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:
- SEO Writing: Top 42 Tips To Master A Combined Art
- 8 Must-Haves In Your Content Guidelines: What Your Writers Need To Know
- Perfectly Optimized Content From Start To Finish
Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock
