How to Write Search Engine Optimized (SEO) Articles

Posted: June 22, 2010 by Stacey Abler/ Last modified: June 22, 2010

Thanks for visiting the site again. If you are looking for professional writing for your business, please contact me.

In the last post about conducting keyword research, we identified two major keywords that we wanted to use for an article.

1. army wife

2. army information

In addition to this two keyword phrases, we should also include several other similar words. In this case, it may be “army wives”, “army spouses”, “army resources”, etc. Of course, you don’t want to choose those keywords blindly either. Rely on your keyword research as well as your own search engine tendencies.

Constructing the SEO Article Title

We want to use the keywords that we want to rank for the most in the title with as few other filler words as possible. Possible titles for these our main keyword phrases may be:

Army Information for Army Wives

Army Information for New Army Wives

Army Wives: Army Information for the Army Wife

The title should be enclosed within header tags such as < h2 >.

Opening Paragraph for Search Engine Optimized Articles

Add emphasis to your opening paragraph by using header tags such as < h3 > (without the spaces). This shows the search engine that it is an important part of the content on that page.

Include your main keywords within the opening paragraph for the article. Make sure these words flow naturally. This is where a professional writer can assist you in developing site content. Readable content is more important than SEO. No one wants to read an article that has awkwardly placed keywords. This is an example of an opening paragraph.

New Army wives are in need of a wide variety of Army information when their soldier enlists in the military. The necessary Army information for the new Army wife includes pay and benefits, housing information and basic training overview.

Body of the SEO Article

Throughout the rest of the article, the keywords should be scattered throughout the content. If there are going to be links going out to other content on your site or on a different site, make sure that the navigational link is utilizing your keyword phrase. For example:

DO:

Learn more about my professional writing services.

DON’T:

Learn more about my professional writing services here.

The link is known as your anchor text and again shows the importance of those words.

There are many recommendations about how often you should utilize your keywords and keyword phrases in the article. Some aim for 2-3% while others say each should appear at least twice. As long as you write naturally (or hire a professional SEO writer to do it for you), the density will most likely be acceptable. Writing with the reader in mind should be the top priority with SEO a close second.

In the next post, we will cover other SEO techniques that can be used throughout your site and content to improve rankings.