Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a technique which can give an organisation increased online brand exposure.
Using a combination of effective web design, carefully written content, social media marketing, blogging and the crafting of online articles, an organisation’s material can become increasingly attractive to Google spiders. Regularly changing content and careful use of relevant keywords can pull the material up Google’s search engine rankings, with the objective of that holy grail – appearing on page one of Google for search terms relevant to an organisation’s target market.
Many business owners are unable to commit to the amount of time required to write the amount of SEO-friendly material needed in order to make a difference and instead use the services of an SEO expert. However, if your budget restricts this and you’d like to try writing a daily article yourself, here are some tips which could help you to rank highly on Google.
Know which key words will work best for your target market. Popular words and phrases (for example in the property industry the phrase “houses for sale in London” is likely to be an extremely popular search engine term and so it will take a great deal of money and time to compete with already high ranking organisations for this phrase. The trick is to identify the slightly lesser used yet still popular words and phrases where an opportunity exists to secure an excellent Google ranking. So for example, whilst there would be little point in attempting “houses for sale in London”, “apartments in Dulwich” might be a better option. There are several tools available which can help you to identify key words including Alexa and Google AdWords.
Don’t replace quality with technique. Google spiders aren’t stupid. If an article has little relevant content but instead contains a whole host of key words and links, it will be overlooked. Write about something which your target audience will find useful but at the same time, think about key words whilst you’re writing the article.
Don’t pack your article full of key words. An article jam packed with key words will attract the attention of Google spiders – and not in a positive way. The outcome is unlikely to be favourable. SEO writers normally aim for a key word density of around 3%. As a rule of thumb, in an article of around 350 words, three instances of key words is entirely appropriate.
Include a hyperlink in your key words. The more links you can attract to your website, the more Google spiders will love you and put you on a pedestal. One easy way of doing this is by including a hyperlink in your keywords, with the source being a relevant page on your website. In this way, not only are you attracting more links, but you’re helping to make research and navigation easier for your interested viewers.
