Texting is like flirting with many
Perhaps you know this scenario: You have written a fantastic blog post or website text, but hardly anyone reads it. Use our checklist to create perfect SEO texts in 6 steps
Table of Contents
Research keywords and their synonyms
With the help of keyword research, you can find out which words users/customers use when searching for a product, service, or information. The words your company, or you personally, use may not be the same as those used by your target audience. With keyword research, you can create a list of focus keywords, synonyms, and even key phrases (combined words) that are relevant and contribute to your post/website text ranking well. Google Keyword Planner is always our first port of call. You can log in and do research for free with a Google account.
Additionally, we use Google Trends to see which new topics are trending.
We could have optimized this post for “SEO texts/SEO writing” because this term has 1,300 monthly searches. A brief research revealed that “search engine optimization” is searched 8,100 times per month. Now comes the difficult choice: is it better to optimize for a more general or more specific term (see tip on long-tail keywords below)?
We like to use the website https://valentin.app/ for country- or language-specific keyword search results. This way, you get an optimal impression of the content that already exists – and how you can stand out from it.
Tip: long-tail keywords are more specific and searched less frequently than focus keywords. They make sense for B2B companies as they focus on a niche. The longer and more specific the search terms are, the easier it will be to rank for them because there is less competition. Even if fewer people search for these terms, they may be more motivated to buy, subscribe, sign up, or perform your desired conversion.
Search Engine Optimization: Preparation is the Key
As with any professional project, structured preparation is the key to success. The big picture happens in the details. A great text is optimized in terms of its main messages, structure, examples, and choice of words.
Answer the following strategy questions:
- Visualize your reader. Have you developed a marketing persona/buyer persona? Then look at the profile and ask yourself what interests, fears, and desires your persona has.
- What level of knowledge can you expect from your target audience?
- What is the goal of your post? Do you want to attract new potential customers, encourage existing customers to interact, or aim for a specific conversion?
- What do you want your target audience to do after reading the post?
At AI SEALS, we often create a framework or a small agenda for the aspects that should be covered in the blog post/text. Sketch the structure of your article as a chronological sequence or a mind map.
Having such a persona profile in mind helps you understand your target customer.
Texting is like flirting with many
Can you visualize your target audience? Great!
Now flirt with your readers.
- What resonates with your target audience, captivates them, and convinces them?
- Ask good questions,
- tell anecdotes, and integrate your keywords into key positions such as h1, h2, subheadings, and in the text.
Texting is also a matter of style:
Does your target audience expect factual texts, or can you also provide some humor? Even serious texts can include clever wordplay; all texts should score with lively examples and vivid descriptions.
The introduction must be captivating!
Emotions are the glue that makes memories stick. So, consider: What captivates your readers? An example from life? An unusual scenario? Can you present impressive figures? What is your customer’s pain point? Describe how your product helps overcome this pain point. To achieve goals, you must reach people.
Now work through your framework (Step 2). Ideally, write through to the end to stay in the flow.
Tip: Correct spelling errors at the end to stay in the flow.
Exciting content or linguistic gymnastics?
Let colleagues, friends, and ideally potential customers read your text with the question: Does the post provide real content, or does it sound more like linguistic gymnastics to accommodate keywords?
Relevance is essential!
Therefore, it is advisable to put a date on your text. This applies to the blog post (definitely the date of publication) and the written text (“Search Engine Optimization in 2021,” for example).
Important: Even if you read in other posts what others write, avoid duplicate content! If Google finds identical phrases, it will penalize your site.
Search engine optimization through social signals
Good to know: The duration a user spends on your website is a social signal and therefore a ranking factor. The longer you captivate your readers, the better. Another social signal is a link. If a user posts your blog post or website on other channels, it signals appreciation and boosts your ranking.
Make it as easy as possible for your users and offer common social media channels to click on directly below your website text or blog post. Explicitly ask your visitors to link to your page/post. A text block could read, “Liked our post? Then share it with your contacts on your favorite network!” You can read how to quickly develop and implement an efficient social media strategy here.
Search engine optimization with YOAST or other SEO tools
Once you’ve filled your website or blog post with content, check your text with an SEO tool. The current undisputed leader in Germany is YOAST. YOAST or other SEO tools can be integrated as plugins into most content management systems.
Your SEO tool will tell you if you have a good ratio of keywords to text. It should definitely appear in your h1, h2, subheadings, and text; a balanced ratio of total text to keywords is also crucial.
Readability analysis is also part of search engine optimization. An SEO-optimized blog post or web text is readable text. One easy way to check this is the readability score, which evaluates sentence length, too many passive sentences, and semantic connections. Also, linking words (e.g., meanwhile, while, afterwards, then, therefore, as a result, so, consequently, firstly/secondly/thirdly, additionally, in parallel, simultaneously, likewise, on the other hand…) make reading easier and therefore score points in the readability score.
Optimize the preview for social media and search engines
Search engine optimization also means defining the (visual) presentation of your blog post/website in search engines and social media channels.
Meta tags: optimize the meta title and meta description for search engines: In search engines, your website/blog post is displayed in generic search results with a title and a description; increasingly also with an image. To avoid leaving this display to chance or the search engine, you should define it yourself. Important: Use your keyword/keyphrase here too! The meta title is the title of your search result, and the meta description is the short description below. Tease why a reader should click on your link, summarize the content in a concise sentence, and end with a call-to-action. “Use the checklist now,” “Everything webmasters need to know about SEO at a glance,” or “Never again, SEO posts that rank poorly” could be such meta descriptions with a call to action.
Preview image: The preview image that can be displayed with your entry is also relevant.
This happens in search engines on the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) and everywhere where a link preview is displayed, as is often the case on social media. YOAST and other SEO tools offer a preview of how your post will appear on Google, Facebook, and Twitter. You can and should also edit these previews.
Optimize meta tags for social media: You can change not only the preview image but also the title and description of the post. It may make sense to adapt the title and description to the style of the respective channel, the possible text length, or the target audience there. Take some time for this because the right posting increases the number of people who click on your post!
Are you interested in optimizing your website for SEO? We look forward to receiving your non-binding inquiry.
