I hope you came to my post from the Google search engine. While you search for how to write SEO friendly content.

If so, I am glad to see one of my blog post, written for the search engine is ranking in Google.

Along, I was one among the content marketers. With a challenge to write search engine optimized content.

Yes, I was too inside the bucket, of misunderstanding search engine algorithms. Before I actually knew how to write for search engines.

Believe me, it’s doable. If you can write to your real audience and knowing a handful of keywords research tricks and tools.

I know, like me you have a goal to rank your articles, blog posts or web pages in the top position of Google and attract visitors.

Let me assure my post can help you to answer your question, How to Write SEO Optimized Content?

On the other hand, before going deep into how to write and rank your content in search engines. Let me talk about the importance of the major search engine Google first.

Importance of Google Search Engine

If you are my regular blog reader you may notice one thing. I refer to search engines as Google’s search engine. Because Google takes a majority of the search market share.

Therefore, let’s talk about the importance of the Google search engine,

• Google takes 90% of the search market share.
• Google gets 167 billion searches per month. So, you and I look to getting our page in top positions.
• Google search engine referrals are best in term of ROI. Considering any other traffic referrals.
• Frequently appearing in Google search for your users earns trust and engagement.
• Speed. Google is 5-10x faster in delivering results than other search engines.
• Does Deeper Indexing. Google crawls more web pages than other search engines. This yields rich results.
• Better Relevance of Results. Google search results are highly relevant than its competitors.
• Google has a Simple Interface. Google’s interface (UI) isn’t cluttered. It’s UI shows only search-based results. This avoids distractions.
• Query-Specific Snippets. Google was the first search engine to show summaries for every search page results. This summary is called a snippet. So you know what the page is all about.
• Single Focus on Search and Continued Iteration on it Over Time. The search engine is Google’s main product. Search focus on a single area is useful for companies developing products.

Basic Guidelines For Optimizing Your Content For SEO

Let us consider the following points as SEO content writing tips. These points are key to SEO content optimization.

Keyword Research

First, you have to know what keyword research is. It is you finding out how many times a keyword is searched. And it’s competition.

Keyword research is a game of finding search queries users use to find their needs. Furthermore, prioritizing and choosing search queries based on the search volume and competition for writing.

As an example, take this article. 

For instance, to get the information provided in this article people may use any of these search queries, 

• “writing content for SEO”
• “SEO optimized content writing”
• “how to write content for SEO”
• “how to write SEO friendly content”

Out of the above keywords, I have chosen, “How to write SEO friendly content” as a primary keyword to write this article. Along, I have chosen the other keywords as secondary and semantic keywords.

Above all, once the keyword research and prioritization is completed, start with content outline and organization before writing.

Content Outline and Content Organization

In particular, you have to first come with an outline for SEO friendly content writing. Besides, you have your random and number of thoughts floating in your brain.

Furthermore, by creating an outline, all ideas and racing thoughts can be arranged in a coherent manner.

Most importantly, your content has to be organized in a sequential way. By this you mean, let ideas flow in an orderly way.

Likewise, use headlines and sub-headlines to maintain the sequence and content flow.

Generally, when you maintain a related and sequence content flow most of the keywords needed for optimization will be added naturally. Therefore, this manner of writing helps in content writing for SEO and users.

How to create an SEO friendly content outline?

First, identify the areas you want to address in your writing. I mean the parameters of your SEO friendly content writing.

Moreover, you do this by focussing on providing an answer to user search query or primary keyword or article title.

Thereafter, define your headlines incoherence to the title. Subsequently, fill in with points under every sub-headlines.

Let me cite this article itself as an example.

The outline looks like this.   

How to Write SEO Friendly Content (Title)- This article addresses users who search for how to write content for SEO.

Importance of Google Search Engine (Headline-1)- Then I write how Google search engine is better than other search engines.

Basic Guidelines For Optimizing Your Content For SEO (Headline-2) – In this section, I talk about basic tenets to bear in mind to write an SEO friendly content.

You will find a brief talk on keyword research (sub-headline-1), content outline (sub-headline-2), keyword optimization (sub-headline-3) and content organization (sub-headline-4).

How to Write an SEO Friendly Content (Headline-3) – This is the main grey matter of the article. Here I list details of how a content should be.

A brief about your content readability (sub-headline-1),

Your content having short paragraphs (sub-headline-2),

Descriptive headings (sub-headline-3),

The inclusion of keywords (sub-headline-4),

Use of transition words (sub-headline-5),

Including stats (sub-headline-6) and

Proof-reading your article (sub-headline-7).

