If writing is an art, then online writing is a hybrid of both art and science. Search engine optimization (SEO) writing requires research and statistics as well as a good command of the written word. This article contains SEO help to understand and improve Internet writing skills.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for "search engine optimization." It means any online content that is carefully built around keywords or phrases that sum up the content of the article.
How SEO Works
Search engine "spiders" crawl through each page that is published on the web to pick out its main topics. Essentially, a person who creates SEO content is basically writing for search engines, making the key points of the article obvious to them with keywords and phrases embedded in the text.
When Internet readers have a need, question, or problem, they type what they're looking for into a search engine. The closer an article comes to matching their search term, the more likely it is to appear at the top of the results list and the more likely it is to be read.
Major search engines like Google and Yahoo also offer services that place relevant ads on a page based on its keywords. Women reading an article about how to find the best-fitting bra, for example, will be more likely to click on an advertisement for an online retailer's lingerie sale than they would be to click on a completely unrelated ad.
SEO Tips for Online Writers
Writing SEO content is a complex interplay that naturally takes writers a while to absorb. Those who learn to effectively use search engine optimization know how to:
- Choose the right topics: subjects that have a high level of reader interest and a low number of competing web pages
- Pick appropriate keywords: words and phrases that are relevant to the content of a page
- Position keywords correctly: put critical keywords in the right places and make it look like a natural, effortless process
- Provide valuable information: "fluff" content that uses a lot of words to say nothing makes a poor SEO article
Doing all of the four points above results in a high-quality article and a better Google page rank. Page ranking is a complex algorithm based on keyword accuracy, volume of page visits, and number of incoming and outgoing links. Improving page rank is essential to increasing traffic to any given page.
These SEO tips are designed to help beginning Internet writers learn and understand the basics of search engine optimization. Good keyword use tells search engines what an article is about and how good it is, thus offering readers the opportunity to find it through their search queries.
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