Is SEO content writing and creative writing the same? Do I always have to follow SEO guidelines for writing content? And, when you do use one and not the other?

You might always stay wondering about such questions. However, the fact is – both SEO writing and creative writing are quite different from one another. Even though both require a creative approach where a lot of research is necessary to keep up with the trends.

Difference between SEO Content Writing & Creative Content Writing

Some people think that a good writer can easily engage in both fields, but that’s not 100% true. After all, a badminton player can’t be good at volleyball. However, staying creative and imaginative can help in writing a good piece of content. 

While writing an SEO article, a writer should be aware of different SEO rules and regulations to generate content according to search engines. Whereas, creative writing requires a vast imaginative thought process to write interesting and engaging content. Hence, it proves that each writing type is unique. 

For more understanding, we’ve brought this write-up for you, where you know the actual difference, including styles, formats, techniques, and other major factors that enhance your writing and benefit your company.

What is SEO Content Writing?

SEO content writing is the process of developing content that not only attracts search engines but also satisfies users’ search intent, So, users spend more and more time on the websites and automatically convert into a lead. It includes picking industry-specific topics, content formation, sentence structure, content length, adding valuable keywords, and converting readers into customers. 

The main focus in SEO writing is “Optimization” through keyword placements, formatting, readability, length, or paragraphs – each of which has a certain standard for obtaining high positive results. 

However, writing a good piece of SEO content isn’t only about inserting keywords in your blog posts, but also includes headers and bullet points to display valuable advice that answers search queries. In addition, SEO content writing is also about developing engaging, unique, meaningful, and readable content to rank them higher on search engines. 

In simple terms, SEO content writing standards include understanding the target audience, catchy page titles & descriptions, using headings and subheadings, adding keywords, entities and LSI, keyword density, internal and external linking, answering user intent, adding bullet points, using call-to-action, including shorter sentences, etc.

Also Read: Twitter SEO: Increase Your Google Search Visibility in 2023

Our SEO experts have a specific process that we use at our agency to accomplish high results. Here’s our detailed process:

  • Topic: Thorough research, competitors’ website analysis, content ideas and identify industry-specific keywords for creating a list of topics.
  • SERP Analysis: Analyze the search engine results page (SERP) for keywords to understand which topics need to be covered in your article for it to rank.
  • Structure: Create the structure of your article based on that SERP analysis.
  • Writing: Writing content with compelling information, proper insertion of keywords, appropriate content formation, and many more to sell your product or service.
  • Proofreading: Polish off your content with on-page SEO.

Do you need SEO-optimized content for your website? Tell us! We, at RedBlink Technologies, have a full team of SEO experts and writers who assist businesses in reaching organic rankings through high-quality and relevant content. 

What Does an SEO Content Writer Do?

Business owners who want to increase the visibility of their websites to major search engines always require the assistance of experts such as SEO writers. These professionals write optimized content for search engines to make people interested. Staying smarter with your content means ranking a website on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, Duckduckgo etc. 

Essentially, SEO writers are people who can look at a set of keywords, figure out what those people want to know about them, and write it clearly and succinctly. To help the reader find their content in search engines, SEO writers also know how to use keywords effectively.

Content writers who specialize in SEO writing use the known aspects of search engine rankings to create content that is well optimized for search engines. In addition to understanding Google’s ranking factors, the writers also apply the best SEO practices to employ in their texts. Since such professionals are responsible for optimizing articles, they should also be knowledgeable about on-page SEO. Even they use language that is simple and straightforward enough for human readers to understand. Copywriters also utilize targeted keywords throughout the content and use them naturally.

A good SEO writer handles the following things:

  • Write content that’s grammatical, clear, and concise
  • Focus on what the reader wants to know
  • Use SEO keywords in a natural-sounding way
  • Use headings to make the text more scannable.
  • Research topics you’re not familiar with to find trustworthy information
  • Write using the proper tone to engage the reader
  • Always proofread.

Want to connect with our top-rated SEO experts and writers? Let us know at (510) 300-4632!

What is Creative Content Writing?

Creative writing is a form of writing to express feelings, emotions, experiences, ideas, and even thoughts obtained at a subconscious level. As a form of literature, the creative content writing topics are related to journalism, academics, and technical genres.

In creative content writing, imagination and originality are key elements. Writing creative content involves using literary devices and descriptions to convey emotions, thoughts, and ideas. Among the most common forms of creative writing are novels, short stories, poetry, fiction, songs, and plays. Depending on the story the writer creates, this kind of content can be fiction or nonfiction.

The main perspective of creative content writing is entertaining and immersing the readers. There’s no point in selling in creative writing, but it’s more about influencing the audience.

