So you’ve got your keywords. What’s next? It’s time to start using them on your website!
First, let’s discuss what good SEO content is, and what are the basics to know before you can start using keywords to your advantage as a creator.
SEO content has to:
- Be created based on what people are searching for
- Answer questions users are looking for
- Demonstrate expertise towards Google
What is good content according to Google?
Google calls this “E-A-T”, that is: expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. This was the original trio that later got a new addition, turning them into “E-E-A-T” or “Double-E-A-T”, by adding another “E”: experience. If a content piece can demonstrate these qualities, it will be on a very good path to rank well and soon.
Of course, the experience aspect is more important in topics such as doing taxes because you’d be more comfortable reading the writing of an actual accountant with, yes, great experience behind them.
I wouldn’t be so worried about the experience part if I’m looking for the right canvas for my next painting, and probably Google thinks the same. To give you some context, searching for that, the search engine will likely list more forum discussions, for instance, where you get to read others’ opinions on the topic, instead of “expert writing”.
Overall, the four qualities of E-E-A-T can be matched to something in every field and content type, and it’s all about what Google points out on every occasion:
Good content is written and created for people and helps people. The search engine’s “needs” come second.
- Do you think you have some expertise and knowledge to write about your craft or art?
- Do you think you have authority in the topic that is rooted in your experience in your creative field?
- Do you think your voice and message are trustworthy, and you won’t trick people into something bad with your content offering?
- Do you have any experience in the topic you’re writing about so that you can deliver value for people landing on your content?
Half of these questions are about checking if you are a decent human being, and you don’t want to do bad to others. I hope you can already fulfill these.
The other half is about your expertise and authority: don’t take these too seriously. You don’t need to have an official paper to prove your qualification.
But, for instance, try to add value and something original to your content, and not just summarize what others have said already — this can be a sign of your expert mind and voice.
If reading your content, somebody feels that they have learned enough about a topic that will help them achieve their goals, and even better, they won’t need to search again to get better information from other sources, you created good content.
Be primarily guided by the purpose of satisfying search intent, to answer others’ questions they type into Google, and only secondary by keyword optimization.
The above means that you have to write naturally, not worry about algorithms. If you write naturally about a topic, you will unintentionally use the related keywords, plus, you’ll be able to avoid keyword stuffing: using your targeted keywords too many times in a single content piece, and making it appear very artificial and robotic. This is often noticeable because of the countless repetitions of a term, sensing that this is not how an attentive human would write.
For now, trust yourself that you have ideas you can share with others, no matter how long you’ve been on your creative journey. Trust the process that your authority will form itself on the path you’re on, by gaining and sharing more of your experience, and others finding you as a creative source.
But, after this much theoretical intro and reasoning, let’s see how you can actually start using keywords.
We will discuss each element of a content piece that you have to pay attention to in order to optimize it for search:
- Headings
- Body text
- URLs
- SERP features
- Links
- Meta title and meta description
- Article/blog post structure
Learning most of these will be important for creating all types of content, while some will be most helpful when creating longer type, blog post-format content; and of course, I’ll also discuss later what you have to know when writing your webshop page and service- and product page copies.