SEO basics?

Status
Not open for further replies.

words

Registered
Joined
Aug 9, 2011
Messages
25
Reaction score
3
I want to learn the fundamentals of SEO writing--any suggestions as far as websites that offer good information? Or anyone have general advice on how to go about this from your own experiences?
 

herdon

What's up?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 9, 2006
Messages
1,129
Reaction score
78
Website
ipad.about.com
SEO from a writing standpoint has become rather easy. It boils down to picking a keyword phrase and using that phrase in your meta title, title and the first paragraph of your article. After that, the best SEO is not to worry about it. Google is cracking down on keyword stuffing and 'overly optimized' articles, but the number one SEO tip -- writing great quality content -- remains the same.
 

keith075

Registered
Joined
Mar 12, 2012
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Location
Spartanburg, SC
SEO from a writing standpoint has become rather easy. It boils down to picking a keyword phrase and using that phrase in your meta title, title and the first paragraph of your article. After that, the best SEO is not to worry about it. Google is cracking down on keyword stuffing and 'overly optimized' articles, but the number one SEO tip -- writing great quality content -- remains the same.

He is 100% correct....search engine optimization largely boils down to not stuffing ANY words and writing top quality content. What few writers fail to realize that many of the main SEO traits tracked by Google since the Panda update are things like average visitor time, article readability, and several other visitor-friendly metrics.

If you're given a keyword/phrase from an employer, use it naturally in the text 3-4 times per 500 words (preferably starting in the very 1st sentence), find a relevant photo or two that can be labeled with that keyword/keyphrase in the alternate text, quote your sources (preferably using the keyword in the anchor text), and just write great articles that people will find value in.

For example, if I were to write about Disney World, I'm not going to tell people it's in Orlando and it encompasses 2,700 acres with 142 rides (which is what most info-type articles say)...I'm going to tell my readers about the best rides, the most interactive areas for kids, the best times to visit, where to get the best food, and stuff like that from an authority standpoint. Knowing your subject is what separates an average writer from a great one and that's the main factor of SEO.

Hopefully that helped.
 

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 16, 2010
Messages
16,441
Reaction score
1,529
Location
between rising apes and falling angels
Website
www.cranehanabooks.com
I'm so not looking forward to this, but I have to build an author blog and an artist's blog in the next month. Even with 'lazy SEO' tips, the whole idea of writing to keywords and tags squicks me. I've seen so many horribly pushy sites, that I want mine to be as low-key as possible.
 

Deleted member 42

I'm so not looking forward to this, but I have to build an author blog and an artist's blog in the next month. Even with 'lazy SEO' tips, the whole idea of writing to keywords and tags squicks me. I've seen so many horribly pushy sites, that I want mine to be as low-key as possible.

Yeah, ignore the stuff that's labeled as SEO unless it's from Google.

Good writing trumps SEO.
 

herdon

What's up?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 9, 2006
Messages
1,129
Reaction score
78
Website
ipad.about.com
I wouldn't say good writing trumps SEO. Rather, I would say good writing (quality content) is and always has been the number one priority for good SEO.

Stick to the basics and write quality content.
 

eyah

Registered
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
11
Reaction score
1
You should know the difference of on page optimization and an offpage optimization.
 

Max Vaehling

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
1,133
Reaction score
75
Location
Bremen, Germany
Website
www.dreadfulgate.de
Copyblogger is a pretty good blog that features SEO a lot. Their main advice is pretty much what's been posted here: Write good stuff.

Also, and that's utterly important: Never write for search engines. That may give you a short burst, but you want the readers to stay at your site, not just click by it. Write for the readers. This has become more common knowledge recently, but people still get it wrong.

As for "writing to keywords", don't. One thing Google watches out for these days is consistency, so if you just follow the keywords Google will rate it as superficial crap that's just following the keywords, even if it isn't. (Bummer for a site like mine that has comics about a variety of topics, but them's the breaks. On the other hand, my writing blog profited. SEO for fiction sites, especially comics, has always been a problem because you never really present the information googlers are looking for, you just happen to cross search paths.) Rather choose your topics range well and write to your topics. But keep an eye on what the popular keywords within that range are.
 

andiwrite

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 9, 2012
Messages
1,482
Reaction score
140
Location
In constant transit
This google keywords tool has helped me a lot:

https://adwords.google.com/o/Target...&__u=1000000000&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS

It's pretty nifty. Simply put in a topic or keyword idea, and it'll give you a huge list of potential keywords for your article. You can see how often the different words or phrases are googled every month, and see how much competition your article will have in the google results if you use that keyword.
 

Deleted member 42

Simply put in a topic or keyword idea, and it'll give you a huge list of potential keywords for your article. You can see how often the different words or phrases are googled every month, and see how much competition your article will have in the google results if you use that keyword.

I'd suggest instead of worrying about keywords, you concentrate on your title and your links.

People are the ultimate judge, not the search bots.
 

BWFoster78

Registered
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
SEO For Amazon?

I read How to Make a Killing on Kindle. Obviously, some of the author's advice is bad as he recommends doing something against Amazon's TOS.

I know very little about SEO, but his thoughts on it for use on Amazon seemed reasonable. Basically, he suggests finding the correct keyword phrases and incorporating those phrases organically into your book's description.

Has anyone tried anything like this? Does it work?
 

Deleted member 42

Has anyone tried anything like this? Does it work?

People are not bots or search engines, nor do people tend to use search engines to find books to read.

In other words, no, it's not going to help, and it's actually a bit daft.

Go look at the back of some books that you've purchased and liked. What in the description made you decide to read farther or buy the book?
 

BWFoster78

Registered
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
People are not bots or search engines, nor do people tend to use search engines to find books to read.

In other words, no, it's not going to help, and it's actually a bit daft.

Go look at the back of some books that you've purchased and liked. What in the description made you decide to read farther or buy the book?

Medievalist,

Thank you for your reponse.

I'm not sure, however, that you fully understand what he recommends. Perhaps I didn't convey it well.

The concept is as follows:

You research phrases that people may search to find your book inside Amazon, not on an outside search engine. For example: epic fantasy novels featuring young heroes.

The use of those phrases both in the 7 keywords that Amazon allows you and in your description moves your book higher up the list of books returned when people search those keywords.

You organically insert the phrases into your description so as to not be obtrusive to the reader or interfere with the flow of the description.

Thanks.

Brian
 
Status
Not open for further replies.