SEO Content Writer

Mostly, SEO content writers write deliberately using keywords that will draw specific hits from search engines.

The aim of a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) writer is to get an article as high as possible on a search engine when keywords are entered. This makes it more likely that people will come to look at the article.
They might do it by including key words or by various other methods.

It depends on who you are doing the work for. If it's a content site like Suite101 that has a lot of writers they usually provide tutorials to help you. If you do a search I'm sure you can find more.

Just be careful of anyone who tells you to stuff lots of key words into the article. That generally doesn't actually work, because Google has become very good at picking out well written articles to put at the top of the list.

Sometimes the person hiring will tell you what keywords they want you to target, sometimes they will give you an article title and expect you to research niche keywords yourself. Best to ask them and clear it up before you start.
Good luck!

You have to be really careful when looking to become an SEO writer. There are numerous places that are looking to hire but if you aren't careful you can often end up working for a penny or less than a penny a word. I used to work as a freelance SEO writer, I was doing anywhere from 200-400 articles a week ( sounds like a lot but Dragon speak is a miracle program, at 120 words per minute its not hard to write that many articles in a week). This was what was necessary to make a minimal income that barely managed to pay the bills. One of the biggest problems you face when getting started is competing with countries that can bid on large projects for sometimes as low as $0.20 per 500 word article. This has been my experience and I used to work with about 200 writers at my last contract company, all of them had similar experiences.

In regards to the requirements of the articles, that depends on the client. Some of them will provide you with a list of topics and you will be responsible for finding appropriate keywords, some will contain a list of keywords, and in some cases you may find yourself writin 10-20 articles at 500-1000 words a piece on exactly the same topic and keyword while attempting to make them all unique.

It can be challenging and I found it rewarding in many respects, though not always financially. If you are looking into this seriously, consider contracting with a company, there are plenty of them out there, primaily to help protect yourself. Many people use bid sites, forum sites that are designed to promote writing jobs, even Craigslist and if you aren't careful you may end up doing and submitting it only to find the client has disappeared overnight.

Working with a larger company offers a few benefits, the first is that you don't have to worry about getting paid, many of these companies have a monthly subscription fee for clients and also charge per article. They also help protect you against fraud and other legality issues, which can sometimes arise when doing this type of work. Finally, they can take out the time consuming business of tracking down clients and marketing leaving you ( the writer) with more time to focus on writing instead of dealing with the additional hassles of marketing, accounting, and customer service.

Hope this helps.

ellaparsons said:

Writing SEO content brings a visitor to your webpage when she performs a search for specific keywords. Knowing how to optimize your site so it shows up on the first page of search results takes practice and writing skill. You can add links and images to your content to increase your page ranking.

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If you're here to pimp SEO services, your time on AW is going to be strictly limited.

Usually, it's a good idea instead of practicing keyword stuffing, to place relevant keywords in titles (browser titles as well) and the first 200 words of your body text. Just a rule of thumb.

Being a real SEO writer means being up to date with what the major search engines are doing on an ongoing basis and being able to increase sites ranking significantly by sweetening the content. A lot of people offer online classes on this topic, only a few of them will actually know how to do it.

Keyword stuffing is not only obsolete, but with the newest Google update especially (Penguine) it can result in your site being penalized. Three well placed keywords will take you far!

amomschoice said:

Hi all,
I've noticed a lot of writer say they are SEO Content Writers on their sites. What exactually is involved with being one? I know a little about it. What's the difference between SEO Writer and writer.
Sasha

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hello Sasha,

I am too, new to this forum and I am an SEO writer and SEO expert.

SEO means Search Engine Optimization.
SEO articles are mostly used in web contents or webpages.
I'll try to explain to the best of my knowledge.

SEO writing involves lots of keywords and competition analysis. The main goal of an SEO writer to make sure that the article is search engine-friendly. There are some factors to consider when writing an SEO article and here are some points to consider.

• main keyword - is the main keyword searchable?

• keyword density - we always follow the standard density of 2%. This means, the writer must repeat the main keyword at least 20 times in a 500-word article, without messing-up the whole idea of the content.

• LSI keywords (Latent Symantec Indexing) or related keywords - writer must used closely related keywords. Try to search something in Google and at the result page, scroll down and you'll see some related keywords.

• Subheadings or subtitles. Search engines like Google, Yahoo, Live.com, AOL can easily recognize your webpage if it has some subheadings with secondary keywords.

• Word count. Although there is no specific study about the effect of the number of words in a SEO article, we, in marketing world, always use 500 words and above.

I think SEO writing is not a creative writing but a technical one. Here is a good example of an SEO article: http://freesamplesbymail.biz/


Sorry for my bad English...


Don

I just got an email inviting me to re-write testimonials for a college test prep service. I'd get $2 per, and they want five. They'll pay via PayPal within hours, meaning I get a ten-spot credited to my bank account within three days. After that, I can (presumably) do more.

First of all, isn't this dishonest? I have never even heard of this outfit.

