If you have been in the world of SEO for quite a while, chances are you’ve heard of, or come across, Surfer SEO. Many marketers and businesses use this on-page SEO tool for different SEO needs. In general, they all use Surfer SEO to rank higher on Google and increase traffic to their website. But with so many ranking factors to analyze, this is something most people never fully understand, which is especially true for Surfer SEO Content Editor.
Designed as an ever-improving on-page optimization tool, Surfer content editor has picked up a lot of steam in recent years. It is particularly popular with writing companies and website owners looking to outsource their content to freelance writers. Those who are busy creating content around the clock don’t have a lot of time for keyword research and content creation. That’s because dealing with keywords takes a substantial amount of time. This is where Surfer SEO Content Editor and Keyword Researcher come in handy.
As a matter of fact, Surfer SEO consists of three SEO tools:
- Content Editor
- Keyword Researcher
- SERP Analyzer
Each of these SEO tools goes a long way when optimizing content. These tools can help you analyze top-ranking pages before you start creating keyword-rich content and rank it in search results. Here, we will focus on the Content Editor. The following is our comprehensive guide to Surfer SEO Content Editor. It is geared towards anyone wanting to learn how exactly this SEO tool works and use it to improve their own on-page optimization.
What Is The Surfer Content Editor Tool?
You need to use Content Editor with Surfer Keyword Researcher and SERP Analyzer for the best results. Before getting into how to use this tool, we will provide you with a simple explanation of what Content Editor actually is.
It’s kind of like Microsoft Word or Google Docs but designed with on-page SEO in mind. This on-page SEO tool enables users to import or write their content right on the online platform.
You’ll be able to adjust everything from the style and font to size and colour. There’s also word count to see how many words you’ve written. You can also include images and make links when writing your content.
What Makes Content Editor Different
You may be thinking: “That’s great, but all of this can be done on other content creation platforms.”
So, what sets Content Editor apart from the rest?
Unlike other online platforms for freelance writers, Surfer Content Editor can also optimize your content by showing the keywords that should be used. All the keywords are highlighted. Click on a keyword and the Content Editor will show you where it appears in the document. You can also see which keywords are used by the top-ranking pages.
Additionally, this on-page SEO tool will also tell you how many times each keyword needs to appear in your content. In addition to keyword density, the Content Editor will suggest some questions to answer in your article and thus make it more optimized.Â
That’s not all. Let’s dig a bit further to discover more features of Content Editor and learn how to make use of this on-page SEO tool.
How To Use SurferSEO Content Editor
It is much easier than most people might think. The majority of users find Content Editor quite easy to use and straightforward. It’s advisable to do the Surfer on-page audit when creating Surfer content here and identify backlink chances from highest-ranking pages. Also, choose the competitors ranking for all of your target keywords. More about this will be discussed later.
First things first, you need to create a Surfer SEO account and log into the app account. Look at the Navbar and access the Content Editor tool easily from there. To create keyword-rich content or document, you should add the primary search term. Then you will notice an all-inclusive sidebar. Here, you will find everything you’ll ever need to write your content.
Surfer Content Editor will allow you to pick top-ranking pages and competing URLs relevant to your own content. That will help you get a better idea of what to write about. This way the Surfer SEO app will increase your chances of outranking your competition. If you think some terms feel a bit overwhelming, simply remove or ignore these keywords and add other target keywords you think would be more appropriate to your document.
Keep reading our step-by-step guide on how to use Content Editor. You will learn how to use this on-page SEO tool the right way and cover all the bases for your text.
Step 1: Set Location and Enter a Target Keyword
The first thing you need to do is enter the primary search term or target keyword. This is actually the keyword you will rank for. Click on a keyword to see some examples of use. At this point, you won’t have to bother with variations. Once you’ve entered your target keyword, Surfer will ask you to pick your location. If you are from Canada, for example, you’re going to target Canadian cities. Click on the ‘Create!’ button and Surfer SEO will do keyword research for you.
Step 2: Set On-Page Guidelines and Select Your Competitors
Choose Your Competitors
Surfer will ask you to choose your competitors at this stage. You will see a large number of competitors. Focus on those whose content type and style is similar to yours. The Content Editor will shortly come up with on-page suggestions based on this metric. Remember that this metric has a great impact on numerous SEO factors (we will review them in the 3rd step) your writers should consider when writing content.
Based on your competition choice, the Surfer Content Editor will provide the word count and on-page advice on how frequently each keyword should be used. It will also give you all the variations of your target keyword that should also be included in the content.
