Most writers aren’t SEO Specialists. But why not?

by Dusten Carlson

January 3, 2021

Writers that neglect SEO are leaving money on the table.

Here’s what you need to know to feel confident that your SEO knowledge is up-to-date and competitive in the freelance writing market.

I recently saw a job post on reddit. “Looking for an SEO expert and copywriter,” it said.

Though the OP admitted they weren’t sure whether they were in the right place, the post went on to list some pretty standard competencies: native english speaking, ability to write blog posts, and “expert in SEO.”

Imagine the OP’s disappointment when they read the top response, which begins, emphasis theirs:

An SEO Expert/Specialist is rarely a writer.

Looking at the title of this blog post, you might be thinking I’m going to pick a fight with this responder.

Not at all. This response is 100% correct.

The responder correctly identifies an “SEO expert” as a distinct role from that of a writer. This is an individual with skills in keyword research, technical SEO, and link building, among other things.

In that same response, the author also clarifies that a lot of writers market themselves as “SEO experts.” The problem is, their skills are outdated or questionable. Knowing how to keyword stuff content isn’t exactly a valuable skill, and it’s definitely not good SEO.

So far an SEO expert is not a writer, and writers are not SEO experts. Check. Agreed so far.

But what I want to do in this blog post is expand on something that the responder briefly mentioned, because I think there’s more to say there.

“A copywriter with a background in SEO, or skilled in keyword placement, usually has only a bit of knowledge about the above.”

This is also true.

But it just brings me to a question.

Why?

Why don’t writers know more about SEO?

And what should writers know about SEO?

(Okay, that was three questions. Bear with me.)

If a writer wanted to, they certainly could become an SEO expert. There are a lot of courses on the web that will teach you skills like technical SEO review, link building, and keyword strategy. As the responder notes, SEO Specialists charge a pretty penny for their services, too.

But that’s not for everybody.

Still, SEO is an in-demand skill that factors into a lot of freelance writing jobs. It’s mentioned as a preferred skill in most gigs we curate at our own jobs board.

And while we don’t have exact numbers on the freelance writing industry as a whole, we can give you a sense of perspective.

There are nearly 40,000 writing jobs on ZipRecruiter right now that ask for some kind of SEO competency.

That means there’s an opportunity here, and most writers are missing it.

Don’t just shrug those shoulders and go “SEO isn’t for me.” Every professional writer has to know something about SEO in 2021 and beyond.

So, what do you need to know?

Step one: Know more than your clients

As someone who runs a digital content agency, let me assure you:

Most clients who say they want SEO writers don’t understand how SEO works.

Some think it’s a magic formula that will make them “go viral.” Most of them understand it’s something they have to do, even if they’re not sure why. They just hear that it creates success, and they’ve heard it enough that there must be something to it.

Precious few know anything about SEO, and even in that group, most of their knowledge is out of date.

This is just one reason why I’m extremely critical of “learn as you go” advice for freelance writers. When I hire writers, a good chunk that sell themselves as “SEO writers” are full of outdated SEO “hacks” at best, or black hat tactics at worst.

These writers aren’t actually trying to trick anyone, either. They think they learned SEO on the job. But their SEO “knowledge” is the result of a bad game of telephone between themselves and low-pay, know-nothing clients that hasn’t changed since 2013.

To recap:

Most clients don’t know much about SEO
Most writers know bad or outdated SEO
This is a vicious, mutually-reinforcing cycle.

This is one reason why the SEO Specialist role that the reddit responder invoked is a real thing.

But as they mentioned, an SEO Specialist isn’t really a writer. It’s a more holistic role. They look at a website’s infrastructure, loading time, user experience, and a bunch of other checkpoints that have nothing to do with writing.

Insofar as they touch content, it’s mostly the look, the formatting, and the readability they care about. They might not know how to create great SEO content, but they know bad content when they see it.

Also, while an SEO Specialist is a real and vital role, it’s an expensive one. And it’s often out of the budgetary reach of a lot of small-to-medium-sized businesses, which make up the bulk of employers of freelance writers.

So what’s the solution for writers?

Know more about SEO than your clients do.

