by BRIAN CLARK

Founder of Copyblogger & Scribe

HOW TO CREATE COMPELLING CONTENT THAT

RANKS WELL IN SEARCH ENGINES
Once upon a time, there was something called SEO copywriting.
These SEO copywriters seemed to have magical word skills that allowed them to place just the
right keywords in just the right places and amounts, and even in the densities that were just
right for miraculous top rankings. And thats all you needed . . . or at least thats what was
advertised.
Theres no doubt that the location and frequency of keywords is still critical. Search engines
work by keying in on the word patterns people are looking for and returning relevant content.
But thats not all there is to it.
Heres the deal . . . much of what determines the ranking position of any particular page is due
to what happens off the page, in the form of links from other sites. Getting those links naturally
has become the hardest part of SEO, which is why weve seen the mainstream emergence of
social media marketing as a way to attract links with compelling content.
Put simply: If your content isnt good enough to
attract good, natural links, it doesnt matter how
optimized that content is.
Thats why a good SEO copywriter is also a writer
who has a knack for tuning in to the needs and
desires of the target audience. And because links
are so important, those needs and desires have to
be nailed well before that content will show up
prominently in the search engines.

PUT SIMPLY: IF YOUR CONTENT

ISNT GOOD ENOUGH TO
ATTRACT GOOD, NATURAL
LINKS, IT DOESNT MATTER
HOW OPTIMIZED THAT
CONTENT IS.

The same emotional forces that prompt people to

buy can also cause other people to link from
blogs, and bookmark, vote, and retweet from social media platforms. The context is different,
as are the nuances, but its still a matter of providing compelling benefits in the form of
content.
Ask yourself what creates value for your users, sayeth Google.
Their brainy engineers continue to diligently create smarter search algorithms, while peoplepowered social media sharing delivers links and traffic as a reward for compelling content.
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To sum it up: a good copywriter needs to have a flair for writing content thats inviting to share
and to link to. She needs to have top-notch skills to optimize the page, so search engines know
what its about and who might want to read it. And she needs to know how to write copy that
converts readers to buyers.
That copywriter will become a vital (and well compensated) member of any serious marketing
effort.
So, if its all about what happens off the page, does the SEO in SEO copywriting still matter?
Absolutely, and heres why.

Search is still the biggest game in town

Pick your survey, search remains one of the top activities on the Internet and has been for
over a decade, says search industry legend Danny Sullivan in a recent conversation. Danny
pointed me to one such survey that shows search is the most common online activity after
email, and that fact cuts across generations.
People make billions of unique searches each month, says SEO guru Aaron Wall via email.
And unlike Facebook flittering, those people are in focus mode.
In other words, compared with most Internet traffic, searchers are the most motivated people
who hit a website. This is important.
If theyre looking for a product or service, theres a good chance theyre looking to buy it. If
theyre searching for information and your site provides it, youve got a great chance of
converting that drive-by traffic into long-term attention with your content.
And of course if youre a professional web writer, whether freelance or with an agency, this
discussion is purely academic. Go ahead and tell your client not to care about Google traffic,
and let me know how that goes.
So, search traffic is clearly important, as long as its targeted search traffic. Before we look at
the elements of modern practice of search engine optimization, however, lets make sure we
understand how search engines work.

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How do search engines work?

Search engines have become an indispensible aspect of modern life. But most of us dont have
a clue about how they actually work.
Im just guessing you dont want to dive into complex mathematical algorithms.
Thats ok. You just need a high-level understanding of the basics.
So lets look at the three major components that power search engines, and the general
approach to spoon feeding them so they understand our content and rank us the way we
want.
1. Crawling
Youve likely heard of search engine spiders that crawl around the web looking for
content. These are actually bits of computer code that find information on a web page,
read it, and then tirelessly continue along their journey by following links from your
page to other pages.
The spider periodically returns looking for changes to the original page, which means
there are always opportunities to modify the way a search engine sees and evaluates
your content down the road.
If for any reason the spider cant see your content, or doesnt understand what its
about, your page cant be indexed and ranked. This is why our StudioPress division
created the Genesis Framework for WordPress. Clean, fast-loading code matters.
2. Indexing
The spider is not just casually browsing content, its storing it in a giant database. This is
called indexing.
The spiders goal is to save every bit of content it crawls for the future benefit of
searchers. Its also gauging how relevant that content is to the words that searchers use
when they want to find an answer to something.

3. Ranking

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The final critical aspect of search technology is the way the engine decides to deliver the
most relevant results to searchers. This is accomplished by jealously-guarded
algorithmic functions. Thats a fancy way of saying that search software follows a
complex set of rules. These are the ground rules for a duel between your content and
other content that might satisfy a searchers keyword query.

