Every blogger knows that articles are the lifeblood of their blogs. A popular article can bring in thousands of new visitors every day, and you’ll find it easier to rank higher in search engine results if you write articles that search engines like.
But sometimes, writing an article that’s optimized for the search engines can be difficult, especially if you don’t know where to start or what to focus on.
If you want to attract search engine traffic, the best way to do so is to write search engine optimized (SEO) content.
The problem, though, is that you might not be sure how to go about writing an article that fits this criterion and it could be hard to tell if you’re doing it right.
This guide on how to write an SEO-friendly article will walk you through every step of the process, from choosing the right topic and keyword research to choosing the right article format and writing in an engaging manner.
What makes an article SEO-friendly?
Readability is an SEO article's best friend. Readers usually scan an article, picking up key points and making decisions based on those points.
If your article contains too much jargon or hard-to-understand wording, that's going to negatively impact how well it reads—and how well readers take in its information.
Content is king. Without quality content, your website has no chance of ranking high organically. While this applies to any type of site, the problem arises when people try to rank sites that are not relevant to their target audience.
The best way to increase organic traffic is to publish useful and informative articles. This goes against the nature of things though.
Search engines want to provide users with what they are looking for. If websites focus solely on providing content, then it's unlikely they'll satisfy user needs and thus, won't rank well.
How do I write an SEO-friendly article?
The first thing you need to know about writing content for your website or blog is that if you are not going to include keywords in the title tag of each post, it won't matter how many backlinks you have from high-quality sites.
Google's algorithms cannot read into the text on a page what the title tags say unless they're using those words directly.
SEO is an acronym for search engine optimization, and SEO-friendly articles are just that—articles that contain keywords or phrases for which people might be searching.
Instead of writing about topics that aren't important to your audience, you can also write about keywords or phrases your audience is looking for.
Your goal should always be to get visitors to click through to your site via organic search results, but this can only happen if you write unique and useful content.
You want the title of your articles to contain relevant keywords, but make sure they don't dominate the title too much. If someone were to look at your site now, would they understand what it was about just by reading the title?
You don't need to have a degree in content writing to make great articles. There's a lot of free information out there about making the most of Google's algorithm.
Here are some tips that can help you get started:
a. Keyword research
You’ll also want to do some keyword research. Keyword research involves coming up with variations of search terms that potential readers may use when looking for information related to your topic.
You can perform keyword research using tools like Google AdWords or SEMrush. These tools allow you to type in keywords related to your post and see how many people are searching for those terms each month on average.
It’s important that you choose the high volume, low competition keywords—ones that have low monthly searches but high commercial intent (people who googled it probably really wanted your content).
The article should be written keeping the search engines in mind. The keywords used should be relevant and sensible. Also keep your content short, crisp, and accurate.
If your content has any spelling mistakes, then do not worry about that. Since the articles are supposed to be read and shared online, the focus should be on clarity over length.
You need to get backlinks from High PR sites, Social Bookmarking Sites, and other websites. You should write unique content using these keywords. Use some creative titles as well.
Use long-tail keywords. Longer phrases tend to garner better results. Instead of simply writing 'how to...' or 'what is....', write how to find jobs or how to become a doctor.
People are more likely to search using longer queries than single words.
b. Optimized Title Tag
Your title tag should not only contain keywords that are relevant to your content, but they should also provide information about what the reader can expect from reading your article.
In addition, titles need to be short enough to attract readers’ attention while still being descriptive enough to convey the intended message.
The title tag should have keywords that people are typing into search engines if they are looking for information about your website. This article will help you understand how to write an SEO-friendly title tag.
As I said earlier, the title tag should contain keywords. There are two kinds of keywords: long-tail words and headings. Long-tail keywords are words that are usually searched first by Google and Bing.
Examples include “how to make money online”, “online business ideas”, “free money”, etc. Headings are used to structure your content and can be seen as subheadings or titles.
