Roughly 4 billion members of the Earth’s population are on the internet in some way, and trillions of dollars pass through the online marketplace every year. In order to take advantage of this boom, many companies know that they need to create content quickly. The result is that there’s never been a better time to be an SEO content writer.
Maybe you’re looking for a writer to create SEO-driven blogs for your site. Perhaps you’re a writer yourself, trying to figure out what skills you need for the job. In either case, we at SteadyContent have a few pointers for what will separate the best from the rest.
What Makes an SEO Content Writer Different?
Before you can talk about the “skills” of a job, it’s important to understand the objectives. SEO writers are creating content for at least three audiences: online readers, business owners, and search engines. A good writer will need to know how to connect with all three of them.
Readers Want Quality
When it comes to writing for a web-based audience, accessibility and readability are vital. Over 50% of web searchers will leave a blog that isn’t easy to read, heading to a competitor’s site instead.
Visitors to a commercial website often arrive there as the result of a Google search. These visitors might already know what sort of product they want to buy, or they might need help making their decision. In either case, a writer should supply them with information that’s accurate, engaging, and easy to browse.
Clients Want Results
In addition to writing posts that will please potential customers, an SEO writer needs to make sure that the client is happy as well.
This means that any blog content needs to support and agree with other material on the main site. Each article is a piece of the larger picture that comprises a customer’s total experience. Posts should be professional, well-written, and delivered on time.
Search Engines Want Keywords
The purpose of SEO is to get a particular page or set of pages to rank higher on Google’s search rankings. The more visible the website is, the more traffic it will get. In order to grab the attention of these search engines, an SEO writer should be able to identify keywords that will be the most effective, and use them in an article in a way that isn’t forced or difficult to read.
When an SEO content writer succeeds at pleasing all three of these audiences, the job is being done properly––so what skills are needed to make it work?
#1 – The Ability to Research Quickly and Accurately
Over the course of a week, an SEO content writer might write about a dozen different topics and industries. That means there’s a premium on curiosity and a willingness to learn new things.
Learn Your Client’s Business
If a writer doesn’t already have some familiarity with a client, it’s helpful to do a little research about the basics first. A writer should study the client’s website, take a look at competitors, and get an idea of what is normal. After this, SEO keywords and potential topics will become much clearer.
Gather the Facts
Once the client and writer have agreed on what blog topics should be, it’s time to study a bit. Read up on your subject matter, and make sure you triple-check all your sources when citing a statistic or a study.
As previously stated, web readers are looking for quality information. Good research is the core of this process, and it’s what gives your content value.
#2 – The Ability to Write Extremely Quickly
For an SEO content writer, efficiency is a key skill that can make or break a career. Bloggers who are fast will always come out ahead of those who are slow––although they still need to make sure that quality doesn’t suffer in the process.
Demand for Volume
Many businesses have a serious need for blog material. In 2016, Demand Gen Report found that 47% of buyers looked at three to five pieces of content before they decided to make a purchase. A successful blog needs large quantities of content if it’s going to satisfy reader expectations.
Companies don’t just need recent content on their sites––they need a lot of it. It’s not enough to have one or two posts, and that means that a writer who can supply these quickly will have a serious advantage.
Every Word Counts
On top of that, the typical content writing job pays by the word, not by the hour. A writer who gets lost or bogged down in projects simply won’t experience the same success as a writer who maintains the momentum, even if both writers spend the same amount of time on a piece. The more material a blogger can create, the better.
Writing Speed vs. Typing Speed
A typical typing speed for an average office worker is usually in the range of 38-40 words per minute. Professional writers often clock in at 60, 70, or even higher.
You would think that it would be easy to estimate a writer’s productivity over the course of an hour: simply take their typing speed (measured in minutes) and multiply by 60. Under this system, a writer could be expected to finish about 3600-4200 words every hour.
In reality, even a fast author is not going to whip up a blog article this quickly. Typing speed only measures the swiftness of a typist who already knows what’s going to be said––and figuring this out is the actual “work” of writing.
As a result, most authors will produce between 500 and 2000 words an hour, depending on the writer and the difficulty of the material. If you’re an SEO content writer, how do you keep up the speed over the course of hours or a day?
How to Boost Your Writing Speed
One of the best things you can do is plan ahead. Know what you want to say ahead of time, even if it’s a short article.
Do your research ahead of time, too. Identify key stats or facts that you know will be relevant to your topic, and create a separate file for them. When you come to a point where one of them will be particularly useful, simply drop them in and continue writing.
It can also help to create a short outline, which will help prevent you from getting off-topic or repeating one of your main points.
By taking a few minutes to plan both your research and your writing, you can save yourself hours over the course of a writing week.
#3 – The Ability to Use SEO the Right Way
There’s a big difference between researching a topic and researching SEO. Search Engine Optimization will help get readers to your website, but it doesn’t necessarily provide them with value all by itself.
Researching Keywords
Figuring out which keywords to use is a big part of being an SEO content writer. If the writer is a freelancer, it will be important for them to study trends and pick out choices that are right for the client.
If the writer works with a company like SteadyContent, this research may already be done ahead of time by a core of experts.
Blending Keywords and Content
Another challenge for a writer is making sure that keywords seamlessly integrate with the blog post itself. This can become more difficult if the keyword is multiple words long, but this is more and more the norm, and writers must adjust.
Longer searches with “long-tail keywords” are increasing in frequency. Part of this is driven by changing technology that uses voice commands. Searches done using Alexa or mobile voice will sound more like human speech. These days, about 50% of Google searches are four or more words in length.
As SEO becomes more specialized, the best writers are learning to adapt and create content that uses long-tail keywords without compromising the quality of the material.
SEO Writers at SteadyContent
If you’re a business owner and you’re looking for help with your commercial blog, you’ve come to the right place. At SteadyContent, we have been creating blogs for companies like yours for the last decade.
Our team of over 550 writers creates superior content at a rate of 5 million words a month. The work is completely unique and contains Search Engine Optimized keywords that have been specifically chosen for your company.
Our SEO team uses the best and most current research software, pulling from search data that is constantly updated. Our writers have been selected from the top 5% of applicants to ensure the best quality content in every post.
We are currently offering a trial package that allows for new customers to get a post risk-free, so you can try our content and see how it all works. If you haven’t worked with us before, give us a call––and discover the difference that SteadyContent can make for you!
Quality seo and backlinks is a must, ALWAYS!
As a writer myself, I agree on each and every step of this article. Good one.