How to write website content that attracts searchengines

[iArtist]

If you are writing articles on the Internet or website content you may have seen people mentioning the value of 'keywords' or talking about 'seo' but never properly understood what was meant.

Either this or you write away and never give factors that influence search engines a thought.

If you do write on the web for any purpose and you want search engines to find your content so that your readers can then find you, you can benefit from learning about & using keywords and how to seo your website content.


What does seo stand for?

SEO stands for search engine optimisation and it simply means that the website or its content (or both) have been constructed and written to maximise the chances of being picked up and ranked highly by search engines.

As a writer of website content, articles, blog posts etc. it is very useful to understand a little of how search engines choose articles to rank highly and also to learn how to seo your own content to ensure it gets as many readers as possible.

Wikipedia says this about seo


"Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a website from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Typically, the earlier a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine."

What are keywords?

Keywords are words or phrases that writers place in their articles or blogs (content) that are relevant to the topic but also might be terms which people enter into search engines with high frequency.

In other words, the aim of keywords is to be matched with what a lot of people are looking for and then when Google throws up a list of results you might be in the top few pages of Google, if not the first page of Google!
The better the keywords the more likely this will be the case.

Here is a great FREE keyword tool.

When you enter a word in their tool bar, one that relates to your topic/product Google will give you a list of their most popular keyword phrases and place them in order of popularity. You can select from exact phrase, broad phrase and so on.

Keyword tools are a must for any writer who wants to SEO their content and increase/improve their Google page rank.

Free Questions generator tool

Here is a free question generator tool. The info on the free question finder page says this:


"People often type questions into search engines. Now you can find these questions, answer them and get some great search traffic."

This free question finding tool is great for finding questions that people might be entering directly into their search bar. If your article provides the answer, using their exact question (one that is highly entered) in your title, increases your chances of search engines ranking your content highly and users finding your articles.

WARNING re keyword density

Some people go utterly bonkers with keywords and that is now counter productive as these articles are being identified by Google as keyword spam. Read here for more details on keyword stuffing and why you shouldn't over do keyword use in your articles.

I would myself try not to use more than three duplicate keyword phrases in any article.

Keyword phrases in titles are useful but add a unique spin tail end or start to grab both human and Google bot attention.

 

Good article but I would take a lot of things on wikipedia with a pinch of salt.

Earl

 

[iArtist]

Good article but I would take a lot of things on wikipedia with a pinch of salt.

Earl

I agree in some cases, but I feel re this topic, the content is valid.

 

I agree in some cases, but I feel re this topic, the content is valid.

Afraid we don't do feelings in SEO.

Many top ranked sites have much higher keyword density than suggested in Wikipedia.

It more about context .relevancy and surrounding text.

Earl

 

[clickthrough_seo]

Sometimes I think we all get a bit bogged down by SEO.

A great article that hits all the buttons for your target audience and is well-written and grammatically correct will naturally feature all of the keywords your audience will be looking for. Therefore, it will also be picked up by the search engines, particularly when it acts as linkbait and lots of people link or refer to it.

 

[Jeff FV]

Thanks - particularly like the question generator tool.

I've noticed myself that I have started typing questions directly into google, such as 'How do I change a bulb on my Citroen Picasso' - hadn't really thought about using the idea for my own sites.

Thanks again

Jeff

 

[fisicx]

Get shedloads of visitors doing just this. It's why I don't bother with keywords anymore, I just write stuff for people not the search engines.

Note KW density is another of those SEO myths, Google only needs one occurence of a word in order to index and rank you for that word; it's all about the relevance on the surrounding copy, the page, the anchor text, the site and the inbound links.

 

[iArtist]

Afraid we don't do feelings in SEO.

Many top ranked sites have much higher keyword density than suggested in Wikipedia.

It more about context .relevancy and surrounding text.

Earl

I've always found myself Earl

That most of the content that appears on the front page of Google (when I go Googling) is blog posts as oppose to website content, ezine articles and yahoo questions and answers.

I also note, very little keyword density in the content.

Also much of my own content that ranks very highly in it's niche subject is not keyword dense. In fact for those articles I never gave seo a thought.

I do see some keyword dense articles and they read like cr*p, thus the effect of drawing in lots of traffic is lost. As one clicks away in an instant.

 

[iArtist]

Sometimes I think we all get a bit bogged down by SEO.

A great article that hits all the buttons for your target audience and is well-written and grammatically correct will naturally feature all of the keywords your audience will be looking for. Therefore, it will also be picked up by the search engines, particularly when it acts as linkbait and lots of people link or refer to it.

I agree with this

I should've mentioned that in my post.

 

[iArtist]

Thanks - particularly like the question generator tool.

I've noticed myself that I have started typing questions directly into google, such as 'How do I change a bulb on my Citroen Picasso' - hadn't really thought about using the idea for my own sites.

Thanks again

Jeff

It is a good little tool, I think I first heard about it here on UKBF.

 

[webpromoterservice]

a good post.
thanks for all the info

 

[Tin]

Note KW density is another of those SEO myths, Google only needs one occurence of a word in order to index and rank you for that word;

So, a page with just one occurence of a word is likely to rank as well as a page which has more than one occurence? It's really not that simple.