What Does a Creative Content Writer Do?

A creative writer always uses different approaches to create quality content that touches readers. Some writers engage the audience through the combination of similes, metaphors, and symbolism to portray certain ideas while others use imagery and literary writing.

An experienced creative writer always focuses on developing more compelling content, which is based on creativity and individuality. 

Here are the following things that a creative writer does:

  • Always focuses on complete ideas and doesn’t leave the readers hanging in the wrong way.
  • Maintain the story fluency.
  • Keep the flow of sentences and topics.
  • Helps readers stay immersed while reading without getting confused or tripped up.
  • Write compelling and engaging content to catch the reader’s attention. 

Differences Between SEO Content Writing and Creative Content Writing

Both of these styles of writing appear similar at first glance. However, despite their similarities, they have some stark differences. 

As discussed above, SEO writing focuses primarily on marketing to potential leads, such as what is the best way to reach your customers? Being an SEO writer, it’s imperative to use concise, informative, and persuasive content. You also need to focus on keywords, and metadata and take advantage of every aspect of digital marketing to boost your Google rankings.

Creative writers capture the art of writing. Their purpose is to inspire, inform and provide insight to readers. In creative writing, there are no boundaries to descriptions and imagery, and there is no constant purpose besides entertainment.

Also Read: Shopify vs WooCommerce SEO [ Comparison Guide 2023 ]

Hence, it’s easy to identify the difference between these two through the writer’s intention that changes the type of writing. In order to understand this, we will elaborate on the difference between these two in the following section. Let’s have a look!

# Definition

  • SEO Content Writing: The term SEO content writing refers to online writing (e.g., blogs) linked to web marketing campaigns. The purpose of writing SEO content is to rank on Google’s SERP pages and answer user-generated queries. Keywords, linking, content formation, readability, entities, and many other aspects play a major role in SEO writing. 
  • Creative Content Writing: A creative writer’s work expresses their thoughts, feelings, emotions, and experiences at a subconscious level through their writing. This type of literature transcends academic, journalistic, and professional boundaries.

# Main Purpose

  • SEO Content Writing: SEO content writing has the purpose of informing, opining, and persuading readers to buy a product or service. The use of such writing has a more commercial purpose since marketing is a part of it.
  • Creative Content Writer: A creative writer is one who expresses their own thoughts, ideas, and feelings in order to entertain and amuse a reader. Creative writing is generally used for pleasure rather than commercial purposes.

# Content-Type

  • SEO Content Writing: SEO writing deals with industry-specific product/service-related topics. The article/blog gives you all the information a user and search engines need upfront. An SEO writer must be factual, impersonal, and devoid of distortions and emotions. There is an impersonal and objective tone to the writing, with a technical vocabulary and simple sentences.
  • Creative Writing: A creative writer does not write academically or in a technical manner. Among the types of creative writing are journals, diaries, essays, stories, poetry, memoirs, scripts, and free writing. The content should be original and creative. It tends to be dramatic and imaginative. This writing may be complex in its sentence structure and have linguistic aspects like dialects and ambiguities. 

# Content Platforms

  • SEO Content Writing: In search engine optimization (SEO), writers create pages to create highly visible pages that appear in the search results when people search for something related to the topic. By using quality content and other techniques, a client’s website can be visible on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
  • Creative Writing: There are many platforms where creative writing is used such as blogs, magazines, newspapers, websites, novels, handbooks, newsfeeds, etc.

# Content Style

  • SEO Content Writing: SEO writing is a research-based writing style, based on thorough research, addressing an audience, topic, and purpose that will be addressed. This style uses objective, straightforward language that is presented consistently. The writing style emphasizes facts and examples. The SEO writing style is completely chosen based on the target audience. Facts and ideas are used in content writing services.
  • Creative Writing: A creative writer might write some texts that aren’t necessary to read, but audiences read them to get entertained. There is little structure here, just a natural flow of expression. The writer of this writing intends to educate the audience and provides the readers with space to express their emotions. The writing paints a picture in readers’ minds that is vibrant and appealing.

You might now get a clear picture of – the difference between SEO writing and creative writing. Well, there are several SEO content writing courses & creative content writing courses for beginners. To enroll in the right field, detailed research is necessary. For more details, you can reach us at any time. 

How to include SEO Writing in your Content Marketing Strategy

SEO content writing for beginners might seem a bit complicated at first. But, with the help of some simple steps, you can easily incorporate SEO writing into your content marketing strategy. 

While working toward a more SEO-friendly piece of content, we here suggest you keep your web pages and blog posts updated as per Google algorithms. Focusing on every SEO aspect, such as keywords, linking, headings, meta tags, meta descriptions, and content formation will stand you at the top among leaders. 

