Search engine optimization (SEO) is something that all webmasters want to incorporate into their websites and this includes their content. As a freelance writer is it vital that you understand the logistics of search engine optimization in order to fulfill the needs of your clients and appeal to new clients too.

If you want to be a successful SEO article writer there are four strategies that you need to incorporate. Each of these will be discussed in detail in the next couple of blog posts.

The four strategies are:

1. Keywords
2. Content
3. Formatting
4. Links

Before we move on to discuss the first of these strategies, Keywords, I want to take a moment to explain exactly what an SEO article is.

An SEO article (search engine optimized article) is something that you will be asked to write on a frequent basis. This is basically a piece of writing that will be developed specifically to include targeted keywords. The purpose of these articles is to allow the chosen keywords to rank highly in the search engines. When these articles are written in large batches they can in fact attract large amounts of traffic from the search engines and this is potentially what your cliens will be looking for.

In even simpler terms, an SEO article is an article that is written around a particular keyword in a particular format to attract high results from search engines. Written correctly, SEO optimized articles can get your clients large quantities of visitors and traffic and that is exactly what clients are looking for.

Keywords:

Keywords are paramount when it comes to writing SEO articles. You will more than likely be given the keywords by your client but in order to fully understand the process of SEO optimized articles I think it is only fair that we discuss the process of keyword selection and why these keywords that you have been given are so important.

Keywords are the building blocks of all search engine optimization efforts. The selection of keywords is the first of the four strategies and finding the right keywords is vital. When it comes to keywords for any niche there will be competition and this is something that you client will have looked at before he/she chooses the keywords that they give you. When clients are selecting keywords they are doing so by understanding the motive that is behind the keyword. When they can understand the motives they can select the keyword and know the type of content that will appeal to those who search for this keyword in the search engines.

A couple of examples of this would be:

Keyword: ____ features – the motive associated with a keyword that includes features is that the person seaching will be looking to acquire more information about the particular product. If your client is trying to sell a product this might not necessarily be a good keyword to focus on.

Keyword: Try ____ – the motive associated with a keyword that includes try is a free trail. People will search for this is they want to try out a product or service. If your client doesn’t offer a trial of their product then they should also avoid this keyword.

Keyword: Buy _____ – the motive behind this keyword is of course buy and anyone who searches for this term will be looking to purchase the product or service. If you client is selling a product this is an excellent keyword and it might also be the keyword that has the most competition so your article will need to be top notch in order to be successful. This is why writers who specialize in SEO writing can demand rates up to $100 per article. Their writing gets results and this is exaclty what clients want and they are willing to pay for this expertise.

Your clients will categorize their keywords and may also organize them by geography, by attributes, by intended usages, and by price. This will help them to determine which keywords are more important.

Keyword weight is another important aspect. The weight of a keyword is determined by the number of people who search for that particular keyword each month. If you are serious about SEO writing then this is something that you should be able to check yourself too. There are lots of free keyword tools that will give you these results. If you are given a keyword that is searched over 100,000 times per month then you can be guaranteed that this keyword will have a lot of competition and your article should be written accordingly. In this case it is vital to make your article stand out from the crowd by including as much information as possible.

The majority of the keywords that you will probably receive from your clients will be targeted towards terms that are not highly competitive and as such don’t be surprised if you get keywords that don’t really make sense. You might get a keyword that is difficult to incorporate into sentences and heading and in this case a good trick to use is to try to split the keyword by using a comma,

I have often found that if you take the time to look at your keyword in all aspects you will find a way to incorporate it into your article.

For example:

Learning French Alphabet – this keyword doesn’t make sense and you may be inclined to slot the word the into it but then this changes the keyword.

I have discoverd a great way to use this keyword and that is to finish a sentence with the word learning and being the next one with French Alphabet or break up the sentence with a comma between learning and french.

Example: To help with your learning, french alphabet pronunciation is vital.

As you can see, I have used the exact keyword. It’s easy when you look at things differently.

By using the keyword exactly as your client gives it to you, you will be able to produce the best results. If someone searches for learning french alphabet then your optimized article will show up.

Watch what you type in the search engines and you will get a better idea of what keywords really are. How many times do you leave out the little words such as “the”. You’ll be surprised at what you type into the search engines when you start paying attention.

That’s it for Part 1 of this 4 part article writing report. Tomorrows post will focus on Content so make sure to check back. If you have any questions about Part 1 be sure to ask them in the comments section and I will answer them.

Until next time,

Keep writing.

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Article writing mistakes apply to all writers and non-writers out there. Now really is the time to start brushing up on your creative writing skills.

How Writing Articles Can Help Your Business

If you want to convert visitors into buyers or you want to promote your business, modern technology has provided one of the most effective means. This is, information based marketing. This is the most effective way there is to get people to your website and once there you can then promote your call to action.

If you’ve been watching the web, you will know that article writing, and article directories are an excellent means of getting traffic and converting them into sales. There are so many different tools available that you can use to make the process of distributing articles a lot easier.  This software said to be invaluable and saves so much time when it comes to submitting your articles but before we discuss software options and submission tactics there is something else we need to look at.

There are a number of common mistakes that people make before they even get as far as submitting their articles to directories so let us focus on these first.

1. Confusion

Many people tend to confuse the reason they are promoting their articles with the reasons they are writing them. When writing articles you should have three key benefits in mind regarding your promotion. You are promoting them for branding, lead generation, and promotion of your business. There is however only one reason that you write an article and that is for informational purposes. You want to inform your target audience and this is what you need to focus on first. If your promotion fails it is most likely because no one is interested in reading your articles.

When writing your article you need to keep your readers in mind, what do they want to read, what are they looking for, how can you help them. Once you have satisfied this, you can then make them click on your resource box which is your promotion.

2. Failing to maximize on the promotional opportunities available with article marketing.

As many article writers already know, submitting to directories can help generate back links to their websites and produce more traffic. But did you know that by submitting quality articles you can also get better search engine rankings? The more people that visit your website the higher your ranking will become.

When writing your articles you should try to include your keywords but make sure not to overdo them. Using anchor text in your resource box is an excellent way to promote certain keywords that relate to your website.

Back links are not everything and part of doing well with your article marketing is all about having your articles picked up and used by other webmasters. This allows your articles to be read by a larger audience. Whilst this method may not put money in your pocket it does help to get visitors to your website where you can promote your products and services.

3. Publishing content that does not help your readers

Some article marketers promote their articles solely for the purpose of back links and presume that any visitors they get from this will be fine. This is a big mistake and I should probably mention, that not all article directories will automatically accept your content. Many have specific guidelines that you must follow. Research here is essential because it only takes one publisher with a hundred thousand readers to potentially increase your reading audience overnight.

When writing your articles write articles that publishers want to have in their publications. This will ensure that your article marketing will work and be the most effective means of promotion. You will have to ensure that you follow the correct guidelines, spell check and proofread all your work, and research your topic.

Once you have done all this you will start to gain exposure from the quality back links that your article produce. It is essentially your choice. One other thing to note, is that the better your articles and the more targeted they are, the better your exposure and the better chance you have of promoting your product or service.

If you want to ensure that your article writing campaign is a success, make sure your avoid these three article writing mistakes.

Until next time,

Keep writing.

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