SEO content writing is done with the driving purpose of ranking well on search engines preferably ranking on the first page or the first spot. The most notable difference in SEO content writing from other types is that it is done by keeping both people and search engines in mind.
This is achieved by implementing the best SEO writing practices on your content. Nevertheless, mistakes happen but when mistakes happen in your SEO content writing it is not just your content that suffers, but your website as a whole.
Faults in SEO content writing can cause the website to rank poorly on search engines which is the exact opposite intent of SEO writing. From trial and error, I have learned a few techniques to avoid certain mistakes that everyone is prone to make. Here are 9 mistakes that you should definitely avoid in SEO content writing.
7 Ways To Bypass Blunders in SEO Writing
1. SEO Content Writing For Search Engines Only
Some people think that optimizing for search engines alone will make land them on the first page of search results. It is a shady tactic as far as search engines are concerned because they will find out if they are being pandered to unfavorably and punish websites by not ranking their content.
The first act of SEO content writing must be to provide value to the audience, the readers, humans, people whatever you want to call them. It should be optimized for them first then search engines as they will ultimately decide where your content will rank based on how they view it. If it provides value and is not clickbait, then we are cool.
2. Subpar Researching And Obliviousness To Audience’s Tastes
We do not just mean poor research for the topic you are writing content for. This also includes substandard keyword research and cluelessness as to what your audience likes to name a few.
Putting keywords in your content that do not rank well or rank too well (high competition) can affect your SEO negatively. Choose keywords relevant to your niche and topic with regard to their traffic potential and search volume.
Search volume is touched upon by Ahrefs as:
Write about topics that your audience loves to read about. Hot trending topics, developments, and advancements in your niche are a good place to start. For example, if my niche is technology then I should be talking about the latest tech that is creating all the buzz like iPhone 15. No one cares about iPhone 4 or older models like that anymore.
3. Content at Odds With Search Intent
In SEO content writing, make sure the keywords that you apply in content match the search intent for which they were chosen. If I am running a bed and breakfast, then ideally, I should pick keywords that match the search intent of people searching for B&B businesses. That would bring my business to the spotlight which is what I want.
A user’s search intent will typically be to:
- Learn about something.
- Navigate the web.
- Buy something right away.
- Buy something in the future.
Choosing the wrong search intent keywords would mean my business gets no love and we are back to square one after wasting efforts on writing great SEO content.
The Solution?
I should do SEO writing by optimizing keywords for search terms like “Best Bed and Breakfasts in *insert my city name*” and I am golden.
4. Rebuke Keyword Stuffing With Online Paraphrasers
Long gone are the days, when keyword density in your content meant your site will rank top in search engines. That is not the case anymore, in fact, your site will get penalized by search engines if you engage in this behavior.
But it is an issue that is not easily solved. Some keywords will be used in successive sentences causing repetition if you do not know their synonyms leading to keyword stuffing.
The use of synonyms is a clear choice to eliminate keyword stuffing but not everyone has a great grasp of vocabulary. You may consult dictionaries or thesauruses to find alternate words without changing the original word’s sense.
But consulting thesauruses will not automatically salvage your situation as they do not provide information on which synonym to use in which context. Leaving you to fend for yourself.
To combat this, I would suggest using online tools to effectively avoid keyword stuffing. Paraphrase online using these tools without changing the original word’s sense via expert use of synonyms efficiently. These tools take the work away from your hands by making these choices for you and doing a great job at it.
Paraphraser can do just that with its cutting-edge AI paraphrasing based on NLP. It provides quality results, devoid of keyword stuffing without compromising speed. The ease of use as shown below will make you want to use it every time for changing words.
My keyword in this instance is “AI chatbots.” I used the word changer mode of this paraphraser to remove keyword stuffing and it worked like a charm by replacing it with the right synonyms.
5. Wrong Use of Header Tags
Heading tags break down your SEO-written content into subtopics. It is a way of improving readability and how search engines determine what your content is about. Your main heading or h1 tag tells people and search engines what your content is about.
If it does not match what you are writing about then you need to rethink your h1. h2 subheadings and h3, and h4 are subtopics that must follow the same suit. They should be about what they say they are.
For example, my h1 is about “5 Cars with Best Fuel Mileage”. My h2 instead of being related to h1, is about “Best Motorbikes with Great Fuel Mileage” or “5 Cars With Best Gas Mileage”. It is off the mark, misses the point, and serves to confuse readers and search engines alike. My accurate h2 would be something like “5 Motorcars Offering Top Fuel Consumption Rate” and subtopics would be the cars with the best mileage.
6. Not Knowing Your Content-Length
I get it. I have been there and done it. Articles are piling up and there are word counts to meet so you start sacrificing quality for quantity. That is not to say that short content cannot be of quality or provide value. Long-length articles with fluff will not do you any good either. I am saying it simply depends on the subject you are writing about.
For example, if you are doing a comprehensive guide for a topic as broad as affiliate marketing, you are going to need a long-form article. Short-form SEO content writing would just butcher the “comprehensive guide” part of it.
But it’s not that black and white. SEO content writing length should ideally be enough to satisfy the searcher’s intent. Once you know what are going to write about, research the content on search engines to see the top-ranking content for that topic. This will give you a good idea of content length and popular formats that rank well for SEO content writing.
7. External Links To Wrong Websites
This may look harmless, to give any website external links in your SEO content not considering their rating, reputation, or relevance to your niche. In practice, however, it is very harmful and search engines actually punish both websites.
Before handing out external links to websites like it is Christmas and You Are Santa Claus, inspect the websites in detail. Ascertain that they are of top quality and worthy of external links that will benefit both of you. It should be relevant to your niche and if not then it must be relevant to the content you are writing as I have demonstrated in this article.
There is also the issue of putting too many external links in your SEO content writing. Search engines view it as “spammy” if external links are all a website offers plus it is annoying for readers if they have to keep leaving your website.
It is easily solvable by including a few external links to quality websites and discounting the rest that provides nothing in value.
Conclusion
SEO is a billion-dollar industry that is continuing to grow by the day. It makes sense that people would jump on the opportunity of SEO content writing, but people do not proceed with caution when handling this task.
Mistakes in SEO content writing can cause poor rankings at best, and penance on your website’s SEO at worst. Do not treat SEO content writing lightly in any manner. Do your research, match the search intent, paraphrase to avoid keyword stuffing, and provide quality links in your content. But most of all, do SEO writing keeping people in mind first.
