29 Aug SEO Rules for Beginner Writers
As an academic, you think you already know how to write and explain theories to everyone. Some people believe websites needed to explain into the most minute detail about their products and services to work properly. This couldn’t be further from the truth especially if you’re writing for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Keep reading to learn some of the basic rules to follow when writing for SEO.
Content Quality by SEO without Losing your Head
The purpose of SEO is to make your site easily discoverable online by possible clients when they search what you offer through search engines (i.e. Google, Yahoo!, Bing). Working with SEO in mind isn’t necessarily difficult, but it does require long hours of work. SEO feeds on the content of your site (images, videos, text, etc). So, it is really important to focus on the quality of your content to be highly ranked.
When people write for academic purposes, they usually express their ideas by using long sentences that are very detailed; however, with SEO less is more. When readers see long, boring and disorganized content, they will not read it and will leave the page quickly. If you use short sentences and edit your content to express the information in the most efficient way possible, you then save time for your readers. Be sure to use no more than 20 words per sentence, and short paragraphs no longer than 150 words. Blog articles should have between 450-800 words. Remember, is not a book! People like short articles they can read in less than 5 minutes. On the other hand, choose the appropriated topics for the audience you are addressing and expecting. If the content is not appealing, people won’t even bother clicking on it.
Choose and Avoid Words Wisely
Your content can be attractive and well written, but you must also be aware of choosing the appropriate keywords and metadata. These are words that describe the type of content your blogs or websites have. There is always the main keyword that describes your article when writing a blog. This main keyword has to be in the first paragraph, in the title, and a subheading of the article. You can also choose a few keywords that describe your website and/or blogs. This will let users find you quicker on searches. Choosing the right keywords will also help you with your writing on track. It’s like a guide tool to organize your ideas and to be coherent with them. A good tool to pick the right keywords is Google AdWords Keyword Planner.
However, there are frequently empty words that have no meaning in isolation like articles, prepositions, etc. Those words are called stop words and we should avoid them on titles and subheadings. If not, the rank of your content’s “readability” will be affected, ultimately making the article more difficult to find. In the beginning, it can be overwhelming to follow all these rules but eventually, you will get used to them.
SEO for Websites
We’re not going to discuss all the different SEO rules on websites because there is plenty of navigation and programming. Keep the focus on the content and aesthetics. It doesn’t matter if you have a food business or you are a big company with many different types of products – be simple and use short texts. Don’t try to fill every space of your site with content. Leave the necessary blank spaces on it and use images to support it. As we mentioned earlier, less is more! If a website is well organized, it will have the appropriate amount of content, good use of images, and be responsive.
Don’t Leave Social Media Behind
What better way to boost your blog or business than through social media? Nowadays, everyone is constantly checking their Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.; and you as a company should take advantage of that. It’s the cheapest way of advertising you have. No matter if you have a blog or a website, you can still promote them on social media and, of course, SEO rules help to position you online.
Don’t be afraid to write your blog and your website content using SEO parameters. It can be complicated at first, but after a few tries, you will streamline your ideas to take advantage of these rules and see the return on investment.
