SEO
7 SEO Tips To Make Your Writing Portfolio Discoverable In Search
I’ve always been a writer.
Since I learned to put pencil to paper, I’ve been writing stories, poems, plays, and anything else that put my imagination into words.
When I discovered blogging, I quickly realized that SEO and writing make a smart match. It became apparent that I’d need to optimize for organic search if I wanted readers to find my content.
Over time, I’ve turned writing into a lucrative business and, later, a full-on SEO career.
Along the way, I’ve learned some tricks to getting a writing portfolio found by potential clients.
If you’re a content writer or copywriter, use these SEO tips to make your writing portfolio more discoverable online.
First, How Do You Create A Writing Portfolio?
There are many different types of content portfolios.
In fact, you don’t even need a website to showcase your work.
You can use something as simple as a folder in Google Drive to house your content examples and share them with clients.
You can post articles on LinkedIn.
You can even save your work as PDFs and send them to potential clients.
However, if you want to rank your portfolio in organic search, having a website is likely the best way to go.
That gives you the most flexibility when optimizing your content, earning referral traffic, linking to live examples, and much more.
So, for this article, I’ll go over how to use your website to house and link to specific examples of your published works.
1. Subscribe To An SEO Keyword Research Tool
SEO tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, and SpyFu allow you to identify the key terms people use to find services like yours.
They can quantify how many people (i.e., “users”) are searching for a term, how competitive that term is, and whether other websites are targeting it.
A subscription to an SEO tool is essential because you’ll have access to real data to inform your SEO strategy.
You’ll be able to research which keywords to target in your web page content and what topics to write about on your blog.
Further, you can use SEO tools to uncover the keywords your competitors are targeting.
For instance, you can enter a competitor’s domain into the SEO tool, see their keywords, and apply them to your own SEO strategy.
Many of these tools adopt a “freemium” model where you get certain features for free.
Others have a monthly subscription fee.
Having access to a reliable SEO tool will make all the difference!
2. Plan And Launch Your Portfolio Website
If you already have a website, you can use SEO tools to determine the keywords you should target on your existing web pages.
For example, if you have a page about SEO content writing services, you might want to use the term “seo content writing services” (search volume: 720) in your page content, title, and description.
Do this for as many pages on your website as it applies.
If you are building a new website, you’re in a great position to plan your content from the ground up.
First, think of all the services you offer.
Next, use an SEO tool to find keywords that match these services.
Here is an example of what this might look like for a sale copywriter portfolio:
- Home page: “sales copywriter” (search volume: 170), “sales page copywriter” (search volume: 50).
- Services page: “sales copywriting” (search volume: 110), “sales copywriting services” (search volume: 30).
- Service: Website Copywriting: “website copywriter” (search volume: 390).
- Service: Email Campaigns: “email copywriter” (search volume: 260).
Above, you can see how each page maps to a relevant search term.
That ensures you create content for and target terms with monthly search volume and, in turn, gives you a chance to drive organic traffic to your pages.
Seocopywriting.com is a great example of a website with optimized landing pages for its services; for example, SEO Writing Consulting and SEO Copywriting Services.
It also has a blog that covers content-related topics.
This website generates over 500 organic visits per month!
3. Create A Blogging Calendar And Strategy
The writing industry can be quite competitive.
With so many writers online, many are targeting most of the same keywords on their portfolio pages.
With that in mind, you will need to get creative with your blog content to drive more organic traffic and is, again, where your SEO tool comes in handy.
I advise against just “winging it” when it comes to your blog.
If you put energy into writing content, you might as well target topics that will drive traffic to your website.
Here’s how to do that:
- Go into your chosen SEO tool and start searching for broad topics related to “writing,” “writer,” “copywriting,” “content,” and the like.
- Look at the list of keywords that come up in each category. Make a list of those keywords which have search volume but have a low to medium competition score.
- Filter these keywords for those that could be best answered in a blog post. For example, “How to write a sales page” is a much better blog topic than “sales page” or “blogger.”
- Pull these keywords into a worksheet like Google Sheets or Excel. Add a column in which you brainstorm a blog title to match your chosen keyword. (For the keyword example above, a good title may be “How to Write a Sales Page in 5 Steps.”)
- Specify the dates when you plan to write, optimize, and publish your blog articles. That will help keep you accountable to a schedule.
- Once you have written an article, add an internal link to a related service page or the Contact page on your website to encourage users to work with you.