Keep in mind that SEO is a dynamic process and re-optimization is a key component here. So, what you have to do is:

  • Content should be according to your target audience.
  • Analyze where your current content stands and then break it down into a specific plan of action.
  • Simple sentence structure and voice of your audience, whether that’s third-person formal or second-person conversational.
  • Add keywords in metadata, heading tags, page title, blog, and anchor text.
  • Write in short paragraphs of only a few sentences.
  • Do externally linking only to reputable, authoritative sites with high Domain Authority scores.
  • Do internally link only where relevant, but not with every blog post or possible CTA.
  • Add as much data, stats, and facts as possible to support your claims.
  • Embed relevant images and visuals to complement your narrative.
  • Keep featured snippets in mind.
  • Content should discuss the main topic and must fulfill the required search queries.
  • Write high-quality content – but – comprehensively cover the topic.

Also Read: 15+ Best AI Marketing Tools To Use in 2023

Skills to Look for When Hiring an SEO Writer

Once you successfully determine the SEO writing needs, you get clear with the fact that SEO writing is a time-consuming and thorough research process. And, this job isn’t possible without a professional SEO writer. So, if you’ve decided to hire the right SEO writer, you should look for a writer who successfully builds the connection between your brand and target audience.

Here are the following skills that an SEO writer must have:

  • Must-Have Quality of Thorough Researcher

For any business, trust is the main factor. Publishing less-than-trustworthy content will increase the risk of losing the trust of the audience. Therefore, every writer needs to be a thorough researcher in addition to being a competent writer.

  • Aware of Search Intent

The other name of search intent is user intent, which should be the primary objective for a writer while looking for information on search engines. 

For example, consider “party cupcakes” as a keyword. If anyone wants to learn – how to prepare party cupcakes has a completely different search intent than a person who is looking for local cupcake services.

An experienced SEO writer must understand the difference between different search intents and write a high-quality piece of content accordingly for a keyword-specific topic.

  • Understand The Point of Conversion Rate

If your main motive is to improve conversion rate, you obviously need a professional writer who knows the structure of writing good and high-quality content. So, your business reaches and achieves that specific objective successfully. While hiring a writer, don’t forget to ask about their previous work, experience, and establishments that they have made in SEO writing.

  • Up-to-Date With SEO Practices

As we all know, SEO practices are constantly changing and developing with search engine algorithm updates. Being a writer, your content should be SEO-friendly and well familiar with the latest updates. In addition, a writer should be good at researching parts to determine what exactly search engines want.

  • Understanding of Target Audience

A good SEO writer must-have skills in adapting and understanding the different audiences. Content has a different tone and style for 65+ years old readers than for Gen Z and millennials. That’s why it’s essential to hire a writer who can easily handle diverse assignments and knows how to reach the satisfaction of consumers.

Are you looking for an SEO writer? What are you waiting for then? Contact us today and let us know what you need! Our SEO professionals will write a copy that not only satisfies users but also feeds search engines perfectly.

Future Scope of SEO Content Writing and Creative Content Writing

The two types of content writing that we have discussed are SEO content writing and creative content writing. The first can be used strategically, while the second can be used creatively. However, you can still use skills from both to create hybrid content that stands out from the competition. 

Despite the fact that each writing style has its own place in the world, it’s becoming more difficult to deny the benefits of both. In the ever-evolving world of marketing, writing is becoming more fluid and interesting to read. To promote their work online, creative content writers begin optimizing their work and using SEO best practices. SEO content writers are using creative techniques to create better content.

Wrap Up – Which To Choose?

Doesn’t matter – which field you’re going to choose – you need to constantly learn and improve your skills. You need to do your research and know who you are writing for if you want your work read by the right people and at the right time.

However, you must add a pinch of creativity to your content writing to get the most out of it. Because the search engines are already filled with thousands of other articles out there, discussing the same topics and targeting the same group of readers. Writing articles that are overly promotional and SEO focused will not help you rise above them. Consider your audience’s preferences and make them authentic instead.  

A writer wants to evoke emotions in their readers with both types of writing. The main purpose of creative writing is to build a personal brand and inspire a reader with high-quality content. Whereas, SEO content is all about informing and enticing the users so they stay longer on the website and engage with a brand.

Looking for SEO content writers who incorporate creativity and quality into their writing? We have a team of SEO professionals who will take care of your website and establish an online presence. Our SEO writers are experts in doing proper research on industry-specific topics, choosing topic-related keywords, and staying updated with accomplished SEO algorithms.

Still, have questions? Ask us today at  +1(415) 779-2793