Google will rank a page on page 1 if...

1] the keyword does appear on the page itself.
2] the keyword does not actually appear on the ranked page...
3] there's a density of 1% and also if...
4] there's a density of 100%

It all boils down to "focus", "relevance" and competition. There's no set % which guarantees the route to page 1 but density (or spread and diversity as I like to call it) is certainly a factor.

 

[fisicx]

You are right, should have made it clearer. I've got pages that rank higher then site with a higher KW density, what helps my pages is all the supporting material that gives my page the boost. It wasn't the KW density so much as the perceived value of the page.

 

[eventdomain]

Sometimes I think we all get a bit bogged down by SEO.

A great article that hits all the buttons for your target audience and is well-written and grammatically correct will naturally feature all of the keywords your audience will be looking for. Therefore, it will also be picked up by the search engines, particularly when it acts as linkbait and lots of people link or refer to it.

Problem is getting the article on high traffic websites - something many forget 'Article Production line' marketing is failure waiting to happen - give me an old fashioned textlink anyday.

 

[iArtist]

Problem is getting the article on high traffic websites - something many forget 'Article Production line' marketing is failure waiting to happen - give me an old fashioned textlink anyday.

The post was for content writers

If you are writing articles on the Internet or website content

How the articles are marketed is another post for another day for another audience

Meanwhile here's a useful link to add to the post

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/...ithout-using-article-distribution-sites/5994/

 

[eventdomain]

Originally Posted by website copy

If you are writing articles on the Internet or website content

But one single article is just one link. Writing articles (as in more than one), uses up much time and one link competing against 100's of thousands is pointless when you need pure targeted visitors, which will hopefully covert into cash.

But website content - as the aim is to create the content once so it gets picked up - no danger involved. But, Article writing is used precisely for keyword spamming, the intent is to drop keywords into it, yes -- so, it becomes a spam weapon. So this IS relevant, especially since you named it, and I quote:

Originally Posted by website copy

If you are writing articles on the Internet

There's better ways to get traffic

 

[iArtist]

Article writing is used precisely for keyword spamming, the intent is to drop keywords into it, yes -- so, it becomes a spam weapon.

Utter nonsense

I write articles for clients and not one of them is keyword spam you can see samples on my website

http://www.painfreemarketing.co.uk/Samples.html

This content is not submitted to multiple directories.

These articles bring in 'targetted traffic' for the site, which is their purpose and for the reader, their pleasure.

 

[crossdaz]

This content is not submitted to multiple directories. It is solely for the one site.
.

This is the key; a decent article can attract its own linkage making that one link to your site well worth having.

A lot of people go wrong by churning rubbish articles here there and everywhere. You'd need hundreds of these to match the one as above.

 

[iArtist]

This is the key; a decent article can attract its own linkage making that one link to your site well worth having.

A lot of people go wrong by churning rubbish articles here there and everywhere. You'd need hundreds of these to match the one as above.

thank you

Myself I don't advocate submitting a single article to multiple directories, as Google doesn't rank duplicated content very high (that is my experience).

Also keyword dense articles read like cr*p, so people won't follow any links on them as they won't read the article. They certainly won't refer the article.

There might be a backlink there but there are other ways to generate backlinks, much easier, much less time consuming and more relevant.

Leah

 

Utter nonsense

I write articles for clients and not one of them is keyword spam .

so whats the point or don't they like money.?:|

Earl

 

[iArtist]

so whats the point or don't they like money.?:|

Earl

The point Sir Earl is the articles bring their sites targetted traffic and from there they sell their products.

Health articles attract people interested in natural health for example, the site sells natural health products.

If the articles are liked by readers, links might be forwarded, shared etc.

I can see in some cases the search terms people use to find my articles, and they are very content specific. No one arrives by accident to find something they were not looking for.

Unless of course they enter the term 'large *****'s' and come to my own blog site re you know what

 

[iArtist]

Here's a good example of a NON keyword dense article I wrote a long while ago (very simple light blog post) that attracted close to 20,000 readers in less than 6 months (site now inactive, hence no new traffic for a very long time despite misleading dates re posting on the site.).

You can see by the essay length comments, the traffic was on target.
How to tell if girls like you

Meanwhile if you Google

'How to tell if your man is cheating on you'

Aside from wiki

my content is at the top of the search
http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF...1&q=how+to+tell+if+you+man+is+cheating+on+you

This article, again NOT keyword dense, yet it brings in very nice traffic to the few sites it's posted to. That article has been duplicated I'm afraid. Diluting the effect.

 

[crossdaz]

Here's a good example of a NON keyword dense article I wrote a long while ago (very simple light blog post) that attracted close to 20,000 readers in less than 6 months (site now inactive, hence no new traffic for a very long time despite misleading dates re posting on the site.).

You can see by the essay length comments, the traffic was on target.
http://www.problogs.com/Post3623.htm

Good example except for one thing 'HERE'

Anchor text!

 

[iArtist]

Good example except for one thing 'HERE'

Anchor text!

Gotcha! I'm still trying to get in the habit of that. Learning new things every day!

