How to write using SEO principles
Search engines search out information on the internet in several ways. The first is by keyword and the second is by traffic… there are other ways that search engines go looking for information but those two – keyword and traffic are the BIGGEST reasons why you could make it to the first page of the search engines with your blog.
But how do you write effectively with keywords? Keywords are essentially just words or strings of words which you are hoping that someone else wants to find a solution to. They can be about anything at all: training your cat, changing your tire on your car or reupholstering your favourite chair.
The problem with keywords is that many people use keywords inappropriately in an article or blog post. Here are three rules of thumb when it comes to using keywords:
- Never use your keywords or keyword phrases more than 3 times in an article or blog post. You can use it once in the title, once in the first sentence of the first paragraph, and once in the last sentence in the final paragraph. No more or you’ll sound like you’re haemorrhaging keywords.
- Use a variety of keyword phrases to be able to capture different phrases being typed in the search engines. So rather than just using “training cats” you might use “litter training cats,” “cat training methods,” “herding cats,” and other such phrases so that you don’t use the exact same phrase in your post.
- Intentionally use common misspellings to capture what people might type in by mistake. I know that writers would probably have a conniption simply thinking about intentionally misspelling a word, however, if a word is often spelled incorrectly simply having it spelled that way on your blog can actually drive a little more traffic to it. The trick to this is to use it in your meta keywords rather than directly on your page.
- Use organic keywords. No, that doesn’t mean that the keywords were grown organically or in a pile of manure. It means that the keywords “sound natural” in their context. Let’s face it, lots of article sites and blogs sound like they were written by some foreigner trying to write your native language. The phrases are all jumbled and don’t make sense. To make sure that your blog gets placed higher on the SEO ranking, make sure that every sentence makes sense. If you have to read a sentence twice, chances are your reader will have to as well. Make sure your key word or key word phrase is easy to understand and sounds like you speak.
- Use long-string keywords. Long-string keywords are keywords that are joined together in a phrase. People don’t just search for one word, they mostly search for the answer to a question. So ask the question first, and then provide the answer.
The Google Keyword tool is my secret weapon when it comes to blogging. Before I even start writing my blog post or article, I go to the Google Keyword tool and try inputting combinations of my keywords. In this way I can see whether anyone is asking questions about my subject at this time. This is the EXTRA dimension that many businesses never check out while they’re blogging or writing articles.
If you’ve never used this tool before, I’m going to give you some simple directions on how to get it. Open up your browser window and select your search engine. Now search for “Google Keyword Tool.” It should come up top of the list, with a link to connect to it. You will be asked to log in and then you can get right to work.
Many businesses aren’t making sure that their blog meets the needs of people RIGHT NOW. By using the Google Keyword tool, I find out right away if anyone is looking for the keyword or the keyword, or keyword phrase (long string keywords) that I am putting together. The nice thing about the Google keyword tool is not only will it tell me IF anyone is looking for those keywords, it will also tell me HOW MANY searches have been done for that keyword phrase, and HOW MUCH competition there is for those searchers.
You might think that it’s a good idea to simply write blog posts about broad topics but you would be WRONG. Sure, you could get seen by more people, BUT you could also end up having people just view your page and disappear. You don’t want that. You want visitors who come to your site, read one page, then another and another and then opt in to your list .
The more specific you can be about a problem that you can solve, the more likely you will be to get seen on the search engine results page. Just try this out for a second on Google Keyword tool: type in the search term: blogging.
You’ll notice that there are 1,000,000 global monthly searches with the keyword “blogging” in it. There are also 49,500 local monthly searches for the term “blogging.” Unfortunately, those searches are for everything from people who just want blogging lessons or tips about blogging. They aren’t specifically targeted to people who are wanting to blog for business purposes.
Key in “how to blog for business” and notice your results. There are 450,000 global searches for this keyword phrase and 22,200 local monthly searches for this phrase. But this is still painting with a really big brush. You need to really refine your phrasing to target your market.
Try this phrase: “blogging for business” and notice the difference in terms of the number of global searches and local searches using that phrase. Globally that keyword phrase represented 9,900 searches per month and 390 local searches. Now, this is a lot closer to what you want to see in terms of numbers when it comes to your target market. Too many people and you get TONS of readership, but little interaction. The good news is that there is LOW competition to use this keyword phrase right now. So the time is right for you to use this knowledge, your knowledge of your field of specialization, to benefit your reader and to get more readers to your site
