What are SEO articles?

What are SEO articles?

Content quality plays a crucial role in boosting your website’s search engine rankings. But what’s the difference between SEO articles and other types of written content?

SEO articles are pieces of content created to attract search engine traffic – they’re specifically designed to rank highly in search engine results for certain keywords. Done well, these articles blend compelling writing with optimisation techniques to appeal to search algorithms as well as readers.

So, what exactly makes a good SEO article?

How SEO articles make a difference

You might have heard the phrase ‘content is king’, and engaging content is key for any business building a brand. But using SEO best practices when creating that content can elevate it to new heights in terms of its impact for your business.

This is because SEO helps improve website visibility on search engines, increasing organic traffic and potential customer reach. SEO-friendly content can boost your site’s SERP rankings, making your business more noticeable and accessible to those searching for products or services you offer.

It also enhances user experience (UX), encouraging visitors to spend more time on your site and potentially convert. Investing in long-term SEO content means your business can significantly improve its online presence and growth potential.

The structure of an SEO article

Keywords

The first thing to think about is what your target audience is searching for online and how you can provide the content they need.

Keywords are terms or phrases people use to search for content online. If you use specific words or phrases in an SEO article, the article will be more likely to rank in search results for those phrases, so your audience will be able to find your information on the subject.

Tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs can provide valuable insights into popular search terms related to your topic.

There are two types of keywords – primary and secondary. Primary keywords (also known as focus keywords) are the main terms you want your content to rank for in search engines and are indicative of your article’s topic. Secondary keywords are additional terms or phrases that are related to and support the primary keyword. While the content may not specifically aim to rank for these keywords, it can still help with increasing visibility.

However, not all keywords are equally rankable, so you need to bear keyword difficulty in mind. This indicates how difficult it could be for your website to rank for a particular keyword. This can be affected by your website’s domain authority – if it’s high enough, you could find it relatively easy, but if it’s too low, you might struggle to rank above your competitors.

Read about the importance of long-tail keywords.

Title

The H1 title – the main headline of your article – plays a crucial role in SEO. It’s the first thing both users and search engines come across.

Including your primary keyword in this H1 title signifies the main topic to both readers and search engines.

Besides stating to readers exactly what your article is about, an engaging title can entice users to read your content, increasing the likelihood of engagement and sharing, which can positively impact your SEO.

From an SEO perspective, the H1 title tag signals the primary topic of your webpage to search engines. The search engine can then determine how relevant your content is to a user’s search query. This is why it’s so important to include your primary keyword in the H1 title – it helps search engines understand what your content focuses on, improving its chance of ranking for that keyword.

Headers

H2 to H6 headers and sub-headers do several jobs when it comes to SEO.

Besides directing the flow of an article and grouping together information so it’s easier to read and understand, these headers improve UX (important for SEO) and help search engines understand the hierarchy of the article. They also present an opportunity to include related keywords, further signalling to search engines what the content is about.

Accessibility is a large part of SEO, with some search engines heavily prioritising it. Headers are key for users with visual impairments who use screen readers. These headers provide a roadmap of the content, allowing users to understand its structure, navigate through the text easily and jump to sections of interest.

Meta description

A meta description is a brief summary of a webpage’s content that appears in search engine results. It’s significant to SEO because it’s often a user’s first glimpse of your content.

A compelling meta description can boost the click-through rate (CTR) of a webpage, indirectly affecting SEO, as this indicates to search engines that your website is a valuable resource.

To search engines, a well-crafted meta description indicates that your webpage provides relevant and useful information that’s relevant to a user’s search query.

Title tags

Title tags essentially act like headlines for your webpage and are displayed in search engine results and browser tabs.

As part of an SEO article, title tags tell search engines about the topic of your webpage. Including your primary keyword in these title tags can help search engines decide the relevance of your page in response to a search query. This in turn improves your visibility and ranking potential.

A well-written, engaging title tag can also increase the CTR from the search results page, providing a positive signal to search engines about the relevance and quality of your content.

Want to know how well your SEO content is performing? Find out how our SEO audit and content audit services can help.

The content of an SEO article

Research

As a business providing valuable information and insights to target customers, it’s important to fully research your content to ensure it is factually accurate.

Research is critical to creating a compelling, SEO-friendly article. It helps to ensure that your content is relevant and valuable to your audience, which can increase engagement and improve your website’s visibility on SERPs. Carefully consider the credibility and authority of your sources.

Look at the ‘People also ask’ and ‘Related searches’ sections in Google SERPs when researching a topic or a particular keyword. These can offer insights into what people are actually looking for and help you fully cover a topic.

Copy

Creating authentic, genuine and valuable copy is essential for SEO as search engines prefer high-quality content that provides actionable value to users. This kind of content tends to be shared more frequently, generating backlinks that improve your website’s authority and SEO performance.

From a reader’s perspective, valuable content answers queries, provides useful insights or entertains – fostering trust and encouraging people to return to your site.

Badly-written copy or articles stuffed with keywords not only provide a poor UX but also risk your website being penalised by search engines. This can detrimentally impact your rankings. Always aim for original, engaging and reader-friendly content that is well-structured for successful SEO.

Read about how good content can boost customer loyalty.

Links

Links are vital for SEO as they help to show search engines that your content has credibility and authority. Inbound links (from other reputable sites to yours) signal that your content is valuable and trustworthy, while internal links (linking within your own website) help with navigation and indexing.

To generate links, prioritise creating high-quality, shareable content. You could also establish relationships with relevant industry websites or influencers. Also consider guest posting to gain valuable backlinks.

Find out about our link-building services.

Images

Besides being visually appealing and supporting your copy, images have a role to play in SEO.

Search engines index images, so properly optimised images – pictures that are the right size, using alt text, descriptions, with relevant file names that contain primary keywords – can all help to increase visibility in search results. This information can also help visually impaired readers who are using screen reading technology.

If you don’t have the time or resources to create your own high-quality images, you could use copyright-free images from online platforms like Unsplash or Pixabay. Always remember to respect the licensing agreements on these platforms and give credit when necessary in your content.

How do I create the best SEO articles?

Writing the best SEO articles requires a blend of writing skills and SEO knowledge.

Begin by understanding your audience and their search behaviour. Take any insights you gather from your research to help you pinpoint relevant keywords that can then inform your content strategy. You can then use this information to inform your content structure, headers, order of copy and image searches.

Creating fantastic, SEO-friendly content can take time, so partnering with an SEO content agency could benefit to your business. Saving time by working with SEO experts can mean you’re able to focus on other parts of your job.

An SEO content agency will have expertise in keyword research, content creation and bespoke SEO strategies, as well as the latest algorithm changes. An agency can increase your chances of SEO success, improving your visibility in search engine results, driving more organic traffic and increasing your chances of conversion.

Submerge’s content team consists of journalists, seasoned editors and proven writers who understand the importance of SEO in content marketing. With our help, we can get your business to the top of the first page of SERPs and keep it there.

Contact Submerge today to discuss your SEO needs.