Why should I write SEO articles?

As a website owner, you quickly come across the term 'SEO' to improve the findability of the website. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. In other words: search engine optimisation. This includes all aspects that contribute to improving the findability of your website. SEO can be tackled in different ways. One of the most well-known (and secretly also one of the most effective) ways is writing SEO texts. But why is that? Why is it so important to write SEO texts and how do you go about it? 

Content is worth gold 

No website is complete without the right texts. Texts are among the most important building blocks of a webpage. They help the visitor understand what the website is about and what to expect. Without the right and above all professional texts, visitors will not be motivated to look further at your page. Moreover, the right content also ensures that the website is better found by Google. It increases the quality score and makes it possible to be found faster on several important keywords. 

Although the findability of a website is extremely important, the visitor always comes first when writing good content and SEO texts. You always write for the visitor first. It is a common beginner's mistake that people focus so much on writing keyword-rich texts that they eventually lose sight of the goal for the visitor. Quality texts always have the highest priority and at the same time automatically deliver better findability. 

But how do you tackle writing SEO texts? 

Step 1: Writing SEO texts: keyword research

SEO texts can be written in various ways. It actually always starts with a keyword search. It is important to know in advance which keywords you want to score on and which keywords are the most profitable. However, you should preferably choose a keyword that is relevant to your webpage and that is well sought after, but which is not too high up in the rankings. It is difficult to rank high in the search engines if many large websites already rank for the most important keywords. For example, if you are a hairdresser and you want to use the keyword 'haircut', then there is a big chance that it will take a lot of time and effort to reach the first two pages in the search results in the first place. If you manage to do so at all. 

Therefore, so-called long-tail keywords are usually the best choice. They are searched for less, but you can rank much faster on them. Do not let yourself be led by the keywords with high search volumes. The competition is often too high and a starting website will have little chance. Moreover, short search words can often be too general. Someone searching for 'haircut' can mean many different things. "Haircutting Utrecht" is then much more specific and easier to rank on. Moreover, the visitor is then shown exactly what he or she expects, which also increases the chance of conversion. 

There are several ways to carry out a keyword research. You can outsource this to a specialist, but it is of course also possible to do it yourself. There are various programmes that you can use (often free of charge). Then you have a nice list to get started with.

Step 2: determine the purpose of the text 

Now that you have the right keywords, it's time to start brainstorming about the text to be written. What exactly do you want to achieve? Suppose you have the following keywords in your list: 

• Hair problems after pregnancy
• Hair dying in Utrecht
• Treatment for damaged hair 

These long-tail keywords all have their own underlying rationale. The first keyword is more likely to bring up the right information. The latter two will actually want to visit the hairdresser. It is up to you to determine what exactly you want to share with the customer. As a hairdresser you obviously want to convince customers to visit you, but perhaps it would also help to show your expertise in the form of a blog and share the necessary information about hair, hair styles and the latest trends. That way you will reach more potential customers. 

If you know what the purpose of the text is and what the target audience looks like, it is already a lot easier to write the right text.

Be aware that SEO texts are primarily about quality. You don't need to persuade Google to become your customer. You want to reach the visitor. So you always write for the visitor. The keywords only strengthen the text to influence Google's algorithm. But writing a well-running, informative, funny and/or creative text is always the most important thing. 

Step 3: Quality over Quantity 

Quality over quantity. What does that mean exactly? 

When Google's algorithm was not yet so complex and people were just taking their first steps into the world of SEO, we saw that SEO texts were written in a completely different way than now. Back then, the focus was mainly on keywords and much less on the quality and content of the text. Very often keywords were used inappropriately in order to stand out in Google. The more the keyword was used, the better. This often resulted in very strange and difficult to read texts. Websites were full of them. 

Fortunately, this has changed over the years. By now, excessive use of keywords in texts (resulting in virtually unreadable texts) is even punished by Google. The algorithm is so calculated that it immediately picks out such texts.  Today, you hardly see such texts. People know that Google not only looks at the use of keywords, but also at the quality and content of the text.

The use of keywords should be limited to approximately two to four percent of the entire text. 

Step 4: writing tips for a good SEO text 

Now it is time to roll up your sleeves and actually start writing. In advance, do some good research on the subject you want to write about. Visit different websites and write down the most important information from each website in keywords. You then incorporate this into your own story. Note: never copy anything literally! Duplicate content will be severely punished by Google. Moreover, it is not legally permitted to simply copy something from another site. 