One of the posters above stated that she can write 120 words a minute. Are you serious? Even if anybody could type that fast, is this really the writing life you strive for?

DennisB said:

I just got an email inviting me to re-write testimonials for a college test prep service. I'd get $2 per, and they want five. They'll pay via PayPal within hours, meaning I get a ten-spot credited to my bank account within three days. After that, I can (presumably) do more.

First of all, isn't this dishonest? I have never even heard of this outfit.

One of the posters above stated that she can write 120 words a minute. Are you serious? Even if anybody could type that fast, is this really the writing life you strive for?

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This is weasel work. I wouldn't do it.

Don Raden said:

SEO writing involves lots of keywords and competition analysis. The main goal of an SEO writer to make sure that the article is search engine-friendly. There are some factors to consider when

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SEO writing is writing for bots.

Write for people. It's better in the long run.

I am writing some web copy for my best friend, and while I was researching competitors' websites last night, I came across one whose home page was obviously written for SEO, with little regard for content. The site was #3 on Google's list of results, so I guess it worked.

If I were actually looking to hire someone in that profession, however, I would skip these people because of their crappy web content. I hope I'm not in the minority, although I fear many people wouldn't notice--and some who did notice, wouldn't care.

Being an SEO writer (not just a "content" producer) means knowing how search engines work, and that changes every day. It isn't just throwing some keywords at the wall and hoping they stick.

veinglory said:

Being an SEO writer (not just a "content" producer) means knowing how search engines work, and that changes every day. It isn't just throwing some keywords at the wall and hoping they stick.

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Agreed. I just hate to see it when crap like that ends up paying off with high search engine rankings. I mean, really--you should've seen it!!

"The keyword is keyword, and when you use keyword you'll find that keyword is your favorite keyword..." etc, etc.

It was atrocious, and I can't understand anyone actually approving of that junk on their business website.

There's no point in getting high on the search page if your website isn't worth visiting. At the end of the day the whole point is to get people there so you can sell to them (or whatever your aim is).
People aren't going to visit or stay if the website isn't worth it... and even if they don't understand SEO they will probably just think that that website was written by a five year old

Going for SEO rankings over content is shooting yourself in the foot.
And (in theory) if you make good content you'll eventually get backlinks and all those other magic things that will put you higher in the rankings anyway.

So yeah, I don't think getting a high ranking is doing them all that much good.

The best SEO is writing great content. That spawns readers which spawns links and social media shares which will bring the content to the front of search engines. Keyword phrases are important, but they are more like the address on the front of the envelope. And just like the address, they should be used right up front (title, first paragraph) and largely ignored throughout the body of the text (i.e. write naturally).

Google's Panda updates are aimed specifically at sites that try to game the system rather than write good content. So sites like the one mentioned will eventually fall as Google gets better at rooting them out.

OP,

An SEO Writer is someone who (ideally) generates "unique and relevant content" while making it easy for search engines to find you. You will encounter that phrase a lot - "unique and relevant content" - and for good reason: "writing for humans" is part and parcel of "writing for SEO."

There are a ton of free, reliable SEO resources online. If you want a primer, check out SEOmoz (I would link you, but I'm not sure how this forum responds to stuff like that-- I should read the rules).

Mr. Inky said:

OP,

An SEO Writer is someone who (ideally) generates "unique and relevant content" while making it easy for search engines to find you. You will encounter that phrase a lot - "unique and relevant content" - and for good reason: "writing for humans" is part and parcel of "writing for SEO."

There are a ton of free, reliable SEO resources online. If you want a primer, check out SEOmoz (I would link you, but I'm not sure how this forum responds to stuff like that-- I should read the rules).

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Thanks, Inky--but that wasn't the point of my post. I was ranting about crappy writing.

Mr. Inky said:

There are a ton of free, reliable SEO resources online. If you want a primer, check out SEOmoz (I would link you, but I'm not sure how this forum responds to stuff like that-- I should read the rules).

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Yes, you really should.

Writing for SEO is writing for search engines.

We write for people here. If you link to SEOMoz I will castrate the link.

If you promote an SEO service or site, I will castrate the link.

Google has a realistic guide about writing well for people and bots.

I know nothing about SEO, but I do know about writing interesting content and engaging with people who are interested in the things I write about.

I've managed to get a few blogs right up there in the rankings by doing that, without ending up with those odd keywords comments that look so dodgy.

Medievalist said:

I will castrate the link.

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With a medieval-era sword I hope!

The takeaway for OP is that writing for SEO can be exhausting. (Is OP still here? Sorry, I've been busy.) If you are still thinking about being an SEO, then I hope that you are able to connect with an SEO manager who knows what s/he is doing. Find a white hat agency. Find people who will do things the right way. Your job will be easier, and much more rewarding.

There's a lot of garbage out there, for sure. If sites are ranking high with crappy content, then they are ranking high not because of it, but despite it. I guarantee you that if those sites are compared to another version of themselves with better written content, the one with superior content will rank higher. Don't be cynical about SEO; be inspired at how much work is out there for you.

I hope this helps.