Do you want to have a go at SEO (search engine optimisation), but keep getting lost amongst all the jargon and technical terms? You’re not alone. SEO consists of advice and tips that have grown, changed, and advanced for years, and even the most experienced marketers started where you are: by looking at this information and wondering where to start. 

But, blog copywriting doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, if you remove the jargon and word wizardry, you can create a piece of blog content that works. And, our copywriting team at Infoserve wanted to break down the basics. 

Selecting your blog topics

In order to choose your topics, you need to understand the main purpose of SEO blog content: To provide less direct ways for customers to find your brand by targeting key search queries. 

They are not a tool used to give your customer more information about your product/service. That is why you have product/service/about us pages across your website. 

It is estimated that around 80% of internet searches are informational (where a user is looking for a specific piece of information), which means the number of people likely to land on your website who are just looking for the service you provide is actually very low in comparison. 

Blog content aims to put your website in front of the 80% who are only looking for information by guiding them through a narrow path and out onto the high street where your shop front is right in front of their eyes. 

1. Create a mindmap

Well, a metaphorical mindmap. 

We suggest starting by creating a spreadsheet of topic clusters that you want to target or boost, and find ways to angle them in a less direct way. 

Let’s say you rent out holiday homes in Yorkshire. A good topic group would be ‘things to do in yorkshire’. This is a great angle for a collection of blogs because it is aimed at a group of people who want to visit Yorkshire but don’t know what there is to do, and may be looking for a place to stay whilst they’re there. In this case, you can guide them towards your properties in the blog’s conclusion. 

If you’re struggling for ideas, try having a look at your competitors. 

2. Break this down further

You can then use your spreadsheet to break these topic groups down into more specific blog subjects. 

For the example we’ve already used, you could create blogs on: 



• Best walking routes in Yorkshire 
• Top 10 places to eat in Yorkshire 
• Family days out in Yorkshire 
• 5 ideas for planning the perfect romantic day out in Yorkshire 
• What to do in Yorkshire over Christmas 
• The Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge
• Wildlife in Yorkshire

3. Conduct keyword research

Arguably one of the most important aspects of SEO copywriting is your keyword research. 

Because you can write as many blogs as you want, but if no one is searching for the search terms, then they’re not going to be seen. 

Keywords do have a strategic application, and using them appropriately is vital because it helps Google understand the context of the content, and place it in the right search results. 

So, once you’ve come up with your blog ideas, take yourself to a keyword research tool and see how many people are searching for information surrounding those topics. 

But here’s the catch: more isn’t always better. 

You should aim for a mix of keywords that have high search volume and low search volume. This is because search terms with a high search volume are going to be highly competitive. As a small business, we would suggest starting with low-medium search volume to build a solid SEO foundation and sprinkling some with high search volume in between. 

Now let’s take a look at the search volume of the blog titles above: 



• Best walking routes in Yorkshire: Walking routes in Yorkshire (40) 
• Top 10 places to eat in Yorkshire: Best places to eat in Yorkshire (170)
• Family days out in Yorkshire: Family days out Yorkshire (660)
• 5 ideas for planning the perfect romantic day out in Yorkshire: Romantic nights away in Yorkshire (260)
• What to do in Yorkshire over Christmas: Yorkshire christmas events (480)
• The Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge: Yorkshire three peaks challenge (4.4k) 
• Wildlife in Yorkshire: Wildlife in Yorkshire (20) 

Structure your blog

If I’m ever sent blog content and asked to proofread it, the very first thing I will do is look at the structure. It’s often one of the easiest fixes, and really does make a difference. 

Structuring your content effectively makes it easier for users to read, which increases the amount of time they spend on your website (Google loves this!), and makes it easier for Google to crawl (read). 

Make sure you:

Use headings and subheadings

Headings and subheadings are one of your biggest friends when it comes to creating SEO content. It breaks up content blocks making it easier to find key information, and helps search engines understand the context of your content. 

Headings and subheadings will likewise improve your chances of being considered for a featured snippet, and make it easier for text readers to scan for disabled users. 

Keep your paragraphs short

Short paragraphs make your content easier to read on mobile devices. And in general, really. 

Use structured elements

Bullet points and numbered lists are always encouraged to make content more readable. 

But be wary of using them too many times in a single blog, and only use them where they fit. If they don’t work organically within the content, then don’t force it.