Don’t worry about becoming an SEO Specialist, but you should be the content expert in the client/freelancer relationship

There is nothing more empowering than knowing more about content than your client does.

So many writers look to their clients for instructions on how to do their own job.

This is a byproduct of the “learn as you go” model.

Skip that model. It has only lead to burnout and heartbreak for both clients and writers in the freelance market. You don’t need it.

Does this mean we’re telling you to become SEO Specialists?

Like we said above, you can if you want! But that’s not what we’re prescribing here.

Instead, your goal as a freelance writer should be understanding more about how SEO works (and your role in it as the writer) than your client does.

Being a content expert is about calling balls and strikes when your client asks you for questionable deliverables or to implement sketchy strategies.

If a client asks you for some reassurance that the content you’re writing them will “trend” or “rank,” you should feel confident saying something like this:

“Well, SEO success for you is going to have a lot more to do with things like continually publishing SEO-optimized content, your domain authority, the amount of backlinks you get over time, your site optimization, and a bunch of other stuff a writer doesn’t do. It’s not 2013 anymore, writers can’t really promise instant success. Google is too smart. What I can promise is the SEO-optimized content part, based on your SEO strategy. The rest, you might have to consult an SEO Specialist or do a little homework on.”

You, as the writer, should know how to write SEO-optimized content.

But there are no quick wins anymore. SEO requires a holistic, consistent approach.

As the content expert, knowing SEO in 2021 and beyond is about knowing what you’re responsible for and what you’re not responsible for.

Good SEO requires good content. You, as the writer, are a critical part of that and cannot be replaced.

But it’s time to change the paradigm in the freelance market:

Clients need to be educated on the difference between good SEO and bad SEO.
Writers need to understand what they are and are not responsible for in SEO, and help educate clients.
And, writers need to write the killer SEO-optimized content that helps clients succeed.

What do writers need to know about SEO?

If you want to upgrade your profile as a freelance writer and beat out all the schmucks selling SEO snake oil, I have two pieces of advice for you:

Understand how SEO works holistically (so you can confidently explain what you are and are not responsible for).
Learn how to write SEO-optimized content (you’ll be much more impressive to employers if you can format and optimize your own content).

Learning technical SEO might not be your cup of tea. I get it.

But anyone can understand how Google works, what is involved in SEO, and who’s responsible for what.

You don’t need to design keyword strategies and identify ranking opportunities. That’s a different job.

But you should know best practices around using keywords, headline optimization, web readability, and formatting.

Those aren’t mystical digital skills you can’t learn. They’re basically the same principles of copywriting that professional writers have used since the dawn of time.

Don’t promise anything you can’t deliver. Be honest with clients. The only way to climb the ranks in Google Search is with high-quality content over time.

But that assumes the client’s site is SEO-optimized (read: NOT your job). If it isn’t, that will hold them back, but that’s not your responsibility.

If your client has a bad content strategy for ranking pages, that’s also not your responsibility (unless you’re being paid to design the content strategy).

Being a content expert isn’t about knowing everything there is to know about SEO. But it is knowing enough about how it works to understand the writer’s role within it, and where to advise your client to help them succeed as they improve their overall SEO.

If you want to learn more about SEO, and the writer’s role in it, you can check out our paywalled guide here. We’re also rolling out a course that covers SEO writing in more depth in a few months. You can sign up to be notified when it’s available here.

Writer Tip

6 quick SEO tips that will help your copy

by Dusten Carlson

September 6, 2020

For writers, good SEO is all about writing content that readers value. Here are some universal tips to help you pull that off.

SEO can be a bit of a loaded term for freelance writers.

Your clients seem to expect you to know a lot about it. They’ll usually have a strong conviction that it’s important to get on the front page of Google, but a vague idea about how.

That’s where you come in. You’re the writer, so you know SEO, right?

Not so fast.

You might know a thing or two. But it’s also possible that some of the things you know are already out of date.

It’s kind of an unfortunate (and unfair) reality that writers often face unrealistic expectations from clients when it comes to SEO. Sure, there is no SEO without content, but that doesn’t mean that writers should carry water for technical, user experience, or reputational issues that might be dragging a site down.

SEO is not magic. One SEO-optimized article isn’t going to save a business.

