SEO Articles: How to Achieve your Goals with Words?
Do you know which is the real potential of SEO articles? Have you integrated them so far in your Marketing strategy? If the answer is “NO”, rest assured! We will explain below some of the most important aspects that you should take into account when building and writing such content!
What is their role?
As business people, we are constantly looking for answers to the question “What’s in it for me?” Basically, “what’s in it for your if you start writing SEO articles today?”.
Well, first of all, you need to understand that an SEO text can only be effective if it is integrated into an optimization strategy. In other words, articles themselves are a tool for SEO and, in fact, a very valuable one. If we look at all the implications of such a service and if we continue to debate the topic “Is it worth investing in SEO?”, we will conclude that these texts contribute, in the long run, to strengthening visibility in search engines and when generating quality traffic.
Quality traffic = Increased conversion rate
So… yes! We can say that SEO articles help you, indirectly, to make a profit!
Now that you know that, what do you say, should we start writing? I suspected that the answer would be affirmative, so we have prepared, in the following, a short guide of recommendations regarding the creative and technical directions that an SEO article should follow.
Optimized Blog Articles Vs. Off Page SEO articles
We explained in a previous article that there are two types of SEO optimization: On Page and Off Page.
A blog article is created to bring value to content in the first place. It is the ideal method by which you can bring your input in the community, by which you can share your experiences and by which you can demonstrate your expertise in the field. Although, in the case of such an article, the emphasis is generally on the quality of the content, we recommend that you do not neglect the SEO component! A properly optimized blog article can bring you a considerable contribution of visibility!
An SEO article for external channels contributes to better visibility in search engines. When indexing a site, Google looks at how relevant a site is to the community, how often it is cited / mentioned in external sources. The better optimized the sites on which it is published, the more authority the backlinks structure will generate.
Do we write them differently?
When it comes to writing rules, we must understand that, from the perspective of content, the texts will follow the same direction, however, at the structural and technical level, there will be quite a few important differences. For example, the links to the site differ in number, but also in positioning.
In the case of blog posts, there is no limit of internal links. On the contrary, the more there are, the richer the structure of internal links, and the client receives valuable and relevant sources for themselves. For this type of text, the link is NEVER assigned to a keyword or part of the expression on which the optimization is done!
For Off Page articles, a text should contain, on average, 2-3 keywords. In this case, contextual links are used. They are based on the key phrases and have the role of transmitting a certain authority to your site.
Content rules:
Take into account both the buyer’s intention and the quality of the content!
When it comes to your page, a potential customer needs to find relevant and quality information. It’s not enough to optimize an article on a powerful keyword, but you need to make sure that the content meets the specific need of the user. You have to pay attention to search trends! When looking for a certain expression, does your potential customer need an article to inform them (news), to educate them (tutorials, tips & tricks), to sell them a product / service (advertorial; details about services) or to provide entertainment?
To stay relevant to your community, our advice is to approach evergreen articles in your content strategy. Focus on information that does not devalue over time, share your experience and focus less on trends!
Communicate in the language of clients, both in On Page and Off Page SEO articles!
An article with a specific SEO role is not an impersonal one! Although you create it with a functional / technical role in mind, this does not mean that you have to give up the quality or that specific tone of voice that your customersresonate with!
Especially when articles reach external sources, the general tendency is to formalize the content to the extreme in order to be accepted by a much wider audience. Greater exposure does not mean that you will suddenly attract completely different people to your service than the public you usually address. Moreover, by using an impersonal style, you risk losing the interest of the users who really fit into your client pattern. Stay authentic!
Opt for keywords with equal relevance!
If you choose to optimize an On Page article on more than one keyword, you need to make sure that the text as a whole has equal relevance to each of the searches. An expression that is only mentioned and not widely discussed inside the article can significantly increase your bounce rate. Most of the time, you will notice that traffic from searches on that problematic word will generate negative results for your page.
Our advice? Less is more! Focus on 1-2 strong keywords and make sure you build a truly valuable article around them for your community!
In the case of Off Page SEO texts, the results are based more on the technical structure and authority of the platforms on which you choose to publish. However, it is advisable not to neglect the content here as well and to use a similar strategy!
Don’t give up on topics that you consider valuable just because they’re not searched on Google!
We refer here, of course, to the articles posted on your company’s blog. If you work in a relatively new field or operate with many English terms, such as Online Marketing, for example, you will constantly face the same problem: there are not enough searches in search engines for certain expressions, although the topics themselves are extremely valuable to the community.
How do you handle this? Make a compromise! If a certain topic does not bring direct traffic to search engines, it does not necessarily mean that its potential is low. It can, instead, have all the ingredients of a viral content on Social Media!
It is ideal for your strategy to be based on a balance! Combine numbers and statistics with the flair of a specialist and you will surely find the recipe for success!
Some technical optimization rules for blog posts:
Now it’s time to move on to more practical aspects! How do we correctly integrate a keyword into an article? Most of the time, it is recommended to rely on the guidance provided by the Yoast SEO plugin in WordPress. It will tell us exactly what the optimal density of expressions is, depending on the number of words, but also what the elements we should pay attention to are!
We decided to offer you a helping hand and create a short SEO optimization guide that you can easily follow the next time you publish a blog article!
A keyword should be found in its exact form:
» in the URL;
» in the Title;
» in subtitles (H tags);
» in the first sentence of the text (paragraph), as early as possible;
» repeatedly throughout the content, in a balanced way (both in the middle and towards the end). The density is indicated by the SEO plugin, as mentioned above.
» in the Metadescription
» in the title of the images – They must be renamed before being uploaded to the site, so as to include the keyword in the name. Moreover, after loading, the keywords must be added as alternative text for images.
Warning: DO NOT add links to the keyword, its synonyms or parts of it.
Can’t find your words?
We are here to help you! Our team includes specialists in Copywriting and SEO, ready to generate quality, well-optimized articles, so that your business can enjoy excellent results! At SEO 365 we are guided not only by creativity, but also by results!
Let’s write the first lines of a successful collaboration! If you want your business to reach its full potential online, we are waiting for you for a »Free Consultation!
