Writing for the web is a skill. Too many businesses think that they can appear high in search engines like Google by producing lots and lots of content. Well that is simply not the case as it is quality not quantity. Relevant, informative and engaging content is key to determine your rankings but it needs to be search engine optimised (SEO).

There was once a time when marketing agencies spammed the hell out of any article. This means that they filled the content to its eyeballs with targeted keywords and phrases in the hope that a business would rank favourably to a competitor.
How times have changed.

Any marketing agency that is still practicing this technique is deluded. Google’s latest algorithm changes have evolved the way businesses are producing content and you can either fall in line, or fall flat on your face with a penalty.
Google has even said itself that it has “gotten more synonym-savvy over the last couple of years, there’s no need to cram keyphrases everywhere you possibly can.”

So how can you write SEO-savvy?

Keyword spamming is not cool

“People can overdo it to the point that we consider it keyword stuffing, and it hurts. I would just make sure you do it in natural ways where regular people aren’t going to find it stiff or artificial. That tends to be what works best.”- Google

Google recognises the same keywords so if for example you want to rank highly for the key term ‘cruises to Norway’, you should avoid writing this multiple times. Use ‘Norwegian cruise holidays’ and mention Norwegian cities and ports etc. as well as using ‘ship’, ‘ocean’, ‘restaurants’, ‘entertainment’ etc. – this is all related language.

Write for humans, not computers

“Never sacrifice the quality of your copy for the sake of the search engines”- Google 

The most efficient method to be SEO-savvy is to write for humans, not computers. After all, it is going to be read by consumers. It if looks and read strange, it will be penalised so don’t lose the quality of the content.

Work around it e.g. if you want to rank for the term ‘Web Design Manchester’, integrate it into the sentence so it flows by adding ‘Web Design Manchester’ based.

Use tools to transform your way of thinking

There are tools on the web that can help to assess the quality of your work. WordPress has plug-ins that can assist you to write the best title, avoid duplicate content and make the most from your meta/title tags.

Place links naturally

At the end of the day, links matter so we would be silly telling you to not include a link at all. Not adding a link in your article is like telling a clown he cannot wear a red nose.

However, you can place the links into the text naturally so they appear un-promotional. If it doesn’t fit right and it looks blatantly PR, perhaps you could add it into a bio at the end of the article or alternatively, find another way for it to appear natural?

And don’t be afraid to link to others- they may return the favour. So if you write about an industry body or you have read a similar article elsewhere, link to them.

Conclusion

If you want your firm’s website to appear on the first page of Google, you need to write relevant, high quality, unique content that is SEO-friendly. That is it.

This article was provided by PR Fire, a leading online news distribution website. Visit the experts today to generate buzz around your company news and to make it search engine optimised.