How to Write SEO Content - Brittany Foster | Freelance Writer, Editor, & SEO Expert

In reality, you can write SEO content any way you like. From listicles and microblogs to how-to guides and definitions, the possibilities are endless.

But if you really want to make it shine for SEO, there are a few extra steps you need to take outside of just writing whatever you want and hitting publish.

Follow these steps to learn how to start writing SEO content, whether you’re just starting out or you want to learn how to improve your current process.

Step 1: Find your keywords

Keyword research is best done before you start writing.

It’s much harder to fit keywords into a piece after it’s already been written than to do it while you’re typing away.

First, identify the primary and secondary keywords you need to target so you know what to use in your headings and body content.

Expert Advice: Choose one main keyword to focus on and consider how you can use the others in headers and within your body content to keep your content fresh and avoid repetition.

Step 2: Plan your headings

Headings are the perfect place to use search phrases and questions. They help define the structure of your piece, so you can use them as a guide to follow once you start writing.

The topic you’re writing about will also inform your headings, as will your keyword research.

Start by taking a look at what users are searching for or asking the most and start building an outline from there.

It’s also important to keep your headings relevant to the content, keyword-friendly, and properly formatted.

Expert Advice: Use headings in a way that promotes an inverted pyramid format so that you answer general questions in the beginning and move on to more specific content in the body.

Step 3: Write your body content

Once your headers are written, fill in your blog with body content.

Remember to avoid keyword stuffing by including keywords naturally and never try to force them where they don’t fit.

Pay attention to which stage of the funnel you’re writing for to ensure that you hit the right tone, language, and information.

If you’re rewriting existing content, avoid duplicate content by switching up your headings, using alternate names, and considering a different format altogether.

Step 4: Format your post

A well-formatted blog is easy to read, scannable, and broken up into thoughtful sections.

Formatting includes using:

A title
Headers to separate sections (usually H2s and H3s)
Bullet lists
Inter nal and e xt ernal links
Calls to action (CTAs)
Images and alt text
An author bio, related reading, or other footer content
Consistent fonts and colors

Step 5: Edit your content

After you format your content, use your sty le guide to e d it it.

Consider running through it with a tool like Gra mm arly as well, so that you can catch any hard-to-see errors or typos.

Think about the flow, readability, and audience of your piece as you read through it and make any necessary adjustments.

When possible, have someone else take a look as well.

Step 6: Add your title tag and meta description

Next, you’ll need a title t ag and meta description for your SEO content.

Even though Google will provide one for you if you don’t select one yourself, it’s better to customize it so that it makes sense and reads well.

Make sure that you optimize both to increase clickthrough, rank, and traffic.

Step 7: Optimize for technical SEO

Some optimization plugins include additional features like checking your link previews, schema markup, URL, and more.

If you don’t have these plugins or your site doesn’t support them, optimize your post for t e chnical SEO on your own.

The more you optimize, the better your chances of getting indexed.

Step 8: Publish

Once you hit publish, review your content to make sure everything is as it should be.

Look at your images, links, and formatting for any issues.

And, before you share, remember to create a trackable short link using a service like Bi t .ly so you can see how many clickthroughs you get and from where.

Step 9: Start link-building

After your content goes live, it’s time to share it and add it to your link-building strategy.

You can send cold emails and reach out to your contacts, or you can explore some more creative optio ns for getting backlinks.

The more links you get, the more likely your SEO content is to succeed.

Step 10: Review and update

Just because your content is live doesn’t mean you never have to look at it again.

You should update evergreen content at least once a year to make sure it’s relevant and follows best practices.

You don’t want to get flagged for accidentally engaging in black hat SEO practices and see your traffic take a nosedive because you took a “set it and forget it” approach.

This article was originally published in April 2021. It was last updated in October 2024.