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How we create SEO content for clients which grows in targeted traffic

Great content is essential to achieving tangible, long-term SEO results. Fortunately, at Targeted SEO, we deliver finely crafted and well-performing website content that both readers and search engines love.

The results are clear – increased organic traffic, greater user engagement and more enquiries – but what you don’t necessarily see is the hard work behind the scenes. From the initial research and analysis to the final written piece, hours of work are ploughed into every blog and website page we produce.

We’ve spent the past few years honing our processes and services and continue to evolve. I’m immensely proud of what we have achieved and of the team that we’ve become. I’ve put together this guide to our SEO content process for both new and existing clients, which I hope you find inspiring.

If you have any questions or want to explore our services further, please get in touch.

Targeted SEO content writing – step by step phases

1. Research phase

First, our talented SEO team, Caroline and Harry, discuss the client’s business goals, services, competitors and target audience. This is backed up by a detailed brand questionnaire, which we ask all new clients to complete.

Armed with that knowledge, the team uses professional SEO software like ahrefs, Also Asked, SE Ranking and good old Google itself to research the most valuable (and importantly, untapped) search topics and keywords. Our very own dynamic duo are also our AI pioneers and are constantly exploring how ChatGPT and the like can help to enhance the process.

Our copywriting platform of choice is Surfer SEO, with which we have had great success. It’s an intuitive, user-friendly tool that helps optimise content for search engines using real-time data and competitor insights. For each blog or service page, we produce a Surfer SEO copy platform, including the relevant headings, FAQs, and calls to action. This acts as a brief for our in-house copywriters.

2. In-house copywriting

It’s then over to our in-house copywriting team, Alicia and Michelle, headed up by our content manager, Emma. They have significant experience in copywriting and broader marketing strategy, gained from years in creative and senior corporate roles.

Using the copy platform, our writers create word-perfect content. While we continue to explore the role of AI in copywriting, our copy is human-written and always created in accordance with Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines and with the reader at the forefront of our minds.

The fact that our content is well-written, researched and optimised is a given. We add real value by infusing each piece with a distinct tone of voice. While a lot of our clients are in similar fields, no two pieces of content are ever the same. Each piece is brand-enhancing and designed to illicit trust in the reader and compel them to action.

Depending on the word count and complexity of the piece (on average, each piece is around 1,000 to 1,500 words), it can take one to two days to complete. Then, it’s back to Emma to cast her professional eye over it before our client manager, Jamie, sends it to the client for approval.

Considering that we produce over 45,000 words per month, this all takes considerable strategic planning.

3. Client Approval

Our clients can then review the copy in Surfer SEO and make changes and suggestions as they wish. Once they are finished, we ask them to notify us using whichever software they prefer, which is often Notion.

We NEVER publish anything that hasn’t been 100% approved by the client. It sounds obvious, but stranger things happen!

4. On-page Publishing

The content team will make final checks, and then it goes back to the SEO team for publishing on the website. It sounds simple, but it isn’t just a case of copying and pasting. Time and care are taken to ensure it’s published with the best on-page practices, correct use of headings, schema, internal linking to other relevant content, optimisation of page titles and meta descriptions.

In some cases, tables and videos are embedded (if the client has a YouTube channel, all the better as we can also offer YouTube SEO). We also curate accompanying images, which are optimised and uploaded with the article.

When you work with us, you get more than just great content

A lot of our clients choose a combined SEO and web design package. As part of this, our web designer, Conor, will develop attractive, user-friendly and fully optimised copy templates. In some cases, it may be necessary to design a one-off page that complements the content, which is checked by the SEO team to ensure the on-page elements are spot-on.

We host our clients’ websites on our dedicated server, which plays a crucial role in the success of our SEO content. This setup ensures that our sites are regularly crawled by search engines, allowing new pages and updates to be indexed efficiently. We also use Google Search Console to ensure content is properly indexed and, if needed, reoptimised if performance metrics like clicks and impressions begin to drop. In addition to maintaining technical SEO, we focus on conversion rate optimisation, making sure every site not only ranks well but also generates those all-important enquiries.

traffic growth through SEO content writing

The results of our content

Over time, the SEO content process has an amazing impact on website growth. From our regular SEO reports, clients start to see clicks and impressions steadily increase, followed by more leads and enquiries.

This can be a slow burn, but in SEO, success breeds success. More clicks over time signal trust to Google, which will index and rank the site further. Your website may also start to attract natural backlinks, which are another incredibly valuable asset for building trust and domain authority. As your authority grows, so do your clicks and impressions, and so on and so on, in one big virtuous circle.

Is SEO content worth the investment?

I’m sure this behind-the-scenes glimpse helps you see the value in what we do. For a website to grow organically and sustainably, it’s not a simple case of churning out a few ChatGPT prompts, copying and pasting, and publishing—nowhere near it. The process takes time, hard work, experience, skill, and agility to keep up in the ever-changing SEO world.

Sure, there are less expensive options out there, but we firmly believe you get what you pay for. A few hundred pounds a month simply cannot buy you the quality of work I have described, not to mention the customer service, account management, website design, development, hosting, monitoring, auditing, reporting and consulting that comes with it.

If your goal is to take your revenue into the millions one day, your investment needs to match your ambition. The longer you invest in the process and the more consistent you are with SEO, the greater the results and ROI you can expect to receive.

It’s especially important in competitive industries like financial services. To stand out from the competition, you need to create highly optimised service pages and helpful blog content to become a trusted industry voice. Plus, you’ll have more content to share on LinkedIn and social media platforms, too.

SEO content is as important as ever

As AI continues to grow, the value of copywriting services has naturally been questioned. At Targeted SEO, we are all over the progression of AI and will continue to hone and enhance our content services as the software evolves, with a beady eye on Google updates.

All I can say is that we do what is proven to get results. At this moment in time, that’s producing human-written content with the help of SEO software and tools. Take a look at some of our case studies to see how this has led to success for a wide variety of industries.

How much does SEO content cost?

We offer clear and transparent pricing for all of our services, but we don’t offer cookie-cutter SEO packages. Instead, we deliver bespoke SEO packages that can evolve with our clients’ needs. To give you an idea, we charge around £350-£500 plus VAT for one piece of original, human-written, search-optimised content. Now that you have an idea of our process, you can clearly see this represents value for money, especially when you consider the long-term value.

Please note that we only offer SEO content services as part of a regular monthly retainer, which costs upwards of £1,000 plus VAT per month for a minimum of 12 months.

Do I need content for SEO?

Without good website content, your SEO investment won’t be as effective or successful. Search engines need to understand what your website is about to direct users to it. Once users do get there, they need to find relevant and helpful information, which will shape their perception of your brand and inform their decision to buy. A few paragraphs on a landing page in a highly competitive industry simply won’t cut it.

Can I write my own content?

You are the expert in your business, and your input is valuable. If you have the time to dedicate to it, we will gladly do the research and send you a content platform to work on. We can then edit and optimise it before publishing. However, to get the most out of this service, the content you supply needs to be of a good basic standard. Hastily written or 100% AI content won’t stand the test of time (or regular Google updates). Editing poor-quality content can also be time-consuming for our writers, which can eat into your retainer – in which case, it would be just as well to invest in our full SEO content writing service!