Online Marketing

Web Marketing - Search Engine Optimization for Web Content

Too often the focus is on the more common aspects of optimization such as keywords, inbound links, URL structure, etc. Clearly, each forms an integral part of the overall SEO strategy. However, little is said about writing good website content.

If you were to examine the top-ranking web pages on Google, you'd notice that they are consistently well written, better than the vast majority of articles and content one finds on the Web. Is it really surprising to see a site like Wikipedia appear among the top-ranking web pages?

Search engine crawlers are blind to page design and images. Like human web users, they mostly read text. That's why all SEO strategies include creating original textual content based on relevant keywords.

Web Marketing - Search Engine Optimization Tips for Writing Content

When search engine crawlers and humans come across a webpage, they share one thing in common: both are trying to figure out the subject matter.

Keywords are what matters to the search engines. To the human reader, what matters most is the relevancy of the content and how it is written. We want optimized content written in such a way that it not only has the required keywords, it also makes for a good read.

The search engine optimization tips below can help you write content that can be easily understood by all. They will help better organized your material, and your keywords will appear in strategic locations on the web page.

Use Headlines and Sub-headings

Just as someone would read the headlines to get the gist of an article, search engines use the same approach to understand the subject of the page. Place your main keyword phrases in the headline (near the top of the page, enclosed in a H1 heading tag) and in subsequent sub-headings.

The headline can also be used in Title tag (the white text displayed at the top of your browser). The Title tag is one of the most important SEO factors in achieving high search engine rankings.

Body Text and Keywords

Search engine crawlers look for keywords in body text. Your main keyword should appear in the first paragraph. Of course, be careful not to use your main keyword too frequently. The crawlers might think that you're trying to "game the system" and this will affect your rankings.

To avoid this, use contextual relevance - terms and synonyms related to the main keyword, as well as stem variations. Not only will the tone of your content flow more naturally, your keywords can be more evenly distributed throughout the text.

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Use Keywords in your Anchor Text

Anchor text is the highlighted phrase used in a link. If you want to make a reference to particular topic, instead of using "click here" as the anchor text, use a keyword. Not only is it more powerful in terms of search engine optimization, it provides your visitors a useful clue about the page you're linking to. Used wisely, it can also boost your search engine rankings, especially in Google.

Write and Update Often

For your ongoing search engine optimization efforts, having your website growing and maintained looks favorable to the search engines. Be sure to update your content as often as possible. This includes adding new pages and updating existing material at least once every few weeks. If you don't have the time, or can't afford, to have original content written that often, use free-reprint articles. However, a significant portion of the website content should be original work. But remember: quality over quantity.

Considering the level of emphasis Google places on good content, it makes sense to have the bulk of your search engine optimization investment devoted to producing optimized content, rather than web design or linking campaigns.

Article published October 22^nd, 2010
Online Marketing by Azatiko.com

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