Don’ts of SEO Writing (Headline-4) – Here I write the don’ts of SEO content writing.

Content Promotion (Headline-5) – Here I write about sharing and building referrals for your content.

Conclusion – Finally, I conclude the article.

Therefore, this is how I typically layout outlines.

Most importantly, you should move into writing only and only after you have a well-defined outline.

Keyword Optimization

Your article should include the keywords that you have researched and selected. In particular, you should place the keywords in the appropriate places in your article.

Even more, you will find the types of keywords and the details of their placing under, How To Write A Content For SEO @ Include keywords you have already researched for the topic.

How To Write an SEO Friendly Content?

With the points in my keyword research optimization and content writing, SEO content writing should consider the point of writing content for the real audience and their engagements.

Moreover, in today’s ever-changing search engine algorithm, in addition, to the traditional factors of optimizing content for SEO, user-engagement signals also play an important role.

Furthermore, let me explain what is user-engagement signals.

Wherefore, it is the activity users do in a page after they land from the search engines.

Be it clicking my page out of others’ (CTR), visit my web page with bookmarks or direct hits (direct visit), read and share my post with social accounts or subscribe to my email list or navigate to other pages (bounce rate).

Correspondingly, in my SEO content writing tips let’s look at how to write a content for ever-changing search engine algorithms.

1. Your content should have easy readability and long-tail keywords

Readability involves two things. Good structuring of content and simple language. Likewise, my article has been structured orderly. Furthermore, it is written in simple English.

In the same fashion, you have to structure your content in an orderly flow. Moreover, contents should be interconnected sequentially.

Let your language be plain and lucid. It should be readable. Particularly, understandable even by a high school student.

Above all, use keywords that are more related to the topic. Or specific to your niche, product or process.

As a matter of fact, considering keywords with less competition and high search volume keeps you ahead.

Use 3+ phrase keywords. Such words are called long tail keywords. Correspondingly, this makes you cover more search queries that users used to search  This adds up for SEO friendly content.

Wherefore, examples of long tail keywords I used in this post are, “Tips to write SEO friendly content”, “SEO friendly website content” and “SEO content writing tips”.

2. Your content should have shorter paragraphs along with descriptive headlines

As much as possible, not more than three sentences in a paragraph. Just like most of the paras in this post.

Smaller chunks are easy to swallow and digest. In like manner, this article is purposefully written in small paragraphs. Particularly, not more than three to four lines to easy to read for both mobile and desktop users.

Most importantly, split your content into meaningful subheadlines.

Headlines and subheadlines should be easy to read and have keywords. Along, make sure headlines flow in an order. Wherefore, this helps to keep your audience stay to read more and search engines to pick keywords from headlines easily.

Correspondingly, any pages that have the audience stay will have less bounce rate. Consequently, bounce rate indicates a strong signal for SEO.

Headlines should bear important keywords.  So that Googlebot (Crawlers) can easily relate keywords in your headings with ranking signals. This impacts more on your SEO optimized content writing.

Markedly, the headlines in this article are capsules containing the essence of the subject. So, keep your headlines self-explanatory.

For example look into the headlines and sub-headlines, Headlines in this article straightly point out the message of the content.

“Basic Guidelines For Optimizing Your Content For SEO” This headline means guidelines you have to follow for writing a SEO content. 

3. Include keywords you have already researched for the topic

Keywords are vital for SEO friendly content writing. Add keywords wherever needed in your content appropriately.

When I talk about placing keywords in the appropriate places, I should talk about three types of keywords placed in this blog post. They are Primary Keywords, Secondary Keywords and Semantic Keywords.

The primary keyword should be self-explanatory of the entire article. Along with more number of user search for it.

Primary keywords placed in this article is, “SEO friendly content”.

The secondary keywords are related keywords of primary keyword or broad versions of the primary keywords.

For example, secondary keywords placed in this article are, “How to write SEO friendly content” “How to write website content for SEO”, “How to write SEO content for the website”. 

Having a close resemblance or synonym and related words to the primary and secondary keywords are the semantic and related keywords.

Semantic words are words or phrase related to primary keyword.

For example, Semantic words in this article are, “content writing tips”, “content optimization”, “SEO writing”, etc..

On the other hand, Beware of keyword stuffing. That is, don’t add the same keywords many numbers of times. Google will penalize you.

4. Add transition words in your content

Transition words transit or transfer your thoughts from one meaning to another meaning in a content.

