We all want to reach the top of Google & other search engines with the help of SEO: Because organic conversion is free, and users trust organic search results more than ads. After all, they’ve found the result themselves.

However, writing for search engines and in line with SEO rules is not an easy task. Writers used to only focus on content, but now we also have to take technical SEO requirements into account and focus on a keyword and supporting keywords. A challenging process. Our six tips show how to write search enginge optimized copy that will make your content stand above the crowd.

SEO advice 1: first content, then keywords

If you try and fit as many SEO keywords into a text as possible, it soon starts sounding quite stiff. So we recommend going ‘old school’ when writing a text: introduction, main section, conclusion. Make sure that your text is tailored to the reading habits of web users. Once the text is finished, it’s time to weave in your SEO keyword and the supporting keywords. SEO writing therefore comes at the end, another step in the process.

SEO advice 2: use synonyms

Thankfully, our colleagues at Google & other search engines are clever engineers, and are making their search engines increasingly smart. Their algorithms can now recognise synonyms and contexts. This means that you can use alternative words and even long-winded descriptions for your keyword and supporting keywords when getting your text SEO ready.

SEO advice 3: play with formats

Who reads all the way to the end of a text nowadays? A long article might make sense for specialist topics, but our experience is that people look for entertainment. Since search engines love what’s popular, text only is no good idea (retention time and page views per session are key concepts). Here’s a few formatting ideas to stop your SEO from becoming too boring.

• Advice article (like this one)
• Photos with captions
• Infographic with written explanation
• Interview
• Article with ‘decorative materials’ like titles, subtitles, quotations and info boxes
• Q&A article (buzzword: featured snippets in search engines)

Whatever presentation you choose, test the mobile view as well. Make sure that your SEO content is still easy and enjoyable to read on mobile devices.

SEO advice 4: dip into your bag of tricks

What every SEO content manual says but is often forgotten: body text isn’t the only place you can put SEO keywords. Make sure that the keyword is in the URL, title tag, all image and video names, and above all in the heading (‘H1’). This means that your keyword has already appeared at least five times without overdoing the text. However, with all these technical tricks, don’t forget the copy itself – so make sure that the SEO keyword appears particularly frequently in the first few paragraphs of text. Google & other search engines will love you for it.

SEO advice 5: do the maths

As a rule of thumb, an SEO keyword should make up 3-5% of the text. There are various online tools you can use to check keyword density, this is one we like.

The statistics for this text are the following
Main keyword: ‘SEO’ used 34 times = 4%
Supporting keyword: ‘keyword’ used 17 times = 2%

However, this is quite a long text. A 300-word text is enough for a search engine to work with. This means that the keyword needs to appear about 15 times. Instead of using a calculation tool we recommend just highlighting the keywords in the text and then counting them up – this means that you keep an overview, and you know how much redrafting you need to do to keep the search engine happy.

SEO advice 6: don’t forget the translation

Give your translation company the right SEO keywords – because SEO keywords don’t come from dictionaries, they come from SEO specialists. And don't forget to keep an eye on what the translation company is doing, since translators are not SEO specialists. Make sure that the translator sticks as closely to your guidelines (and these tips) as the original text does.

Learnings

The good news for all fans of relevant, exciting content: high-quality material wins the day. Google clearly emphasised this by

integrating a quality algorithm into the search engine’s core algorithm with Panda. And that’s positive news because it rewards good work and not only SEO technicalities. However - good performance is much more than just SEO writing. If you want to know what else it takes, you best talk to this person.

Checklist

• SEO advice 1: content first, then keywords
  Have you written your text? Now you can add in your keyword to work on your SEO.

• SEO advice 2: use synonyms
  Write the ‘right’ text and use paraphrases for your keyword.

• SEO advice 3: play with formats
  Use formats that suit your users (and your keyword) so they truly engage with your content.

• SEO advice 4: dip into your bag of tricks
  Weave your keyword in everywhere – URL, title tag, H1-Hn, alt text, image names, image captions.

• SEO advice 5: do the maths
  4-5% keyword density is perfect for search engines.

• SEO advice 6: don’t forget the translation
  Give your translation company your keyword and supporting keywords– they won’t automatically know them.

