SEO: Writing for Search Engines

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a simple concept. Writers craft webpage content so that search engines will put their articles on the first page of a search. Having the article the writer authored as the first link is best, of course, but getting on that first page after a user types in "Britney Spears shaved head" or "autism and diet" is the key to writing solid SEO content: getting search engine optimization to work for your writing as an SEO writer.

Writers don't need special workshops or expensive training to write SEO content. SEO writing is a form of Technical Writing; writers need to separate themselves from how they feel about their work. An SEO writer becomes a writing robot. There is a process involving words. The words must fall in a certain order, with a certain frequency. The writer cannot deviate from the formula, or the SEO will be less optimal. It is like being a computer programmer, but with words rather than code.

Step 1: Divorce your feelings from the subject you're writing about. The content is something you are shaping and manipulating. It is a business process.

Step 2: Target the writing to 400-450 words. Writing too little will not trigger search bots, which index pages and put them into Internet search engines. Stick to 400-450 words.

Step 3: Aim for 2% to 5% keyword density. If your keyword is a clunky phrase, then this will be a challenge. This is critical: the key to SEO content is keyword density. You must meet the targeted keyword density, or the article will be worth much less.

Step 4: Write the article using proper English. Articles written by non-English speakers are pretty easy to spot on the web. Some search engines will detect non-standard English as if it were generated by a text generator (a software program) and dismiss the article. Proofread your work before submitting to a client or an index site.

Step 5: Write in batches. Write 10 articles about playgrounds, or ADHD, or real estate, etc. Writing 400 word articles with 4-5% keyword density on the same topic is often easier than skipping from topic to topic.

As you read this, you are reading an SEO topic, with "SEO" as the keyword, repeated twelve times in an article that is 417 words long. Use these techniques to build a portfolio of SEO articles. Good writers can write SEO articles in eight to ten minutes, making SEO writing a lucrative field.