Where to put keywords

You need to make sure that you’re using your keywords appropriately in your headings. 

You should: 

• Include your main keyword in the blog title 
• Use 2-3 secondary keywords in your headings 
• Mention your main keyword in your introduction 
• Include your main keyword in your meta description 

Do background research on your customers 

This will help you tailor the questions you pose in your content. Including, maybe, some lesser thought of questions that your competitors aren’t asking. 

Now, we know that saying ‘do customer research’ is incredibly vague, and even the most experienced marketers can get a bit overwhelmed when they first start. Because, there’s so much you could know. 

So here’s a top tip: Think of yourself as James Bond’s team at MI6 doing background checks on a potential suspect. Find everything. 

Try to get in their head (not literally) so you know what they’re thinking. What do they want? What do they want for their family? Why are they on the internet today? How much money do they have to spend? What websites have they visited recently? 

Let’s put this into a bit more context. 

If you ran a beauty salon, and you were writing a blog entitled, ‘how to take care of your nails,’ because you discovered that it has 170 monthly searches, you need to understand what your customer is getting out of the blog. Why are they there, and what do they want to know? 

So, you ask yourself the questions: 

What do they want? They want to know how to take care of their nails from home. 

What do they want for their family? They want their family to be happy, and kind, and maybe they’re looking to give their family some advice on nail care. 

Why are they on the internet today? Because they aren’t happy with the way their nails look, and they are trying to change or update their nail care routine. 

How much money do they have to spend? You know the average earning of your ideal customer better than we do, but the assumption with the customer searching for this particular query is that they don’t have money to splash on an expensive manicure, which is why they are trying to find out how to care for their nails at home. Give price information for nail care kits, budget options, or explain that they can treat themselves with a manicure. 

What websites have they visited recently? Have they been searching for beauty tips for a while? Do they have a more practical lifestyle that would damage their nails? What are their spending habits online? 

What is their career? If they have a busy 9-5 lifestyle, they might not have spare time to visit a salon. If they work in a professional environment, then they might be looking for basic care rather than elaborate nail design ideas. 

People that land on your blogs don’t always fit within your customer profile, so making sure you’re keeping this in mind and staying vigilant each time you start a blog is an important step.

Avoid keyword stuffing

When you start writing for SEO and you learn about the effectiveness of keywords, it can be tempting to stuff it in here, there and everywhere. 

But! This isn’t just frowned upon, it is actually part of a group of old SEO tactics known as ‘black hat SEO,’ that will get your website penalised.

Build your links

Links are your friend. Links build trust. Google loves link building.

External links 

One of the things we hear from customers most is that we’ve included links to external websites in our blog content, but we don’t do this flippantly. 

The reason we hear most often is that it takes people off your website, but you can set the link to open in a new tab so it doesn’t affect time on site. As long as you’re not linking to companies that are competitors, you are golden. 

And Google will think you’re golden, because you’re showing that you got your information from a credible source, and that you can about your customer having access to other resources. 

Try not to overdo it, and use only a few external links per blog.

Internal links 

And of course, alongside external links, internal links are always essential. 

Internal links give search engines more context on how your blog relates to the products/services you provide. 

We recommend: 



• Including at least one text link to your home page in the conclusion 
• Include at least one link to the service you are promoting in the conclusion, as well as your main service 
• Link to your contact information somewhere in the blog 

One of the best things you can do is make sure they sit naturally in the text. For example: For more information, check out our free SEO White Paper to discover all of our tips and tricks for getting started on your SEO journey. 

No one likes to see a plain URL in the middle of a blog they’re reading.

Our top SEO blog tips

These are the very basics of how to build an SEO blog from scratch with minimum tools at your disposal. But, before we sign off from this blog, we just wanted to give you a few more top tips to take with you: 

1. Publish regularly: Publishing regularly indicates that you are an active company who cares about their customers. 

2. Update your old blogs: Updating outdated blog content can be one of the most powerful SEO tactics, and it takes far less time than starting a blog from scratch. 

3. Write for people, not for search engines: Of course, we don’t mean you should disregard SEO altogether. But, SEO techniques should never override the quality of the writing. Avoid jargon and complex language unless you explain its meaning. 

Don’t know where to start?

Infoserve’s experienced content writers work closely with our SEO team to create highly effective, valuable and customer driven content to help you get found online.