What is SEO Content? How to Use Content to Attract Customers

If Google processes 8 billion searches per day and owns 90% of search traffic, it’s probably a good idea to capture some of that for your business.

How do you do that? By creating SEO content.

SEO content is any content you create in hopes that it will rank in search results for a certain keyword.

And if you do it right, your content will start showing up for keywords your customers are searching for, which will bring more potential customers to your site.

That said, it’s not as easy as using a keyword in the title and 8 times in the body copy. (That was a great strategy in 2012, though.)

If you want to succeed with SEO content today, you’ll need to be a little bit more strategic. You’ll need to write the absolute best content on your topic and you’ll need to write with both your customer and Google in mind.

So in this post, I’ll share with you everything I know about SEO content and how to create it for your business. (I’ve been writing it since 2017.)

Over the past 2 years, I used these strategies to grow a client’s blog traffic from nothing to 25K monthly visitors and counting. And I’m following the same process now to build up my own website.

So, if you’re hoping to attract more customers to your website with content, keep reading.

What’s Inside:

• What is SEO Content?
• Why Create SEO Content?
• Types of SEO Content You Can Make
• Avoid These 4 Deadly SEO Content Mistakes
• How to Create an SEO Content Strategy
• How to Write Great SEO Content
• How to Optimize Existing Content for SEO
• Key Takeaways

What is SEO Content?

SEO content is content you create in the hopes of ranking in search results for a certain keyword.

SEO stands for search engine optimization, which is the art and science of preparing content so that search engines can find it, index it, and show it to the right people.

And content is a consumable piece of information, whether that’s something you read, listen to, or watch (or a combination of those).

Creating SEO content is a delicate balancing act of making your content helpful and interesting for your customers, while also formatting it for search engines to find.

Why Create SEO Content?

So what benefits does SEO content bring to your business? Here are five big ones:

Benefit #1 - More Traffic to Your Website

This is the whole point, right? More visitors to your website is more foot traffic to your business.

If you have a good website that introduces what you offer, and your content explains how your offers help your customer, then more traffic will naturally lead to more sales.

Benefit #2 - More Exposure For Your Business

There’s a lot of worry these days about AI and search. For example, Google sometimes answers the searcher’s question in AI-generated summaries so the searcher never clicks on any website. (These are called zero-click searches, by the way.)

But even if some of your SEO content doesn’t actually get clicked on, just having your business name pop up over and over again helps people to notice and remember you.

Just look at how much Coca-Cola pays each year in advertising so you see them everywhere you go. (It’s something like $4 billion per year.)

Benefit #3 - You Can Educate Your Customers About Your Solutions

No matter how people find your SEO content, if you create truly helpful content that answers people’s questions, it will function as an always-on salesperson for your business.

That means you can share articles with people directly, promote them on social media, or send them in email newsletters, and they will still do the work of teaching people about your solutions and how you can help them.

And when people visit your website, they’ll be able to find a rich library of content that helps them learn about your topic.

Benefit #4 - You Can Become the Go-To Resource For Your Target Customer

I think most businesses want to become leaders in their field, but it’s hard to do that just by serving customers. However, you can quickly gain recognition and authority just by publishing the best and most complete content about your industry.

Imagine becoming the go-to resource for your potential customers about your topic. They’ll naturally share your content or direct others to your website so they can learn, too. And that’s even more traffic to your business.

Benefit #5 - You Can Use Your SEO Strategy for Other Search Engines

What I’m going to teach you in this article can be used for more than just Google Search.

You’ll start to uncover how people search for your topic and what they want to learn. And you can bet that if they’re typing those keywords into Google, they’re also typing them into YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and more.

That means you can take these same keywords and use them for other types of search engines. That way, you can start getting traffic from other types of search, too.

So yes, writing SEO content can help grow your business in many ways, and the good news is, creating more content on your website doesn’t cost you a cent.

Types of SEO Content You Can Make

You may think that SEO content is all about blogging, but there’s more to it than that.

SEO content includes:

• Blog Posts & Articles
• Landing Pages
• Ecommerce Pages (Product, Collection & Category Pages)
• Free Interactive Tools (Calculators, Generators, etc.)
• Website Pages (anything with text)

Anything on your website can get picked up by search engines.

In this post, we’ll focus on creating blog content, since that’s the most common type businesses use.

But before we dive into the how of creating this content, I want to warn you about four deadly mistakes you don’t want to make when writing your SEO content.