Keep in mind that you will want to create content that speaks to your target audience.
So, as a writer by trade, you probably won’t want to talk about “Thailand travel tips” or “best holiday recipes.”
Instead, you may want to write about “how to choose a copywriter,” “where to find writers,” “best content tips,” “what is content marketing,” etc.
4. Leverage LinkedIn Articles And Medium
SEO can take time to ramp up, especially if you have a new or small website.
I recommend leveraging platforms that already get a great deal of traffic to direct users to your own website.
Medium is a great platform that allows anyone to publish content for free.
You can write an article and then link back to your website.
Some of my Medium articles have received over 10,000 reads – far more than what I would get on my own blog.
The same is true of LinkedIn articles.
Your articles will pop up for your Connections and your Connections’ Connections.
You can then direct users to related pages or posts on your own website.
This strategy can help direct more users to your portfolio without waiting for SEO’s payoff.
5. Reach Out For Guest Posting Opportunities
In the same vein, you can do guest posting on other websites to use their authority and traffic to your advantage.
In fact, I have gotten writing clients directly through guest posting on other blogs, websites, and online magazines.
Reach out to other blogs related to your niche, and offer to write for them.
Or apply to become a contributor to more reputable sites and publishers. Many will allow you to link back to your website.
This strategy can help earn you backlinks to your website, which can improve your site’s SEO.
At the very least, many sites will help market your content on their platforms and drive referral traffic to your site.
Guest posting brings many benefits, especially if your website doesn’t generate much traffic yet.
6. Optimize Your Google Business Profile Page
Google Business Profile is a free platform that allows businesses to create an online profile and generate local, organic traffic.
If you offer writing services to local clients, you can benefit from a Google Business Profile listing.
For example, I have a Google Business Profile that advertises my SEO content services in my home city, Seattle.
Just know that this listing will be tied to a physical address and a phone number (you can use a Google number if you don’t want to use your personal number).
So, if you are more private, this may not be the way to go.
But if you are comfortable with this visibility, a Google Business Profile listing can be a great way to generate leads and drive users to your writing portfolio.
7. Join Writer Job Boards And Directories
While you are waiting for your website to generate organic traffic, you can generate leads through popular writer job boards.
The most common platforms are Upwork and Fiverr.
Sites like these serve as freelance marketplaces where people submit a brief, you apply for the brief, and then you get paid to provide your services.
Many writers have had success with these platforms – though they tend to pay less than what you might charge as a direct contractor.
One well-known Upwork writer is Alex Fasulo.
She is known for having generated over $300,000 on Upwork in just one year.
Still, she has her own writing portfolio to attract clients, teach other writers, and land speaking opportunities.
Submitting a profile to writer job boards and directories can be a smart way to grow your client base and portfolio.
Grow Your Portfolio With SEO
SEO is one of the best ways to increase your writing portfolio’s online presence and generate organic traffic.
Used alongside other methods like guest posting and submitting to writer directories, you can generate genuine leads through your website.
The key to having an effective SEO strategy is to use SEO tools to your advantage; that’s the best way to get accurate data to inform the content you should have on your website.
You can then use these tools to uncover blog topics, research your competitors, and analyze your backlinks.
Want to get more writing clients?
Invest in SEO to passively drive organic traffic to your website and attract clients who are actively searching for your services.
More resources:
Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock
SEO
Google Clarifies Vacation Rental Structured Data
Google’s structured data documentation for vacation rentals was recently updated to require more specific data in a change that is more of a clarification than it is a change in requirements. This change was made without any formal announcement or notation in the developer pages changelog.
Vacation Rentals Structured Data
These specific structured data types makes vacation rental information eligible for rich results that are specific to these kinds of rentals. However it’s not available to all websites. Vacation rental owners are required to be connected to a Google Technical Account Manager and have access to the Google Hotel Center platform.
VacationRental Structured Data Type Definitions
The primary changes were made to the structured data property type definitions where Google defines what the required and recommended property types are.
The changes to the documentation is in the section governing the Recommended properties and represents a clarification of the recommendations rather than a change in what Google requires.
The primary changes were made to the structured data type definitions where Google defines what the required and recommended property types are.
The changes to the documentation is in the section governing the Recommended properties and represents a clarification of the recommendations rather than a change in what Google requires.
Address Schema.org property
This is a subtle change but it’s important because it now represents a recommendation that requires more precise data.
This is what was recommended before:
“streetAddress”: “1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy.”
