What’s the first thing you do when you’re looking for an answer?
GOOGLE IT!
In order to show up in a Google search, you need to do a few things, and they all have to do with Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
There are endless ways to increase your SEO. Some of these ways are super technical and hard to understand. But some are easy. With the right copywriter, you can turn your website copy into a well-oiled SEO machine!
I’m breaking down seven of the easier ways to add SEO into your website copy, but just remember that there are many other ways.
1. Keywords
Keywords are probably the number one way to boost your SEO. Keywords are the words that people look for in a Google search. If you’re a trauma therapist in Philadelphia, for example, you probably want people to find you by searching “trauma therapist Philadelphia.”
Your copywriter puts those words into action in your copy, whether that’s website copy or blogs. I might write a headline that says “3 Things You Should Know About Working With a Trauma Therapist.” Right away “trauma therapist” is in the title, so it should get Google’s attention.
I’ll use that phrase throughout the copy, adding in “Philadelphia” where it makes sense.
Sometimes a keyword is just one word, like “trauma.” Other times we use what are called longtail keywords. These are short phrases that people will Google, like “who’s the best trauma therapist in Philadelphia?” In this instance, you want to use the long phrase “best trauma therapist in Philadelphia” within the text a couple of times for Google to rank it as a keyword.
2. Headlines and Subheaders
A great place to use your keywords is in your headlines and subheaders. In the example above, I used the keywords “trauma therapist” right in the headline. You don’t want to use the same keywords in each subheader, so you need to mix it up.
But headers and subheaders are excellent for using keywords because those are the areas of a piece of copy, like a blog, that people pay the most attention to. When you’re skimming an article you’re looking at the headings and subheadings to see if the section is worth your time.
That’s why you want to use keywords in those headers and subheaders, to grab peoples’ attention. Keywords should highlight what the piece is about within those headers and subheaders.
3. Alt Text
Alt text is the text that you use to describe an image in a piece of copy. Alt text is a great place to add a keyword as you describe the image.
Google crawls pages not just for the written text that you see and read, but also for the hidden text in things like alt text.
Alt text is actually really important for SEO and is often overlooked. It’s another opportunity to use keywords in your copy, it’s just copy that nobody but Google sees.
4. Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions are the 155-160 characters that come after your title in a Google search. They describe the website page and are another opportunity to use keywords. Many times people don’t write a meta description to their pages and that can really hurt their SEO. You want to make sure you’re writing meta descriptions with keywords in them.
As I talk about all these places to use keywords, it’s very important not to “keyword stuff.” Google will be able to recognize if you’re packing in the keywords and not view your writing as credible.
5. Links
Linking to pages, both internally and externally, is a great way to boost your SEO.
An internal link is one that links to another page within your site. An external link is one that links to another website. You always want to make sure that you’re linking to credible sites, especially when citing sources.
Then there are things called backlinks, which really boost your SEO. Backlinks are links from an outside website that link to your page or blog post. It’s good to both backlink to another person’s site and to have other sites backlink to yours. Google sees this as established credibility.
6. Length
Google doesn’t recognize blogs or pages that are under 1000 words, so you want to make sure your website copy is long enough for Google to read but not so long that it loses readers.
What you don’t want to do is write fluff just for the sake of getting to 1000 words. Your copy should be substantive. If you’re writing about a relevant topic worth reading about, it should be very easy for your copywriter to get to over 1000 words. I’ve never had a problem writing a long enough blog for my clients.
Sometimes website copy is harder to write 1000 words on a page, and Google really only looks for 800-1000, so it’s a little more lenient than a blog post.
7. Consistent Blogs
Having a blog is a great way to boost your SEO. If you write consistently you’ll see results in a few months. In just 2-3 months I went from page 5 to page 1 of Google when you search “mental health copywriter” by writing website copy that uses keywords.
But mainly it’s because I write a blog each week. I post it every Monday so it’s consistent and I make sure to write about relevant topics to my clients that they need to read.
Boost Your SEO
Since you don’t have the time to learn and worry about SEO, hire a copywriter who knows what she’s doing. One thing about SEO that I dive into here is that it can take some time for Google to recognize your site, so you have to be patient.
Copywriters know how to write compelling, relevant copy that people want to read in a way that helps Google rank you higher in a search. And let’s face it, everyone is finding everything these days in Google searches.
When you work with me, I use SEO in these ways (and more!) to boost your Google ranking and help you get found. If you’re ready to take the leap, schedule a call with me to discuss how we can up your SEO game and get you on page one of Google!