Content Caffeine: North Star Inbound's newsletter for the content-obsessed.

6 Tips For Clearer SEO Writing.

Communication occurs when you effectively convey your message, not just express your thoughts.

In my last newsletter, I discussed the importance of structuring your content to meet user intent and ensure that every heading and sentence in your article earns its place.

This week, I’m talking about how every word needs to earn its place.

Close your Hemingway Editor tab — you don’t need it anymore. Read these six tips to make your SEO writing as clear and concise as possible.

Avoid vague subject pronouns

Try to avoid starting a sentence with the vague subject pronoun “it” because it’s rarely clear what “it” actually refers to. Starting with a verb is much stronger:

No: It’s important to perform a pre-operational safety check of your forklift before use.

Yes: Perform a pre-operational safety check of your forklift before use.

“This” is also a weak and unclear subject:

No: Perform regular maintenance on your forklift to prevent breakdowns. This is because breakdowns can disrupt operations and lead to costly downtime.

Yes: Perform regular maintenance on your forklift truck to prevent breakdowns and minimize disruptions and costly downtime in operations.

Avoid stalling and wordy phrasing

Wordy phrases may feel like you’re stalling when the reader is in a rush. These can be replaced by a verb, too:

No: When it comes to cleaning your dentures, soak them in a denture-cleaning solution overnight.

Yes: Clean your dentures by soaking them in a denture-cleaning solution overnight.

Use the active voice

Although varying your sentence structure can help readability, the active voice is typically clearer than the passive.

Passive: The versatility of your skid steer is increased by using attachments.

Active: Using attachments increases the versatility of your skid steer.

Try making the topic of your article (e.g., skid steer attachments) the subject of your sentences more often.

Use affirmative descriptions

Affirmative descriptions are clearer for the reader than negative ones and avoid unnecessary guesswork on their part:

No: Snap-on veneers are not particularly expensive.

Yes: Snap-on veneers are affordable.

Avoid clichés and idioms

This one is complex.

Natural writing elevates human-written content above AI-generated mush, but clichés and unnecessarily idiomatic language slow the reader down. Or even worse, make them cringe.

Plus there’s the danger that Google’s natural language processing algorithm will take your idiom literally.

Write like a human, but limit your clichés and idioms:

No: It’s a walk in the park to improve your Spanish vocabulary with a tutor’s help.

Yes: It’s easy to improve your Spanish vocabulary with a tutor’s help.

Avoid unnecessarily talking to the reader

Avoid talking to the reader and including yourself in the piece. It's about them, not you:

Okay: We’ll show you how to use definite articles in Spanish.

Often better: Here’s how to use definite articles in Spanish.

Many instances of “you” can be cut to make the sentence more concise:

Okay: If you want to improve your Spanish vocabulary quickly, use flashcards.

Often better: To improve your Spanish vocabulary quickly, use flashcards.

Remember: Readers are likely not tucking themselves into bed at night with a cup of cocoa to enjoy reading an informational blog post. They’re on the bus, they’re on their lunch break, or they’re in the middle of doing something else — and they want an answer.

It’s our job to give it to them as quickly and efficiently as possible.

This is why clear and concise writing is good for the audience as well as the Google algorithm.

There’s no need for your writing to become robotic. Just be aware of when you’re filling space and could be more helpful instead. When in doubt, one of the best SEO writing resources is actually plainlanguage.gov.

I hope these insights help. For more tips, follow me here. To explore our work further, reach out here.

Best,

Nicole DeLeon