Avoid These 4 Deadly SEO Content Mistakes

Abandon hope, all ye who make these dastardly mistakes with your SEO content. 🏴‍☠️

Or, um, just try not to do these things when you make your own content, okay?

Mistake #1 - Focusing Only On Keywords Without a Topical Map

Common SEO advice will have you write content only for certain keywords that you have a chance of ranking for.

Sure, there are some keywords that are too difficult to rank for right away. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write for them.

Your goal is to have a complete library of content on your website that your customers can use to learn everything they want to know about your topic.

Following the keywords-only strategy means that you might rank for smaller keywords like “10-minute exercises for women to do at home with no equipment” but you miss the important content your customers want to read like “how to lose weight.”

So don’t cherry pick certain keywords and leave out others. For best results, I recommend following the steps below and planning out your full topical map before creating content.

Mistake #2 - Blindly Following Ancient SEO Advice

There’s a lot of bad advice out there. Some of it is well-meaning, because the advice worked back in 2010-2020. But in 2024, Google changed its algorithm overnight, and many businesses who followed this old advice found themselves banned from Google (literally manually removed from search results).

Here’s the thing. Google’s one and only goal is to “satisfy the search.” They want their customers to find the absolute best content possible, so they work hard to make sure the content at the top of their search results is the absolute best.

They use a number of different signals to figure out what’s best, but they could care less if you use the keyword 8 times or 1 time, or if you put the keyword in all the headers or not. Plus, too many people have tried to manipulate these rules, so Google has abandoned most of them by now.

If it’s the best content possible, Google wants to put it at #1, and they will adjust their algorithms until the best content comes up to the top. So if you want to be at the top of results long term, make the best content. Period.

Mistake #3 - Generating Masses of Content With AI

There’s no problem with generating content with AI. As long as you also have a human planning it and editing it into something that’s unique, valuable, and easy to read.

But if you’re hoping to pop a keyword into a tool and generate an article that will rank, you’re going to be disappointed. Tools like AI level the playing field, which means this kind of bland content that a robot could write will no longer be good enough to rank.

The bar for good content is just getting higher. So please, follow the instructions below and do it right.

Mistake #4 - Forgetting About Your Living, Breathing Target Customers

When you start creating content for SEO, there’s a risk of focusing too much on the SEO side of things.

But everything you create has to serve your target customer. There’s no point in writing articles for keywords that don’t make sense for your customer. And there’s no point in optimizing for search engines so much that a human can’t enjoy your content.

Remember that Google wants people to be satisfied with your content. So write for your customers first, use the terms that they are actually searching for, and Google will reward you. Write for Google, and risk alienating your customers and falling out of Google’s favor, too.

Phew! Okay, now you know what NOT to do. Now let’s talk about how to create an SEO content strategy that will actually grow your business.

How to Create an SEO Content Strategy

An SEO content strategy is the plan that details what kind of content you will create and how it will turn into traffic and sales for your business.

Note: In this article, I’m focusing on blog or article content, since it’s the most common type of SEO content businesses make.

Why Do You Need a Strategy?

Strategy is crucial because you can’t just write any content you think of and expect it to rank. Google wants to satisfy its customers, which means it only wants to promote trustworthy and valuable content to its searchers.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Google is that it actually reads your content. It really doesn’t.

In fact, one of Google’s ex-developers testified in court that Google doesn’t really know what your articles are about. Instead, they look at user behavior, basically if people are satisfied with your content or not.

So the point is, be the best resource on your topic that exists. Your customers will love your content, Google will realize that you’re a great resource to promote, and you will enjoy the love and admiration of both.

This guide will show you how to do this step-by-step.

Step #1 - Define Your Business Goal

What are you trying to sell? And who is your target customer? This is what you will base all of your content on. 

Start with one topic, then once you create a library of content around it, move on to the next one.

Step #2 - Choose Your First Topic

This is the main, overarching topic that your content will be about. It should be something people are actively searching for and something that naturally leads back to your topic.

This is often called a “seed keyword” or “short-tail keyword” in SEO. It should be fairly broad and break down into smaller and smaller sub-topics that you can write about.

For example, if you sell coffee beans, “coffee beans” is a great start. If you’re selling a project planning tool, you might start with “project planning.”

If people don’t know about your product or solution, you’ll have to think of something else your target customers are searching for. 