Why you have to spoon feed search engines

Search engines have come a long way since the early days of the web, but theyre not as
sophisticated as you might think. Its not that search engines are dumb; its more like theyre
bright little toddlers who need information delivered to them in a way that works for them.
Think of it this way. You wouldnt set a bone-in ribeye and steak knife in front of a 4-year-old
and expect him to have at it. Youd present the food in easily chewable bite-sized chunks with
appropriate utensils.
Likewise, you might write an article about green widgets using metaphors, entertaining
analogies, and smart synonyms. You know youre writing about green widgets, and most
reasonably intelligent people know it too.
But if you dont use the words green widgets in certain locations and frequencies along with
other SEO copywriting best practices, both you and the search engines are out of luck. The
toddler goes hungry and youre frustrated and likely dealing with a mess.
Thats not to say you want to serve up keyword stuffed crap with less appeal than mashed
beets. That would be a really bad idea.
On the contrary, you must create that ribeye-steak content that engages people first and
foremost, while also spoon-feeding search engines what they need. The end goal is always to
let other people find you with the language they use when searching.
Well look at how to do that a bit later in this report. But first lets discover why unique,
engaging, quality content matters first and foremost beyond just keyword location and
frequency.

Off-page elements eat the biggest slice of SEO pie

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Take a look at the pie chart below, generously provided by Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz:

A quick review of the chart reveals that when it comes to SEO, what people do in response to
your site on other sites is way more than half the battle:

23.87% The general trust and authority that your domain has due to quality incoming
links is the largest indicator of SEO success. Google treats links that flow into your site
steadily over time as an indication that other people trust your site, find value in it, and
reference your content as an authoritative citation. Therefore, Google trusts your site
too.

22.33% The number of links to a specific page on your site matters a lot too. Thats
why the engagement and quality of the content of the page is directly related to the
probability of attracting natural incoming links.

20.26% The anchor text of links from other sites (anchor text is the words used in the
clickable portion of a link) matters because this is Googles way of finding out what your
page is about according to other people, not just the keywords you choose to use.

In other words, its like my favorite saying goes:

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What people say about you is more important than

what you say about yourself.
In this case, Google wants to know that people are
linking to you, and which words theyre using to link
to you (anchor text), because thats a more trusted
relevance indicator.

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT YOU

IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN
WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT
YOURSELF.

So yes . . . compelling content is always rule number

one. But just like great content goes unnoticed without promotion, great content doesnt rank
well if you dont make it clear what its supposed to rank for.
But how do we get people to notice our content so they can link to it? Thats where social
media comes in. Blogs, social news sites like Digg and Reddit, social networking hubs like
Twitter and Facebook these are organic content distribution systems powered by your
friends and fans (and their friends and fans, and so on).
It may come as a surprise that some of the brightest minds in social media are SEOs, and
theyre completely on the up-and-up and non-shady. Thats because social media allows
content to be shared, and sharing results in the links that are vital to getting content to rank
well in search engines.

SEO copywriting is the last mile to targeted search rankings

Are you familiar with the last mile problem in the broadband industry? You can have
thousands of miles of high speed fiber optics carrying loads of data cross country. But if the
final connection to the customers home is aging copper or pokey coaxial, the benefit of the
fiber is lost.
Likewise, if you do everything right by building a website Google trusts, but dont specifically
tell Google that your page content matches the words people are actually searching for, the
targeted traffic benefit is lost.
Thats what effective SEO copywriting does it tells Google which words are the most relevant
ones to the people you want to reach.
You dont necessarily have to fully optimize your on-page copy upfront. But you do have to
begin with the ending in mind from a keyword standpoint. Well go more into that in just a bit.

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And if you ignore this SEO stuff?

Sure, youll get some untargeted long tail traffic. But what good does that really do you?
Even with an advertising business model, irrelevant traffic bounces off your site quickly,
leading to disgruntled advertisers who dont renew. And if youre selling something, youre
only burning bandwidth.
The beauty of building a reader-focused online presence based on valuable content is that you
can do well even if Google hates you, simply by getting people to opt-in and follow you over
time.
The cool part, though, is that if you actually follow that path, Google loves you.
Take advantage of that. Its the critical last mile of a well-rounded and laser-focused online
marketing campaign that makes a huge difference to your overall success.

Traffic has to convert, or why bother?

Now we come to the big point. Everyone loves traffic its addictive and strangely gratifying in
its own right.
But traffic doesnt pay the bills. Its people who take the actions you need them to who do. So
again, its not traffic that matters, its targeted traffic reaching the intended pages.
Heres the problem . . . too many people think a search-optimized web page or blog post is
some ugly keyword stuffed mess. That might (maybe) be tasty to spiders, but it sends people
running for the hills.
And you just dont need to create that keyword-stuffed junk.
Danny Sullivan said it well at the close of our recent discussion:
Unfortunately, too many assume that SEO means trying to trick search engines. It doesnt. It
simply means building a site thats friendly to them.
Part of being friendly to search engines is using language in your content that relevant
searchers are also using. Thats where keyword research comes in.

