Writing SEO Copy: For Readers and Google at the Same Time

"Just put a few keywords in, then Google will find it." I hear this sentence often, and almost every time there's a text behind it that no human enjoys reading. Yet good SEO copy is no contradiction to good copy at all. On the contrary: anyone who wants to write SEO copy that truly works writes first for the human and only then for the search engine. In this article I show you how to combine both, search intent and readability, without your text sounding like a machine bolted it together.

What an SEO text actually has to achieve

An SEO text has two readers: the human who has a question, and Google, which wants to recognise that question. The good news is that today both want almost the same thing. Over the years, Google has become astonishingly good at judging whether a text genuinely helps a real person. A text that clearly answers your customer's question is therefore usually also the text Google likes to show at the top.

That means: you don't have to choose between "writing beautifully" and "writing for Google". You only have to understand what your reader is looking for, and give it to them.

Search intent: what does the person really want?

Before you write a single word, it's worth a quiet minute on the question: what's going on in someone who types this term into Google? That's called search intent. If someone types "painter Winterthur cost", they want a ballpark price, not a company history. If someone types "how do I paint a wall", they want instructions, not a sales offer.

• Does the person want to know something? Then explain it clearly and completely.
• Do they want to buy or commission something? Then make the offer clear and the next step easy.
• Are they still comparing? Then honest pros and cons help more than pure advertising.

If you align your text with this one intent, you've already done the biggest part of the work. Everything else is craft.

Working in keywords without it hurting

Yes, the searched term should appear in your text, in the title, in a subheading, in the first sentences. But please naturally. The biggest mistake when writing SEO copy is so-called keyword stuffing: the same word over and over until the text sounds like a broken record. Today that does more harm than good.

Instead, write the way you would speak. Feel free to use related terms and synonyms, "website", "homepage", "web presence". Google has long understood connections and rewards a text that covers a topic fully more than one that stubbornly repeats a single word.

Readability: the part many underestimate

A text can be perfect in content, if it looks like a grey wall of words, the reader bounces anyway. And Google indirectly measures exactly this behaviour. If someone stays on your page and reads on, that's a good sign. If they click away immediately, a bad one.

• Short paragraphs: three to four sentences are enough. Air in the text invites people to read on.
• Subheadings: they help the eye and the search engine recognise the structure.
• Simple words: write "use" instead of "put to use". Clarity always beats jargon.
• Lists and examples: they make abstract points tangible, like these here.

A simple process that works

This is how I go about it when I write a text for a client's page. You can do it exactly the same way:

• One page, one topic: deal with one clear question per page. Whoever wants everything at once achieves nothing fully.
• Start with the answer: say early what it's about. Nobody is looking for a gripping thriller, but for a solution.
• Get specific: instead of "we offer high-quality services", write what you do, for whom and what it costs, for instance a one-pager website from CHF 890.
• Read aloud: if you stumble while reading, your reader stumbles too. Rephrase.

Common mistakes I see again and again

• Writing for yourself instead of the customer: "we, we, we" instead of "you get".
• Too thin: a text of three sentences rarely answers a whole question, and Google notices.
• The same text everywhere: copied content across several pages confuses Google and gets none of them to the front.
• Never looking at it again: a text may grow. Check after a few months whether it still fits.

How to start today

Take your most important page, usually the one with your main service. Read it through the eyes of a customer: is their question answered in the first few seconds? Does the text sound like a human or like a brochure? Even small corrections often make a noticeable difference.

If you're unsure which search terms your customers enter or how to structure your copy, I'm happy to help. With every website I design, well-thought-out, readable copy is part of it from the start. Feel free to browse through other articles, or get in touch directly via the contact form if you want your page to convince people and Google.