Writing is a huge part of automotive SEO, whether you like writing your content yourself or whether you hire someone else to do the writing.
But especially if you are new to search engine optimization, how can you know if the content you are writing or the content you are paying for is actually meeting your needs.
The very best way is to wait and see if your campaign is successful, but there are a few dos and don’ts that you can use to make sure your writing is as good as it can possible be.
Do
- Use a SEO tool
There are a few different SEO tools available to you,
Yoast being one of the most popular, especially if your website is a WordPress site.
These tools will evaluate your content to make sure that it is, at least on the surface level, good for your SEO campaign.
It tracks what keywords you use, how often you use them, if they are included in the right places, etc.
While using one of these tools does not necessarily guarantee that you are going to be able to rank highly, it does make sure that all of the ingredients are there, which is especially useful for those who are new to automotive SEO.
- Use semantically similar keywords
This doesn’t mean you should choose a bunch of keywords that are all the same with a few semantic differences.
It means that once you have chosen the keyword you are going to be optimizing for, it is imperative that you also use synonyms of those keywords.
Google is not just looking for the exact keyword that the searcher uses in your text.
It is looking for context clues to make sure that your content is relevant to the search term.
Using synonyms (and simply writing a post that is relevant to your search term) is going to help you get on the map.
- Learn how to use your keywords
Many posts will tell you to strive for a certain keyword density.
The truth is that if you are aiming to use a certain keyword a certain number of times in your content, you are not going to be focusing on simply writing the very best content for that topic.
If you are going to worry about keyword density, in between one percent and two percent is acceptable.
Once you’ve written your content, however, read it out loud.
If you are hearing the same phrase over and over, you need to start cutting out a few incidences of your keyword. Don’t forget, Google will penalize you for keyword stuffing.
- Link to other pieces of content
Whether in your blog or simply on other pages of your website, do not be afraid to use a link to refer a reader to another piece of content that you think would be useful or interesting.
Maybe this blog post is an extension of another blog post.
Maybe it is closely related to a topic you’ve written about before.
Either way, internal linking is great for automotive SEO and it helps keep people on your website longer.
- Use calls to action
Many people neglect to use direct calls to action (like “Call Us Today!” or “Come Visit Us Now!” because they feel too pushy.
The truth is, however, that if you are not directly telling your website visitors what you want them to do, you are going to see a steep decline in conversions.
Tell your site visitors what you want them to do.
Don’t
- Use your keywords to pick your topics
If you first find a keyword and then adapt your topic so that it centers on that keyword, you are compromising the integrity of your copy.
Keyword research should be part of your topic generation, but only so far as to tell you what sorts of topics your readers might be interested in.
Your keyword should not be so important that it trumps a relevant, important issue that you want to talk about.
If you feel that the keyword you are trying to include does not work with the topic you are writing about, it is not closely enough related to that topic and should probably be removed.
- Write with a boring style
Easier said than done, of course
Writing an engaging post can be difficult and it is definitely an amorphous concept.
There are plenty of different writing styles that work.
What you do not want, however, is a stale, boring style that no one enjoys reading.
This is usually a result of not wanting to take a stand on a topic and not wanting to write anything risky.
No one is going to read and engage with your content if it is stale.
Take some risks!
- Make your paragraphs too long
Remember that you are writing in the age of the mobile phone.
Many of your site visitors are going to be reading your content on their small smart phone screens.
If your paragraphs are too long, they are probably going to click away, instead of trying to swim through the long paragraphs.
Even if your post itself is long, try to shorten up your paragraphs and include more white space.
- Stuff your keywords
This is probably one of the worst offenses and something that search engines will punish you severely for.
How can you know if you are keyword stuffing?
If you are writing awkward sentences to try to include your keyword, you’re stuffing.
If you are using your keyword more than once a paragraph, you are definitely stuffing.
If you read your post out loud and you can hear the keyword being repeated over and over, you are stuffing!
