“How do I do SEO?”

I hear y’all. I do. 

The internet is wide, large, and loud. You need to be heard and found. People search the internet every day. If only Google would work WITH you, you’d be homefree. Six figures. Booking vacations. Rubbing your success in your 4th grade bully’s face. (Hey, if she watches your Instagram stories, that her own deal.)

But if you want to be found in searches, we need to back up about ten paces before we start worrying about keyword strategy.

“Wait… what do you mean, *IF* I want to show up in these searches?”

Some businesses need to invest in SEO. Some don’t. Don’t let someone try to sell you something you don’t need.

Who do you want to work with? How do you usually close sales? Is there another marketing system that makes more sense? Do people search for what you do?

(They don’t search very often for “website copywriters,” I can tell you that.)

Maybe you’d prefer not to get every rando on the internet emailing you to ask you for a quote.

Sometimes web traffic is the thing to invest in. Sometimes not. 

I’m happy to chat strategy with you if you’re not sure.

“Where do I start if I want to show up more?”

If you really, super have to rank, you’re going to hire someone to get you there.

If you want to experiment with DIY SEO, you can start by identifying keywords that you want to rank for.

But a lot of SEO isn’t done when you’re writing copy. A lot of it isn’t done on the backend of your site with technical magic. It’s more about showing up as an authority on the internet.

Authority work that links to your site? Win-win. Think of things like:

• Hosting a podcast
• Guesting on podcasts
• Speaking gigs
• Guest posting on industry websites
• Sponsoring events (helps a lot with local SEO)

“Should I write a blog?”

If you absolutely love the idea of it.

It’s a lot of work. One blog post from two years ago will not inspire confidence in readers. 

Keyword 101 

Make a cup of coffee and sit down for a moment. I’m here to tell you about a story about a penguin, a panda, and a hummingbird.

It is not nearly as cute as it sounds.

When someone makes a search on Google, Google takes a look at everything the company has indexed, all across the internet, and uses its algorithm to give the user back the most pertinent information. That’s why we use Google—because it works. Most of the time.

Penguin, Panda, Hummingbird, and Fred (yes, Fred) are all code names for Google algorithms, which are being tweaked and changed all the time—maybe once or twice a month. Google doesn’t always announce changes.

Surprise!

You know how this works. When someone searches for “cat photographer,” a number of websites pop up. In this case, “cat photographer” is a search term. If you want that search term to find your delightful internet home, you use “cat photographer” on your website as one of your keywords.

Keyword Research

First, you need to find out what search terms people are using to find you or your competitors.

I’m not even going to pretend like I’m the best person to talk to about this.

Check out beginner’s guide.

The point? Start thinking about what keywords you want to rank for BEFORE you start writing.

You can pay people money to do this for you if you like.

Make a list

Still on board?

You have:

• thought about what kinds of traffic you’d like
• done some keyword research to find long and short keywords, and
• put them all in a neat and tidy list

Maybe a spreadsheet. I love a good spreadsheet.

And then…

Put away the list and start writing

I know, I’m sending you mixed messages. Yes, you’ll need to know what keywords you want to rank for before you start writing the bulk of your project.

But.

Don’t worry about putting those actual keywords in until your second or third draft.

Your copy needs to be written with your ideal client in mind. One perfect client who loves you dearly, pays on time, and sends you chocolates on your birthday. Write to her. Sell to her.

Make things clear. Or, make things weird on the first draft, a little better on the second, and clear on the third.

You’ll have the opportunity to put those keywords in later, when you’re fine-tuning the message.

Go back to that list of keywords during your editing process

Once you’ve written everything, go back to your list and make sure all those keywords are included. Don’t force it. Keep it natural. If I were putting BEST PORTLAND OREGON COPYWRITER in every other paragraph, you’d be very aware of that instead of my message. The first goal is to be useful to your clients, prospects, and hot leads.

That’s it! Told you we’d keep it short(ish). If you’d like to do some extra reading on the subject, here’s some food for thought.

Don’t load your copy with keywords. Sprinkle, baby.