Breaking Down SEO | Crafting SEO Content

SEO is highly technical, but there are some quick wins while writing content for your website that you can implement yourself. These will help ensure your website works hard to deliver views and ultimately create conversions. 

Focus on your core product. 

Focus your writing for your core products and for your audience. Content and blogs should emphasise how you can provide additional knowledge and support. Include keywords that potential customers often search for and provide answers for those.

For instance, if you are an HR company providing external support for businesses, write your content with statements like "how to improve culture within the workplace" or "providing valuable assistance on performance management." These statements include keywords and key phrases and will help you rank well for these terms.

Write For Your Readers

Remember to write for your readers, not just for SEO. Too often, content is written for SEO and Google, which can make for uninteresting and unhelpful content for your readers. However, engaging your audience and keeping them on your page longer will positively impact your SEO efforts, so always remember who you are writing it for. Keeping viewers on your website for longer helps show Google that your website is providing the information that they seek and will increase your SEO ranks. 

Heading Structures

Use structured headings effectively. Start with H1 for your main heading, then use H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6 to organise your pages content into relevant sections. Structuring your content this way enhances its scalability for SEO. Ensure headings are compelling and include relevant keywords for your brand or the products or services you offer.

Optimise for Featured Snippets

Featured snippets are highlighted excerpts of text from your webpage that Google selects to answer a user's query. It appears at the top of the search results, above the organic listings, in what's called 'Position 0'. Featured snippets aim to give users a quick and direct answer to their search query without clicking through to a specific webpage.

Answer common questions clearly and succinctly in your content to capitalise on featured snippets and improve your SEO ranking.

For example, if the query is "How to train for a marathon," use "How to Train for a Marathon" as a heading (H1 or H2) and provide step-by-step guidance in a list format. Include the question in your answer and start each step with an action word like "start" or "increase." Keep explanations concise, ideally under 58 words, when defining terms.