The 5 essential elements of search engine keyword research

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Keyword research is cool. It allows you to gaze directly into peoples minds.
Rather than listening to people say what they think they might do, you get to observe what
they actually did, by looking at the words and phrases they used to find information. And when
aggregated, you get a nice view of the words people most often use when thinking about and
searching for a certain topic.
Once armed with keyword intelligence thats relevant to your niche, you have the unique
ability to create highly relevant content that aids your site visitors and enhances your
credibility. Youre speaking the language of the audience, and satisfying their needs.
And if you get it right, youll likely rank well in search engines too after promoting the
content and gaining traffic from social media. It may seem strange to view search traffic as a
secondary benefit in a Google-driven world, but thats exactly how you should view it.
Google wont treat you as relevant until others do first.
The counterintuitive rule of search engine keyword
research is to try to forget that search engines can
send you traffic. View the data as free or low-cost
market research and youll have the proper mindset
to formulate a content strategy that has a shot at
ranking well. People need to like your content
before Google will.

THE COUNTERINTUITIVE RULE

OF SEARCH ENGINE KEYWORD
RESEARCH IS TO TRY TO
FORGET THAT SEARCH
ENGINES CAN SEND YOU
TRAFFIC.

Ive got a more extensive guide to keyword research

for you in the Appendix to this report. But here are
five essential things to understand when it comes to keyword research:
1. Research Tools

Some use Googles Keyword Tool as a free research tool. Another free option is Aaron
Walls SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool (registration required). Professionals often
use paid keyword tools over those provided free by search engines due to the bias that
comes with wanting to sell you search advertising. You can research the more popular
solutions by clicking here.
2. Get Specific

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Keyword is the term that gets tossed around, but what youre really after in most
cases are keyword phrases. For example, a real estate attorney in Austin, Texas would
gain very little actual benefit from ranking highly for the single word attorney (and
good luck anyway), but specific keyword phrases based on geography and specialty
would yield highly targeted traffic (Austin real estate lawyer). And dont forget
synonyms. (Austin real estate attorney)
3. Strength in Numbers
Dont take as gospel truth the reported number of monthly searches provided by any
particular tool. But do pay attention to relative popularity among search terms.
You want to make sure enough people use that phrase when thinking of your niche to
make it worth your while, especially if this is one of the primary search terms you want
to target for your site overall. At the same time, be realistic. If you are trying to rank in a
very competitive sector, make sure that a certain keyword combination can rank for an
easier phrase if the more competitive term ends up out of reach.
4. Highly Relevant
Make sure that the search terms you are considering are highly relevant to your
ultimate goal. If youre a service provider or selling specific products, keyword relevancy
may be easier to determine you ultimately want someone to purchase the product or
service. Other goals may require more careful consideration, such as subscriptions to
content publications and contributions to charities, for example.
5. Develop a Content Resource
Heres the key element. Can a particular keyword phrase support the development of
content that is a valuable resource to readers and act as a foundational element of what
your business is about?
Something that:

Satisfies the preliminary needs of the site visitor

Acts as the first step in your sales or action cycle
Prompts people to link to it

Its this step 5 a foundational content resource that translates keyword research into
strong search rankings, so were going to look at it in more detail next.

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How to create cornerstone content that Google loves

Imagine with me for a second . . . someone has just arrived at your website, and this person
has no idea what youre talking about. And this is an important visitor.
Pretend further that this single visitor could make the difference between success and failure
for your business. She has no time to waste poking around your site trying to figure out what
youre all about, so she immediately picks up the phone and calls you, demanding an
explanation.
What do you tell her?
Youd probably give her essential information about how you understand her problem, options
for solving the problem, examples of how you can help, and explanations of why you perfectly
meet her needs, right? And Im betting youd want to explain it in the most compelling fashion
you could, given whats riding on the deal.
In a nutshell, thats what Google wants you to do with the content on your site.
When trying to rank well for the central topics your site is built around, creating cornerstone
content is your best bet. Whether its extended
tutorials about keyword research, content
marketing, or copywriting, a unique frequently
A CORNERSTONE IS
asked questions page, or an inspirational mission
SOMETHING THAT IS BASIC,
statement, this content serves a vital function in
ESSENTIAL, INDISPENSABLE,
creating a relevant, compelling, and useful
cornerstone that provides your site with a solid
AND THE CHIEF FOUNDATION
foundation for search optimization and usability.
A cornerstone is something that is basic, essential,
indispensable, and the chief foundation upon which
something is built. Its what people need to know to
make use of your website and do business with you.

UPON WHICH SOMETHING IS

BUILT.

And when approached in a strategic fashion, this content can rank extremely well in search
engines. The key is creating compelling content thats worth linking to, and then finding a way
to get the word out.

