special literature on this topic, since the specialty is completely new, and its theoretical basis is only being formed. There are several books that can be found and downloaded for free: "How to tame a search engine", "A Visual Guide to SEO Copywriting".

As for paid courses, those are also offered in a variety of novice authors. I will not advertise any special courses here: if you wish, you can find them yourself on the Internet, with their help you can learn how to make and create professional copywriting.

5. Conclusion

Dear readers, it's time to take stock. SEO copywriter is a relatively new but very relevant profession in the information space.

Competent promotion of sites in search engines is a service that is always in demand by webmasters. Even the most ingenious article will be useless if the search engines consider it to be of poor quality or not relevant to the query. Then your target audience simply will not see it.

SEO copywriting is already a product that is produced by a SEO specialist. If you have such skills, then they will help you make good money within the framework.

I wish beginners success in learning the basics of SEO and encourage everyone to rate the article and express their own thoughts and ideas on this topic in the comments.