Copy Writing for SEO

Understand 1 thing. No one reads your copy. Your Web Page is scanned and you only have a few seconds to make sure that the visitor understands that this page is for them. They will hunt out the next click with critical precision - and oftentimes that next click is back so you have to make sure your opening Headline is highly appropriate.

We have many years of experience of writing optimised web copy for both the user and the search engines. Below are a few tips that you may find useful

Headline

Ensure your Keyphrase is in your Heading. Make sure it is relevant to the search intent or the searcher will be gone. It should not just be your keyphrase, but should be a compelling Headline that ensures the searcher reads on. There are whole books written on the subject of compelling Headlines, but a couple of tricks to make them more personal include, a question and the use of compelling figures (eg. 9 out of 10 cat owners...)

Opening Paragraph

Your opening statement should be a concise summary of the page that descibes accuratley the content that follows. It should contain your keyphrase and qualify any statements or promises you have mentioned in your headline

Subheadings

Your subheadings are important as they break up the page into easy-to-identify chunks of content, they allow the searcher's eye to scan through the page quickly. Use the relevant keyphrase at the beginning of your Subheads and they will act as navigation aids as they scan.

Small Paragraphs of Relevant Copy

Keep your paragraphs small and scannable and ensure they only contain one idea. Keep your most important points at the beginning. If possible use bullet points to break lengthy paragraphs up into scannable copy.

Call to Action

Remember that we are trying to get the searcher to obtain, or move nearer to their goals, so align your searchers goals with your own and try to provide them with a call to action that suits both you and your user. Make sure you only ask for enough detail for them to be happy to move through the process.

Remember we are trying to write copy that appeals to both the reader and the search engine, and hopefully make it compelling enough that a third party may wish to link to it. It is therefore imperative that it reads correctly and we do not offend the reader by over-using the keyphrase.