SEO checklist: How to write great landing page text
Writing SEO texts is both time-consuming and research-intensive, and it requires a flair for communication if it is to be readable for both Google's robots and your target audience.
You can't write completely freely - there are rules that must be followed if you want your text to climb the search engines' organic rankings.
If you've never written an SEO text before, you should start right here. I've gathered all the guidelines and tools I use myself in this SEO checklist.
The starting point for the checklist is only for the copywriting itself. If you want more tips for good digital copywriting, I recommend that you supplement with these two blog posts (after you finish this one):
→ 15 concrete tips for writing a (good) landing page
→ 5 pitfalls to avoid as a copywriter
Buckle up, because here comes the checklist! I recommend you read the whole thing, but if you're looking for answers to something specific, there are shortcuts to the different points here.
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My SEO checklist for kodyle landing pages
1. Do you know your keyword?
Every landing page should have a keyword to help Google figure out what the content is about. It's up to you what the keyword is, but you need to be consistent once it's chosen.
The keyword should be strategically included in the structure of the text on each landing page:
→ In the URL
→ I H1
→ In H2 (at least one)
→ In the first paragraph (and preferably the first line)
→ In the body text (you can use it too much or too little)
Your keyword is the angle of your content, and depending on your keyword and content strategy (in relation to volume and competition, for example), it can be broad or narrowly worded.
Example of an example
- Rye bread → broad keyword
- Gluten-free rye bread → narrow keyword (longtail)
But how do you use the keyword in practice when it needs to be used strategically on a landing page? Let's use the gluten-free rye bread example again:
→ URL:www.rugbroedsopskrifter.dk/glutenfrit-rugbroed*
→ H1: Recipe for delicious gluten-free rye bread
→ H2: Why gluten-free rye bread is good
→ In the first paragraph: Use the keyword as early as possible in the text, preferably in the first line.
→ In the body: The optimal frequency of the keyword depends on the length of the text. Use the keyword two to three times per H2 or get help from programs like Yoast.
* Remember not to use æ-ø-å in the URL - it's frowned upon.
2. Have you memorized the H's?
Headings and subheadings on your page need to be properly tagged as H1 and H2 - it's not enough to just style* them. I can't emphasize this enough.
Every landing page has only one H1 - the headline. In news media, this is called a headline, and Google gets confused about the page's message if there is more than one H1. For logical reasons, your H1 should also be at the top of the landing page.
H2s can be equated to a subheading (or subheading if you are familiar with the media lingo). A landing page can have multiple H2s.
On each landing page, H1 and H2 should not be the same - and in fact, you should preferably not use the same headings and subheadings across the entire site if you can avoid it. Most importantly, don't duplicate H1s.
* Styling text can be to make it bold, italic, underlined, large, small. When creating a headline, it's not enough to choose font size 38 and make the text bold (visually, that is - not figuratively). A headline SHOULD be tagged as an H1, otherwise Google won't know it's a headline.
READ ALSO: Our complete SEO guide
3. Have you answered the most common questions?
We search Google for answers - but do you know what search combinations people make on your chosen keyword?
It is not unimportant for you to know. You're more likely to write a complete and relevant text if you incorporate the answers to the most obvious questions.
A great (and free) tool I use very often is Answer the Public. Here you can enter your search term (remember to select country and language before searching) and get a series of visualized branches of people's longtail searches. It might look something like this:
Here you can see that people often search for with/without grains, yeast or sourdough, so it makes sense to use it in your text. This can be in the form of recipes, recommendations or experiences with one, two or three things.
You can also use this insight to ask a question in an H2 that you answer in the text.
Example of an example
H2: Is yeast or sourdough best for gluten-free rye bread? → The bread text in the section should answer the question from H2.
4. Is the text long enough?
When Google crawls your text, it looks at the length, among other things: Whether it is long enough to offer qualified knowledge about a topic.
A rule of thumb in SEO circles is 300 words minimum, and many would consider a landing page text of that length to be on the very short side.
However, I would like to challenge that dogma, because it's not only very long and exhaustive landing pages that end up number one in search engines.
If your text is longer than 600-700 words (or more), that's fine as long as you stick to one angle.
If you cover too many topics, it's better to create several different landing pages with sharper angles - that way, the right people are more likely to end up on your page.
5. Is the readability top notch?
The layout of the text on a landing page is anything but unimportant. Readability is what ensures a natural flow and that the text is read to the end.
But how do you make a digital text readable?
In a nutshell: With air and eye-catching.
Air is vital because no one can cope with what is known as a wall of text: a wall of solid and confusing information that never ends. You want to avoid this at all costs because it makes the reader give up.
