When writing for blogs and websites, you may feel like you are entering a world with a different set of rules – especially as you try to understand how to write for SEO.
The following will help you learn some of the rules of SEO and hopefully give you an advantage in your daily online writing.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is a means of boosting your website or blog's ranking in web searches. The higher you rank, the more likely it is that the person doing the search will actually click on your link.
Keywords and Phrases
Perhaps the most important tools that SEO writers have are keywords and phrases. These are words or phrases that a potential searcher might key into a search engine in order to find specific information. For example, if someone was looking for information on vegetable gardening they might search: gardening, vegetable gardening or planting seeds.
You might start by writing a list of all the keywords and phrases you think would be used by the searcher and then work them into your content.
Keyword density – how often you use a keyword – will also play a huge factor in your search ranking. But be careful not to overdo this as sites with very high density are likely to be labelled as spam by search engines.
Links
Have you noticed that more and more websites and blogs are incorporating links to other sites/pages in the body of their content? Using this technique not only makes your site more SEO friendly but if the searcher discovers that a particular blog or site isn't exactly what he was looking for, it gives you first dibs on directing him to another of your pages (or at least a page that you endorse) rather than allowing him to search again and possibly end up on a competitor's site.
SEO Plugins
Even the best writers can benefit from a little computer analysis. SEO Plugins are programs – many of which are free - that analyze your writing and "do the math" to help determine how SEO friendly your particular content is. They will show you what areas are good and what you could do to beef up your SEO.
Stay Human
Finally, remember that after SEO has done its job, your reader will ultimately be another human being. If the writing is boring or difficult to understand your reader will move on. On the other hand, create engaging and useful content and you will keep them coming back for more.
