SEO Content Writing Tips – Write to Rank

Less is more.

If you read nothing else in this piece, that is all you need to take away.

However, if you can give me 3 minutes, I’ll change how you see SEO content writing forever.

The State of Play in SERPs

Since late 2024 and into 2025, Google has been actively indexing LESS. Largely in part due to the wave of rubbish content from AI.

The flow on effect of this is Google cutting the crap, and prioritising value. So when it comes to writing copy, you should too.

This is how to optimise website content for SEO.

1. Prioritise High Information Gain Rate

Gain Rate is a bit of a SEO buzz word in 2025, but it essentially boils down to:

• Every sentence should add new, valuable information.
• Avoid unnecessary fluff or redundant phrasing.
• Focus on adding new insights per paragraph—cut anything that doesn’t enhance understanding.
• If a sentence doesn’t contribute additional meaning, remove or rewrite it.

2. Align Your Content With Search Intent

Now you may have heard this one before, but it goes well beyond keyword research and just optimising for keyword types: informational, transactional, commercial, navigational.

Intent extends into:

• How you format your content
• The medium(s) your content is presented in
• The information you add to a user
• The platform your content is found on

For starters, identify what the user actually wants when searching for the topic you’re writing about. Do they want a video? Or a 1 second answer? Search for your target term on Google and see what is serving to get an initial understanding.

From there, address the core question/concern immediately; don’t bury the answer deep in the content.

Then structure your content to match user expectations, e.g.”

• A guide should be step-by-step
• Longform content needs to be scannable and have navigation elements
• Maybe you need a video not a blog

3. Focus on Semantic SEO Principles

You want to avoid using exact match keywords repetitively. Instead, use synonyms, contextually relevant terms, and natural phrasing. If you do this, Google will better understand the context of your page.

Some tips:

• Focus on semantic richness, ensuring search engines can understand topic relevance.
• Use structured, clear sentence formations that make NLP parsing easier.
• Prioritise meaning over keyword density. Words have meaning, so focus on word embeddings too.

Here are some examples of keyword heavy vs. semantic focused content. Key terms/phrases are bolded:

TRADITIONAL SNIPPET – KEYWORD HEAVY FOCUS

“Looking for the best widgets? Our store offers the best widgets you need. We have a wide variety of widgets for sale because when it comes to buying widgets, our widget selection is unbeatable. If you want to buy widgets online, our website is the best place to buy widgets. We specialiase in high-quality widgets that all widget lovers will appreciate. In this widget guide, we discuss the top widgets, quality widgets, and affordable widgets so you can find the best widget for your needs.”

MODERN SNIPPET – WORD EMBEDDING & SEMANTIC FOCUS

”Our online catalog guides you to the right choice with a curated selection of high-quality widgets for various needs. We focus on durability, performance, and value – whether you need a gadget for heavy-duty use or a sleek widget for everyday tasks. Each product page provides specifications, user reviews, and expert tips to help you make an informed decision. By addressing common questions about setup, maintenance, and compatibility up front, we ensure you find the best widget without having to search elsewhere for details.”

Which one provides more value to a user? Which one gives more context to a search engine bot?

4. Optimise for Bot Parsing, Core Web Vitals & Readability

Google bots and users are mobile first. This makes content structure that much more important. To shape your content for SEO, you’ll want to:

• Keep paragraphs concise (3-4 lines max) for better mobile readability.
• Use short sentences for clarity; avoid unnecessary complexity.
• Tick off your technical SEO and ensure fast-loading multimedia (compressed images, lazy loading, sizing dimensions on images).
• Format content with subheadings, bullet points, and bolded keywords for quick scanning.

In laymans – “Structured content helps search engines better read pages and find callouts”.

You’ll notice in AI overviews how Google itself structures content. Sub header > short sentence > key points > repeat

This kind of format lends itself to a high rate of information gain. Additional checks:

• Test readability on mobile devices.
• Ensure alt text for images.
• Use descriptive link text instead of “click here.”
• Keep fonts and spacing legible for all users.

5. Use Logical & Hierarchical Content Structures

Hierarchical structures are not just for URLs. Your content needs a logical flow too both within the copy and with links.

Here’s what you need to consider here:

• H1: Clear, compelling page title reflecting search intent. Can often match the title, but try add a bit more content within an H1.
• H2s & H3s: Used for organising key sections, mirroring how users would expect information to flow.
  

