Every once in a while, I will check out the Moz Community page to see what new webinars have been uploaded. This time, a webinar called Why and How to Build an SEO Savvy Writing Team caught my eye, presented by Jessie Beck at Go Overseas.

Here are VA Partners, we share the responsibility of idea initiation, writing and editing this blog. So, I thought this webinar recording might have some new insights to make our blogging process more efficient, and ultimately more successful.

Here are the important take aways I gleaned from the presentation both from the writers and editors perspective.

Why Does SEO Matter?

For Writers

Understanding keyword research and SEO will help you refine your pitches, ideas and drafts. In fact, SEO begins even before you write your first word. Best practices for writing for the web include using a focus keyword, headers, and meta description helping you write more structured content. The goal in implementing a solid SEO strategy in your writing is to boost the success of your pieces, whether that’s being discovered by new prospects, or other publications, or retaining frequent readers. Knowing the value and practices of SEO will also ensure that your pieces follow Google’s guidelines to avoid errors or your work being taken down. SEO matters because it will help grow your writing profile.

For Editors

Incorporating SEO in the writing process improves efficiency, and leads to less time editing. As an editor it gives you the opportunity to develop clear outlines to ensure SEO practices are in place. By conducting keyword research you’re also able to generate more detailed content and fill any information gaps you may come across in your research stage. Thus making your content engaging and unique.

What Does a SEO Savvy Editorial Team Look Like?

For Writers

Before writing you will have to choose a focus keyword. Begin by doing a search on Google Keyword Planner or Moz Keyword Difficulty Tool to see the volume of searches and gauge interest in the topic. You can also simply Google the keyword to see what search results you get. In Google, also pay attention to auto complete options, related search terms and the “people also ask” box in the search results. This may help you identify what’s missing or what readers are most curious to learn about.

For Editors

A few things to look for as editors include ensuring the identified keyword is in title, intro, H2 headlines and alt text of images (where applicable). Other areas to check are formatting, the meta description, optimizing the URL and including links. When it comes to links make sure the anchor text is descriptive and accurate.

How Can You Build an SEO Savvy Team?

When it comes to building the team, choose carefully. Perhaps your writers already have their own blog, or former SEO knowledge. If not, ensure they have a keen interest in growing their portfolio with SEO. You can also outsource your writing which may be an option for those who have limited budget and resources. Finally ensure that your team is aware of the basic SEO check-ins in the writing process. As a remind you can create a SEO style guide or a plug-in like Yoast for WordPress to walk everyone on the team through the process.

If you’d like to explore writing for the web, and social media, download our white paper, An Introduction to Copywriting.