The Stages of Awareness (LINK) framework can help you figure out what your customers might be searching for when they don’t know about you yet.

Step #3 - Find Relevant Keywords Under Your Topic

The next step is to use Google Search and keyword research tools to find related keywords that fit within your topic.

Usually, these are longer keywords that add extra words after your seed keyword. 

For example, if your topic is “coffee beans,” your list of related keywords might include “coffee beans plant,” “best coffee beans,” and “coffee bean types.”

You can find these by searching for your topic keyword and checking Google’s autocomplete bar, then the People Also Ask and People Also Search For sections in search results.

Step #4 - Organize Keywords Into a Topical Map

Using your common sense and knowledge of your customer, organize your keywords into a topical map.

A topical map is really just concept tree that breaks down your main topic into smaller and smaller sub-topics.

Doing this will help you to link your content together in a natural way. That way, no matter where people start reading, they can easily find related topics and navigate through your content to get all their questions answered.

Plus, this will help you make sure you’re covering your topic in full, without leaving anything out.

Step #5 - Make a Content Creation Schedule

The next step is to decide when and how often you’ll create content. 

This is up to you. Google doesn’t care if you create content once a week or publish 10 pieces of content in one day and then take two weeks off.

Some SEO experts even say that it’s better to publish all of your content under a single topic at once, because that signals topical authority to Google more quickly. (This isn’t proven, though.)

The point is, you can create your content as fast or as slow as you want. But the slower your publish, the slower it will be to see results.

As far as the order of content, start at the top of your topical map with the broadest topic, then go down the tree, linking things together as you go.

Step #6 - Make Your Best Content Easy to Find

If you’re writing about a topic that your customers find helpful, it’s smart to add a link to that topic in your main navigation so people can find it easily.

Usually, businesses link to the main article about the topic, where you write about the broadest keyword. So that might be an ultimate guide to coffee beans if you’re a coffee bean company.

Then when you start writing about more topics, you can link each one from your navigation so different customers can find the topics they want to learn about fast.

Or if you have a couple pieces of content that people seem to love and lead to more sales, you can put those in your navigation instead. 

The point is, help visitors to your site find your best content. Don’t wait for them to visit your blog to find it for themselves.

Step #7 - Start Measuring Results

The strategy only serves you if it’s getting you closer to your business goals.

So it’s important to measure how your content is performing. Install free tools like Search Console and Google Analytics which can tell you exactly how people are finding and using your site.

You can measure things like the average position of each article in search results, how many clicks you get on Google, what search terms are bringing people to your site, how many brand searches you’re getting, how many sales come from blog posts, how long people spend reading your content, and more.

Give your content at least 3 months to show results, though. That seems to be standard for most businesses. Once you start measuring the results, you can figure out what to tweak and improve.

Step #8 - Consider Running Paid Ads to Your Best Content

I’ve seen a client promote blog posts with paid ads, and then the articles shot up in the rankings shortly after.

Some SEO experts say that this is because running ads gives Google a chance to see how users react to your content, and if it seems popular with paid traffic, they might allow it to rise in the rankings for organic searches as well.

It’s not proven, and Google says nothing about this, but if you want to experiment with it, it’s worth a try.

So that’s the big picture strategy part. Now let’s talk about actually writing the content.

How to Write Great SEO Content

Once you have your content strategy in place, it’s time to write your content.

This doesn’t have to be complicated. If you know how to do keyword research and plan your content, you’ll have a paint-by-numbers outline to fill out for each piece of content you write.

So let’s talk about how to do that step by step.

Step #1 - Research Your Keyword

Each article you write should be centered on one main keyword. (Something you’ve pulled from your topical map.)

So the first step in writing is to research your chosen keyword.

First, do a simple Google search for the keyword and see what pops up. Here’s what you should look for:

• Are blog posts ranking in the top 10? If you see a lot of product pages, collection pages, or landing pages, it’s best to save the keyword for one of those content types instead.
• Do the main results fit with the topic you had in mind, or are they completely different? Keep in mind that whatever is ranking for a certain keyword is what people are actually looking for when they type it in. So you might need to abandon a keyword if you realize it doesn’t fit your business.
• Are the results featuring the keyword you want to rank for, or another similar keyword? If most results use a related keyword, it’s probably best to write for that keyword instead.

Step #2 - Plan Your Content

Once you’ve verified the keyword, you’re ready to plan out the piece of content.

