SEO editing refers to the process of revising content written online to help make it rank on search engines, preferably on the first page. It typically has a commercial purpose in that it is meant to drive traffic and eventually leads and sales to a website.
SEO editing is often used for:
Blog articles
Landing pages
Product pages
Online magazines or news websites
It focuses on ensuring that articles are scannable, easy-to-read, and more importantly match the search intent of users on Google. I said Google, but SEO stands for search engine optimization. This means any search engine, not just Google.
It's true that Google is not the only search engine. However, let's not lie to ourselves. It is the largest, most advanced, and most important in terms of the number of users and reach. Therefore, in this article, we focus on explaining what SEO editing is and how you and your business could benefit from practicing it for Google.
What is SEO?
The "O" in SEO means optimizing content in such a way that it can rank on the first page of Google. There are many aspects to SEO. However, here we will focus on what is known as non-technical on-page SEO.
Non-technical on-page SEO is SEO tactics that apply to the copy on the page. By copy, we mean writing found on blog articles, landing pages, and product pages. Much of SEO revolves around keywords.
Keywords are words, phrases, questions, and sentences that Google users use to search for information online. These keywords can also be referred to as “queries.” For example, if someone is interested in finding healthy pet food for their dog. They would type, “Healthiest dog food.”
“Healthiest dog food” is called the keyword. This is a long-tail keyword. Long-tail keywords are keywords that are either phrases or sentences. Seed keywords, on the other hand, would be keywords that are single words or terms, such as “pet food.”
In SEO content writing, writers try their best to increase the likelihood of blog articles, and by extension the websites hosting these blog articles, to rank on the first page of Google by fitting these keywords in the title, headings, subheadings, and body text of blog articles.
This should be done as naturally as possible while avoiding keyword stuffing and awkward and unnatural phrasing. Now, putting keywords into headings and texts is not all that matters in SEO.
Another crucial aspect of SEO is backlinks. Some people even go as far as saying it is the most important aspect. Backlinks refer to links from your site that have been included on other websites.
The more large websites with high authority and reputation link back to your site, the more likely your site will rank on the first page of Google. For this reason, backlinks have been referred to as the “currency of the Internet.”
While backlinks refer to links to other websites, Internal Linking refers to links across your site. This means embedding URLs from one blog post into other blog articles. This increases the level of context and relevance across your site.
This is something that an SEO editor would have more control over compared to backlinks. Besides this, a third aspect is fulfilling “searcher intent.” This means your blog must speak directly to the needs of the searchers.
In short, we can say that SEO editing is based on three principles:
Internal linking
Keyword optimization
Fulfilling searcher intent
We will focus on what these three things mean in the remainder of this article.
The principles of SEO editing
Why would you hire an SEO editor? SEO editing refers to the process of revising and correcting existing content to increase its chances of ranking on the first page of Google. Google search results are called SERPs—-search engine results pages.
Ideally, you would want to land on page one, as close to 80% of searchers click on the first five results of the first page.
So how do you ensure that blogs can be edited to land on the first page of Google? Well, first we need to establish the conditions that would allow this, even if it is not part of SEO editing per se.
It’s called link-building or backlinks. This, as I mentioned earlier, has been described as the currency of the Internet. It refers to how often links from your website are featured on other websites. That gives your website more authority and credibility in the eyes of the Google algorithm.
This means a blog article on a website with a high number of backlinks would have a greater relative weight compared to a blog article on a site with a lower number of backlinks. An SEO editor would have no control over backlinks.
However, what they do have control over is internal linking.
1. Internal linking
Internal linking means linking blog articles across your website, and they help to give your blog system more coherence and relevance. I mentioned backlinks before. They are links or URLs from your website being featured on other websites.
Backlinks are required to power your website. They are known as the currency of the Internet. The more of it your website has, the more likely your blog article can be ranked on the first page.
However, as mentioned earlier, SEO editors are unable to build backlinks. What they do have control over is Internal Linking. This means taking a URL of one relevant blog and embedding it in texts (also known as anchor texts) in another blog.
This helps the Google Algorithm recognize your content as being highly related and relevant to each other. It also provides your readers with the option of clicking on the relevant links to discover more information while remaining on your site.
If backlinks are supposed to give more power to your website because they signal trust and authority for your website, then internal linking signals that your website is coherent and contains complete information.
So part of SEO editing would include internally linking related blog articles.
2. Keyword optimization
Keyword optimization can be viewed as the most obvious aspect of SEO editing. It means incorporating keywords naturally in the title, meta descriptions, headings, subheadings, and body text of the article.
The key is to be natural. The Google algorithm is partially powered by something known as NLP, which is the short term for natural language processing. It means Google doesn’t have to rely on reading the exact keyword.
It can use context to figure out what is being said or implied, even when synonyms of the keyword are used. Therefore, you won’t have to repeat the keyword throughout the body of your text and in every subheading.
However, before optimization, keyword research needs to be conducted. This means researching what people are searching for. This is normally done by using SEO tools. There are several options for this.
