How To Write SEO Content Without Feeling Spammy

If you have written content for the web for some time now, you know about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Any article or blog post must have some SEO elements; otherwise, ranking them on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) is almost impossible.

Where people need to improve is they end up forcing keywords, links, and other ranking factors into a single post. Gone are the days when these tactics worked. Search engine algorithms can quickly figure out what provides value to users.

What perfect strategy incorporates both SEO and writing best practices? Let's look into what approach you can take.

Avoid Cramming Multiple Keywords in Your Content

From the early days of SEO, a quick and easy way to rank was to put as many keywords as possible in your articles. Of course, it's essential to include keywords, but how do you determine the magical formula?

Generally, Google and other search engines respond well to keyword density, around 0.5%. That means for every 1000 words, place a maximum of 5 keywords. Consider that your primary keyword is "deck stain"; repeating that over and over again in a piece of content might seem unnatural to readers. It also reduces your overall SERP (Search Engine Results Page) ranking in the long run.

A workaround can be to include variants of the main keyword. So if the keyword is "deck stain," you can use other phrases such as "deck paint," "outdoor stain," "outdoor deck stain," and so on. Tools like WooRank make it easy to search for keywords, check search volume, and do competitor analysis easily.

Create Content that Provides Value to Readers  

The 2011 Panda algorithm update showed how Google prioritized content as its top ranking criteria since. So, every time you produce content, it should be well-written, have a specific topic depth, and, most importantly, offer the reader value.

For that, proper keyword research is essential, as mentioned above. Ensure you're answering the main pain point of the reader. Taking "deck stain" as an example, we can understand the users searching for this are professionals or someone interested in staining their deck. In that case, the writer should include information that can be useful for both a novice and a professional.

In the case of finding the correct search intent for other keywords, Google's search evaluation quality guidelines identified four categories of searcher intent:

• Know: The user wants to find information on a topic to answer a question.
• Do: The user wants to learn how to take a specific action.
• Website: The user wants to find a particular resource.‍
• Visit in person: The user wants to find a location to visit.

Segmenting keywords into these categories can improve your chances of ranking higher. Look into how others have structured their content surrounding the keyword as well. This analysis can help you identify what information you can add to give your post a fighting chance.

Proper keywords and detailed content make your website more likely to gain higher authority.

Aim for Relevant Content, Not Long-Form Content

Piggybacking from the previous point, it's said that the longer your posts are, the better. Hubspot claims that the ideal length of a blog post should be 2,100 to 2,400 words. That is an awful lot for anyone to read through.

However, long-form content performs better because it shows expertise in a particular field. Readers are more likely to click on sites where they think they can get the most bang for their buck.

Yet, not all content should be so long. Why is that? 'Quality over quantity". When you're writing a post, it can seem like you should put in everything you know. But that's not always helpful to the readers.

Let's consider a new example. Suppose you're looking to write an article on "how to deburr a knife." In that case, consider whether this can be done and the required steps. Of course, this might be a short article; however, this satisfies the reader's search intent.

Often, writers include excess information, in this case, what deburring is and so on. The primary request of this keyword does not require that. An overflow of information may affect your ranking as the article may be considered irrelevant. If the information is too dispersed, remember that less is more because nobody wants to read a wall of text. Stop writing as soon as the intent is satisfied.

Now, it's clear what type of SEO content isn't spammy. However, other factors can contribute to making your content better.

Quick Tips for Writing Better SEO-Friendly Content

With Google updates happening every few years, it can take time to determine what factors are now affecting your content. However, you can utilize a few tried and true methods to get your post to the top.

• Optimize your headings: The structural concept must be solid for any content, so you should have h1, h2, and h3 tags accordingly. Each of these headings must have the keyword placed naturally. Otherwise, it can seem forced, affecting your rankings in the end.

• Include targeted keywords where necessary: Apart from your body content, your page title and URLs should contain the primary keywords. The subtopic of the content and the blog post's slug should follow the domain within the URL. Here's a guide on how to structure your URLs.

• Attribute your images: When inserting images into content, ensure you add alt-texts next to it. Otherwise, the search engine might not recognize what your image is depicting.

• Properly interlink pages: We can link various other posts of the same website to any content. Remember that the keywords used for internal linking are relevant to the page it's leading the visitor to. Suppose you've linked a page to the keyword "car engine trouble." It should lead to a page about the issues a car engine goes through.

• Use latent semantic indexing (LSI): If you use LSI appropriately, you can make many keywords fit legibly. However, not everyone might be familiar with it; in that case, consider advisory agencies like Yocto to help you.

• Use Schema Markup: Use Schema.org constructs to mark up your information semantically. That way, you can quickly provide extra details about your posts to search engines.

The future of content is evolving rapidly, and the main concern is, as writers, are we doing enough for our readers? How can we better help websites provide good quality posts that enrich their pages and their user's knowledge? Follow through with our guide for creating SEO content that will remain evergreen. Trust me. You won't be disappointed.