How To Write Content For People and Optimize for Google?

This is for anybody who is writing content for online use. Are you the owner of a blog? Do you want some tips on how to write in such a way that better appeals to your readers? Or are you a writer putting together articles for someone else?

There are many resources on the internet about how SEO works. (SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization) works. While we will address that briefly, the purpose of this guide is how to write content that people will want to read.

A Quick Overview of SEO

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization is the holy grail of internet speak. SEO is how to make your website show up on the first page when people search for something online. This would be the Google search engine most of the time. People treat SEO like it’s some mysterious secret sauce. Nobody knows the exact formula that Google uses but you can break it down into some pretty basic steps.

1. Keywords – Keywords are the words that people type into Google when looking for something. When writing content it’s important to use these keywords frequently. Keywords are the King of SEO. Google’s job is to find pages that get the user answers. The easier you make it for Google to identify your main topic, the more likely it will rank higher in the search results.

2. Links – Putting hyperlinks into your content will do a couple things to optimize your Google results. It will make the content more interesting for your readers. The more time visitors stay on your site and the more times they come back, the higher rating Google will give your site.

Linking to other sites also increasing the likelihood that other sites will like to you. The more others link your site, the higher your page will rate.

3. Traffic – Google is looking to see how many people visit your site. The more people that visit, the more important or interesting it must be (at least that’s what Google is counting on). There are ways to increase traffic but the best way to keep the traffic that you get is to offer great content.

How to Write Great Content for People?

The focus of the rest of this How To Guide is how to write for people and not how to write for SEO. SEO is important but getting higher on the ranking will not last if your content isn’t any good.

Write to your audience

If you’re writing about pipe repair, sewer drain service and plumbing, who exactly is your audience? If your customer is another pipe company, you need to focus on writing technically-sound content that works in the B2B market. But if you’re working exclusively with Jane & John Doe Homeowner, then you might need to bring down the level of expertise to layman’s terms. The Drain Doctor and Licensed Plumber, a plumber and pipe repair company in New Jersey, has clients in both groups – so for example they have to walk a fine line between those two customer bases.

Write for Easy Reading

People go online for all sorts of reasons. They shop. They research. The watch videos. But one thing is common among nearly everybody online, they want whatever they are looking for to be quick and easy. Write articles in such a way that people enjoy reading them.

Write for 6th Graders

This doesn’t mean dumbing down your content. It means using simple, everyday language. Don’t use a 14 letter word when a 5 letter will suffice.

Hyperlink

Linking was mentioned earlier but this is for a different reason. You want to link sparingly. Nothing is more annoying that having every third word underlined in blue. It makes reading difficult. But if linking creates value to the reader, by all means, link to another page. If you want to prove that your site is a source of valuable information, try linking to another article or page on your own website.

Small Paragraphs

When writing content for online some of the things you learned in middle school writing 101 gets thrown out the window. Paragraphs don’t need to always have a topic sentence, body sentences, and a concluding sentence. Use paragraph breaks to help the reader stay on track and enjoy the article.

Sometimes less is more.

Why Should I Care?

The “I” in this question refers to the reader. You don’t want content on your site that is there only for SEO. Always write with the reader in mind. Provide them the information you think they are looking for quickly and in an appealing way. Once you’ve done that, be done and let them move one and appreciate your thoughtful and helpful article.

The best way to sum up the question “How to Write Content for People?” is to apply the golden rule. Next time you are reading on some website and you really like the content, stop and ask yourself why you like it. Then go and do that for others.