These tools include:
These tools show key data such as keyword difficulty and keyword volume. Keyword difficulty shows how hard it would be for a keyword to rank on the first page of Google. Keyword volume describes the number of times the keyword is searched on Google.
The screenshot shows data on keywords from SemRush. The keyword is “best proofreading services.” The keyword difficulty is 24% and the keyword volume is 4,600. Other data includes CPC or click per cost.
This refers to the cost of Google advertisements. It is often used as a proxy for the commercial value of a keyword.
3. Searcher intent
Searcher intent refers to the intention of the searcher. In the screenshot from SemRush, above the blue bars, we see the term “commercial intent” in yellow. This means that people who type in “best proofreading services” are looking to purchase proofreading assistance.
This means that an SEO editor should take this into account. Are users looking for information with a keyword, or are they simply looking to be educated on how to do something?
Therefore, part of SEO editing includes revising to make sure that blog content matches the customer’s intent. For example, if the customer is searching for “how to raise bees,” then they’re looking to be educated on the issue.
They would want to know:
What variety of bees are ideal for raring in a specific climate
What should they be fed
How the honey should be collected
In what conditions, they should be kept
And so on
This would be a long and detailed article. It should include plenty of pictures that show the processes involved in raising bees. A brief article that is only 1000 words long may fail to satisfy search intent.
An article that focuses on the costs associated with beekeeping might be partially useful and related but would also fail to satisfy the searcher's intent. The SEO editor would be charged with directly modifying and rearranging information to make sure it aligns with what the customer is looking for.
Likewise, a searcher searching for “the cost of beekeeping” would be interested in pricing. An appropriate blog article would include price lists and would immediately mention average costs in the introduction of the article.
4. Headings and subheadings
Headings and subheadings are essential in SEO. As I mentioned before, an essential aspect of SEO and SEO editing is naturally fitting keywords into titles, headings, and subheadings.
In SEO, Headings are labeled as H1, H2, H3, and so on. H1 describes the title of the blog article. H1 means Level 1 headings, H2 Level 2, and so on. Heading arrangements should be logical for both the Google algorithm and your readers.
Headings and subheadings don't simply provide the chance to feature keywords. They provide a means to arrange the information in your content in a neat and eligible way. Most readers wouldn’t read a full blog article.
Instead, they quickly scan through it to find information that is useful to them. They would also prefer the option of reading a blog in a non-sequential manner. For example, they can read Section C and then move back to Section A without being confused or losing meaning or context.
Below is an example of a heading scheme for a blog post titled "The Benefits of Exercising."
H1: The Benefits of Exercising
H2: Mental health
H3: It increases endorphin release
H3: It increases blood flow to the brain
H2: Weight benefits
H3: It can help you slim down
H3: It can help you maintain the ideal weight
H2: Bodily health benefits
H3: Maintain heart health
H3: Reduces risk of hypertension
H2: Quality of life benefits
H3: Increases lifespan
H3: Reduces the risk of Alzheimer's
H3: Reduces the risk of Parkinson's disease
The heading scheme above resembles a proper table of contents with units of information that make a coherent whole while being able to stand alone by themselves without losing value and meaning.
5. Scannability
Scannability is also one of the benefits of properly using headings. This means making it possible for your readers to scan your content without reading it fully. This has already been discussed in the previous section.
Another aspect of scannability is the length of paragraphs. It would be best to break paragraphs into units of two to three sentences. This makes it easier for the reader. Let’s face it. The average reader is an Instagram scroller.
They have similar attention spans when reading a blog. SEO seeks to appeal to the lowest common denominator. So, forget about writing whole paragraphs that are made up of five to seven sentences that you learned about in your essay writing classes in college.
Make sure that sentences are short and that paragraphs are two to three sentences long. There should be plenty of “white space” between paragraphs and throughout your content. This makes it aesthetically pleasing to the reader who is used to scrolling through colorful pics and memes on X and Instagram.
Pics and infographics are also related to the issue of scannability. As much as possible, break your content using infographics and pics. In particular, infographics should be complete. It doesn’t have to be like tables and infographics in academic texts that should be labeled and numbered within the text.
Let your tables and infographics stand alone while summarizing major points. The reader should not have to go back to your text to understand the idea being communicated in a figure or infographic.
6. Tone of voice
An SEO editor should also focus on tone of voice (or TOV). It’s one thing to land on the first page of Google because you understand how a machine like the Google algorithm works. It’s another thing to communicate to people and convince them to buy your product or to ensure that you speak directly to their needs.
This is where tone and voice come in. If your main writer or writers have an academic background, there will be a high risk of them sounding like they’re writing for intellectuals or academic professionals.
For example, let’s say you have hired a medical professional to write an authoritative blog on heart disease. This professionla may have published several papers in peer-reviewed academic journals.
They may tend to use this type of academic language. This would make no sense if the audience is the general public. An SEO editor would be needed to make sure the tone and voice are right for the audience.
