It is beyond doubt that Web-content writers are in great demand. They have become a valuable asset to Internet marketing companies and online publishers.
There are two reasons of it.
First, these writers can produce fresh content on a regular basis, no matter how difficult, repetitive and absurd the topic or keyword is supplied.
And second, they can write search engine-friendly content in simple language that even a novice can understand. Both these qualities are highly respected and well-valued in web marketing industry.
SEO content writing demands more recognition –
To me, the second quality is far more important, as it can’t be inherited but only learnt. You can easily hire a writer who has good comprehension skill and is aware of writing etiquettes. But, generating Search engine-driven content requires a writer to develop set of specialized skills. This comes with practice only.
A good SEO content writer is supposed to know all major search engine optimisation ranking factors. Considering Google for example, writers must know both On-page and Off-page SEO factors that boost up contents to appear on top SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).
Here we will discuss important On-page SEO factors that web-content writers have to apply on job. If properly followed, the practice can work wonders.
A. Rules for keyword use:
1. Total keyword density – 5-20% of total words. . If you are working on a set of 5 keywords for a month and want to use all of them in an article of 500 words, use them in a proper mix – each keyword 5-6 times at the most. Over-use of keywords is never a good sign.
2. Individual keyword density – 1-5% on an average. If you are writing an article of 500 words, make sure you use one keyword not more than 3-4 times.
3. Keyword in header tags – Use H1, H2 and H3 tags appropriately. They are easily searchable to readers and search engine bots.
4. Keyword font size – Strong is meant to be “bold” and italic signifies “emphasis”. Search engine crawlers can read the difference between normal font and highlighted fonts.
5. Keyword proximity – if you are using more than 2, try to apply directly-adjacent keywords or key-phrase.
6. Keyword phrase order – understand how people type their queries on Google search box. Make sure the word order in a page matches the word order in a query. For example, if a browser’s search query is “web marketing tips”, you should not modify it as “tips on web marketing” or “tips for marketing on web” in your content. Follow the order.
7. Keyword prominence – It is good if you can use keyword early in a page or tags. Try to place keywords at the top of page, make them bold and use them in large font.
8. Keyword in alt text – Alt tags should be the part of graphics. Don’t spam it.
9. Keyword in title – since article title becomes the part of page URL, using one keyword in the beginning of title is best.
B. Rules for navigating internal links –
1. Links should contain keywords. If you are linking a keyword to an internal page, make sure it does not fetch a long-tail URL. Simply put, the hyperlinked file name should not contain 2-3 hyphens at a time.
2. All links to all pages must be valid.
3. The hyperlinks should not be away from two clicks from the main page.
C. Rules for navigating outgoing links
1. Link only to authority and good sites. Never link to a link farm or content farm or any website that you are not confident about.
2. Outgoing links should be relevant to content. Anchor text must describe the content theme.
3. Link stability is also important. Avoid Link Churn.
Following these basic rules is just a matter of practice that becomes habit later on. Content writers need to develop comprehensive SEO writing skills utilizing these SEO ranking factors. Of course, this needs a lot of research to be done.
As long as SEO writers are delivering their best neither Google nor web browsers will feel short of exact answers to their queries. So, keep adding value and earn recognition and money, both at a time.
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