Alter On-Page SEO Guidelines
The good thing here is that you can change the on-page guidelines provided by Surfer. This on-page tool will recommend keywords to use while writing an SEO-optimized keyword-rich content, questions to answer, word count, and so on. You will be able to add additional keywords, change the advised word count, and choose different topics according to your needs.
Write Instructions For Your Content Writer(s)
Surfer includes the ‘Notes‘ section where you can add some directions for your writer(s). For instance, you may add your content ideas, resources, details on internal and/or external links, content outline, headings, the exact word count, and much more. That will help your writer create a piece of content as per your instructions so that it perfectly suits your specific needs.
Step 3: Provide Your Writer(s) With The Content Editor Link(s)
Once you have completed all of this, you will only need to send the certain Surfer link to your content writer. Simply copy and share the link with your writers. They will not have to log into the Surfer account. As they write, they’re going to see how things change on the Surfer sidebar. That will give them an idea of how the content should be optimized for SEO.
More About Creating Content With The Content Editor
This powerful on-page SEO feature can help you create new optimized content – be it a landing page or blog post – from scratch. Forward the Content Editor guidelines to your SEO-friendly content writer or copywriter to get it done based upon on-page recommendations, such as:
- Content length
- Structural elements
- Secondary keywords
- Keyword usage, etc.
As mentioned above, the Content Editor performs keyword research and analyzes the top ten competitors as well as their content. All you need to do to get started is to select your/target location and enter your primary keyword. Once the Surfer SEO has completed the analysis, it will provide you with guidelines regarding:
- Important terms to use
- Content structure (Paragraphs, Images, Number of Words, Headings, Bold Words)
- Other relevant terms
- Questions to be included
All of these things are shown in the sidebar on the right. On the left, you will see a blank Surfer SEO text field (only the sentence: “Your perfectly optimized content goes here!” will appear below the heading 1) where you are going to write the content.
Make On-Page Adjustments
By clicking on the ‘Customize’ button, you can make a variety of adjustments. This is a great way to get your text customized according to your own SEO requirements. You can change and adjust different metrics. For example, you can change some keywords or the length of your content.
Tip: If you decide to change the word count, make sure it still has a similar length. Don’t be fooled into thinking that Surfer SEO doesn’t know what it suggests. The
Consider All The Keywords
The keywords suggested by Surfer SEO are linked to your primary keyword. It suggests a number of secondary keywords based upon what’s ranking the best. Try to use all of those keywords, including:
- Primary and Secondary
- Keywords
- Other Terms
- Prominent Terms
Maybe there will be some keywords that do not fit your needs and expectations. Remove these keywords from the list by clicking on them.
Select Relevant Questions & Topics
While the keywords are necessary for good SEO and positioning, it’s not all about them. You also need to provide real value to your readers in order to get to the number one spot. Surfer SEO allows you to choose questions that should be included in your content. That will not only make your content more valuable and optimized, but it will also help you boost your odds of appearing in Google’s ‘People Also Ask Boxes’ and featured snippets.
Generate & Adjust Content Guidelines
Creating writing guidelines and sharing them with writers takes too much time. Once the articles are completed, you also need to spend some time reviewing and editing them in order to ensure everything is perfect. Additionally, you may also put a lot of time and effort into exchanging comments and emails.
The Content Editor will save you time by providing relevant and helpful guidelines for your content. The guidelines are generated based on what your main competitors do. That will give you a clear idea of what really works for targeted keywords. After adding a particular keyword, Surfer SEO will analyze top-ranking competitors and crunch relevant things from their websites.
These guidelines are auto-generated, but you will be capable of adjusting and sending them directly to your writers. Adjust and change guidelines according to your own needs so that they suit your purpose just fine. You can exclude pages you think are not that relevant which will not take you a lot of time. Once you’re done, share the guidelines with anyone, be it an external writer or copywriter or send sharable links to your writers. They will be able to access and work on the documents without logging into the Surfer app.
Add Notes For Your Copywriter
As we have already said earlier, Surfer SEO lets you leave additional notes for content writers. In the ‘Notes’ box, you can add information on the content, such as:
- Be direct, concise, and clear.
- Write in common simple language so that your article is easy to read for everyone.
- Use a maximum of 5 lines per paragraph for every page.
- Include Call to Action in the conclusion.
- Explain all the abbreviated words.
Once you are done, click on the Final Customization button and that’s it. When working with creators of external content, you should consider sharing unique links to make it easier for them to create articles as per your guidelines. The content editors don’t need different Surfer accounts. Just let your editors access the articles by sharing the Surfer links with them.