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Heres a 5-step strategy that Ive found useful when developing cornerstone content and
getting it to rank well in search engines.
1. Keywords
Taking into account what we know about keyword research, choose the most
appropriate keyword phrase for your content. In other words, what is the relevant
question that searchers are asking that your content and business solution answer?
Will answering that question aid a visitor to your site in getting the most out of the
experience? Are enough people asking that question to make ambitiously answering it
worthwhile?
Then you have to make sure that search engines think your content is actually about
that keyword or combination of keywords. Well get to that shortly.
2. Title Tags and Headline
No one in the SEO field disputes the importance of using your targeted keyword phrase
in your title tag. Search engines want to offer relevant results, so those results should
prominently reflect the words the searcher is using in the title of the page.
But remember also, the title tag is a headline. You want to speak back to the prospective
reader in her own chosen words. Plus, you want to wrap those words in a compelling
headline structure that promises to answer the exact question the searcher is asking
with the query.
And finally, writing a killer keyword-enhanced headline makes it more likely that
someone will simply use your title to link back to you. Since link anchor text is a
significant component of search engine algorithms, putting the right keywords into your
headline can give your content a significant boost.
3. Content
Can a 500-word article rank well for a competitive search term all by itself?
Absolutely.

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But if you have a newer website trying to rank for a competitive search term, youll need
links from other authoritative sources to make it happen. That means your content has
to be impressive, both in quality and scope.
Develop an awesome multi-part tutorial. Write an inspirational manifesto. Answer the
question so much better and more comprehensively than the competition does, and
chances are much better that your effort becomes worth linking to and your search
results improve dramatically.
4. Content Landing Page
If youre going to be ambitious in scope with your content, it makes sense to make
things easy on the reader from a usability standpoint. A content landing page is
designed to instantly communicate whats going on to the visitor as soon as they arrive,
and also acts as a table of contents (via links to each part of the tutorial) that increases
clarity.
Here are some of the benefits of the content landing page approach:

Retention: Keeping a reader from hitting the back button is crucial to just about
every aspect of successful cornerstone content. You cant score a reader,
customer, or link if the benefit of the resource is not quickly communicated.

Bookmarks and Sharing: When presented with a highly beneficial (if somewhat
overwhelming) multi-part resource, the first impulse is often to bookmark the
page for a return visit. When that bookmarking occurs at a social site like
Delicious, it can lead to long-term traffic. And dont forget that sharing killer
content is a sign of social media status among influencers. Content landing pages
help you score the bookmark and prompt that sharing impulse at a glance.

Links: Likewise, a visiting blogger or webmaster might be instantly impressed

with your work, and link to you based on the benefits and scope communicated
by the landing page itself. The quicker you can impress a potential link source,
the easier youre making it for them to follow through.

Optimization: Optimizing on-page copy will boost your ranking after attracting
those links, so a landing page is a key benefit. Its a lot quicker and easier to
optimize a content landing page than your undivided 5,000-word opus.

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5. Related Content
You may have noticed that Ive used the word website throughout this report, rather
than blog. However, I would never try to undertake this strategy without having a blog
involved.
Search engines favor websites that have a lot of relevant, frequently-updated content,
and they also like a lot of general link authority. Given the ease-of-publishing blogging
provides, its smart to use blog software to manage all that content. And given that
active blogging allows for constant participation in the social media space, its a critical
way to build general site authority via links, delve into specific and related topics, and to
reference your cornerstone content.
Put a link to your essential content in your site sidebar. And if youve focused on the
right topics, youll naturally keep cross-referencing your cornerstone content and link to
it from your future content as well.
Dont go overboard, but do provide context when discussing advanced topics that
require an understanding of the basics. Never assume that everyone is aware of your
cornerstone resource or understands the basics. Periodically linking to your cornerstone
content lets it find new readers and fresh links.
The Two Huge Benefits Cornerstone Content Provides

The first goal of cornerstone content is usefulness and relevancy to the website visitor, no
matter how they arrive. The second goal is to make that content so compelling and
comprehensive that people are willing no, make that excited to link to it.
If you focus strategically on these two goals, this whole search engine thing tends to get a lot
easier. Since attracting links is so important, in the next section well look at ways to
proactively get the word out about your cornerstone content.

Five link building strategies that work

We now know the real secret to modern SEO is creating compelling content that naturally
attracts links, rather than begging for links to crummy keyword-stuffed optimized web
pages.

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In other words, SEO copywriting is now all about

response-oriented copy concepts and words that
ultimately result in a favorable action from the
reader.
Since the popularity of our content depends so much
on what people do off the page, it makes sense that
we might also need to step outside the confines of
the page itself to get the word out. Luckily, the same
copywriting skills you use to conceive and create your
content apply to promoting it as well.

SEO COPYWRITING IS NOW ALL

ABOUT RESPONSE-ORIENTED
COPY CONCEPTS AND WORDS
THAT ULTIMATELY RESULT IN
A FAVORABLE ACTION FROM
THE READER.