They give a definition to each section of your page. Here are some examples:
Include your keyword(s) in the title - this is probably the most obvious tip. Try not to repeat them throughout the text though. If you do use them again and again, it may look like you are spamming Google!
Try adding synonyms too. These are alternative words or phrases that mean the same thing as your primary word/phrase. Using these will improve your CTR (click-through rate).
Make sure the keyword is included in the first 50 characters of your title tag. This means including only the first 50 characters of the text you want to appear in the title. Also, avoid using punctuation marks.
c. Relevant Meta Descriptions
The meta description provides an additional opportunity for search engines to understand what a page is about. A meta description appears below the excerpt in SERPs.
Because it's small and concise, it offers a chance to add some keyword-rich copy to entice clicks.
Some websites use their meta descriptions to rank well in organic listings, so make sure to include useful information (aka keywords) to gain more traffic from this channel.
d. Headings & Sub-Heading Structure
In order to create a clean and easy-to-read site, web designers place headings and subheadings in sections throughout the site. These help users navigate through the website easily and may even improve user engagement and conversion rates.
Headings and subheadings are key to ensuring that readers can quickly scan and understand your work. Your goal should be for your reader’s eyes to land on an intriguing header and make them want to read more of what you have written.
In addition, headings and subheadings allow search engines such as Google and Bing, who index these articles via automated processes (called spiders), to better categorize your piece—ensuring that readers looking for specific information can easily find it.
Headings also appear in social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram as clickable links—so they make it easy for people interested in reading more about certain aspects of your work to do so.
Use heading tags for different sections of your page content. This helps the search engine know what is contained in each section. Use H1, H2 and H3 tags appropriately for your needs.
e. Paragraphs
Every time you write a new paragraph, think about how your audience might search for it. Imagine that Google is reading your piece, and find creative ways to use different keywords in each paragraph.
Be careful not to overdo it—unless you're writing an essay or research paper, try not to exceed five paragraphs. You'll want your content easy on readers' eyes.
Paragraphs are an element of writing that helps the reader understand the content and flow of text clearly. When writing articles, paragraphs can make or break them.
And if your article has poorly written paragraphs then it will not rank well and visitors will leave out. A good paragraph should be clear, concise and informative.
f. Images
A picture is worth a thousand words, so it’s crucial that you insert images at every opportunity. However, there are many ways in which you can include images without doing any harm to your page’s search ranking.
For example, using images that link back to your site as opposed to including images with no links will make your articles seem more professional and trustworthy—two traits highly valued by Google and other search engines.
Images are very critical elements of any content. They add depth to your articles, make them visually appealing and informative. Also they help search engines to understand the topic of your article better.
First, always keep in mind how images are used by users. Users usually scan through links to find something meaningful.
If your image is not useful for them then chances are very less that user will click on the link. So think about what would interest people while writing your post. Use high quality images.
Second, choose relevant images from Google using keywords. You can check what images do well.
Third, use alt tags properly. Alt tags should describe the image in detail. Try to include at least two lines of text. These will help both humans and search engine crawlers to know what the picture is about.
Fourth, don't overuse images. Don't overload your pages and make sure you have enough space between your paragraphs. Search engines penalize websites with heavy graphics and slow loading times.
Fifth, use responsive images. Responsive images allow you to optimize images for different devices like desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones.
g. Links
Link building is about getting links from other websites to your website which helps increase your search engine rank.
In addition to making it easier for Google’s algorithms to see what your content is about, inbound links also help give readers context about your content—which helps convince them that your information is valuable.
Linking out not only tells readers you’re citing sources and experts, but it also lets them know that there’s more information they can access.
This ultimately boosts their confidence in what you have to say, improving how they feel about your content.
To ensure more of these opportunities arise in the future, use anchor text that matches keywords related to what you're writing about—and make sure any links are relevant.
h. Readability
By providing good formatting, clear headings, bulleted lists, and proper indentation, your visitors will enjoy reading your post and hopefully come back again for future posts.
