Unless they’ve been living under a rock, any marketer worth their salt will tell you that search engine optimization is getting harder. There’s more content being produced than ever before, search engine algorithms seem to change frequently, and high authority sites often keep the top 10 results locked down. 

So, to win at search engine optimization, you have to be on your A game. And we’re not just talking about creating an SEO strategy that you think will work. Following through on your strategy and creating content that’s optimized to rank is just as important. That’s where SEO content editors come in. 

What does an SEO content editor do? 

An SEO content editor is a software built to evaluate how well content is optimized. The evaluation usually includes factors like topic coverage and keyword placement, length, content structure, internal and external links, images, and more. 

Now, of course, no such tool is sophisticated enough to tell you for sure which pieces will rank and where. At least, not yet. 

But SEO content editors can give you a general idea of your chances of ranking before you publish. This can save you valuable time on optimization after publishing and, more importantly, help you start generating traffic, leads, and sales sooner as a result of your SEO efforts. That’s a lot better than publishing and hoping for the best, wouldn’t you say?    

Why use an SEO content editor? 

When in the thick of working on a piece of content, it’s easy to miss or dismiss certain factors that could limit your ranking potential. Even if you’re a fairly experienced marketer. To the eye, a piece of content may look high quality and SEO-friendly. But when you run it through a content editor, you may find any number of issues. For example: 

• Missing subtopics that should be covered
• Missing meta descriptions
• Differences in actual search intent and the intent you’ve written for
• Significantly overused or underused search terms
• Too many or too few headings, paragraphs, links or images

The same can be true if you have, for example, freelance content writers handling the bulk of your SEO content writing. 

If you can spot and fix issues like these before publishing, your chances of ranking in Google search results (sooner rather than later) go up. Since that’s a precursor to earning more conversions, it’s much better than going through several rounds of trial and error to get the results you want, don’t you think? 

The bonus is that your SEO copywriting and SEO content writing skills will improve the more you use a tool like this. It’s a win-win!

Why Surfer is our favorite SEO content editor

There are many tools for content analysis, content optimization, and SEO writing out there. Popular ones like Clearscope, Semrush, and MarketMuse probably come to mind. But the SEO checker at the top of our list is Surfer. We love Surfer so much that we partnered with the company to integrate its SEO content editor into the long-form portion of our AI writing assistant. 

Surfer’s Content Editor, which also works in Google Docs and WordPress, uses artificial intelligence to provide on-page SEO recommendations. Based on deep analyses of competing pages, People Also Ask, and Related Searches, Surfer gives guidance on: 

• Terms to use
• Popular topics and questions
• Headings (so that you can understand at a glance what topics are commonly covered)
• Content structure, which includes word count, the number of headings and paragraphs, and the number of images in your content

You can see each of these four categories of recommendations separately and even adjust them if you need to. But Surfer also wraps them up into a single content score that updates in real-time as you write and tells you how strong your content is from an SEO perspective.

The bonus is that Surfer also has other SEO tools in the standalone portion of its software. There’s a keyword research tool, a content planner for planning your content strategy, and a SERP analyzer for examining what’s already ranking for your target keywords. There’s even an audit tool that evaluates various aspects of live web pages, from keyword density to backlinks  (so you know where to focus your link building efforts). 

Jasper and Surfer: making the dynamic duo work for you

On its own, Surfer is a powerful tool for creating optimized content (without keyword stuffing, of course). But it’s even more powerful when you pair it with Jasper’s Boss Mode plan. In the left-hand pane are Surfer’s recommendations for your content and, on the right, a document where you can quickly generate content or copy with our AI. For example, say you wanted to write a piece of pillar content—an in-depth overview of a big-deal topic in your industry. 

A quick way to get started is with Jasper’s Blog Post Workflow feature, which walks you through three quick steps. 

First, you’ll enter a brief description of what the content will cover and enter up to three keywords. Second, you’ll enter a page title if you have one or let Jasper generate ideas for you. And third, you’ll write an intro paragraph or—you guessed it—let Jasper generate a few options for you. From there, if you haven’t already, create a Content Editor in Surfer using your focus keyword and up to nine related keywords.  

Then, back in the Jasper document that you started via Blog Post Workflow, click the Surfer icon in the top center of your screen. Log in to Surfer, refresh Jasper, and select the related Content Editor. This is what you’ll see next. 

Surfer’s outline feature is helpful to outline headings for your guide and even add some paragraph text to get you started. 

You can then use Jasper templates, commands or recipes to help you crank out quality content. Just as one example, the Paragraph Generator template can help you write the content for each heading. Just give a brief description of what the paragraph will cover, enter a keyword (ideally one from the list in the Surfer Content Editor), and enter a tone of voice. 

As you and Jasper write together according to Surfer’s recommendations, you’ll see your Content Score go up. And your chances of ranking in the top spot on the SERP and raking in a ton of traffic will go up as well!

And if you want to get a little more technical, try our FAQ schema markup generator.

If you want to give Jasper and Surfer a try, now’s the time to do it. Sign up for Jasper today and get your first 10K words free. (P.S. We can also hook you up with a sweet $1 deal on Surfer. You can thank us later!)