The way to create compelling content is to focus

relentlessly on whats in it for the reader. And in the same way, no one is going to link to you
unless theres something in it for them.
The key is the same understand who youre talking to, figure out what will catch their
attention, then convince them to take the action you want. Here are 5 ways to do that:
1. Social Media News Sites
The quickest way for an exceptional piece of content to get a lot of attention (that, in
turn, results in secondary links) is to make the home page of Digg or Reddit. There are
lots of similar niche aggregator sites that can drive quality traffic as well, such as
TechMeme for technology news. For more offbeat content, Fark will shake your server.
If youve done a great job with your headline, it should magnetically draw people in.
However, you need to understand the crowd dynamics of each social media content
community. What works as a headline for Digg often doesnt on Reddit. Tweak
accordingly, but try to retain your keywords in the title if at all possible, because most of
the resulting links will simply regurgitate the title as anchor text.
2. Guest Writing
Guest writing on established blogs and other content sites has become one of the most
powerful strategies for getting your own site rolling. You freely contribute content that
not only allows you to raise your profile, but allows for links back to your own site.

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Once again, creating killer original content will open doors for you, especially when its
created for the benefit of someone else. And you can use that killer cornerstone content
youve already produced as an example of the quality you can deliver.
Depending on your relationship with the site owner, you may be able to link to your
cornerstone content from within the body of the content itself, but only if the citation is
extremely relevant to the content and beneficial to the reader. Otherwise, your link
needs to go in your byline or bio.
Most people tend to link to their site or blog URL in the byline of contributed content.
Turn it around by focusing the byline on the reader instead of yourself, and feature your
cornerstone content instead of your home page.
For example, if I were to guest blog somewhere about strategies for attracting links,
which byline is more attractive to the reader when finishing my article?
NO: Brian Clark writes about online copywriting and content marketing at Copyblogger.
YES: Check out Brian Clarks free SEO Copywriting whitepaper, which is all about the new
style of online writing that helps your content rank well in search engines.
Not only is that better for the reader, its better for you. Your link contains keyword-rich
anchor text that helps your cornerstone content rank higher for a popular search term.
3. Social Networking
Twitter and Facebook have become amazing content distribution networks. Sooner or
later Google will factor in social media sharing in its algorithm (if they havent already).
Remember, gaining followers and fans is not about your ego, its about creating a
dynamic network that gets new people to see your content. And the more people see
and share your content, the more likely it is to attract those valuable links.
But its not really about one-off link requests. Networking on Twitter, Facebook, and
LinkedIn is about establishing and growing relationships with influencers in the social
media space. These are the linkerati prominent bloggers in your niche, top Digg users,
relevant web journalists, and social media mavens.

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You need to network from a whats in it for them perspective. Catch attention, gain
interest, and create a desire to help you in the future by offering something that
benefits them first.
4. Linking Out
Linking out to attract links? Yep.
Engaging in dialogue with the owners or staff of relevant content sites in your niche is a
great way to get noticed, and it can lead to links back to you. Bloggers definitely watch
who is linking to them, and you can take the initiative by linking out first before looking
for one in return.
Simply linking out for the sake of linking wont accomplish much, especially with
bloggers who gets lots of links. The key is to be strategic about how you link and what
you say.
Its just like any other conversation. Join in and add your two cents, but make sure
youve got something substantive to say that will reflect well on you. Use a great
headline to make sure you are noticed, and then deliver the goods. And since your
cornerstone content is the foundation of what the conversation is likely about, finding a
way to mention it in the context of the dialogue will naturally bring it to the attention of
influencers in your field.
5. Article Directories
At one point in time, submitting about 20 articles to a directory like Ezine Articles with
the right anchor text in your byline would get you a really good ranking for some search
terms, at least in Yahoo and MSN. However, because the engines discount duplicate
content, having dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of sites republish your article (and
linked byline) no longer does the trick by itself. Plus, the engines know that the article
writer controls the anchor text, so hand edits are made to the algorithms to lessen the
juice that the big directories pass.
However, a site like Ezine Articles is still excellent for creating exposure to your
cornerstone content. Producing other content that links to your multi-part tutorial
displayed on hundreds of web pages drives direct traffic, and can lead to your content
being referenced in other posts and articles that do pass on link authority.

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The strategy is much the same as with guest posting on a blog. Youll get the best results
from creating original content that does not appear on your site, and submitting it to
one or more reputable directories. Rinse, repeat, and get results.

Content + Promotion = Links

The words you put on a web page have no life of their own until they get read. And those same
words will not gain prominence in search engines until the words are linked to by relevant,
authoritative sources.
Search engines can still be gamed to a degree, just like offline organizations and systems can
be exploited. However, the goals of the search engines are similar to society at large, and they
are getting very good at finding rule breakers and dispensing swift punishment.
Creating compelling content and beneficial relationships are link attraction strategies that
wont get you banned or penalized. Youre also simultaneously achieving your overall goal of
converting site visitors into customers, clients, revenue and profits.
Now its time to turn to the last mile of search engine optimization the location and
frequency of keywords in your on-page copy, and other SEO best practices that help you
outrank the competition.