If there are technical SEO issues (e.g., your client’s site load speed is in the gutter), then it doesn’t matter how good the content you’re writing is.

If your client is suffering from reputational damage, there’s not much your work can do to save them.

I also often hear from a lot of writers that there are ambiguities with clients about who’s responsible for content strategy, like keyword research and figuring out what to write about. You can read our post on that question here, but TL;DR, it’s not you (unless you’re being paid for it).

What are we getting at here?

When it comes to what writers need to know about SEO, the answer is this: you only need to know what you need to know to do a good job with the writing.

For writers, good SEO is about creating copy that readers find valuable.

Good SEO is just good writing that readers love.

Seems deceptively simple, right? How exactly do you create good content that readers love?

By looking at the kind of content that Google rewards.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”#SEOtip Google likes what its users like. That’s why we always say don’t worry about Google, just worry about the reader. #writertip” quote=”Google likes what its users like. That’s why we always say don’t worry about Google, just worry about the reader.”]

Google’s business model depends on putting the best content they can find in front of their users. If you want to be valuable to your clients and offer them that kind of content, which stands the best possible chance to rank in Google Search, you need to know what kind of content Google likes.

To bring this full circle, Google likes what its users like.

That’s why we always say don’t worry about Google, just worry about the reader.

Now how do you do that?

These 6 tips will get you off to a good start.

6 quick SEO tips that will help your copy

No. 1: Improve your copy’s readability

After you write your first draft, put your editor cap on and look at your copy with these things in mind:

Are my sentences short?
Do I effectively transition between ideas?
Are my paragraphs “scannable”?
Have I used headings well to break up the copy?
Is my copy error-free?

You can also as yourself questions about tone. Are you writing for a general audience? You should, even if you’re writing more technical copy.

Are you using big vocabulary words or excessive industry jargon? This might make you feel impressive to your client, but it drags down the reader.

Try scoring your work against the Flesch Kincaid model. If you have a WordPress account, you can download the SEO Yoast plugin which will help immensely.

No. 2: Put a lot of thought into the title

A keyword-stuffed title won’t help you rank in Google these days. You have to spend extra time crafting a title with a reader in mind.

If your content is the best match for their specific question or has information you think they need, how will you get their attention? How will your title tell them “Hey! Over here! This is it!”?

Consider the following:

The title should be highly specific to the topic at hand.
It should use words that provoke emotion (but be balanced and strategic here, it’s easy to overdo it)
Headlines should be about 55-60 characters long, or roughly 6-8 words.
It should use the focus keyword in the first 3 words if possible
It should have a sentiment of some kind, or a “tone”

You can use tools like CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer to help guide your efforts. Shoot for a score of 70 or above.

No. 3: Use keywords strategically

Keyword use is probably the most misunderstood aspect of SEO for writers.

Long gone are the days when cramming a bunch of keywords into copy tricks Google into ranking content highly in search. (Don’t try it. You might get your client hurt.)

Some SEO experts have pointed to this as evidence that keywords don’t matter anymore. And since Google is opaque about how Search actually works, that theory seems as good as any.

Keywords are certainly less important if by “less important” you mean that it’s impossible to spam Google with blackhat SEO.

But obviously keywords play an important role. A keyword like “how to fix sink” isn’t a magic incantation, it’s something a user is actually looking for and needs an answer to.

Google wants to match quality content to users, and keywords are still an important part of that.

So, use your keyword in the title as we mentioned, in the introduction of your copy, and a few times in the body.

You can and should also use related keywords if they’re relevant to the topic.

Do not try aiming for an arbitrary keyword density score, or cramming unrelated keywords into your copy. That will dilute your copy’s ability to rank for the topic you’re writing about.

And don’t sacrifice readability for an exact keyword match. “Good cupcakes Atlanta GA” isn’t going to read well if you just jam it into your copy.

Google is smart enough to recognize it semantically if you write it into a sentence naturally (e.g., “If you’re looking for good cupcakes in Atlanta, look no further!”).

No. 4: Use high-quality links

Linking plays a huge role in what Google values. So much so that there are a multitude of ethically-dubious business models built around trying to “sell” links (“If more sites link to your content, Google will think your site is important!”).