This is what it now recommends:
“streetAddress”: “1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Unit 6E”
Address Property Change Description
The most substantial change is to the description of what the “address” property is, becoming more descriptive and precise about what is recommended.
The description before the change:
PostalAddress
Information about the street address of the listing. Include all properties that apply to your country.
The description after the change:
PostalAddress
The full, physical location of the vacation rental.
Provide the street address, city, state or region, and postal code for the vacation rental. If applicable, provide the unit or apartment number.
Note that P.O. boxes or other mailing-only addresses are not considered full, physical addresses.
This is repeated in the section for address.streetAddress property
This is what it recommended before:
address.streetAddress Text
The full street address of your vacation listing.
And this is what it recommends now:
address.streetAddress Text
The full street address of your vacation listing, including the unit or apartment number if applicable.
Clarification And Not A Change
Although these updates don’t represent a change in Google’s guidance they are nonetheless important because they offer clearer guidance with less ambiguity as to what is recommended.
Read the updated structured data guidance:
Vacation rental (VacationRental) structured data
Featured Image by Shutterstock/New Africa
SEO
Google On Hyphens In Domain Names
Google’s John Mueller answered a question on Reddit about why people don’t use hyphens with domains and if there was something to be concerned about that they were missing.
Domain Names With Hyphens For SEO
I’ve been working online for 25 years and I remember when using hyphens in domains was something that affiliates did for SEO when Google was still influenced by keywords in the domain, URL, and basically keywords anywhere on the webpage. It wasn’t something that everyone did, it was mainly something that was popular with some affiliate marketers.
Another reason for choosing domain names with keywords in them was that site visitors tended to convert at a higher rate because the keywords essentially prequalified the site visitor. I know from experience how useful two-keyword domains (and one word domain names) are for conversions, as long as they didn’t have hyphens in them.
A consideration that caused hyphenated domain names to fall out of favor is that they have an untrustworthy appearance and that can work against conversion rates because trustworthiness is an important factor for conversions.
Lastly, hyphenated domain names look tacky. Why go with tacky when a brandable domain is easier for building trust and conversions?
Domain Name Question Asked On Reddit
This is the question asked on Reddit:
“Why don’t people use a lot of domains with hyphens? Is there something concerning about it? I understand when you tell it out loud people make miss hyphen in search.”
And this is Mueller’s response:
“It used to be that domain names with a lot of hyphens were considered (by users? or by SEOs assuming users would? it’s been a while) to be less serious – since they could imply that you weren’t able to get the domain name with fewer hyphens. Nowadays there are a lot of top-level-domains so it’s less of a thing.
My main recommendation is to pick something for the long run (assuming that’s what you’re aiming for), and not to be overly keyword focused (because life is too short to box yourself into a corner – make good things, course-correct over time, don’t let a domain-name limit what you do online). The web is full of awkward, keyword-focused short-lived low-effort takes made for SEO — make something truly awesome that people will ask for by name. If that takes a hyphen in the name – go for it.”
Pick A Domain Name That Can Grow
Mueller is right about picking a domain name that won’t lock your site into one topic. When a site grows in popularity the natural growth path is to expand the range of topics the site coves. But that’s hard to do when the domain is locked into one rigid keyword phrase. That’s one of the downsides of picking a “Best + keyword + reviews” domain, too. Those domains can’t grow bigger and look tacky, too.
That’s why I’ve always recommended brandable domains that are memorable and encourage trust in some way.
Read the post on Reddit:
Read Mueller’s response here.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Benny Marty
SEO
Reddit Post Ranks On Google In 5 Minutes
Google’s Danny Sullivan disputed the assertions made in a Reddit discussion that Google is showing a preference for Reddit in the search results. But a Redditor’s example proves that it’s possible for a Reddit post to rank in the top ten of the search results within minutes and to actually improve rankings to position #2 a week later.
Discussion About Google Showing Preference To Reddit
A Redditor (gronetwork) complained that Google is sending so many visitors to Reddit that the server is struggling with the load and shared an example that proved that it can only take minutes for a Reddit post to rank in the top ten.
That post was part of a 79 post Reddit thread where many in the r/SEO subreddit were complaining about Google allegedly giving too much preference to Reddit over legit sites.
The person who did the test (gronetwork) wrote:
“…The website is already cracking (server down, double posts, comments not showing) because there are too many visitors.