Five areas to focus on for effective SEO copywriting

When I first started Copyblogger in 2006, I was almost militantly against focusing on old
school on-page optimization. Seems strange, since Id been a successful student of SEO since
2000.
It was because I saw so many people focusing only on keywords like its 1999, and yet they had
no links. Their content was weak. Their sites werent trusted or authoritative.
You cant optimize something thats dead. So my
initial goal was to get people to focus on content
that attracted attention and links first. Only then do
you have something you can make better-suited for
search rankings (thats what optimize means, after
all).

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YOU CANT OPTIMIZE

SOMETHING THATS DEAD.

Years later, it seems things have swung in the opposite direction for some. Social media
experts maintain that SEO doesnt matter because search traffic just happens.
Yes, search traffic happens if you produce unique content and make it easy for spiders to find
by having clean underlying code and a fast-loading site. But the right search traffic doesnt
just happen, not unless youre lucky (which simply means you dont know what youre doing).
This section is designed to help you know how to tell search engines that what youre talking
about is the most relevant solution for what people are searching for. Thats all SEO ultimately
is, and were about to explore the crucial last steps.
So lets move on to the five SEO copywriting areas to focus on with your web page, blog post,
online press release, whatever . . . theyre all the same in the eyes of Google.

Five SEO copywriting elements that matter

Remember when we talked about spoon feeding the toddler? Here are five things that make
your content easy to digest for search engines so you can rank as well as possible.
1. Title
Whether you optimize up-front or later, you at minimum need to know what keywords
youre targeting and include them in the title of your content. Its generally accepted
that the closer to the front of the title your keywords are, the better. But the key is that
they appear in the title somewhere.
Its important that your CMS or blogging software allow you to serve an alternate title in
the title tag (which is the snippet of code Google pulls to display a title in search results)
than the headline that appears on the page. If you use WordPress, Genesis builds this
and many other SEO functions directly into your posting interface, in addition to all its
design controls.
So, lets say I decide that the most compelling headline for prompting readership,
sharing, and linking for an article is:
Five Areas to Focus On for Effective SEO Copywriting
That title contains my keyword phrase (SEO copywriting), but they might not be in the
best location for ranking or even for quick-scanning searchers compared with regular

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readers. By using an alternate title tag, I can enter a more search-optimized title for
Google and searchers only, such as:
SEO Copywriting: The 5 Essential Elements
The emphasis on keywords in the title makes practical sense from a search engine
standpoint. When people search for something, theyre going to want to see the
language they used reflected back at them in the results. Nothing mysterious about
that.
Having keywords in your title is also important when people link to you. When your
keywords are there, people are more likely to link to you with the keywords in the
anchor text. This is an important factor for Google to determine that a particular page is
in fact about a particular subject.
You should try to keep the length of your title under 72 characters for search purposes.
This will ensure the full title is visible in a search result, increasing the likelihood of a
click-through.
2. Meta-Description
SEO copywriting is not just about ranking. Its also about what your content looks like on
a search engine results page (SERP). The meta description of your content will generally
be the snippet copy for the search result below the title, which influences whether or
not you get the click.
Its debatable whether keywords in your meta-description influence rank, but it doesnt
matter if they do or dont. You want to lead off your meta-description with the keyword
phrase and succinctly summarize the page as a reassurance to the searcher that your
content will satisfy what theyre looking for.
Try to keep the meta description under 165 characters so the full description is visible in
the search result. Again, you can create a meta description in WordPress right in the
posting area with Genesis and other themes and plugins that add SEO functionality.
3. Content
Unique and frequently updated content makes search engines happy. But you know
that. For search optimization purposes (and just general reader-friendliness) your

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content should be tightly on-topic and strongly centered on the subject matter of the
desired keyword phrases (this goes back to the spoon feeding analogy).
Its generally accepted that very brief content may have a harder time ranking over a
page with more substantial content. So youll want to have a content body length of at
least 300 words.
It might also help to bold or italicize the first occurrence of a keyword phrase, or include
it in a bulleted list, but I usually dont get hung up on that. Its also debatable whether
including keywords in subheads helps with ranking, but again, it doesnt matter
subheads are simply a smart and natural place to include your keyword phrase, since
thats what the page (and each section) is about.
Which brings us to . . .
4. Keyword Frequency
Keyword frequency is the number of times your targeted keyword phrase appears on
the page. Keyword density is the ratio of those keywords to the rest of the words on the
page.
Its generally accepted that keyword frequency affects ranking (and that makes logical
sense). Keyword density, as some sort of golden ratio, probably doesnt. But the only
way to make sense of an appropriate frequency is via the ratio of those keywords to the
rest of the content, so density is still a metric you need.
In other words, the only way to tell if your repetition of keywords is super or spammy is
to measure that frequency against the overall length of the content. A keyword density
greater than 5.5% could find you guilty of whats called keyword stuffing, which tends to
make Google think youre trying to trick them. Bad idea.
Just keep in mind that you dont need to mindlessly repeat keywords to optimize. In
fact, if you do, youll probably get the opposite result.
5. Linking Out
Linking is the fundamental basis of the web. Search engines want to know youre
sufficiently connected with other pages and content, so linking out to other pages
matters when it comes to search engine optimization.

