Article Writing Service

SEO Article Writing: 6 Steps to a Smoking Hot Article

What is SEO Article Writing?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Article Writing is a writing process designed to produce an article that the search engines view favorably for a certain keyword or keywords.  For instance, let’s say you run a website that covers “Civil War Coins”.  SEO writing techniques would help the Search Engine Bots -- specifically GoogleBot -- understand that the site deals in information regarding Civil War Coins.  Without SEO techniques GoogleBot might think the site content deals in “civil” disputes amongst family members or even tossing “coins” in a fountain.

 
STEP ONE: Select Keywords

You may think you know the best keyword(s) to target.  But, it’s important that the keywords you have in mind are also being searched for on Google.  There’s no sense in optimizing for keywords that people aren’t using to find your information.  Use the Google Keyword Tool (GKT) for this research.  The GKT is free and extremely helpful.  You can use the GKT unregistered and for free, but to utilize all the features you must register as a user.

Start by inputting the most basic part of your search interest.  For instance, using our example from above you would input “Civil War”.  If you were to input “Civil War Coins” you might miss “Civil War Bonds” – a topic you may also want to consider.

PROTIP:  The accuracy of search engine results diminishes as the search string gets longer.  But, a search of only one word is generally not specific enough to narrow results.  Therefore, your ideal keyword term should be two to three words long.  Searches longer than three words end up being either long tail phrases or searches that produce unhelpful results.

 
STEP TWO:  Write Article

After selecting the keyword(s), start writing.  Most articles are in the 300 – 500 word range.  But don’t get too hung up on the length of the article just yet.  And now is not the time to worry about SEO.  Just write with the keyword(s) in mind.  Remember that all writing includes a beginning, a middle, and an end.  Also, don’t hold back.  Give your reader your best information.  Important and honestly delivered information pleases internet readers and creates loyalty.

STEP THREE:  Edit

After the article is written, it’s time to edit.  Editing has been described as the most important part of the writing process.  You want to edit for length, clarity, and spelling.  Misspellings, poor formatting, and awful grammar will destroy any goodwill you may have built up with your reader.

STEP FOUR:  SEO

Copy the article and paste it into the Live Keyword Analysis Tool (LKAT).  Then input your keywords in the spaces.  The LKAT will provide ratios to the right of each keyword.  That ratio represents the percentage of the total words that your keyword represents.  Your goal here is to get your keywords up to 7 – 10%.  Anything over 10% begins to look engineered (not natural) and may have its score reduced accordingly by Google.

PROTIP:  You want to descend your keyword order.  So, using our example of Civil War Coins, you might shoot for something like this: Civil 9%, War 8%, Coins 7%.  This hierarchy gives Google a further clue as to how the words are ordered.

Keep repeating Steps 3 and 4 until the article is properly edited and SEO’d.

STEP FIVE:  Give Your Article a Title

Some argue that the most important part of your article is the title.  After all, if the title is weak people won't read the body of the article.  When constructing a title remember a few points:

1) Readers love how to's.  After all, most of what Google does is answer questions and solve                 problems.
2) Readers love number step articles (e.g., 8 Best Webhosts).
3) Be different.  Your title should stand out.  I included "Smoking Hot" in the title to this article             in an attempt to stand out from other articles on the same topic.
4) Get your keywords into the title, and get them into the title early if possible.

STEP SIX:  Publish and/or Distribute

You did it!  Now just publish the article to your site (or blog) or distribute it through the article directories.

PROTIP:  Remember, if you add your article to a page that has other text (like a blog) you’ll dilute the keyword ratio.

 

FAQ:

Is this ethical?

Yes!  While Google doesn’t divulge the inner workings of their algorithm, they do promote ethical SEO.  Google does this through channels like Webmaster Tools and a visible Google employee, Matt Cutts.