We won’t get too deeply into that mess. But links do play an important role for writers, particularly when it comes to research.

You’ll most likely want to link out to supporting facts, figures, data, and commentary for anything you write. Linking is a good SEO practice.

But what you link to matters. If you’re linking to spammy, low-quality sites with bad information, Google notices, and will penalize your client’s site for promoting shifty content.

This means writers need to perform high-quality research and only link to high-quality sites. This can get complicated since many sites at the top of Google search for your topic may be competitors of your client. It goes without saying that you don’t want to link to them.

But links to published, authoritative studies, or non-competitive sites are valuable, so be judicious in your research and include links where you can.

No. 5: Write a good intro hook

One big signal to Google that content is valuable to readers? They stick around to read it.

Using your first 100-200 words to “hook” a reader is critical to getting them to stick around. Good writers use a variety of tools to keep a reader engaged, including:

Framing the article using a real-world anecdote
An attention-grabbing opening sentence (a bold claim, something shocking or humorous).
A surprising or shocking statistic or data point
An intriguing question that your content answers

If a reader clicks on your title, reads the first few sentences, and exits out of the page, that tells Google that the content wasn’t valuable to them, or that they didn’t find what they were looking for.

Some of that is inevitably going to happen. But if the introduction falls flat, is boring, or doesn’t pull in a reader, and most readers bounce off the page, it will hurt ranking.

No. 6: Add stuff your competitors missed

Google wants content that is unique, compelling, authoritative, relevant, and high-quality.

In layman’s terms, this means that your content has to do better than your client’s competitors.

Take a look at the top-ranking posts for a keyword or topic your client wants content written for. Ask yourself, or your client:

Do we have unique insights that our competitors don’t have?
Do we have data or statistics that are more recent or relevant?
Is there supplementary content we can add to give more value to the reader?

Of course, sometimes you will luck out and find results that don’t match the search query very well. In this case, the door is wide open to write a great piece of relevant content that has a strong chance of taking the top spot.

Takeaways

Many writers do eventually come to specialize in more strategic SEO and offer those services to their clients. But when you’re starting out, we think it’s important to laser-focus on the parts of SEO you need to know to do the writing part well.

For writers, that means writing well.

It means don’t worry about Google, just worry about the reader.

If you do want to learn more about SEO, we have a much longer article on this topic here.

If you have any feedback for me, I welcome it! Please reach out on LinkedIn.

Content Strategy

Most Recent Google Update Favors Original Content

by Dave Polykoff

February 10, 2020

Content marketers avidly follow every adjustment Google makes to its algorithm, and one of the most notable changes they saw most recently is that the algorithm favors original content. Content that’s an easy rehashing of what’s found in other places won’t work as well.

How this impacts content marketing strategy

For many content marketers, this change encourages a shift in how they pitch, develop, and publish content. They’re now looking to see what they can add to what’s already out there and to be more unique.

What does this mean from a tactical perspective?

It means that smart content marketers are developing entirely new stories, an original angle on an existing trend, or commentary on work that’s already out there.

They’re also looking for new statistical research to include, or they’re conducting a unique interview that adds to their narrative.

If marketers come across an article from another source, can they still use it? They can pass it on to their readers as long as they attribute it to the original source with links. That action also helps build credibility.

The impact on keywords

At this point, keyword strategy is also changing for content marketers. Keyword stuffing – adding as many keywords as possible into an article so they’re flagged by the search engine – doesn’t do the job as well as it once did.

Instead, writers are encouraged to add keywords into an article as they make sense and relate to the copy. Original articles with natural keywords are the goal.

This change is ultimately a good thing

There are a few reasons why Google is making these changes. At the top of the list is the fact that they believed the way the previous algorithm worked encouraged content that was less valuable to readers.

They’re likely hoping that this will ultimately provide higher quality information. When that happens, everyone wins.

Writer Tip

Build Readability With These Three Tips

by Dave Polykoff

January 27, 2020

Bloggers, writers and other content marketers know that engaging content is the name of the game. If their content is boring or turns people off, it is game over.

Readers that aren’t interested in a story aren’t going to finish. They’ll leave the page mid-read, which not only means that they won’t learn as much about your organization, it can kill your site’s search engine rankings.

