Killer Keywords - How to Write for Both Humans & Search Engines

Killer Keywords: How to Write Content
for Both Humans & Search Engines
2015
Version 4

sales@pamannmarketing.com 973-664-7775
Introduction
FAQ: How do I write content for my website in a
way that search engines will want to rank it?
How to write website copy for search engines (without alienating
human readers) is something that all writers and website owners
should know how to do.
Your website content has 2 audiences:
• Human readers
• Search engines
Whether you’re a professional copywriter or a small business owner
who writes for your own website, knowing how to write content that
satisfies both of these audiences is an essential (and profitable!)
skill.
This presentation will teach you exactly how to do that.

About SEO
SEO 101:
Before we dive into how to write for search engines,
let’s do a high-level overview of how SEO works.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art and
science of getting a website found in search results.
• Search engines use algorithms (sets of “if this, then
that” logic statements) to determine which
websites show up as the results for a search.
• Optimizing your site means making sure your site
matches as many of those logical conditions as
possible.

About SEO
The 3 Aspects of SEO:
Optimizing a site for SEO involves three main areas of
activity:
• Technical refers to making the website code search-
engine-friendly.
• On-page refers to what keywords you use, where and how
you use them, and how you organize the information.
• Off-page refers to all of the things that happen OFF of your
website to boost the authority of it in the search engines’
eyes (e.g. other websites linking to your site and social
media presence).

About SEO
Just one aspect:
This presentation covers one (very important) part of the
“on-page” aspect of SEO, which is highlighted below.
Although this is a very important and impactful part of SEO,
the other aspects do need to be addressed as well.
SEO 101
Optimizing a site for SEO involves three main areas of activity:
• Technical refers to making the website code search-engine-friendly.
• On-page refers to what keywords you use, where
and how you use them, and how you organize the
information.
• Off-page refers to all of the things that happen OFF of your website to
boost the authority of it in the search engines’ eyes (e.g. other websites
linking to your site and social media presence).

Let’s Go!
Let’s Get Started!
Now that we’ve got the SEO overview out of the way, we
will dive into how to write content for both humans and
search engines.
4 Steps to SEO Writing Success:
1. Determine Your Topic: Decide what to write about.
2. Keyword Research: Find the right words to use.
3. Write the Content: Incorporate the terms appropriately.
4. Measure, Rinse, Repeat: Do more of what’s working.
We will now go into each step in more detail.

Step 1:
Research a Topic
Topic Research
You may already know what you want to write about. You
might be writing a new page for your website about a product
or service you offer, or you might be writing a blog article
about a topic you already have in mind.
If you already know your topic, you could technically skip this
step – but still check out these tips on topic research to avoid
future writer’s block.

Step 1:
Research a Topic
Topic Research
Let’s say you want to write a blog article but don’t know what to write about.
Here are some tips for identifying topics that will resonate with your audience:
• FAQs: The most common questions your clients and/or prospects ask you
make great blog article topics
• Search Console: Google’s free “Search Console” tool, formerly known as
“Webmaster Tools”, shows you what terms Google is currently ranking your
site for, and can clue you into what information your existing website visitors
are seeking.
• Competitor Websites: What are your competitors writing about? Look at
their blog. If they’re writing about it, you probably should be, too.
• Quora: Quora.com is a question and answer site where people go to seek
answers on business challenges. Search for questions in your area of
expertise to see what information your target market really needs to know.
• Google Suggest: Start typing in a phrase in Google,
and see what automatic suggestions come up.
These suggestions represent the most commonly
searched phrases containing that term.

Step 2:
Keyword Research
Find the Right Variation
So you know your topic now – great! But don’t start writing
just yet.
One of the most important steps is to figure out exactly what
wording to use.
For example, is it better to say “Facebook marketing” or “Using
Facebook for Marketing”?
It might not be a good idea to use the most popular variation
of a phrase, as it may also be the most competitive (difficult to
rank for).
The next step, keyword research, will show you how to figure
out what the best wording options are for your topic.

Step 2:
Keyword Research
Use the AdWords “Keyword Planner” Tool
http://adwords.google.com
Google AdWords is the platform where you can buy search ads
on Google. There’s a great tool in there called “Keyword
Planner.”
No ad purchase is required to use the “Keyword Planner” tool.
You may be asked to set up an ad campaign in order to complete
account set up, but you do not have to actively run it. Just get
signed up so you can use the free “Keyword Planner” tool.

Step 2:
Keyword Research
Enter Your Topic into Keyword Planner
Let’s say you want to write a blog article about Facebook
marketing. Type your topic into the Keyword Planner tool.

Step 2:
Keyword Research
Look at Search Volume and Competitiveness
The tool will return search volume and competition data for
both the term you typed in and related terms.

Step 2:
Keyword Research
Sweet Spot: Appropriate Search Volume &
Low or Medium Competition
Look for variations of your phrase that have low or medium
competition, and a level of search volume that doesn’t greatly
exceed the level of traffic that your website’s homepage
currently gets via organic search.
For example, a website who’s homepage receives about 150
visits per month from organic search should not try to use
terms that are searched 5,000 times per month. Anywhere
from approximately 100 to 200 searches per month would be a
better range to target for this site.

