The Art and
Science of SEO (Search Engine Optimization):
The series of algorithms Google uses to search,
sort, and rank web content is, to a large extent, a mystery. What is
known is that Google uses an automatic crawler, often referred to as a
"spider," to scan and categorize content. Certain things—which will be
outlined in this article— have been proven as viable content for the
spider; however, writing content that is " SEO (or search) friendly"
during the Web creation process is still somewhat of a hit and miss
prospect. This is exactly why Search Engine Optimization has become so
relevant in the past few years, and why writing content that is SEO
friendly has become a highly sought after skill.
Here are some
tips for writing SEO friendly articles:
-
Keyword Focus - Before you start writing, decide which keyword
you want to focus on. More specifically, decide which keywords users
will likely search to reach your article. Make a list of those keywords,
and focus on keeping them prevalent in the article (and not just in the
meta tags). For better results, try and think of keywords that are
more outside-of-the-box and less competitive.
- Keyword Strings -
When brainstorming keyword ideas, keep in mind that the average
searcher is more likely to use keyword strings than just a single word.
For example, someone who wants a website built probably won't just type
in "Website creation," but rather, something like: "cheap Website
creation" or "cheap Web creation in Budapest." Think hard about the
qualifying adjectives and nouns that users might attach to words, and
also the possible variations of words you are targeting.
- Organization -
Once you know the keyword(s) you want to focus on, then organize your
article around those words in an inverted pyramid style. That is, focus
early and often on the search words you're targeting—even putting those
words into the title if you can. This organization lets the Google
crawler know what the article is about, and what type of audience it's
intended for. After including the keywords as early as possible, you can
go on to sprinkle them—or their variations—throughout the article where
it's appropriate.
- Readability -
Google can usually spot a fraud fairly quickly—that is, people who just
try and pack articles full of keywords without really saying anything.
The bottom line is make sure your article says what you want it to in
the way that you want it to, don't compromise the integrity of your
content just so your article will appear higher for searches. Nine
times out of ten this doesn't work, not to mention, the most surefire
way to have your article read is to write top-quality content that
people will enjoy reading and passing along to their friends.
Trial and Error:
As we touched on
previously, a large part of writing SEO friendly articles is trial and
error, it's a process of figuring out how to have your content
recognized by the spider. So, if you don't receive the results that you
want initially, then re-brainstorm, re-organize, and re-write until you
do.
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