When writing an SEO text, it is important to pay attention to the following points: 

• Take into account the correct keyword density. Maintain a maximum volume of two to four keywords per hundred words. This way, the text is not overloaded with keywords and you will still rank on them. Please use the most important keyword in the title and in at least one of the subheads.
• Make sure the text is easy to read. Make use of sufficient paragraphs, headings, tables, images, bullet points and short and clear sentences.
• In the very first paragraph, briefly state what you are going to say, what people can expect from the article and what points will be covered. This way, you immediately attract people's attention and they are more likely to read on. They are less likely to leave the page prematurely.
• Make it possible to 'scan' a text. There are plenty of people who don't want to sit down to read a text of more than 500 words. They may find the text interesting, but are only looking for a very small part of the whole text. For those people, it is important that they can scan the text quickly and thus find what they are looking for more quickly. You do this by clarifying the most important points, for example, by making them bold or putting them in tables and bullet points.

Step 5: And what else? 

Besides writing a good, catchy and above all appealing text, it is also important that the entire layout is correct. Just think of coming up with a good title. It is nice if the keyword already appears in the title. You will quickly score higher that way. Moreover, it is immediately clear to the reader what he or she can expect from the title. Keep in mind that the title should be short and powerful. Maximum 60 to 65 characters. If the title is longer, Google might break it up. With all the consequences this has for the findability of the article. 

Also, when creating an URL for the article, one should think carefully. It happens regularly that a completely incomprehensible (standard) URL is used. One that is completely accompanied by numbers and strange characters and from which you can't make out what the URL refers to at all. It is better to choose a clear description of the article. Short and powerful. 

And last but not least... illustrate your texts! Images are essential to make a text come alive. They allow you to make a text a lot more interesting and above all accessible to the reader. Preferably don't choose standard stock photos, but only add photos that can actually add power to the text. But don't overdo it. Everything should be done in moderation. Otherwise, it could still be seen as spam. 

Step 6: Determine the length of the text 

Another topic that is often discussed and where opinions never seem to converge. How long should an SEO text be? If we Google this ourselves, we come up with an average of around three hundred words. However, this is a very low average if you ask us. In general, search engines love the somewhat longer texts. Therefore, they usually use a standard of at least five hundred words and (if there is more to be written about the subject) preferably even more. 

Of course, this doesn't mean you have to write for the sake of writing. There is no need to write an extra long text if there is hardly anything to say about the subject. This will benefit the quality of the text. A shorter, qualitative SEO text scores much higher than a text that is rammed full of nonsensical information and contains more than five hundred words. A text of 250 to 300 words can also be very successful in the search results. It's all about quality. But length can sometimes help. Certainly when you actually know how to share qualitative information. 

Step 7: outsource or not? 

Then comes perhaps the most important question: do you outsource the texts or not? Be aware that writing good SEO texts is very complex. There is a lot involved. If you are not a writer and do not have the time or energy to delve into this, it is better to leave it to a professional. Fortunately, there are plenty of copywriters and SEO specialists who can help you with this. That way, you can be sure that it is done properly. 

Benefits of writing SEO texts 

But why would you put so much effort into writing a 'simple' text on your website? How important are SEO texts really? We'd like to explain this using the following benefits: 

Google finds the content of a website most important 

There are many different ways to optimise your website for search engines. You can even spend a lot of money on advertising with Google Ads to score on various important keywords. But at the end of the day, only one thing matters to Google. That is providing valuable information to their visitors. The people who complete search queries on a daily basis. This is only possible if they let valuable websites rank high in the search results. So it's not just about all the bravado around it. The content of a website is the most important thing. And how do you show that your website is full of valuable and relevant information? Right, with texts. 

Less dependent on major Google updates 

Changes are made to Google's algorithm every year. Sometimes small and sometimes big changes. This is also the moment when many SEO specialists hold their breath. After all, it is all about the tricks they have used to get their clients to rank higher in the search engines. When one of these tricks is removed from the algorithm, it can mean that their clients suddenly drop a very large number of places in the search results. It is important to keep in mind that many SEO trends are subject to change. SEO looked very different five years ago than it does today.

However, there are also elements that always seem to have the same effect and where Google updates can bring little change. This is clearly the case with SEO texts. SEO texts always remain important for the findability of a website. 

Relatively cheap form of marketing

Online marketing is extremely important these days. Without it, it is virtually impossible to achieve a higher position in the search results. This is only logical. Just think about how many websites are launched every day. With so much competition, it is almost impossible to achieve a higher position in the search engines. Not without paying big money.