Examples like, secondly, thirdly, moreover, therefore etc. Use them in your writing to link your ideas.

I have also placed a few transition words here and there in this article. Some of them are, “on the other hand”, “above all”, “even more”, “subsequently” etc.. These transition words link the sentences.

5. Mind Your Word Count

The minimum word count of your article should be 300 words. You can even stretch it to 700 words. This is a researched proof by Forbes’ Jayson DeMers.

But in order to rank better, your article should be extended to 2,000 words. You can even keep increasing the word count beyond this. Until you meet the SEO requirements. I would suggest you better pull it to 2,000 words and beyond. This article’s word count is 2,732.

This gives plenty of space to add vital keywords, headings, subheadings and more quality content. To sum it, 2,000 words is the average for good ranking.

6. Include stats and quotes from credible sources

Take your source of proof from authentic sources. Your content should also be user-ended. The end-user should have something to take from your content.

Relevant links and quotes help the users to easily understand and remember points in the content.

It also increases the interest of users in your content. They stay for long on your page.

They start sharing your content. This is called “engagement”.

Furthermore, reliable sources also help Google algorithms to better understand the relationship and association between contents.

Also, credible links and sources make your content authoritative.

Remember, well-engaged pages are given more priority in search engine ranking.

For example, you can see the credible links that I have placed in the sub-topic, “Mind Your Word Count”. Reliable stats have also been placed elsewhere in this article.

7. Write For Mobile-First Indexing

Increased online search is done only on mobile phones. Hitwise reports that nearly 60% of online searches is carried on a mobile device.

With this stats in mind, Google has separate crawling and indexing for mobile searches. It is called mobile first indexing.

Therefore, it is mandatory that you carve a content that enables mobile indexing. You may wonder, how to create mobile friendly content?

For this, your content should have shorter paragraphs. Try to maintain your paragraphs to 3 to 5 sentences.

Smaller paragraphs will look good and easy to read on a mobile device.

Moreover, make sure your entire website or webpage is compatible with mobile browsers.

Try to implement AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) for your website. This will help in faster loading of web pages. Even with low internet speed.

8. Consider Optimizing your Content for Voice Search

Interestingly how to optimize your content for Voice Search SEO?

We are living in the world of talking machines and artificial intelligence.

Also, the new age search method is voice search.

You talk to the search engine and it understands your query. It promptly replies to your query too.

Majority of the mobile users search for details on Google search by speaking into the voice search. This is easy than typing your query.

According to SEO Expert Bradley Shaw, 41% of adults conduct at least one voice search per day. And by 2020, use of voice search will increase to 50 %. This will be way far greater than 20% in 2016.

Include conversational questions and answers in your content. So that the question matches the voice search command.

For example, if someone searches in voice search like, “How to optimize your content for voice search SEO”. You will notice that this question has been included in the very beginning of this sub-point that starts in a conversation-question format.

Moreover, to keep the conversational flow, add transition words. This would add pep to the conversation.

9. Proofread Your Article

Check for all the above points I told you to SEO optimize your content. If anything missing re-write wherever possible.

Even this article had to go through a lot of face-lifting to get SEO optimized.

You know I have proofread this post more than 10 times. Still, I believe a lot of ways to improve for SEO friendly content and to my audience.

❌Don’ts of SEO Writing

What shouldn’t be part of your SEO copywriting,

• Don’t completely write only a search engine-friendly content. That’s dangerous. You will be penalized by Google.
• Don’t copy contents. This will amount to plagiarism.
• Avoid keyword stuffing. That is don’t use the same keywords many numbers of times to manipulate ranking factors.

Content Promotion

Now, you are done with your writing content for search engine and users.

Your next job is to ask other website owners to place links to your articles. As it will be a great resource for their users.

Likewise, share your content on communities. So that community users can read, share and engage.

Share your content with your social contacts for profitable engagement.

Keep social share and like options in your article. So users can engage with your content.

Ask for comments at the end of your article.

If you have an email list, send your content to your subscribers.

I am done writing. Farewell thoughts

Francis Bacon said, “reading makes a full man, conversation a ready man, and writing an exact man.”

So my dear friends, today’s prime writing is online SEO writing.

You should attain exactness by making your content more visible to search engines. And also beneficial to users.

Re-read the article to answer your one and the only question, How to make an SEO friendly content?

Till We Meet. Practice writing SEO friendly content. While I go searching for keywords for my another article.

Don’t forget to share your SEO friendly content writing experience in comments.

Bye for now👋