The Ultimate

SEO Writing
Checklist
 The Ultimate SEO Writing Checklist

Step 1: Start with keyword research

A piece of content should: Seed keyword
=
• Target one primary keyword
High search volume
• Target 5–10 additional keywords 
+
To identify your primary keyword, Low to medium keyword difficulty
(lower than 50)
ask yourself:

• What is my audience looking for? Use Topic Research to 

generate more content ideas
• What questions do they ask online?

Step 2: Determine search intent and identify the right format

Identify keyword search intent by clue words in SERP titles:

Informational Navigational Commercial Transactional

‘guide’, ‘tutorial’, name of a brand, ‘best’, ‘cheapest’, ‘buy’, ‘price’,
‘what’, ‘how’ product or service ‘top’, ‘review’ ‘coupon’

Select the format:

Check top-10 articles Check SERP features f or

potential indicators

• What are the formats out there?
• What are their CTAs?
• What are their titles and
descriptions?
• Featured snippets, People Also
Ask—Informational intent
• Site links—Navigational intent
• Google Ads, Google Shopping—
Commercial or Transactional
intent

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 The Ultimate SEO Writing Checklist

Step 3: Create a WellOptimized Meta Title

H1 tag ≠ Meta Title tag,but can be similar

Title is important for SEO:

• Is unique • Contains target keywords

• Corresponds to search intent • Motivates users to go to the website

• Consists of 15–45 (max. 60) • May include call to action

characters

Step 4: Createa Catchy H1

H1 is less important for SEO b
 ut introduces your content
to the audience:

• May include “how”, “why”, • Is unique

“what”, etc. *
• Describes what is discussed
• May include numbers,e.g. in the text body
“top 10”, “5 best”, “N things” *
*
Guides and numbers drive 2x more traffic →

Step 5: Optimizethe meta-description

The meta-description encouragesa user to click on the link on SERPs:

• Is unique • Doesn’t have to be a sentence (may

• 1–2 sentences (140–160 characters) include price, manufacturer, etc.)
• Describes a specific page
• Targets an emotion
• Has target keywords
• Calls to action

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 The Ultimate SEO Writing Checklist

Step 6: Structure your contentand make it readable

Great content is well structured and easy to scan:

• Use H2+H3 tags * • Add bullets and numbered lists

• One paragraph = one idea • Make content long enough to cover

a topic (Longreads ) **
• Divide long sentences

• Highlight main ideas: bold,

italic, change font size / style

*
36% of articles with H2+H3 tags have higher performance
in termsof traffic, shares, and backlinks →
**
Longreads of 3000+ words get 3x more traffic, 4x more shares,
and 3.5x more backlinks →

Step 7: Add visual contentand optimize it

Visual content, such as infographics, checklists, templates, videos and
images deliver value to your audience faster andin a more catchy way:

Visual content > Shares > Backlinks > Trustworthiness for Google > High

RankingOptimize image size: Optimize image Alt tags:

• Make it load faster • Make them unique and descriptive

Optimize image names: • Describe exactly whatan image

shows
• Make them unique
• Make it related to the content topic
• Make them readable
• Include as much detail as possible

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 The Ultimate SEO Writing Checklist

Step 8: Make your URL readable

URLs help users understandwhat is inside:

• Descriptive • Has target keywords

• Easy to read • Lowercase

• Uses hyphens (-) instead of • As short as possible

underscores (_) between words

Step 9: Adjust interlinking

Before you add Conduct an auditof existing content and

new links answer these questions:

• Which topics does your content cover and

which ones does it not?

• Which articles arerelevant and worth

referring to?

Create a strategy • Make a list of the hubpages.

• Think through thetopic clusters.

In progress • Find relevant materialson the site and add

links pointing to a new article.

• Create relevantanchor texts.

• Awareness contentshould link toConsideration

articles,and Consideration articles should link
to Decision content.

• Add “Related Articles” at the end of an article.

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 The Ultimate SEO Writing Checklist

Extra tips to help

you optimize your
content for SEO
Optimizing your content creation process is key to start generating organic
traffic, but it’s not the only piece of the puzzle to keep in mind. The success
of your content offer is also determined by the overall user experience on the
website, the number of backlinks pointing to the page, and even technical
website characteristics.

