Writing an article does a few things: It provides information about your business field, it shows your potential customers and clients that you are an expert in your field, it publishes your business name and it is a cost effective marketing strategy. Here are some tips to make sure your article will be search engine ready.
Title Keywords
The title of your article should include the most important keywords that describe your business. You should think about this like the title of your website. (See our previous post “10 ways to make your website more search engine friendly”). When people are looking for information that your article contains what will they search for?
Headers and Body Text Keywords
The keywords in your headings and body text should sound natural. Write them without thinking about the keywords. Then, after you have finished, go back and add the keywords where they make sense.
Industry jargon is generally something to avoid. It really depends on who you want to market your article to. Unless your article is geared towards industry professionals or business to business clients, don’t use terms that are too technical. They won’t rank well on the search engines and you will have lost a good chance to use a more popular keyword.
Synonyms
When you are thinking about your most important keywords – think about their synonyms as well. Don’t stuff your article with the same keyword over and over… it won’t read well or help your ranking.
Anchor text
Anchor text is hyper linked text. Make sure that several important key phrases are linked to your homepage or related internal pages.
Posting and URLs
Post your article on your website and if possible give it a separate page with a keyword rich URL. This will help your article rank in the search engines and it can build links for you website.
Submit
Submit your article to a few free article websites. Please see a list on our previous post “10 free ways to promote your website”.
Don’t write a press release
People are much more receptive to useful information than a sales pitch. Write about a new technology, a theory, the newest players in your field, a critique of software you use or an evaluation of a new online tool. Give information that highlights you as an expert in the business field without actually saying it.
Credit Experts
Flattery goes a long way! If there is a non competing experts in the field – use a quote from them or give a link to their website. Then, tell them about it. They might link to your article or your site!
Contact Information
Make sure you include your name, your website, and your contact information at the bottom of the page.
Proofread and Proofread Again
If your article is not professional people will not take you seriously. Send it out to a few grammar-enlightened friends. Send it to someone who doesn’t know a lot about your business to make sure it is clear. It will be your first impression to a lot of people – so make it count!