Let me tell you a fascinating story about SEO, why it’s important, and how you can write a blog post that sends you to the top of the search engine page too! This is the one, and only post, I’ve written purely for SEO purposes, and because I intentionally seeded it with the keywords Copywriter for Coaches, my website is currently #2 in the search engine results for that phrase. You’re probably here because of it (Hi!).

The original post was crap. This is me updating it so you, the reader, actually get some value.

You’re here because you saw Copywriter for Coaches - Yes! while searching, and I’m going to show you how that works, and how you can make it work for you, without sounding like you’re writing for an algorithm (because algorithms don’t buy your coaching services; people do. Write for people FIRST!).

“Copywriter for Coaches” came about because that’s what I do and who I do it for.

I am an ethical copywriter specializing in life coaches, health coaches, business coaches, embodiment coaches, healers, intuitives, doulas, spiritual folks, and the unabashedly ‘woo-woo’ (I’ve got crystals on my desk too, you won’t find so much as a raised eyebrow with me!). So I chose that “copywriter for coaches” phrase because it’s targeted, descriptive, and didn’t have too much competition (I highly recommend SEMRush for this - a quick search for keywords is free).

Then, I wrote the post. And it was TERRIBLE. My website was brand new, I hadn’t figured out what to write about yet, I had no confidence anyone would care, so I phoned it in (I don’t do that anymore). But, what I did right in that original post was to talk about the other copywriters who showed up ahead of me in the search engine results.

Call it Karma or a devious plan gone right, but here’s what happened: Some of these lovely humans left comments and backlinks on this post. When reputable sites create backlinks by commenting on your blog post, that sends Google the message that your site is also legit and deserves a higher placement. I linked to them, they left a comment, so by SEO standards, we both benefited. Cool, right? That’s how generosity works (also, coincidentally, how Google’s web crawler works).

SEO brings people in — but filtering is the next step to make sure the right ones contact you

Once I hit “publish” coaches from off of the internet began trickling in. Steadily. I kept getting more and more people saying “I found you on Google” and I was DELIGHTED! Previously, all of my business had come from referrals, which I’m very proud of, but adding this whole new extra client source (called The Internet!) was a Big Deal for my biz.

What I’m even more proud of is that out of the web traffic that landed on my site, the people who contacted me for a Free Tea Date were Perfect Fit Clients (you know, the kind of client who you love, who loves you, and the whole project is a love-fest?). And that is not SEO. That is what happens when your entire website is written and designed to appeal to ONLY your ideal clients.

If you land on my website and feel like you are welcomed into my home (and garden), and you just feel good here, that is filtering. It’s in the words. It’s in the design. It’s in the color scheme and the photos. It’s baked in. And if you land on my website and go “Eew, no” and click back to your previous page, that is also filtering.

This website works to attract my ideal clients, and send clients who aren’t a fit elsewhere. It works really well.

But let’s talk about “filtering” for a second, because it’s easy to think that it’s just “branding” or even emotional manipulation (because colors, fonts, images, they all affect our emotions), and that’s not what I’m about at all.

What I’m talking about is building a website that reflects who you are, the experience you give people, what your values are, and how you make people feel.

Basically, it’s translating YOU into the words, colors, and images of your website, so your website acts as an accurate first impression. I handle the word part, I know amazing designers and branding experts who handle the visual side.

The bottom line is: When your website is true to you, it will attract people who are primed and ready to love you.

One more piece of SEO strategy advice: Take the time to rewrite the posts that rank the highest

If you have a post that gets far more traffic than the other posts, or a post that hits the top of the search engine results page, but you wrote it ages ago - it can be well worth your time to revisit it, update it, even rewrite it (just keep those keywords in place!). This sends Google the message that you have new things to say on this topic that searchers may need to hear. I wrote this original post 2-3 years ago, and it was outdated. The copywriters I linked to have all changed their businesses and updated their websites.

So with this update, I hope to keep the good karma going by offering you an insight into how a blog post can get you more search traffic. With that in mind, let me tell you how to place keywords in your blog post so it makes it to the top of the search and brings you coaching CLIENTS!

There are 7 places that your SEO keyword phrase should ideally be included in your blog post:

1. Post title

2. Website URL

3. Meta description

4. First paragraph of body text (2-3 times)

5. One subheading

6. Every 200-300 words

7. Image alt tags

This is what I want for you, dear readers.

I want you to have amazing websites that reflect who you are and welcome your perfect-fit clients with a big warm hug.

If you’d like to ask me about SEO, filtering or… copywriting for coaches, I’d love to invite you to my virtual home for my Craft n’ Copy Hour! It’s a small group call where we can talk shop, talk copy, and play with crafts. It’s free, it’s fun, but if you can’t make the time slot, there’s always a tea date instead. :D