Write SEO texts yourself or buy them?

The minimum requirements for an SEO text

Some SEOs claim "write your text for the reader, then Google will reward you for it too". This statement is certainly not entirely inaccurate in 2020 - after all, Google is getting smarter and smarter and can better assess what makes a really good text. However, you must always prepare a text in such a way that Google can understand it in the best possible way.

 

A text that you publish on your website for SEO purposes must meet these minimum requirements:

 

• Meta-Title & Meta-Description
• Sensible heading structure
• (technical) readability

 

 

Optimize META-Title & Meta-Descriptions

 

The META title is to a certain extent the title of your document and is key information for Google & Co to identify the main topic of the page. You have to keep it short here (max. XX characters) and this is precisely why the search engine knows that the main keyword will really be here.

 

The meta description is the blurb that should entice the reader to click after your meta title has already caught their attention. A high click-through rate is a good signal that your content is relevant to the user. So think carefully about how you use the space (max. XXX characters) wisely.

 

 

Create a meaningful heading structure

I hope you know what is behind the so-called h-tags. If not, you have a big problem when it comes to the search engine optimization of your texts. The h tags tell Google & Co which hierarchy level the headings are on.

 

H1: Main heading

H2: Subheading (2nd level)

H3: Subheading (3rd level)

etc.

Setting headings correctly for SEO texts explained by Timo Specht

 

You can remember the following rules for creating a meaningful heading structure:

1. There is only one main heading (H1 heading)
2. All subheadings on the next level are given the H2 tag
3. If you want to subdivide a topic even further, H3 headings, H4 headings etc. are used
4. If you introduce a new hierarchy level, at least two subheadings should follow (e.g. H1, H2, H3, H3, H2, H2).
5. Vermeide es, kurze Texte (< 1000 Wörter) unnötig zu verschachteln

 

 

Ensure (technical) readability

Google & Co would probably be happiest if you presented them with a plain text without design in pure HTML. The user may get a shock, but the search engine bots can handle it perfectly.

 

Your texts must, of course, cover a mix of usability and technical readability for search engines. But think carefully about which forms of presentation you work with.

 

Here are a few examples:

• Readers can read text that is placed in image files. Search engines largely ignore this content.
• Readers can intuitively expand and collapse accordions (e.g. FAQs). This keeps the page clear. However, search engines largely ignore "hidden" content or at least devalue it significantly.
• Text that is too small is a problem for the reader. Search engines, on the other hand, can capture it well. However, Google & Co can also interpret this as manipulation on your part.

 

SEO Content 2.0 - After the duty comes the freestyle

Now that we have clarified what the minimum requirements for an SEO text are, let's look at the 20% that ultimately make the difference between a solid and a very good SEO text.

 

The following trends are becoming increasingly important in the SEO OPTIMIZATION* of texts:

 

• Holistic treatment of topics
• Relevant and proof terms
• Improving the UX for stronger user signals

 

* (actually it should be called SE optimization, then the O in SEO already stands for optimization. However, "SEO optimization" is an important term that should not be missing in this text. You will understand that...)

 

Holistic treatment of topics

In the past, it was advisable to create the right landing page for every search phrase of a potential visitor. Today, a page can rank for hundreds, if not thousands, of search terms.

 

Search engines have recognized that readers prefer to find all the information on a topic on one page instead of laboriously gathering everything from different sources.

 

Of course, there will always be "special topics" that deserve their own page. But many things are better explained holistically rather than piece by piece.

 

An example: Imagine you want to rank for keywords related to "vegan nutrition". In the past, you would have created a page for every search phrase related to "vegan nutrition".

 

• vegan diet
• What does vegan mean?
• vegan recipes
• Become a vegan
• vegan living healthy
• etc.

 

Today, instead, people try to satisfy all of the user's search intentions on one page. Anyone searching for "vegan diet" is certainly also interested in how to prepare vegan dishes and whether the lifestyle is healthy at all.

 

Of course, there is nothing wrong with going into more detail on certain topics on subpages. But the more "food" you provide your visitors with, the more useful your site will be for them - search engines can now understand this very well.

 

Relevant and proof terms

The integration of so-called relevance and proof terms is also closely linked to holistic topic coverage. These are terms that are either synonyms of the visitor's search phrase (and therefore reflect their intention 1:1) or are at least closely related to the search intention.

 

In the following table, I have once again used the example topic "vegan diet" to list various relevance and proof terms.

 

Relevant Terms

• Vegan diet
• Veganism
• Vegan dishes
• Vegan substitute products
• ...

 

Proof Terms

• Iron deficiency
• Cooking
• Diet
• Soy
• ...

 

To achieve a good ranking with Google & Co, you should integrate as many relevance and proof terms as possible into your texts. The best way to do this is to use your competitors as a guide. Evaluate which topics and terms are addressed by the top pages.

 

You will find it difficult to get past them if you don't make sure to integrate the crucial information and terms into your texts.

 

Improving the UX for stronger user signals

I have already mentioned that search engines are increasingly evaluating whether the text is also found to be helpful by real users. This is done using various metrics:

 

• Time spent on the page
• Bounce rate / clicks on further links
• Further search behavior after the page visit

 

In addition to pure SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, you should not neglect the human side of your texts and focus on the user experience (UX).

 

Make sure that your page loads quickly, simplify navigation (e.g. via a table of contents), link internally to other suitable pages, integrate additional media (e.g. a video) to increase the length of stay ... and so on!

 

Social signals are also a ranking factor for practically all search engines. So share your pages on Facebook & Co and make it easier for your users to spread your website via social networks (e.g. via share buttons).

 

 

 

Write SEO texts yourself or buy them?

With this article, I have given you a small impression of what is important for SEO texts nowadays. Of course, there are many more criteria - for example, we need to talk again about how to determine the relevant keywords, topics, relevance and proof terms in the first place.

 

Conclusion on content optimization to get to the top of the rankings

As a conclusion, I can give you this: Creating SEO texts is very time-consuming and requires specialist knowledge - both in the preparation and in the writing phase. Do you even have the time and inclination to acquire all this knowledge and then write the texts yourself by hand?

 

So that you can focus on your core competencies, I recommend that you outsource the creation of SEO texts. I work with freelance copywriters and smaller agencies myself, as a lack of content is often the reason why projects are delayed.

 

So my clear recommendation is: don't bother with your SEO content, but commission a suitable service provider to do it for you. As an SEO FREELANCER, I will be happy to help you with this or take over the entire (SEO) content management of your site directly.