Just write great content and rankings will follow blah blah blah. We all know that's not true. If you're writing web content, and you want people to find it, you need to understand SEO. But you DON'T have to be an SEO pro. Follow the Blank Sheet of Paper Test for optimized copy that doesn't suck.

1. The Blank Sheet Of Paper Test
Writing SEO-Ready Copy That Doesn’t Suck
Ian Lurie
@ianlurie

2. I am an SEO
nerd
writer
gamer
cyclist

3. Copywriting is
not about SEO.
“
”

4. Copywriting is
not about SEO.
“
”

5. You can do SEO without
trashing your writing.

6. But you still have to do it

7. Where the algorithm’s going

8. Expertise
Authority
Trustworthiness

9. SEOs
“EAT!”

10. If E-A-T is news, you are s-c-r-e-w-e-d

11. BERT

12. Say “optimize for stop words”
and she (?) shows up at your door

13. No-click SERP features

14. BERT binary representation of words
vectors entity recognition syntax
sentiment schema tokenization
stemming lemmatization latent
semantic indexing TFIDF POS tagging
bag of words reverse indexing Zipf’s
Law Levenshtein distance blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

15. Let’s get practical, shall we?

16. Search engines deliver chunks of
content based on searcher requests.

17. They decide what to deliver by
comparing searcher intent to content.*
*Some search scientist is going to punch me in the face for this description, but it works for our purposes, OK?

18. They set context using words,
language, and structure.*
*Some search scientist is going to punch me in the face for this description, but it works for our purposes, OK?

19. We need to make their job easy.

20. The Blank Sheet Of Paper Test

21. The Blank Sheet
Of Paper Test

22. The Blank Sheet
Of Paper Test

23. BSOPT
Pronounced “BEEE-SAH-P-T”

24. Will this content, shown on a
blank sheet of paper, make
sense to a stranger?

25. Clarity above all else

26. The Problem Is Context

27. “Happy office people”

28. “Creepy somewhat racially-balanced
company of attractive people ready
to cook you with fava beans.”

29. The Wall Comes Tumbling Down

32. Clarity out of context > Gold

33. Lack of clarity = Cringe

34. “Supreme Court Tries Sodomy”

35. “Supreme Court Tries Sodomy Case”

36. If you write to pass the blank sheet of
paper test, you write optimized copy

37. Will this content, shown on a
blank sheet of paper, make
sense to a stranger?
What does this
stranger want???

38. Blank Sheet Of Paper Test Rule #1
Know what the stranger wants.
Look at searcher intent.

39. Capybara has
two meanings
Photo by Dušan Smetana

40. We’re not sure what strangers
want when they search for
capybara food

41. We know what they want
when they search for
capybara nutrition

42. Capybara food includes squash,
lettuce, popsicles and french fries.
For best nutrition, give them more
lettuce and fewer popsicles.

43. Capybara food includes squash,
lettuce, popsicles and french fries.
For best nutrition, give them more
lettuce and fewer popsicles.
BSOPT: You’re writing about
what Capybara eat.

44. People searching for “capybara” want
information. Fill their blank sheet of
paper with knowledge content.

45. People searching for “capybara
coat” want a product. Fill their
blank sheet of paper with horrible
twisted awful products that only
mean people would buy.

46. Transactional
Informational
Hybrid intent

47. Create a recipe page
Transactional
Informational

48. Fill the blank sheet of
paper with answers to
their questions

49. Moz

50. Quora

51. Will this content, shown on a
blank sheet of paper, make
sense to a stranger?
What should I write?

52. Blank Sheet Of Paper Test Rule #2
F—k the funnel
Get to the point

53. You sell capybara food…

54. The traditional approach
Capybara mating habits
Capybara swimming
Cute capybara
Capybara food
I hugged a capybara. You should, too
Capybara with hats
Feral capybara
Capybara singers