How do you get readers hooked? It is a skill that content marketers can learn and then master with practice.

Short and simple well-written content build readability

Quick, punchy and easy to understand sentences are the building blocks to readability. Luckily, you don’t have to guess at exactly how short something should be. Break up your text every 80 to 100 words and you should be fine.

In addition to being shorter, the content should be well written. If the content contains endless, wandering sentences that don’t seem to have a point, why should readers continue to the end of the page?

Leave the reader with something they didn’t have before

In addition to a shorter structure for your content, be sure that the content itself provides the reader with something new. Something they need that can’t be found on every other site.

Original, compelling content will keep people reading through until the last paragraph. As long as they’re getting information that they find is valuable, they’ll stick around.

Use graphic elements to break up text blocks

In addition to short paragraphs and interesting information, use graphic elements between areas of text to keep readers moving through your page. Place them every 200 words or so.

What kinds of graphic elements? Photos, pull quotes and subheadings work well. These elements also help people scan through the article and understand the news, advice, and information you’re trying to tell them.

As you use them, you’ll see that graphic elements act like bread crumbs, leading readers to the destination you’d like them to reach — the full end of your story and any calls to action you have.

Writer Tip

Are Long-Tail Keywords Still A Useful Tool In 2019?

by Dave Polykoff

October 14, 2019

keyword usage is essential to master. Most writers use short keywords compulsively in their prose. However, many bloggers don’t realize the significance of utilizing long-tail keywords when it comes to their traffic and SEO.

So, what are long-tail keywords? How important are long-tail keywords when it comes to building a blog, brand, or site? Are they still a useful tool in 2019?

The Short Answer: Yes.

Long-tail keywords can be extremely useful when it comes to your site’s content, ranking, and traffic. This being said, they aren’t a magic tool that can instantly improve your site’s rankings. However, long-tail keywords can help you organically improve your traffic (and, in turn, your SEO ranking) over time.

How Do They Improve Your Site’s Traffic?

If a consumer is searching for information about types of fruit that help with weight loss, they won’t type “fruit” into the search bar. Average people tend to search using long-tail keywords such as “fruit for weight loss” or “weight loss fruit.”

Specific keywords are more useful for consumers. They won’t have to hunt as hard to find the specific content that they are seeking. Long-tail keywords help to guide consumers in the right direction while narrowing the scope of their searches. As a bonus, this will decrease competition from other sites.

How Do They Support Your SEO Ranking?

Above all else, Google is concerned with providing their users with secure and compelling search results. The specificity of long-tail keywords suggests that a site’s content is likely strong and/or specific rather than vague, general, or diluted. Due to this, long-tail keywords can help improve your SEO ranking over time.

Google tends to optimize sites that practice consistent use of long-tail keywords.

Practices To Keep In Mind

Your long-tail keyword should relate to your site’s main keyword. Whatever long-tail keywords that you utilize should always branch off of the main keyword of your site. If your long-tail keywords are irrelevant to your site’s central topic, you won’t enjoy the SEO boost that consistent and relevant long-tail keyword usage can bring you.

Long-tail keywords shouldn’t be too lengthy. You want long-tail keywords to be specific. However, long-tail keywords that are too lengthy are unhelpful. Consumers don’t typically search in complete sentences. Your long-tail keywords shouldn’t be more than a few words, either.

Strike a balance between short and long-tail keywords. You shouldn’t only utilize long-tail keywords in your prose. Short keywords are helpful when it comes to attracting a broader audience. Additionally, using a mixture of short and long-tail keywords can help you analyze the searchability of any variety of keywords related to your site, brand, or blog.

Repetition is key! In order to enjoy the organic traffic boost associated with the use of long-tail keywords, you can’t only plug them in once. Consistent usage of the same long-tail keywords is what will ultimately improve your following and SEO across time.

Final Thoughts

Long-tail keywords are an essential tool for writers, bloggers, and brand-builders. When utilized properly, they can improve traffic to your site and boost your SEO ranking. Do you have any tips for using long-tail keywords effectively? Have you enjoyed success utilizing long-tail keywords? Let us know in the comments below!