How to Write SEO
So the idea of becoming a freelance writer excites you. You’ve read up on some books, checked online for all the information you can find, you have a feeling you know what to expect. Knowing that it will take some time to grow your business, you don’t quit your day job, but you are itching to find a way. Problem is you don’t have any beginning clients or clips, so where to turn?
Auction websites are a great way to start out your freelance writing career. While this is the lower end of the income spectrum for freelancers, and it usually will not result in a lot of articles with your name on it, these sites are often most open to new rookie writers and offer types of jobs that are simple to pick up on. This practice allows you to hone your research, writing, and querying skills while still bringing in at least some side income to start. This will help you hone all the skills you need to start pushing for openings in the bigger markets.
One of the most commonly requested field for writers is for SEO, which stands for “Search Engine Optimized.” Some people also call this “key word optimized.” What this means is that a company is looking for articles that will be ranked highly in Internet search engines (such as Yahoo, Google, Netscape, etc.) based around certain words or phrases. The way these search engines work is that if you type in a word or series of words, say “cat medicine,” then the search engine will look for articles that have the words “cat medicine” in them, and then rank them according to which ones are most significant. How do they decide what articles are more significant than others?
- Remember: The more often that phrase occurs in the article, the higher it will be ranked.
This means that an article that says “cat medicine” five times will rank higher than an article that says it twice. Likewise, and article that says it ten times, will rank higher than one that says if six. Ever wonder while reading on the Internet why this phrase kept popping up over and over? This is why. Because without all those phrases, you would never find the site.
This is what Search Engine optimisation is. SEO writing is always in demand by various companies, and because of the formatting does not require advanced education, experience, or nearly as much research work as other types of writing do. If someone is asking for an SEO writer, they are asking for a writer who can simply make sure that a certain phrase (always provided by the employer) appears “x” number of times in the article. Just a few tips to make you an SEO success:
- If you don’t have any articles, write some samples! Sample articles never hurt, and this will give you some practice getting used to writing this way.
- Always try to keep the key word at 3-4% density and no more. More than this can mark it as “spam,” and is a sure fire mark of an amateur. A 500 word article, should never have more than 20 keywords, and usually less. Sometimes and employer will give you an exact percentage.
These articles are easy to do, and will also help you build a positive feedback rating which in the long run will help you to land the bigger and better jobs when you are prepared to handle them. Figuring out the keyword percentages is easy: take the total number of keywords or keyword phrases, and divide that by the total number of words. As long as you are under 4% you are doing fine.
Look around for these types of jobs, they are often the best break in for a freelance writer at an auction site, and as you hone your craft and make some money on the side, you will learn the little ins and outs that will prepare you for bigger and better jobs down the line. Good luck, and keep writing!