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Here are some rules of thumb for linking based on generally accepted best practices:

Link to relevant content fairly early in the body copy

Link to relevant pages approximately every 120 words of content
Link to relevant interior pages of your site or other sites
Link with naturally relevant anchor text

Again, these are guidelines related to current best practices. Dont get hung up on rules;
focus on the intent behind what search engines are looking for giving those human
searchers quality results.

Yes, theres other stuff . . .

There are other elements as well, such as URL structure and keywords, keywords in image alt
files, tags and categories, and various other minutia (heres a list of on-page elements and their
varied importance). But if you focus on the five areas above, youre covering the vital elements
of effective on-page optimization.
Does this mean you have to sacrifice readability to satisfy search engines?

Does writing for people work for SEO?

Hang around web writing circles for any length of time, and the inevitable write for search
engines or write for people debate comes up. Its a little weird, really.
Last time I checked, its people who use search engines, not some other life form. So youre
always writing for people.
Obviously, the debate stems from the fact that
search engines are powered by computer
algorithms. But as search engines have gotten
smarter, writing that pleases people and satisfies
the spiders is not that far apart, if at all.
Lets look at four factors that work well for SEO and
see how well they cater to the needs of people.

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LAST TIME I CHECKED, ITS

PEOPLE WHO USE SEARCH
ENGINES, NOT SOME OTHER
LIFE FORM. SO YOURE ALWAYS
WRITING FOR PEOPLE.

1. Compelling Content
As we saw in earlier, link attraction is the biggest aspect of todays practice of search
engine optimization.
Google looks at the links pointing at your domain, and those pointing at particular
pages, as votes of legitimacy. Taking it a step further, Google also takes into account the
words people use when linking to you (anchor text) to get an idea of what the right
keywords would be for your page.
While its still possible to buy links (just dont get caught), theres no way to trick
someone into linking to you. People link because theres something in it for them in
some way, and because something about your content compels them to do it. The
smartest SEOs create content thats remarkable because its valuable, controversial,
funny, opinionated, engaging, enlightened, etc.
Because Google has tons of information thanks to AdWords, AdSense, Analytics, Google
Reader, Tool Bar and Website Optimizer, some see search algorithms moving away from
links and more to site usage data (how people actually interact with content). Whether
thats the case or not, content that people find compelling will continue to constitute
the biggest factor in search engine optimization.

Good for SEO? Check

Good for People? Check

2. Content landing pages

One smart strategy for content marketing and anyone building an authority site is to
create valuable content resources related to the most important topics you discuss. As
you know, I call this cornerstone content, because its the fundamental information your
site is built on.
An example of this on Copyblogger is Copywriting 101. Youll notice that instead of a
single post, I did a 10-part tutorial series and aggregated it on a content landing page
thats clearly focused on the keyword copywriting.
This is a strong SEO strategy because Im aggregating a bunch of content on one search
optimized page. This directs the majority of links to that page instead of the individual
parts, allows for easy cross-linking in future content, and prompts social bookmarking
and sharing due to the scope of the resource.

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But the real reason it works is because its people friendly. Given the usual scattered
backward chronological nature of a blog, the page is highly usable and useful as a
resource for people new to copywriting (and for those who want to link to a resource
about copywriting).

Good for SEO? Check

Good for People? Check

3. Speaking the language of the audience

Whether Google moves more to usage data over links as an indicator of quality remains
to be seen. But one song remains the same Google has to match up what a page is
about with what people are searching for. Which means your words need to match up
with the way searchers most like to talk about it.
Keyword research and the use of keyword phrases within content is the one area where
some web writers and bloggers seem to push back, and Ive never understood it.
Anyone whos not interested in understanding and mirroring the language used by their
intended audience is simply not interested in being an effective communicator, search
engine traffic or not.
As Ive said, telling search engines that what youre talking about is the same as what
people are looking for is what SEO really is. But even if search engines didnt deliver
traffic at all, the ability to know, understand, and mirror the language of the audience is
an amazing gift weve been given thanks to search data. Why not use it when people
respond well to it?

Good for SEO? Check

Good for People? Check

4. Enhanced readability
What? Good SEO makes content more readable? Youre probably thinking Ive lost it on
this one.
Its true. When you implement the whole range of SEO best practices, you rank well
with exceptionally reader-friendly content (thats why it got links in the first place).
Keyword stuffing is not what Google wants. And neither do people.

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Its true that you can underuse keywords in relation to the overall length of the content
and hurt your ranking potential. But most people new to SEO copywriting tend to
overuse keywords beyond whats necessary.
The myth that search optimized content is ugly and unreadable is simply that a myth.
When you approach SEO copywriting in a logical, informed fashion, your content isnt
keyword stuffed. Its natural, and compelling, and artful.