The experts behind this article

Thanks to Fabian, Christoph, Jenny and Benoît for content and copy cleverness, and to Jérémie for the visual. This article would not have been possible without you!

Invision proposed four talks about UX copy, about process, inclusive UX copy, how UX writers and designers can better collaborate, and how to improve forms with great copy.

Biz Sanford held the first talk. She manages Shopify’s voice and tone, sets content standards, and teaches her workmates how to write their own content.
Her talk was about consistent interface content. It is a core element of a well-designed user experience. She explained how to incorporate content throughout the design process.
Her main advice was to be specific. Any Lorem ipsum text or scribble should be banished from sketching to wireframing.

My key learnings about Biz inspiring talk

Step 1: Sketching

When sketching, we don’t find the exact words that we will use in the final copy. Our content will go through feedback rounds before it is final. However, we should already chose appropriate words. We should be especially careful with the following components that are key to the functionality:

• headings for pages and sections,
• key verbs and nouns,
• buttons and link text.
  Words are essential to the user experience, they lead the user to do what they want. Sketching with words will help you have a better overview of what needs to be designed. It is useful to work with a diverse team to gather different words: don’t stick to you own jargon.

Step 2: Wireframing

Her idea to break down in a table like Googlesheets or Excel all the content elements is most interesting! It makes sure we don’t forget a piece of the scenario. I find it especially useful for multilingual websites. The table provides an overview of the naming of all elements, their translation, and any design needed (like an icon). It can be shared with all team members. It will ensure a consistent naming of the elements in all languages.

Step 3: Content in low fidelity mockups

At this stage, we use realistic content and real data. To show that it is not a finalised version of the content, we can use a funny font (like comic sans). It helps every team member understand how it works without too many explanations. We want to gather robust feedbacks on flow and functionality rather than wording or typo.
My favourite advice she gave was to use the wording of your users. You can talk to the team members who have direct contact with your customers for example. I find that a team often uses specific jargons, maybe legal or technical and often does not realise that their users speak a different language.

Step 4: Content in high fidelity mockups

At Shopify, the project team organises polish reviews. The team sits together and ‘plays’ with the product to check that everything is right.
It is definitely something I would like to start here at Liip! It’s useful to have team members who did not write the copy doing some re-readings. When we are too focused on our work, sometimes mistakes slip our notice and external advice is the key to go back on track.

Questions & Answers with Biz

It was a live talk. Wand we could ask questions and comment. Here is a few themes that came up.
Content is often dealt with at the end of a project. How to be a strong advocate for content?
Designers are content’s best ally. Designers can encourage to use real content and use it early. People will follow. The usefulness of content is self explanatory when it’s already incorporated in the design.
Consistency is essential.
Users don’t care that one team did this and another team did that. Consistency builds credibility and trust. A good option is to create a glossary where all team members can contribute. At the best, the glossary is shared with the marketing team too.
Does the layout fits the content or does the content fits the layout?
Neither! Both of them shape each other, this is why content should be involved as early as possible. Designers and content strategists should collaborate all along the way.

Further readings on content at Shopify and usefool tools

If you missed Biz’s talk and my little summary woke your curiosity up, read her blog post Words and the design process - Greetings from a friendly content strategist. She explains everything with details, sketches and images. The content of this blogpost is very similar to the content of her talk.
The content team at Shopify shares many learnings. Read their blog to learn more on content and design.
For example I recommend Product content at each stage of a project - How content strategists help teams build better products. The blogpost helps you pinpoint where and when you can add-value in a project.

Julien, who participated to the meet-up wrote a great blog post (in French) to share his personal learnings La place de la Copy dans le processus de création.

Useful tools to test the readability

To test the readability of our English content, we can use the Hemingway App.
To test the readability of our German content, we can use the website Psychometrica.
Do you have such a tool for French?

Cosy setting to enjoy the talk =)

Watching the talk together and sharing learnings

Since it was a remote talk, we created a cosy atmosphere at Liip to have a chance to discuss and share our learnings. I very much enjoyed our evening! Thanks to all participants and my team mates who make fun and projects possible everyday !