…It only takes few minutes (you can test it) for a post on Reddit to appear in the top ten results of Google with keywords related to the post’s title… (while I have to wait months for an article on my site to be referenced). Do the math, the whole world is going to spam here. The loop is completed.”
Reddit Post Ranked Within Minutes
Another Redditor asked if they had tested if it takes “a few minutes” to rank in the top ten and gronetwork answered that they had tested it with a post titled, Google SGE Review.
gronetwork posted:
“Yes, I have created for example a post named “Google SGE Review” previously. After less than 5 minutes it was ranked 8th for Google SGE Review (no quotes). Just after Washingtonpost.com, 6 authoritative SEO websites and Google.com’s overview page for SGE (Search Generative Experience). It is ranked third for SGE Review.”
It’s true, not only does that specific post (Google SGE Review) rank in the top 10, the post started out in position 8 and it actually improved ranking, currently listed beneath the number one result for the search query “SGE Review”.
Screenshot Of Reddit Post That Ranked Within Minutes
Anecdotes Versus Anecdotes
Okay, the above is just one anecdote. But it’s a heck of an anecdote because it proves that it’s possible for a Reddit post to rank within minutes and get stuck in the top of the search results over other possibly more authoritative websites.
hankschrader79 shared that Reddit posts outrank Toyota Tacoma forums for a phrase related to mods for that truck.
Google’s Danny Sullivan responded to that post and the entire discussion to dispute that Reddit is not always prioritized over other forums.
Danny wrote:
“Reddit is not always prioritized over other forums. [super vhs to mac adapter] I did this week, it goes Apple Support Community, MacRumors Forum and further down, there’s Reddit. I also did [kumo cloud not working setup 5ghz] recently (it’s a nightmare) and it was the Netgear community, the SmartThings Community, GreenBuildingAdvisor before Reddit. Related to that was [disable 5g airport] which has Apple Support Community above Reddit. [how to open an 8 track tape] — really, it was the YouTube videos that helped me most, but it’s the Tapeheads community that comes before Reddit.
In your example for [toyota tacoma], I don’t even get Reddit in the top results. I get Toyota, Car & Driver, Wikipedia, Toyota again, three YouTube videos from different creators (not Toyota), Edmunds, a Top Stories unit. No Reddit, which doesn’t really support the notion of always wanting to drive traffic just to Reddit.
If I guess at the more specific query you might have done, maybe [overland mods for toyota tacoma], I get a YouTube video first, then Reddit, then Tacoma World at third — not near the bottom. So yes, Reddit is higher for that query — but it’s not first. It’s also not always first. And sometimes, it’s not even showing at all.”
hankschrader79 conceded that they were generalizing when they wrote that Google always prioritized Reddit. But they also insisted that that didn’t diminish what they said is a fact that Google’s “prioritization” forum content has benefitted Reddit more than actual forums.
Why Is The Reddit Post Ranked So High?
It’s possible that Google “tested” that Reddit post in position 8 within minutes and that user interaction signals indicated to Google’s algorithms that users prefer to see that Reddit post. If that’s the case then it’s not a matter of Google showing preference to Reddit post but rather it’s users that are showing the preference and the algorithm is responding to those preferences.
Nevertheless, an argument can be made that user preferences for Reddit can be a manifestation of Familiarity Bias. Familiarity Bias is when people show a preference for things that are familiar to them. If a person is familiar with a brand because of all the advertising they were exposed to then they may show a bias for the brand products over unfamiliar brands.
Users who are familiar with Reddit may choose Reddit because they don’t know the other sites in the search results or because they have a bias that Google ranks spammy and optimized websites and feel safer reading Reddit.
Google may be picking up on those user interaction signals that indicate a preference and satisfaction with the Reddit results but those results may simply be biases and not an indication that Reddit is trustworthy and authoritative.
Is Reddit Benefiting From A Self-Reinforcing Feedback Loop?
It may very well be that Google’s decision to prioritize user generated content may have started a self-reinforcing pattern that draws users in to Reddit through the search results and because the answers seem plausible those users start to prefer Reddit results. When they’re exposed to more Reddit posts their familiarity bias kicks in and they start to show a preference for Reddit. So what could be happening is that the users and Google’s algorithm are creating a self-reinforcing feedback loop.
Is it possible that Google’s decision to show more user generated content has kicked off a cycle where more users are exposed to Reddit which then feeds back into Google’s algorithm which in turn increases Reddit visibility, regardless of lack of expertise and authoritativeness?
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Kues
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