Good for SEO? Check

Good for People? Check

At this point, I hope you have a better feel and understanding of the modern practice of
SEO copywriting. But it can still be a little overwhelming, especially in the context of the
balancing act that is your business or profession.

How to make SEO copywriting simple

Given the demand for loads of fresh, compelling content combined with the need to carefully
optimize for search engines, modern SEO copywriting is critical for website owners and an even
bigger business for professional web writers. Those same demands make creating search
optimized web pages, blog posts, and press releases time consuming at best and mystifying at
worst.
Even after teaching this approach to SEO
copywriting for over 4 years and mostly practicing
what I preach, we started neglecting the last mile
of on-page optimization ourselves.
We were constantly producing quality content and
attracting links, and yet we were:
Neglecting on-page content optimization due
to time constraints
Slipping up on SEO best practices for our key
landing pages
Failing to train our new writers in content
optimization
Back in the summer of 2009, a colleague named

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EVEN AFTER TEACHING THIS

APPROACH TO SEO
COPYWRITING FOR OVER 4
YEARS AND MOSTLY
PRACTICING WHAT I PREACH,
WE STARTED NEGLECTING THE
LAST MILE OF ON-PAGE
OPTIMIZATION OURSELVES.

Sean Jackson approached me and said he and his technical team were building an SEO
software solution based on the content strategies Id developed over the years (in other words,
whats in this report). I was certainly skeptical, but he had my attention.
Seans approach was different than that taken by most SEO tools, in that the software put the
content first and foremost before the optimization. I liked what I heard, and started working
with the team to evolve the early prototype into a testable beta version.
My approach to new product development is simple Im a web writer and content producer,
and so are the people who read Copyblogger. If a tool makes my life easier and my content
better, itll make your life easier and your content better.
Simple philosophy, and yet this approach has never let me down.
Once I began using the earliest version of the software service, my skepticism disappeared.
Suddenly, the last mile to prime search optimization became a whole lot more manageable:
Optimizing became more efficient, eliminating time concerns
Evaluating on-page SEO best practices came at the push of a button
Training new writers went from a chore to a hands-off experience
But I didnt stop there. I assembled a group of hard-nosed and skeptical beta-testers ranging
from ornery new bloggers to cynical SEO pros, and let them use and abuse this new tool any
way they saw fit.
The results were remarkable.
Self-professed SEO haters like blogger Johnny Truant came to realize that SEO was not a
soulless creativity killer when done correctly. Veteran SEO Michael Gray helped us refine the
service during the beta period, and now uses it to train his team of freelance writers in
effective content optimization.
At that point, I was convinced. It was time to give this thing a name.
I decided on Scribe.

Heres how Scribe makes SEO simple

When it comes down to it, SEO is really as simple as 1, 2, 3:

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 First, you need the right keywords, so you understand the language your readers,
customers, or clients are using when they search for you.
Second, you need compelling content that people love and search engines know is
relevant to those searchers.
Third, you need incoming links so search engines treat your site as a trusted and
relevant source.
Scribe makes these three steps easier and more efficient than ever:
First, the Scribe keyword research tool tunes you into the right language before you
write. Once your content is created, the Scribe keyword suggestion service shows you
keyword phrases you might have missed.
Second, Scribe analyzes your natural, reader-focused content, and tells you how to
gently tweak it to spoon feed search engines based on 15 SEO best practices.
Third, Scribes link building tools help you build back links from other sites, crosslink the
content within your own site, and identify influential social media users who want to
share your stuff.

Its like having an SEO expert as a writing assistant

Whats innovative about Scribe is in the way it differs from typical SEO tools. Instead of asking
you for a keyword phrase and then pushing you to construct content around it, Scribe:

Allows you to do keyword research to generate content ideas

Analyzes what youve already written, preserving your natural flow
Reveals what search engines will think your page is about
Suggests changes to better reflect the language searchers are using
Guides you through remaining content elements based on SEO best practices
Helps you identify quality link sources and social media outlets

With Scribe youll:

Discover the correct profitable keywords
Stay automatically up to speed on SEO best practices
Optimize your content better and faster

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 Avoid content that reads like it was written by a robot

Build quality links with less hassle and confusion
When you subscribe to Scribe, you tap into the content optimization algorithm on our servers
right from your WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal interface. Posting and optimization become
seamless.
Or you can optimize content for any platform with Scribes web version its up to you. All
Scribe platforms (Scribe Web, WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal) are yours as a subscriber, and all
future versions and upgrades to Scribe are included as well.
Thousands of bloggers and online content producers use Scribe for optimization. And they are
raving about increased search traffic, higher rankings, increased efficiency, and easy content
optimization.
But dont take anyones word for it. Check it out for yourself.
Discover how Scribe steps up your traffic and rankings here.
Best Regards,
Brian Clark
Copyblogger & Scribe

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