55. BSOPT

57. Fill the blank sheet of paper with
content that you know the reader
will want.

58. Fill the blank sheet of paper with content
directly related to your offering that
you know the reader will want.

59. Capybara food
Capybara
Capybara health
Nutrition
Cute capybara
Write about this
Then this
If you run out of ideas
No
Never

60. Will this content, shown on a
blank sheet of paper, make
sense to a stranger?
What is the stranger’s
vocabulary?

61. Blank Sheet Of Paper Test Rule #3
Speak their language.
Use the keywords.

62. Don’t avoid the keyphrase*
*sorry Haggar love you guys

63. Not sure? Look
at Google Trends

64. Check search features
People are confused!

65. Check out our denim pants!!!!

66. Check out our denim pants!!!!
BSOPT: You sell pants made of
denim. Not jeans, sweatpants
or anything else.

67. Use their word
These pants are more than jeans.
They’re denim. Check it out.
Now use yours

68. Use their word
We offer digital workflow made
better by process automation
Now use yours

69. Use their phrase
Capybara are the world’s
largest rodent. 140 pounds. I
wouldn’t joke about this.
Now use yours

70. Will this content, shown on a
blank sheet of paper, make
sense to a stranger?
How can I make this
content make sense?

71. Blank Sheet Of Paper Test Rule #4
Control context.
Structure your content for clarity.

72. Put keywords where they matter

73. Yeah, it’s still a thing

74. Title/headline/first paragraph etc. etc.

75. Get to the point

76. Yay!!!!

77. But first, The History
Of Bicycle Tires

78. And the anatomy
of a bicycle tire

79. Now, finally,
how to install

80. BSOPT: I’m going to read
about the history of bicycle
tires. Eventually. Maybe.

81. Bet they could be #1…

82. Better. This section, near the
top of the page, passes the
BSOPT with flying colors.

83. Lookitthat

84. (Cat on keyboard)

85. No answer box
But #1 organic

86. We must ask ourselves, “Why?”

87. Where are the
stretches?!!!!
Way the heck down here

88. No indication of a list

89. Heading same size
as/smaller than copy

90. I think maybe I’m going to see
this thing call sun salutation.
Not sure why.

91. i think that’s
supposed to be a
list of useful
information
wow. Total BSOPT fail.

92. Use headings and numbering

93. Numbered
subheading

94. I’m going to see a list of stretches. This
stretch is “calf stretch into wall”

95. That’s what I’m
talkin’ about.
I know exactly
what I’m going to
get. Perfect.

96. Not a coincidence

97. Will this content, shown on a
blank sheet of paper, make
sense to a stranger?
How do I make sure I
get on the blank
sheet of paper?

98. Blank Sheet Of Paper Rule #5
Do the plumbing

99. Behold…

100. Title tag, but you
already knew that
Title tag

101. Title tag

102. ALT attribute

103. Ah HAH

104. Editing the ALT
attribute in Wordpress

105. The SERPS are your first
blank sheet of paper

106. Make sure your result
passes the BSOPT

107. Description tag:
Optimize for clickthru
by passing the BSOPT

108. Test using PPC

109. Random: URL permanence

110. capybarakingdom.com/annual-report/
/annual-report/2017
/annual-report/2018
Never change the current URL

111. capybarakingdom.com/annual-report/
/annual-report/2017
/annual-report/2018
In 2019, the 2019 report lives here

112. capybarakingdom.com/annual-report/
/annual-report/2018
/annual-report/2019
/annual-report/2017
And the 2019
report lives here
In 2020, the 2020 report lives here

113. Random: Link if it makes sense

114. Onsite
Offsite

115. In Conclusion…

116. Always more.
schema

117. BSOPT
Pronounced “BEEE-SAH-P-T”

118. Will this text, written on a
blank sheet of paper, make
sense to a stranger?

119. Apply this everywhere, and
you’re writing optimized copy.

120. That’s It
@ianlurie
ianjlurie@gmail.com
Look
at that face!!!!!