  • Traditionally, sub headers have been keyword heavy. While keywords are still important, think about flow just as much.
  • Map your sub headers like a journey. Point A > Point B > Point C > Destination
  • Do NOT backtrack = If you’ve covered point A, don’t regurgitate the same information in Point B or Point C. Users already KNOW now. That is not further information gain, it’s repetition. Use your judgement when creating hooks back to aforementioned points.

• Internal linking: Contextually link to relevant internal pages, enhancing topic clusters.
  • Before you start writing, use site: search operators to discover any existing topical overlap OR linking opportunities. Index data here is what Google is already associating your with website + topic.
  • Site: search operator examplesite:domain.com “puppy training” – this will then return all indexed content on your website relevant to “puppy training”
  • Map your clusters in a Google Sheet! Do this at the start, as overtime this will become an amazing resource. Think about internal links as up/down stream. Where do you want the value to flow? Map example:

• External linking: Link to authoritative sources where necessary (avoid excessive linking). If it adds genuine value, link to it.

6. Write With a Conversational & Engaging Tone

When writing, keep it clear, direct, and professional—no unnecessary formality or filler.

Avoid generic intros—get to the point fast. Example:

“Are you looking for/thinking about KEYWORD HERE?” This post explores “RELATED KEYWORD” blah blah blah…

DON’T do this.

• Are you looking to speed up your website? Load speed is an important ranking factor in SEO. Large image files slow down your site. Use JPEG or WebP formats and compress images to reduce file size without losing quality.

Instead, DO this:

• Large images and videos slow down page load times. Compressing files using WebP, AVIF, or JPEG formats and reducing unnecessary metadata improves loading speeds without compromising quality.

If an answer is already assumed, don’t dwell on repeating information that is not of a gain to users. I.E. A users searching for page speed improvement keywords is obviously looking to “speed up their website” – that is an inherent intent.

Lastly, write as if explaining to a well-informed but non-expert audience. Use examples, analogies, or comparisons to improve understanding.

7. Content-Length & Depth

For years higher content length has been seen as part and parcel of better rankings. Not anymore.

When writing content, think about the below:

• No forced word counts. Quality > Quantity.
• Long-form content should justify its length—only expand if necessary.
• Shorter, high-value pieces (500–1,200 words) can often perform better than 3,000-word articles packed with fluff. LESS IS MORE.
• Avoid broad, generic content—narrow the focus to ensure expert-level detail.

Note that many word count tools report on everything they find on a page. This includes headers, footers, side bars. So when using a “SEO optimisation tool” for content, double check word counts. They are likely inflated.

8. CTA & Engagement Optimisation

Simple steps:

• Always include a clear next step. What action do you want the user to that? (e.g., internal link, form, product page).
• Ensure every piece of content has a purpose—ranking alone isn’t enough. What problem does it solve?
• Where applicable, add interactive elements (FAQs, collapsible sections, charts). These improve dwell times

9. Google Systems & Algorithm Awareness

There are 4 things to consider when it comes to Google’s algorithms and creating content:

• Don’t chase what’s ranking today—build content that aligns with Google’s long-term trajectory (information quality, intent satisfaction).
• Consider AI-generated content risks—ensure everything adds unique value beyond what’s already available.
• Some pages rank despite poor SEO practices—never assume “what’s ranking” is the ideal model to follow.
• Lastly, make sure you’ve read Google’s Content Guidelines.

10. Editing & Iterations

Content is not set and forget! Always look to iterate pieces, even new ones. Here’s how to do that:

• Look at ranking keywords. Add exact match mentions if missing
• Look at GSC data. Add exact match mentions of high impression terms if missing
• If content is dated and now driving 0 traffic, get rid of it, or refresh for the current year. Dead weight hurts websites.
• Consider what you can combine. This helps avoid topic overlap.

FINAL RULE: If It Doesn’t Provide Unique Value, It’s Not Worth Publishing

Every piece must answer:

• Is this the best available resource on this topic?
• Does this content help the user make a decision or learn something new?
• Would I personally share this if I found it online?

If not, revise or scrap it.

Do these tips sound good to you? Want the entire content process done for you?

Intellar can run your content strategy for SEO from start to finish. Chat to us about this.

To learn more about SEO in general, check out our complete SEO checklist for 2025.