Award-winning Copywriter Kate Toon shares her best tips on clever SEO copywriting. Learn how to tell if your copy is rubbish or really good, how to choose the best keywords and how to write for humans while optimising for Google.

5 Questions You Can Answer After Listening To This Episode On Copywriting for SEO With Kate Toon:

1. Can I write my own copy or should I hire a professional?

2. How do I choose the best keywords for my website and content?

3. True or false: Kate Toon is an excellent hula hooper.

4. How can I write copy that’s attractive to Google and my audience?

5. According to Google, who is the best copywriter in Australia?

What do you get when an SEO specialist / daggy dad joke enthusiast interviews one of Sydney’s best Copywriters?

If you guessed “a whole heap of helpful SEO copywriting advice, punctuated by a few hilariously awkward moments,” then you’ve already listened to this podcast episode — great job, thanks!

An award-winning copywriter, Kate has written for a tonne of big businesses and small brands. In addition to co-hosting the Hot Copy podcast, Kate has just released her first book: Confessions of a Misfit Entrepreneur: How to Succeed in Business Despite Yourself.

Over the past few years, Kate’s begun to focus more on teaching others her tricks of the trade. She’s now the “Head Chef” of Recipe for SEO Success, an SEO eCourse, blog and podcast for small business owners and bloggers looking to improve their SEO copywriting skills and achieve better results from their content marketing.

INTERLUDE! If you’ve just discovered Vicinity Marketing, below is a short video about who we are and what we do. If you just came for the article, you can simply skip past the video and keep reading

 

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Do You Need to Hire a Copywriter?

 

“Of course you could write your own copy. You could also cut your own hair.” 

— Carl Conner, Copywriter.

 

Writing is a skill we all learn at school. So yes, most people can write. Copywriting and writing for SEO however, are entirely different skills — but they can still be taught!

Aside from cutting costs, the benefit of writing your own copy is that you’re the expert on the subject. You’ve got the passion and the knowledge, you just need to find the words to express it. This may come easily for some business owners, while others find it really difficult to turn their thoughts into copy.

But how can you tell if your writing is rubbish or not?

There are tools like Hemingway and Grammarly to help you with spelling and structure, but otherwise copywriting is so subjective. The only way to really know if copy is good is if it works. Does it sell your products/services well? Are people responding to your calls to action? Are your keywords ranking as they should?

Copywriters make it their business to create copy that works. They use their skills and creativity, A.K.A. “magic juju” to turn your knowledge into words that are compelling, entertaining and inspire action.

So, can business owners cut their own hair?

Yes, but first learn how to hold the scissors. Otherwise just go to the hairdresser, they always make it look nice.

 

Should we be Writing for Humans or for Google?

Copywriting is, and always will be about writing for your (human) audience.

Many business owners and copywriters can get sidetracked trying to take short cuts and cater for new algorithms, while sacrificing the quality of their copy.

Long story short, Google is getting so smart that if you write for humans, you’re going to impress not only your potential customers, but Google as well.

 

Keyword Optimisation on your Website: Where to Begin?

First Things First: Format

As any copywriter knows, trying to start writing anything from an empty page is madness. To get inspiration and get the ball rolling, plan the format of your site and the structure of your copy first. Once you’ve written some notes and rough headlines, you can begin to understand the types of keywords you’ll want to rank for.

Then, Before Anything Else: Keyword Research

If your list of potential keywords is short, use tools like Ubersuggest, KeywordTool or — our immature host’s favourite — Keyword Shitter for inspiration.

Once you’ve got a big list of possible keywords, check your tools to see which ones are the most popular. If every one of your competitors are trying to rank for the same keywords, it might be better to choose something slightly different or more specific.

Other than tools, one of the best ways to find the right keywords is to “go incognito” (make sure you’ve turned off personalised search) and do some Googling of your own. Be sure and take note of what types of content is appearing in your searches, such as video or infographics. That way you will know what kind of content you should be producing in order to rank well.

And Remember: Don’t Overdose on Local Keywords

Ranking for local keywords can be really hard for service-area businesses with no physical location in the targeted area.

RESIST THE TEMPTATION to optimise every single one of your pages for the same keywords, they’ll only compete with one another and turn Google off!

Sometimes focusing on SEO won’t be the most successful avenue for a service business. Instead, try focusing on building a recognisable, likeable brand and creating quality content that people will want to share and talk about. This is really something that all small businesses should be doing anyway!

 

Selling the “Unsellable”

Some products and services may be more glamorous than others, but there is no such thing as a boring business.

Marketing for accountants, sandwich shops and plumbers can be engaging, insightful — even entertaining. Your branding and content just needs to connect with your audience, and to do that you need to understand three things about them:

1. What they think of your product/service
2. What they want from your product/service
3. What they fear most from your product/service

Try to resist the temptation to be funny and entertaining all the time. Connecting with your audience is less about making them laugh (although that can be great in the right circumstances) and more about being “knowing”. You are more likely to strike up a connection by being useful and empathising with their problems, their needs and their frustrations.

 

Social Media Etiquette

When someone visits your website, there’s a good chance they’re interested in what you have to say. When they’re scrolling on Facebook however, they’re pretty much just interested in funny cat videos. So what’s the difference between social media copy and website copy? Remember that you’re not invited.

If you have to boost, don’t bother

Don’t waste money on boosting a post that nobody wants to look at in the first place.

Don’t ask for anything

Aside from annoying your audience, social media algorithms really frown upon posts that beg for clicks and likes.

Be generous

Here’s where you can hand out your “top of the funnel” goodies like really useful content, freebies and discounts.

Build relationships

Social media is more of a two-way conversation compared to your website, so it’s ok to have a slightly more familiar tone — as long as it aligns with the rest of your brand story.

 

Kate’s Top 5 Tips for Writing Interesting SEO Copy

1. Use Odd Phrasing 

Read your copy out loud. If it sounds like everything else you’ve ever read, take the cliché and turn it on its head (but try not to rhyme).

2. Speak Your Audiences’ Language 

This is particularly important with the growth of voice search. If you speak the way your audience does, not only will it be easier for them to find you, but they’ll understand you better.

3. Answer Questions Quickly 

If you’ve got the answer to a question, make it super obvious! Featured snippets are a fantastic way to get your business right at the very top of a Google search.

4. Write For Who You’re Writing For

Write for your audience, with your audience in mind, not for Google. Yes you should optimise your title tag, meta description and content to rank for your keywords, but it is equally important to be compelling, to get people interested enough to click.

5. What is the Magic Number for Word Length?

How long is a piece of code? It really depends on the type of content, because Google is judging you on quality and relevance. It’s true that mobile is showing no signs of slowing down. So while small “snack” content is very popular, there is still very much a place for longer, in-depth web pages and content.

 

To find out more about today’s guest Kate Toon, follow her on Twitter and connect with her on LinkedIn. Don’t forget to check out her new book “How to Succeed in Business Despite Yourself”.

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