by
John Alexander
I'd like to share a few
simple tips and techniques for working with search engine optimization
in articles. Of course most writers will be writing for their audiences anyways
and this is the way it should be. But in addition, there is nothing wrong with
applying some mild optimization principles to your Web based article content for
better exposure and ranking on the search
engines.
So
let's start with a few basic, easy-to-follow tips that should help your cause as
you apply them.
Tip 1.
Start by writing for your audience - without concerns about the SEO technical
stuff.
By this we
are talking about writing something of value that speaks directly to your
audience. Highly useful content that engages the reader and will meet their
need. Write something that you can feel proud of. Do not stress or worry about
search engine optimization tactics while you are in the creative writing phase.
Most of the time we do not create our best work, if we are all bogged down about
SEO related issues...such as how many times a keyword is being used or what the
exact keyword density is. Write your article for the readers first and try and
keep it focused on one central topic.
Tip 2.
When you are creating an article, understand that often that article is "born"
as you write it.
Maybe you
are a new writer just getting started. If you are struggling with an idea or
feel like you have writers block, it's important to realize that one of the best
ways to get started, is to simply begin actually writing and let your article
"take shape" as you write it. Fashion your story as you assemble your thoughts
onto paper. Writing is something that flows as you practice. Great articles
are born as you write them.
Tip 3. Realize that some of your best article writing will be created if
you work on it over a period of time.
I believe that often, our
thoughts creatively continue as the old expression suggests...as we "sleep on
it." This applies especially to creative writing or even just copywriting in
general. Try working on two or three different projects at a time and over a
period of a few days. Don't be in a big rush to finish something off quickly.
But give yourself the liberty to be creative over a period of
time.
Tip 4.
Once your article is finished, it's time to test it out and see how it will flow
to the reader.
One of the smartest tips I learned from Robin
Nobles, is to read your finished content out loud. There are errors that will
not be picked up by the spell checker. But as you read your work out loud,
certain issues will surface and you can make changes to the "delivery of the
article" or the "tone of the article" so that it flows much
better.
Once your
article is complete it's time for a little SEO (or a little mild
optimization.)
Tip 5. Use Wordtracker to do some
additional keyword research and include important keyword phrases into your
article in specific areas.
You can mildly re-write your
finished article with specific attention to basic optimization principles. Pay
attention to your focus on the "researched phrase" especially with respect to
usage in the Title Tag, Description Tag, Heading text and of course the link
text. Remember that there is a huge advantage to writing your article first and
then as a second step, applying some very basic, mild optimization. Try and stay
focused on just one keyword phrase per article.
Secret: Did you know that if you write your article so that it
naturally "reads very well," you will naturally gain some bonus for having
useful content that reads well to a human being. You don't need to stuff your
tags full of keywords but use moderation in everything you do. One of the things
you need to understand is that "theme based" search engines like Google, are
actually using a measure of artificial intelligence (AI) to measure how well
your article reads based on all of the overall data a search engine has gathered
concerning a specific topic. The better you write quality content so that it
reads intelligently, the closer you will be to matching your correct
theme.
Tip 6.
Remember to flesh your article out in the re-write process with a few
additional synonyms of your focused keyword phrase. You want your article highly
focused on your topic, but it should not need to sound Spamy with the same
keywords repeatedly used in an un-natural way.
Tip 7.
Consider the quality of "customer focus" within your dialogue and article
content. There are all types of articles of course, but many times we
could do much better by speaking to our readers rather than just writing coldly
stating facts or information. There are times when you'll want to breath some
human interest into an article. While other times, the article could feature
historical or statistical information. Always keep the audience who you are
writing to in mind and apply a good "reader focus" to your articles so that you
include the right elements. What types of phrasing are you using to put the
message across? Is it WE, OUR, OURS, etc....or is it YOU, YOURS and
YOU'RE.
Tip 8.
Don't forget to include a detailed Bio.
It should not be too
long, but it needs to include your important keyword phrase within the text
links, which will link back to your Web site. Make sure your Bio reads well and
realize that it must be kept down to about 300 to 400 characters. Some editors
just don't want your Bio going on for miles.
Tip
9. Remember to think about submission of your article to quality e-zines and
publications.
You can use a free submission service
such as this one. The free service sends to over 3,723 editors and 9 article
announcement groups. They also have a pay service for $39.95 for unlimited
submissions over 3 months to
31,600 editors months and over 70 article
announcement groups. Very reasonable. You can also pre-time your paid
submissions to go out before a certain date or after a certain
date.
Or if you prefer, you can manually submit your articles
yourself. Follow the exact publishers guidelines for submission so that the
article is well received and has a better chance for full distribution and
circulation.
Tip 10.
As your article is published, depending on where it is published and when,
you'll want to use an analytics program to track your traffic and you can
sometimes expect some huge traffic surges as you article goes out to major
e-zines who do a distribution by e-mail. Some e-zines can have as many as
several hundreds of thousand readers on their lists and you'll be surprised at
how much impact you can get from article that gets distributed by
e-mail.
REMEMBER:
If you need help to refine your SEO skills quickly, you can build and refine
your SEO skills by attending one of our Live 5-Day SEO Mastery Workshops where I
will work with you in person for 5 complete days of SEO skill-building. There is
no easier way to learn SEO, than to "learn by doing" with personal instruction
direct from us.
Dates of upcoming Workshops:
But what if
you are not a writer?
What if you
don't have time to write lots of fresh original content?
Okay,
perhaps you want to enjoy the advantages of a regularly updated site with lots
of fresh new articles. You know the search engines just love crawling sites that
have original, new content added on a consistent basis, but you feel you simply
don't have time enough to devote to all of this writing...."Are there any other
options" I hear you ask?
Okay, let's
give you a couple of options you can think about.
Here are 3 more alternative Ideas to
help you with Content Freshness: (Even if you don't have time to
write)
Tip A. How would you like to have a
series of 18 Ghost writers working for you?
That's what you get from this
excusive service called Article
Underground.
For a membership they provide you with:
-
400 freshly written articles (each and every month)
-
Each article written from the ground up
-
Each article optimized for exact keyword phrases
-
Access to 15 web sites to announce
articles on with complete flexibility in posting privileges
-
Extensive keyword research - (raw
spreadsheets with research made available to members)
-
Access to a Members only forum with
friendly helpful environment
-
SEO techniques for beginners and the
pros
-
Membership capped at 350 participants to
keep all content of value
Check
out the details by clicking here.
Tip B. You might consider hiring a
writer by contract through http://www.elance.com/mp/cat/writing/index.html
Tip
C. You might consider outsourcing your writing to others. Find a writers
group. There are plenty of good writers that are willing to help your write
content for your Web site and many will work very reasonably. I know of one SEO
marketer who did very well by hiring high school students to write for
him.
Always remember that the more value that
you build into your Web site using lots of fresh, original content being added
on a regular, consistent, basis - can have a genuine impact not only your
rankings, but it can be beneficial to increase the number of times that a search
engine robot keeps coming back. But even more important than this......it will
also keep your visitors keep coming back over and over again too.
Don't wait, but get started right now
today!
Good luck with all of your online
business.
Highest regards
John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com
Search Engine
Workshops