Here are some important steps to take in 2021 to make sure nothing stands in your
way to rank your content number one:

Creating link magnets and

generating backlinks
As backlinks remain one of the key ranking factors, it’s always a good idea to
keep them in mind when planning your content. A sustainable link-building
strategy starts way before moving to the promotion strategy, especially when it
comes to getting organic, do-follow links.

You can start thinking about them at the topic research and idea generation
steps. Who are the link creators in your niche? How can you create value with
your content to encourage them to share it with their audience? Which topics
would potentially attract the most backlinks?

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 The Ultimate SEO Writing Checklist

Some ideas here could be:

• Researching your industry link creators (bloggers, non-

competitive brands, media sites) to identify the topics they have
been actively posting about.

• Coming up with ultimate guides covering the topic in depth.

• Releasing unique research pieces, with statistics and other

valuable information that is hard to replicate.

• Sharing expert insights—by collaborating with industry

influencers, curating content, and involving your in-house
thought leaders.

• Building useful free online tools and resources, which can also
serve as lead magnets for your brand.

One of the best ways to research backlink ideas and opportunities is by

analyzing your competitors. If you are a Semrush user, head to Backlink Gap
to compare your website with those of your competitors. You can also use the
“Domain Analytics" > "Backlinks" > "Indexed Pages" report to identify pages
getting the most backlinks for each of your competitors separately.

Creating link magnets and

generating backlinks
Content hubs (or topic clusters) are groups of content centered around one
topic. The content hub structure includes a pillar page—the biggest and most
comprehensive piece of content on the topic—and multiple related pages
covering more narrow subtopics. All these pages are connected by multiple
internal links.

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 The Ultimate SEO Writing Checklist

For example, this is how an “SEO” topic cluster could look:

SEO

To create content hubs:

• Start with defining your core topic. To do this, go back to your buyer
personas, and analyze your competitors and industry trends.

• Perform keyword and topic research to identify various related themes for
your cluster. You can use the Topic Research tool, which suggests multiple
content ideas based on your competition and lists all possible questions
your target audience has been asking about each subtopic.

• Map out the cluster structure, prioritize topics and start creating.

• Make sure to add interlinking as you keep publishing content pieces

within each cluster.
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 The Ultimate SEO Writing Checklist

Going after Featured Snippet

opportunities
According to recent Semrush research, around 19% of SERPs (Search
Engine Results Pages) have Featured Snippets. These include paragraphs,
lists, tables, and videos, among others.

Ranking for Featured Snippets is essential as it allows you to get a higher

click-through rate (CTR) from organic resul s and build brand authority.

Steps to take to rank for more Featured Snippet opportunities:

• Opt for long-tail, specific keywords and questions.

• Structure your content accordingly (don’t forget about the H1, H2, H3,
etc. tags).

• Check if there’s an existing Featured Snippet showing for the keyword

you are after, and brief your writer on whether you can do something
to gain it.

• Look for the Featured Opportunities opportunities when researching

keywords (in Semrush, head to the Keyword Magic Tool, apply the
Advanced Filter > SERP Features) and create a strategy to win them.

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 The Ultimate SEO Writing Checklist

Improving Page Speed

and UX
In 2021, the on-page experience is more important than ever.
With Google’s Core Web Vitals update plans, it’s key to focus on
the following aspects:

• Fixing pages that load too slowly

• Ensuring smooth page structure and user-friendly design

• Making sure your content is engaging (rather than being salesy)

Find out whether your SEO team is using tools like Google Page
Speed Insights and Semrush Site Audit to check whether the website
pages load fast enough, as failing to do so might put you way behind
your competitors. Enabling browser caching, deleting unnecessary
plugins, uploading images that weigh less, and reducing the number of
redirects are some of the potential solutions.

It’s also key to avoid having too many distracting pop-ups or animations
that could interfere with user experience. Finally, make sure to optimize
your pages for mobile and keep your content engaging enough for the
user to stay.

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Explore the 
Semrush Content
Marketing Platform
Are you looking to build a customer-focused and data-driven
content strategy? Discover the 360° Content Marketing Platform
by Semrush. From keyword research and topic research to copy
optimization and content audit, it will help you build a powerful
content marketing engine for your brand.

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