The eye-catcher must arouse the reader's curiosity and give the eye a break from the text, which can quickly become boring to the eye. The reader should be enticed with delicious breadcrumbs in the best Hansel and Gretel style until they reach the bottom of the text.
"Could you give me some examples of what you mean?" you might be thinking. And yes - of course!
Tips for more air and eye-catching in no particular order:
→ Double line breaks so that your text becomes small, edible pieces of information. You can always eat another bite (both figuratively and when enjoying a delicious meal). Bite, bite, bite.
→ Keep it short and to the point. The longer a sentence is, the harder it is to read. Therefore, beware of run-on sentences and convoluted explanations. A rule of thumb is that a sentence should be under 20 words.
→ Never skimp on H2s! Use your subheadings to ask questions or make a point that will be elaborated on in the paragraph. When skimming a text, use the highlighted text and headings to find the relevant information.
→ Keep paragraphs on a short leash. A paragraph is the text that belongs to an H2. Keep it to the point and give the reader answers or knowledge. A paragraph should be no more than 150 words.
→ Fire up video, images and graphics, it creates engagement and breaks up the text visually. It's also an opportunity for an extra layer of information that can be convoluted or boring to explain in writing. Furthermore, images and video are also a factor Google takes into account in its rankings, so it's by all means a low-hanging fruit.
→ Lists (!!!) are a brilliant idea. It's a clearer way to present information and it's eye-catching. And search engines like lists too. Win-win-win.
→ Emphasize points with styling. As I mentioned above, you should never use styling to create headlines (because Google robots can't read that, they look for H1 and H2 instead). But you should go crazy in your body copy, because styling is eye-catching and emphasizes important information.
→ Remember to check mobile view before publishing. Text is much easier to read on a computer screen than on a mobile. So don't commit deadly sin #1 by forgetting to check how your text layout looks on mobile. Make a preview and check that your landing page is also easily digestible on small screens.
TIP ↓
Of course, you don't have to manually count words in sentences and paragraphs. Work smarter, not harder, and get help navigating the text with utilities.
For example, I use Yoast myself. It checks the text and makes recommendations for improvements (or gives the green light when it all works).
6. Have you written to humans or robots?
There was a time when you couldn't use your keyword enough, but thankfully Google understands more now. Today, you need to remember to use synonyms and related words in your text. This is also called semantic SEO.
With the latest BERT update, the search engine understands the language behind a search better, so the strange staccato headlines are thankfully on their way out.
If you have a driving school in Copenhagen, in the "old days" you would give it a headline identical to the keyword phrase - for example "driving school Copenhagen".
But that's a strange headline! You wouldn't shout that out the window to passers-by to draw attention to your business.
A better headline for your landing page could be: "Copenhagen's best driving school". It's a real phrase, and although people will be confused by you shouting it out the window, they won't doubt the message.
In a nutshell: Write real sentences and avoid keyword predation. Your text is for humans and robots understand it perfectly.
7) Have you remembered the details?
The devil is in the details, and forgetting to fill in the meta text, meta title and internal link building can affect your organic rankings.
Your meta title and meta text is what appears in Google when your landing page shows up in a search.
It's also called a SERP snippet (it stands for Search Engine Result Page) and if you don't fill it in yourself, Google will do it itself by fetching text from the landing page.
The autogenerated text doesn't always give the best overview (or get a hook in the reader).
If you fill it in yourself, you can keep the meta title and description sharp by using active verbs, byte form and CTA. I use Storybase to help me make sure my writing is catchy and clickable.
The tool gives points according to how good the text is. I've used it myself for this blog post (and of course, I didn't stop until I had a catchy SERP snippet and a score of 100).
Internal link building is most often done as anchor text or as references outside the body text.
Anchor text is a link that is embedded "invisibly" in a word or phrase. That way you don't see the long, boring URL. Usually the text is given a different color or styling than the rest so that the reader is aware that there is a link.
Internal link building helps the user stay on your website and it also shows Google how much relevant and related content you have on the site. It's both good service and good SEO.
Don't be discouraged - just go for it!
As you can read, there are a lot of things to take into account when writing an SEO and reader-friendly text (pronounced "ræddi" in Fyn, where I'm from).
If you're feeling light-headed and thinking that it's impossible to get started with SEO now, keep this in mind:
- Rules are made to be broken. No one knows with one hundred percent certainty what Google ranks landing pages by. There are hundreds of parameters we know they measure - but never trust anyone who claims to have found the Holy Grail.
- The great thing about SEO is that your work is never done and can always be optimized. You can experiment and tweak the text, headlines, styling and layout until you hit the nail on the head.
- If copywriting and search engine optimization don't come naturally to you, in most cases your time and money is better spent if you leave it to someone else (someone like me who does it professionally).
I hope you can use this checklist to write better and more SEO-friendly landing pages.
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