Surfer SEO & Google Docs
If you use Google Docs, the good news is that Surfer has an extension for Google Chrome that will enable you to integrate Surfer and its Content Editor as well in Google Docs. What’s more, this will make it easier and more convenient for you to optimize your content. The layout of the Surfer’s writing section resembles Google Docs in regards to formatting. So if you have been using Google Docs, you will quickly get used to this on-page tool.
How To Solve Common Writer Issues with Content Editor
Most writers are passionate about writing articles and blog posts without knowing anything or much about keywords and SEO. That’s why their chances of ranking high are very slim. This is where the Surfer Content Editor comes in. By using this SEO tool/platform, you can handle everything from preparing the content guidelines to writing SEO-optimized articles. In some ways, the Surfer Content Editor acts as an instructor or assistant while you’re writing.
It will assist you in your work and help you solve some of your writing problems. In addition, you will get a better understanding of how SEO works, which keywords are most suitable for your articles, and more. Plus, the learning curve is quite simple as everything is easily explained. If the right sidebar is distracting for you while writing, hide it with a few simple clicks and concentrate on the text. To review your progress, reopen the Surfer guidelines and keep writing.
As a content writer, you probably get comprehensive guidelines from some of your clients. Sometimes you need to write long 5,000-word articles containing 20 or more important keywords. You need to constantly check the article to ensure all the keywords are included and how many times each keyword was used.Â
This is a huge pain to get done manually. The Surfer Content Editor makes things a whole lot easier for writers and copywriters. This helpful on-page tool tracks everything you write, allowing you to focus on your work, keep up with SEO requirements, and stay up to date. So it comes as no surprise that a growing number of writers and marketing companies use Surfer SEO to solve their problems.
Surfer Optimization Checker
The Surfer’s optimization checker will do everything for you. It will save you the hassle of calculating the keyword density. All the important terms and phrases have a specific range of use, so you only need to take a look at the sidebar now and then. Each keyword is highlighted, so you can quickly find them all while you’re writing. This will save you a lot of time.
Furthermore, Surfer also makes topic research easier by advising you on what to write about. It will provide you with lots of terms/phrases that are going to inspire you while dealing with optimization work. Thanks to the Surfer’s verification features, it’s not difficult to meet the writing requirements. You won’t lose your workflow anymore by switching between articles.
The topics section comes in handy when coming up with the text outline. Here, you can see the popular headings to include along with suggested terms and relevant words. This makes sure your documents (landing page, selling pages, blog posts, product reviews, and so on) are SEO optimized. Removing topic recommendations is possible to let the users tailor their articles to specific requirements.
The Surfer’s optimization sidebar will be the ultimate writing assistant that will help you plan and format new documents. It will let you know how many paragraphs, headings, images, bold words, and keywords you need to write out to make your text readable and SEO-friendly.
What Kind Of Content Can You Optimize With Content Editor?
We have already mentioned what documents you can create and optimize with the help of this tool. Here, we will take a closer look at them and give you more ideas.
- Optimizing the existing blog posts: Do you already have some blog posts that are dated? If so, simply copy-paste your old posts to the Surfer’s Editor. In a matter of seconds, it will make some tweaks to improve your blog posts and help you get better up-to-date results.
- Building new landing pages: This useful tool will ensure that your landing pages are more visible in search results. That will help you reach out to more potential buyers or clients.Combine this SEO tool with a landing page builder for the best results.
- Writing killer product descriptions: Take advantage of this tool to create excellent descriptions for your products. Surfer SEO will give you suggestions on which terms to include in your product description and how long it should be.
- Creating e-commerce copies: Just as with product descriptions, the Surfer tool will assist you in creating the perfect e-commerce copies that can significantly increase your sales. From text length, the number of headings, and keyword density to meta tags structure, referring domains and URLs, it will guide you on everything you need to consider when creating e-commerce product copy.
Conclusion
Now that you have a good feel for the Surfer Content Editor tool, you will know how to leverage its power for your work. It is very easy to use and understand, so the learning curve is a cinch. You’ll also appreciate its clean look and user-friendly interface that does not make the screen feel crowded. If you often write in Word and Google Docs, you are likely to quickly adapt to this SEO tool. It’s fairly easy to format the text and insert images, links, and other things.
Since all you need for your work is clearly shown there, you will be able to write faster and better alike. It will help you improve your existing articles and build out new pages alike. As a result, you will end up with the work that can bring value to both your clients and business.