Step 2:
Keyword Research
Pick Your Phrase
In this example, let’s pretend the site at hand receives 150
visits per month to its homepage from organic search.
The clear winner here would not be to use the phrase
“Facebook Marketing”, but rather to use the variation of
“Using Facebook for Marketing.”

Step 3:
Write!
Write with the Selected Phrase
Now that you’ve selected your ideal phrase, it’s time to write!
First, a big warning:
It’s VERY important NOT to just “stuff” the phrase in
all over the content.
Content that too densely uses a single phrase could be flagged
by Google as keyword-stuffed.
Instead, you’ll want to use the phrase in a few key places and
in a light and natural, yet noticeable, frequency.

Step 3:
Write!
Places to Use Your Phrase
1. In the Title: Use the phrase in the article or page title, towards the front if
possible, e.g. “Using Facebook for Marketing: 10 Essential Tips”
2. In a Subtitle: Subtitles are great for breaking up longer content into more
digestible chunks. Use your phrase once in a subtitle.
3. Image Filename & Alt Tag: All content should have at least one image. Name
the image filename with the phrase, using dashes (NOT underscores) as
spaces, e.g. using-facebook-for-marketing.jpg. There is also a tag called an
“image alt tag” that exists to tell search engines more about the image. Use
your phrase in this description as well.
4. Title tag & URL: Most modern content management systems will do this
automatically for you based on the title of your article, but make sure your
phrase lands in both the title tag and the URL for the content.
5. Meta description: This is a one-sentence summary of the content that
search engines often use as the “snippet” in the search results. Although not
a direct ranking factor, using the phrase here can assist with clickthrough
rates.

Step 3:
Write!
How Often to Use Your Phrase
So far we’ve addressed where to use the phrase in everywhere
but the content itself. The phrase should also be written into
the body of the article or page as well.
It’s important that this is done so that it reads very naturally,
e.g. “Business owners often wonder what’s involved in using
Facebook for marketing effectively.”
In total, when you are finished writing, the phrase should
appear approximately 1 to 2 times per 100 words. This DOES
include the titles and subtitles.
For example, a 500 word article should have the phrase appear
anywhere from a minimum of 5 times (1 time per 100 words)
to an absolute maximum of 10 times (2 times per 100 words).
Again, we must reiterate that it is SO important not to exceed
that maximum in order to avoid looking like you’re “stuffing” in
keywords.

Step 3:
Write!
Other Writing Tips
Stay Focused
It may be tempting to use several different similar variations of a
phrase as opposed to just one, but search engines can get easily
confused. Stick with ideally one, but no more than a few highly
similar variations of phrases per piece of content.
If using more than one variation, don’t count the frequency of
the different phrases separately. Count them all up together
when checking your frequency (as if they were all just one
phrase).
Singular vs. Plural
Try to stay consistent with regard to singular vs. plural. If the
chosen phrase is singular, try to use it singular throughout the
whole piece if possible, and vice versa.

Step 3:
Write!
Other Writing Tips
“Stop Words”
Sometimes a phrase is impossible to include in a natural manner
without adding an extra word.
It is okay to insert a “stop word” within the phrase if you have
to. "Stop words" are pronouns, prepositions, and grammatical
particles such as: a, about, an, as, are, but, be, in, on, or, and,
for.
For example, if your selected phrase was “marketing consultant
NJ”, then it will be necessary to insert a stop word such as “in”,
turning the phrase into “marketing consultant in NJ”.

Step 3:
Write!
Other Writing Tips
Content Length
Here’s a frequently asked question:
“How long should my content be?”
Whereas 300 - 500 words used to be sufficient, Google is now
preferring longer content.
In fact, multiple recent studies show that 2,000+ word pieces
of content tend to significantly outrank shorter content.
Obviously that’s not feasible for all content, so aim for at least
500 - 1,000 words wherever appropriate*.
*A length of 500 words may be inappropriate for certain types of content
such as product descriptions where brevity is crucial. So use your judgement,
but try to make your content as long as is appropriate for the circumstance.

Step 4:
Measure, Rinse,
Repeat!
The Importance of Measurement
Despite your now well-educated attempt to select the perfect
phrases for each piece of content you write, there are over 250
different total factors that search engines use in deciding
whether to rank a page.
Therefore, some of your selections will produce better results
than others. Keep a close eye on both your Google Analytics
and Google Search Console (formerly known as Webmaster
Tools) to see which pieces of content and keywords are
working better for you than others.
Then, the formula for success is simple: Do more of what
works, and less of what doesn’t.

Cleared for Takeoff! That’s it!
You’re now on your way to increased search engine
success via the appropriate use of well-chosen key
phrases in your content.
Please let us know if you have any questions or
would like to work with us on the other 249+
aspects of your SEO. ;)
sales@pamannmarketing.com
973-664-7775

Killer Keywords - How to Write for Both Humans & Search Engines

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