I like to think about the customer first, and what they’ll want to learn.

Then I look at the other top-ranking articles to see what topics I should include.

And of course, I think about what else I could add to make my article the very best one on the subject.

I’ve put all of this into single SEO content brief that I use for each and every article I write.

I’ve made it into a free download that you can copy and use for your own content. Get the free SEO content brief template here.

Step #3 - Make a Detailed Outline

After you’ve thought through what you should include in the article, it’s time to put all the topics in a logical order (aka an outline).

This is a matter of practice, but the basic idea is to start with an introduction to the content, then an overview of the topic with the main info the reader needs to know, then use the rest of the article to go in-depth on each sub-topic. At the end, you can recap the post and give them a next step to take.

Step #4 - Write the Article

Some people find writing fun, and others find writing a chore. You can learn how to write in a way that works for you.

For me, I like to write a very detailed outline first, then the next day I put it into sentences. One day later, I read through it again and edit.

Writing is a skill that you can build, and I hope to write more about it here in the future.

Step #5 - Add a Call to Action

Now that you’ve attracted a potential customer into your content, and you’ve delivered the information they’re looking for, you can’t stop there.

The next step is to keep them moving to the next step with you. Whether that’s reading more articles, checking out your paid offer, subscribing to your mailing list, signing up for an event, or something else, you owe it to your reader to help them take the next step in reaching their goals (which is to get more content and help from you).

Make sure you put that call-to-action to do whatever it is you want them to do at the end of the article, and also throughout the article if you want. Not everyone will read to the end.

Step #6 - Link Your Content Together

Blog content is most helpful when it’s linked together. When you link to related content from a blog, you give the reader freedom to browse through and learn at their own pace.

Not to mention, you also give Google a way to map your content and understand how it’s related.

So any time you mention something in one article that you’ve written about in another article, add a link. 

I also like to suggest a post to read next at the end of the article as a next action.

Step #7 - Make Your Article Fun to Read

You want every article you write to be like a TED Talk in print: fun, engaging, and enlightening.

Here’s how to do that:

• Read through your post out loud and edit it so it sounds natural and flows
• Add in stories, anecdotes, and your personal feelings about the subject
• Break the text into small paragraphs and lists
• Add multimedia like photos, graphics, video, social media posts, and pull quotes

And with that, you can create insanely helpful, engaging, SEO-optimized content for your business blog.

How to Optimize Existing Content for SEO

Okay, so let’s say you already have a bunch of content on your website, and now you want to optimize it for SEO.

Here’s what I would advise you to do, so you can start to organize your content for your readers and make sure it’s got the best chance of ranking.

Step #1 - Audit Your Content

Go into your Google Search Console account (if you have one) or subscribe to a paid tool like Mangools or Ahrefs and see what pages are already ranking and getting traffic on your site.

If a page is bringing in traffic, you don’t want to mess with it too much. Take a note of the pages that are successful so you don’t accidentally delete them.

Step #2 - Create a Topical Map & Compare Existing Content

Follow the steps above in the section about creating an SEO content strategy. You’ll want to make a topical map for every big topic on your blog. (There may be a couple miscellaneous posts, but you can leave those out.)

Then figure out where your existing content fits on those topical maps. 

Often there’s duplicate content, which you can merge together. And there are probably plenty of gaps, too.

Step #3 - Edit Existing Articles

Unless you have an extremely successful article, I would recommend re-planning out each of your articles with my SEO content brief template and updating them to include the new information.

Step #4 - Create Articles to Fill Gaps

Once you have a topical map, you’ll discover a lot of keywords you haven’t covered on the blog yet. So as you work to update and optimize your existing content, you’ll also want to start writing new articles to fill those gaps.

You can follow the SEO content writing process above to do that.

Step #5 - Organize Your Content

Consider how you could change your navigation, home page, or other pages on your site to include helpful links to your content. Read more in Step #6 of creating an SEO content strategy above.

Key Takeaways

Now you know how to put together your own SEO content strategy, write your own content, and optimize existing articles.

To sum up:

• SEO content is any content designed to rank in search results
• It helps you bring more customers to your website and increase your sales
• SEO content includes blog posts, product pages, and more
• Follow the steps above to create a powerful SEO content strategy and write each piece of content with SEO best practices

Feeling overwhelmed with all of the steps we’ve outlined here? You don’t have to do it yourself! Discover the best content strategy for your business by applying for a free strategy session with us.