 

[david64]

Thanks website_copy. That question generating tool is exactly what I was looking for the other day.[FONT=verdana,geneva,lucida,arial] [/FONT]

I wrote a similar piece for a client recently, which I have just put on the site: Writing for Search Engines and People.
[FONT=verdana,geneva,lucida,arial][/FONT]

 

[iArtist]

Thanks website_copy. That question generating tool is exactly what I was looking for the other day.

I wrote a similar piece for a client recently, which I have just put on the site: Writing for Search Engines and People.

cor that's a very long detailed post Good one.

Maybe you could split it into smaller posts though to satisfy readers with little time and those with more?

You'll get mnore combined traffic using that 'question' tool to generate relevant titles and can link (create a feedwidget) to the remaining content on each individual post, this way you satisfy the reader who wants access to info fast and the patient reader.

Leah

 

[fisicx]

I'll always point people towards copyblogger.com. Still one of the best writing resources I've come across.

Good article BTW David. Refinement is the bit most don't bother with.

 

[QVA - Emma]

Excellent post thank you - particularly the question tool whcih has made it onto my short list of bookmarks!

I quite often type in questions myself as I find you get a better quality results.

Regards

Emma

 

[eventdomain]

Utter nonsense

Really lol, better read this then:


Newsletter marketing is one of the most inexpensive ways for selling your editorial and copywriting services to the market. Utilizing newsletters for your marketing campaign also allows you to have an edge over competitors. Aside from allowing you to rise above the pack, newsletter marketing also benefits your editorial and copywriting services in a number of ways.
• Retain Clients: Maintaining a good communication with your clients through newsletter marketing helps keep their loyalty to your company. Letting them know that your editorial and copywriting services is always available for them, makes clients feel that they can come to you anytime. Having a loyal customer base strengthens the foundation of your business.
• Increase Visibility: In this competitive business industry, you need to strengthen your visibility in order to gain a spot in your client's list. When you've successfully positioned yourself in the market, your copywriting and editorial services will increase its customer traffic and revenue.
• Inform and Educate: The good thing about newsletter marketing is that it allows you to showcase your excellent writing skills. Share your knowledge with your clients by providing relevant, informative, and useful information. Write how-to articles, tips, and advice, so clients can benefit from your insightful content. Newsletter marketing does not only serve as an income stream, but also reflects the quality of your services. Having your marketing materials produced by an online newsletter printing company strengthens your marketing efforts. So, opt for professional printing to produce durable and presentable newsletters for your editorial and copywriting services.


So Newsletter marketing was used 5 times, and Copywriting services, 5 times, coming to 10 keywords.

Yeah, I guess keyword dropping doesn't exist and I'm making this all up - er, yeah, whatever you reckon

 

[iArtist]

Yeah, I guess keyword dropping doesn't exist and I'm making this all up - er, yeah, whatever you reckon

who said this?

Not me

I use keywords, but I understand I don't need to overuse them to get a good result, my own results prove that.

So you can take your rolly eyed smiley and ........

aha

that smiley does't exist it appears!

 

[david64]

cor that's a very long detailed post Good one.

Maybe you could split it into smaller posts though to satisfy readers with little time and those with more?

You could be right there. Will have to look more into that when I move to a new site. It was just something I did for a client as I am always getting asked what to do for content, but you can never get all to points off your head on the phone in an email; not should you for free. The main purpose with it is just so I can ref. people to the article in future when I get asked the same questions Looking at it now I can see at least one area I have not covered - trying to gain trust.

You'll get mnore combined traffic using that 'question' tool to generate relevant

Yeah. Thanks for that, an invaluable tool. I also bookmarked that one. Although I was a bit disappointed with the results for some queries it is def. very useful. Google Suggest, AdWords Keyword tool and SEM Rush are also very good for building FAQs.


I'd also agree that content can be a very good and relatively cheap investment. Just worked on one site that is 6 weeks old, had no text. Spent about 6-7 hours doing basic keyword research and text and organic traffic has gone up by over 100%, number of keywords generating traffic is up over 100%. Only about 4 of the 13 pages have been indexed thus far and should increase even more once the site has aged. A lot of people don't seem to want to pay/do basic text on their site because they are obsessed with links. Not much point in link building IMO unless a page has been researched and got good content.

On the other hand sometimes content is not that great, i.e. for SEO related terms because the SEO-related SERPs were thoroughly Americanised in June and the terms are often quite competitive.

 

[eventdomain]

The point Sir Earl is the articles bring their sites targetted traffic and from there they sell their products.

I stopped writing useful articles years ago, I quickly learnt the types that were using them for product sales eg:

Off-targeted websites
Little, dumb kids stealing my old content
Clueless idiots spamming my old article database service
with crap. (Yes - I've got the tee-shirt)
Freebie hunters
Link dumpers
The clueless
Richard Branson wannabees
Website owners with more servers than the US Open etc

I doubt article writers intention is to become instant experts, more like spam the world..... I dont believe people flock to articles or sites to wade through tons of webmaster articles just so they will find products - come on - we have search engines for that and they do it in seconds

They do it for SEO, to manipulate and force their websites up the serps, and Google will catch them and punish.