This section is all about writing for SEO. If it’s good for your viewers it’s good for SEO.
Many people may dread the idea of writing but it’s an essential skill to have when conducting business online.
Even if you decide to outsource your writing to a professional, you still need to practice your writing skills for communication sake.
Keep in mind that if you decide to outsource… you get what you pay for. There are writers out there working for as low as $5 per article and the price can go up to a several hundred dollars per 500 words.
It’s critical that when you write for the internet you keep both SEO and your viewers in mind, they go hand in hand.
Brainstorming Ideas
Regardless of what kind of business you have, you’ll want to contribute some writing periodically.
Even if your site is just a sales page, you’ll want to write articles and/or eBooks for marketing purposes.
Get into the mind of your typical customer and think about what they would want to know or the common problems that they have to deal with.
Don’t assume that something is common knowledge, just because you’re an expert doesn’t mean everyone else is.
Reviews of other products will supply you with an endless list of things to write about.
Keep up with the news in your industry and write about the current events going on.
Regardless of what your business is, you’ll want to brand your expertise and participate on other blogs and websites… Write daily!
Writing For The Web
Writing for the web is different from other media.
People tend to have a much shorter attention span on the net and therefore will avoid reading anything too long and trivial.
Brevity works best on the net.
Write in short easy to understand sentences and avoid overly complex words. Keep it simple.
The writing style you should use all depends on you industry. The New York Times for instance has a very educated crowd of followers who don’t mind the detailed articles.
For the most part people on the web just want the information they “NEED” and nothing else.
People who use the web regularly have become expert skimmers. They ignore useless information and focus only on what they’re looking for. Keep this in mind and make your content skimable and easy to read.
It’s recommended you use spaces between each line; it makes it easier to read.
Always look for ways to shorten your sentences and you don’t need to be poetic, just straight to the point.
Make your point first and then explain it as oppose to starting vague and ending with a conclusion.
Web users are scanners, not “readers” in the traditional sense. Because of this write your content as a list. If your product has many features don’t cram it all into a paragraph but instead turn into a list with bullet points…. It’s much more scannable.
In regards to keyword density, make your content easily readable and appealing to your customers first.
Keyword density all depends on the topic and context. Just use as many as you can get away with without making it spammy or annoying. 5% keyword density is what most professionals recommend.
Title Tags
Title tags are used by search engines to label your webpage in the search engines.
Think of title tags as headlines, they should be interesting and make people want to see it.
Having unique keyword tags for each page is essential if you want to be indexed. Make sure your CMS (ex; WordPress, Joomla etc.) allows you to edit the title tags for each one of your pages.
Typically search engines only look at the first 65 characters in your title tag so place the keywords in the beginning. Always place your brand name or business name at the end of the title tag. You want to say what the page is about first. People will see what the brand is upon entering your site.
Avoid stuffing keywords into the title tag. It should be readable and make sense. The secret is to make it entirely of keywords while still sounding nice.
You can get more traffic then the number 1 position in a search engine if your title tag is intriguing and attention grabbing. Keep this in mind.
Description Tags
Description tags don’t affect rankings but they are used by search engines as the text you see below the title tag in search results.
Although it’s not as important to include keywords in your description tag, it’s still recommended since those words will be highlighted if they match the search term.
The description tag should only be a few sentences long and it can either be about the page it’s on or your business as a whole. Either way it works as long as it’s interesting and convinces you to click on it.
Having a call to action as in “call us at: 123 4567” can be very effective.
Headlines
Headlines are important for SEO and more important than most people think.
The purpose of a headline is to grab the attention of the reader and to make them read on.
The header should relate to the title tag and should also be about the purpose of your content on that page.
A large part of your focus should be on creating the perfect headline. It can bring in a lot of traffic when it’s done right.
Headlines for your content should always be coded as H1 tags and not just larger bold text.
A great place to get information and see examples of a good header is at:
- www.copyblogger.com
Write For Customers… Not Search Engines
Write for your customers first. If it’s not appealing to your customers, you’ll get traffic but you won’t get sales.
The secret is to have your keywords placed in such a way that it doesn’t take away from the user experience but it still conforms to good SEO.
No amount of SEO will help if your content is not good. Content is KING!
Make Writing A Routine
One of the biggest commonalities between all experts is that they write about their subject often.
Writing about your subject forces you to form your knowledge into a cohesive manner, which can then be used as content for your business.
For many people writing is something that they avoid at all costs. Having to sit down and focus to write is not appealing to most people.
As mentioned before, writing is essential to an online business so you have to develop effective writing skills.
Even if you outsource your writing to someone else, it’s important you develop your personal writing skills because learning how to make a cohesive article or document is critical to many other activities.
By making writing a routine, you’ll enhance your understanding of the topic, develop your writing skills and possibly be creating usable content for your business.
At the very least you should be writing 30 minutes a day. Practice makes perfect.
Within 30 minutes you can easily research and write a 500 word article. If you did this daily you’d have 365 articles by the end of the year… which can then be used to create a massive eBook or it can be used for your site.
How To Find Writers
Some people are either too busy or they just can’t stand writing. If you’re one of them, you’re in luck as there are thousands of writers out there for a good price.
The best website out there to connect you with a writer is:
- www.elance.com
Don’t be afraid to hire a writer from Asia or a traditionally non English speaking country. They can be very proficient at writing English and they can do it for a very good price.
It’s recommended that your writer understands SEO and keyword densities. An SEO copywriter will cost you more but the quality of the content will be much greater.