I have been given an amazing opportunity to refine my SEO skills by one of my clients. When I have a client tell me they would like to invest in my education, it always humbles me. To say I wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of so many, is an understatement.
Here are a few things that I am learning in my SEO copywriting sessions.
Headings Should Be Between 45-70 Characters Long
I had no idea that headings should be this long. There are a few reasons the length is such a big deal. For one thing, it gives google a better understanding of the content on your page.
Appeal to Those That Skim Your Content
With the amount of content a person consumes in a day, they can’t possibly read every word written. A catch title gets them to click on the article, but if it is not formatted in a simple way, they will move along.
Paragraphs Should Be About 3 Sentences and No More
Again, for a person to skim over your content and get an idea of what you are talking about, smaller paragraphs are in order. Try to make each paragraph no more than three sentences long if possible. Not to say that you can’t ever group less or more together, but three is ideal.
Aim For 180-210 Characters Per Paragraph
Not only should each group of sentences be limited to about three, the length of the sentences also matter. Three sentences that are too short or too long should be avoided.
Avoid Overly Complicated Sentences and The Passive Voice
This has been one of the most difficult concepts for me to understand. Knowing what makes a sentence complicated is a bit of challenge on its own. The other problem I have had is identifying the passive voice.
I was introduced to an incredible tool that helps me keep my passive voice and complicated sentences to a minimum. You can check it out here. Hemingway has really helped me understand the deficiency in my writing.
By the way, I am not a Hemingway affiliate of any kind and I wasn’t paid to write about them. When I see a program that helps me out, I want to give a shout out.
Using Too Many Adverbs Should Be Avoided
While adverbs are not all bad, they should be avoided as much as possible. A lot of times, adverbs are just additional words that are not pertinent to the text.
For example, I use the word “really” really often. (See!) The adverb really just increases my word count without adding value to the context. My writing can do without the use of adverbs.
Again, Hemingway helps you to identify adverbs. I have found it really helpful that as I type a word in the program, it shows me what I am doing. I’ve gotten into some really bad habits in my writing.
These are just a few of the things I’m learning in my SEO copywriting sessions. It has been eye-opening along with down right frustrating at time. For those that are interested in becoming a better copywriter, I suggest you keep pushing on. One day, you will get there as well.
