Desperate for a career change? If you are a passionate writer, you might want to explore how to become an SEO freelance writer. This line of work offers you the opportunity to do what you love, and on top of that – do it flexibly and remotely. Yet, before you start dreaming about all the countries where you will be able to work as a digital nomad, some preparation and instruction will do you good. So, read on to find out how to become the best SEO writer you can be! There is more to being an SEO writer than knowing how to write crisp, informative, eloquent, and mistake-free texts. Of course, the mentioned qualities are part and parcel of producing SEO-optimized content. Still, search engine optimized writing also requires advanced research skills and good time management. But no need to worry. We will dissect everything to get you going. Even though Google renews its algorithmic patterns quite often, the fundamentals of SEO writing do not change.
Your writing needs to focus on the needs of the reading audience
People usually associate good writing with being eloquent, having an extensive vocabulary, and writing intricate sentences. Of course, being good with words is undoubtedly useful. But, it can be a double-edged sword when you are an SEO freelance writer.
So, as much as you may aspire to write like one of the greats like Hemingway, anything too elaborate might just unnecessarily confuse the reader. Therefore, you should avoid writing ornate, over-the-top noun phrases or sentences. Clarity and ease of reading are what you should aim for at all times. You are writing for the target audience, not for yourself. Keeping it short, sweet, and informative is key to becoming a successful SEO freelance writer.
Target long-tail keywords
Using effective keywords is the bedrock of good SEO writing. Hence, seamlessly incorporating them into your text is a skill to master. Yet, considering how much SEO content is being created on a daily basis, simple, one-word keywords won’t do.
In other words, you cannot achieve a favorable Google ranking with ineffective, short keywords. This is because long-tail keywords help you achieve a good conversion rate since they outperform simpler, shorter keywords. So, when you are writing about a particular topic, make sure you identify long-tail keywords your audience is likely to search on Google. In sum, effective keyword research and comprehensive implementation of its variations is the primary building block of SEO writing.
The longer the article, the better
Whereas your sentences should be shorter for clarity, it is better to aim for a greater word count in total. For your content to achieve a high ranking, the optimal length of the text should contain anywhere from 2000 to 2500 words.
Yet, keep in mind that you still have to steer clear from fluff. That is, you should write meaningful, purposeful sentences. Repetition of the same idea using different wording will make your text unreadable. So, rather than frustrate the reader, write quality content instead. All of this means you need to do a lot of research to produce content that is both long and informative.
Having a lot to say on the given topic will also make incorporating backlinks leading to your client’s blog posts or services smoother. Just as you need to determine and fit in search engine optimized keywords without your phrasing sounding forced, the backlinks also need to be skillfully tailored to suit the topic you are writing about. Luckily, you can always rely on Link Department and similar companies as they can help you work on your link-building techniques.
Hone your research skills
As we already mentioned, you need to be a master researcher to be able to become an SEO freelance writer. In fact, the best SEO writers are the most persistent and thorough researchers. So, you need to be tenacious when it comes to reading through the most recent knowledge on your topic of interest.
In the world of SEO writing, it is often said that you should gather five times the amount of useful information than what you need to write your content. As much as this may sound redundant to you now, executing your research to this effect makes sense. Most SEO writers aim to specialize in particular niches, so no amount of research you do is in vain. Namely, the more knowledgeable you are on the topic, the easier it will be to write great SEO texts down the line.
Of course, this does not mean you need to invest more time into researching than writing the content every single time. However, at times, this may be a necessity, especially at the beginning of your career as an SEO freelance writer. But do not let this discourage you. You will have to become an expert on the industry-specific topics you are writing on. And the only way to become one is to commit yourself to do a lot of research. Knowledge does not come easy, but once it does, all the effort and persistence will be more than worth it!
Know your enemy
Or in other words, read and analyze the texts that already describe the topic you are writing about. In most cases, your content will compete against other articles that already exist on the web. Your task is to dissect these texts and see how you can outperform them. It might be the more logical structuring of information (lists and subheadings are your friends!). It might be the amount of useful information your text provides to the reader, or the visual aids you incorporate into the text that makes it more memorable and engaging for the reader. Whichever strategy you choose, studying the competitor texts will help you become an SEO freelance writer that can handle any topic out there.