For example, here is a title from a journal about heart disease:
Preventing Heart Disease in the 21st Century: Implications of the Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth (PDAY) Study
No one without a degree or training in medicine or familiarity with academic language used in medicine would understand this. An SEO editor would rewrite this as follows:
How to Reduce Your Risks of Heart Disease in Old Age
The language now is something that the average or ordinary reader can now understand. Another consideration is brand voice. SEO editing can help ensure that the tone used in your writing reflects the values and style you want to get across.
Example of SEO editing
Below is an example of SEO editing using a passage from a blog article reporting on a medical study published in an academic journal. For SEO-friendly medical writing, websites such as Healthline provide good examples of how SEO editing works.
Most articles on Healthline provide credit to two individuals—the editor and the actual medical professional. Presumably, the medical professional writes the article, and the editor is responsible for editing to make it SEO-friendly and easy to read from the perspective of the target customer searcher.
Example of SEO-friendly content |
Here is an example of SEO-friendly content from Healthline:
Your Alzheimer’s Risk Could be 42% Higher if You Leave High Blood Pressure Untreated
A new study has found a link between high blood pressure and Alzheimer’s risk.
People with untreated high blood pressure were at greater risk for the disease.
High blood pressure can damage the brain over time, leading to cognitive decline.
Medications, diet, exercise, and stress reduction can help blood pressure.
Keeping your mind active and maintaining social ties can protect against Alzheimer’s.
A new study published online on August 14, 2024, in Neurology found that people ages 60 and above with untreated high blood pressure may be at greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
This was in comparison with individuals whose high blood pressure was currently being treated or had been treated in the past. A comparison was also made with people without high blood pressure.
Alzheimer’s disease affects nearly 7 million people in the U.S. alone, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, and it is the most common type of dementia, making up an estimated 60% to 80% of cases.
. . .
In this short excerpt, we see a clear H1 Headline that might be long, but it's easy to understand. What else is SEO-friendly about this content? The bullet list at the beginning sums up the entire point of the article. That is ideal for people on the go who simply want to get an idea of the article's main point.
The few paragraphs quoted are also very short. The first one is only a sentence long. This is in stark contrast to the study which it relies on for the information. Here is an excerpt from the actual study:
There were 31,250 participants from 14 nations in the analysis (41% male) with a mean baseline age of 72 (SD 7.5, range 60–110) years. Participants with untreated hypertension had a 36% (hazard ratio [HR] 1.36, 95% CI 1.01–1.83, p = 0.0406) and 42% (HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.08–1.87, p = 0.0135) increased risk of AD compared with “healthy controls” and those with treated hypertension, respectively. Compared with “healthy controls” both those with treated (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.03–1.60, p = 0.0267) and untreated hypertension (HR 1.69, 95% CI 1.19–2.40, p = 0.0032) had greater non-AD risk, but there was no difference between the treated and untreated groups. Baseline diastolic BP had a significant U-shaped relationship (p = 0.0227) with non-AD risk in an analysis restricted to those with 5-year follow-up, but otherwise there was no significant relationship between baseline BP and either AD or non-AD risk.
Again, no one without training in medicine or deep familiarity with the academic literature on medicine would be able to easily read and understand this. In fact, in terms of academic editing standards, it's perfect.
But the audience is not journal editors or reviewers. It's a casual audience interested in their health. Here, the job of the SEO editor would be to make sure that this information is translated into text that the target audience would both understand and benefit from.
Big picture SEO editing
SEO editing before and above anything else is there to promote your business goals, which are typically sales. It does so by 1. attracting customers' attention, 2. turning them into leads, and 3. eventually converting them into customers. It can be described as the customer journey.
This is typically illustrated in the concept of the Sales Funnel. The sales funnel shows the process of turning prospective customers into eventual purchasers. It begins broad at the top, where a large number of potential searchers and customers show Awareness and then Interest. This is then changed to Desire and Action.
Awareness is where the customer becomes aware of their problem. Interest is where they read material to help solve their problem. Desire and Action represent a customer actively comparing pricing and features (Desire) before buying (Action).
Big picture SEO editing means you try to account for the customer or searcher at every stage of the customer journey or sales funnel. You can bring on an SEO editor at the beginning or later in the content writing process. It would be best to have the SEO editor come at the beginning and provide a big-picture view of what your blog should be like.
It rarely makes sense to have an SEO editor work only on the blog article level. However, a blog article doesn’t work optimally on its own. Instead, it should be seen as part of a wider whole, namely your blog and website.
Final thoughts
SEO plays a crucial role in content writing for your business content. Sometimes, writers may not be trained in SEO writing. Most writer's ideas of writing are based on the college essay.
This is vastly different from what is expected in SEO writing. An SEO editor could be tasked with the responsibility of editing content that has already been written by your in-house team of writers or even writers that you have outsourced.
You should appeal to searchers and potential consumers at every stage of the buyer’s journey. This means a wide variety of blog articles suited to speak to the mindset of the consumer at whatever stage they are at.
Bringing an SEO editor early will help make sure that you strategically position your entire blog to achieve your business goals. The point of SEO after all is to sell. An SEO editor would make sure that the writing you produce is in line with this ideal or goal.
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2024, August 28). What Is SEO Editing? https://www.eminentediting.com/post/what-is-seo-editing |
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