SearchEngineOptimisation.com, only one way up

A common topic on SEO blog sites is writing good content and how you have a limited amount of time to attract an online reader to your article. The title of your articles or SEO blog posts are critical to drawing readers in so think carefully about the structure of them:

Keywords

You can’t always manage to fit keywords into the title but you can do much to boost your search engine optimisation significantly if you do add one. If you can’t, keep the title simple and concise. Be careful about adding too many keywords as this can look like spam and will be quickly penalised by search engines as well as putting your readers off.

Compel Readers

Although keywords are important it shouldn’t be at the expense of an exciting title. Spammy titles will put readers off as will bland titles like ‘How to find cheap restaurants’. Work at developing snazzy, attention grabbing titles and if possible squeeze a keyword in. An example would be ‘Cheap restaurants: the top meal deals unveiled’.

The title tells you what the blog is about, still has a keyword and is much punchier than the first example. Put personality into your titles as this will attract visitors to read on and attract them o your style of writing.

Hold Back on Too Much Information

Don’t overload the title with information if you’re writing news blogs for example. Internet readers can struggle with chunky paragraphs and long winded pieces of text. Don’t put them off straight away with a complicated title. Stick to the key elements. For example the following title is very long winded:

‘Cat found in wheelie bin and police arrest woman following CCTV evidence’

You could amend it to read:

‘Woman caught on CCTV arrested for cat cruelty’

It’s a much more concise title but contains all the crucial elements of the news story.

Always Deliver

Your title will set certain expectations about the content in the following blog. Articles entitled ‘How to…’ will lead readers to expect a blog offering guidance or instruction. If the title misleads the reader and the expected information is not there you’ll quickly lose them.

Keep Focused

You can become distracted when writing blogs or articles. You may begin with a clear goal to your article and then start to meander away from the point. This can quickly cause an anomaly between the title and the article itself. If can be more productive to plan your writing or alternatively think about your title last.

Don’t feel you have to become obsessive about titles. You want them to appear natural rather than overworked, but some forward planning can go a long way to making your article a success with readers. If your inspiration starts to dry up, revert back to the basic principles of title writing – opt for concise, clear and to-the-point titles and you simply cannot go wrong.

At SearchEngineOptimisation.co.uk we have an extensive SEO blog offering the latest in search engine optimisation news and industry updates.

You need to adopt a balanced approach when writing content for your website’s blog. Your focus should be on developing your writing craft and enhancing your content’s relevancy to SEO and search engines. This can be a challenge as these elements are sometimes at odds with each other. To manage these extremes, avoid focusing too much on one element over and above the other. This way you will find that you start to produce writing that attracts traffic and also pleases those all important search engines.

Writing with SEO in Mind

There are writers out there that use SEO blogs to build their reputation with search engines as a high authority on their subject or industry. If you focus on search engines at the cost of everything else you will start to see some detrimental effects to your search engine results. Search engines are indeed interested in keywords and the relevancy of content but they will quickly pick up a site that is spamming its blogs with lots of keywords. It can also very quickly put your readers off as the text reads unnaturally and your reputation in your chosen field can become sullied as a result.

Writing without SEO in Mind

Alternatively, you may write articles that have no keywords and aren’t overly relevant to your website. You may have chosen to write on these topics because you enjoy writing about them or you want to keep adding new content. However, although new material is a plus for SEO if there is no relevance you will start to lose rankings. Your target audience will be looking for a product or service particular to you using the search engines therefore the content you use must reflect this. Writing appropriate content will also encourage readers to return or share your content with others.

Finding a Balance

As with all things moderation is key when blog writing. You need to write according to a few differing principles. On the one hand there will be your motivational principle, that which drives you to write. On the other hand you have your editing principle, that which allows you to amend and tweak to appeal to the search engines.

How to Get Started

To get started, write content that appeals to you. Keep the topics relevant however as it must ultimately appeal to your readers. If you feel your creativity is stifled by thinking about SEO when you write then save this focus for when you edit.

Once you have finished your content then its time for the editing principle to get into the driving seat. Here you can locate the parts of the blog where your keywords would sit well without making the writing sound unnatural. Using some clever word substitutions and tweaking a couple of phrases in a few places is all you need to do. Quickly you can transform an article that is weak from an SEO point of view into one that becomes very powerful to your online marketing efforts.

At SearchEngineOptimisation.co.uk we offer expert advice on search engine optimisation.

There are some websites that are starting to toy with the idea of charging readers to read their content. This comes at a time when many publishers are looking for ways to generate more revenue, and even The Times newspaper has started to ask its online readers to pay. If you try to access a story on The Times’ website you will be asked to subscribe and you can read the full story from as little as £1.

British People Won’t Pay for Web Content

It would seem that other papers from within the Rupert Murdoch group are likely to follow suit, but is this the way forward? According to a recent study it might not be. The research revealed that people just won’t pay for web content and as a nation the Brits are more averse to the idea than other countries. There were 5,627 people asked to take part in the survey across 22 different countries, and it highlighted that the British public are the least likely to pay up for reading web content. A massive 81 per cent of those Brits questioned said they would not be prepared to spend money to gain access to new content.

This comes as a stark warning to website owners looking to set up pay walls as they are likely to lose readers to other sources. If a site depends solely on its advertising revenue to survive they could suffer.

Could Paid Content Work for Website?

However, paid content is not a straightforward debate. Paid content can work if the offering is something that readers need. Before you think about setting up a pay wall you have to consider whether you have something that readers will be willing to pay for. As with all things in this world people will only spend money on the things that they perceive that they need. Most content is not a necessity and as such websites will have a challenge on their hands if they want people to pay for it to fund their SEO and other marketing initiatives.

You may stand a chance if you have a niche website or offer a specific service. Papers such as the Wall Street Journal flourish using a paid subscription system due to its highly targeted audience. However, general newspaper websites that hold news that can be obtained elsewhere may not find this path a lucrative one and may lose precious readers as a result.

Is Paid Content for You?

Before you charge in and start asking for payment take a moment to reflect whether your readers would be willing to pay for what you have to offer. Think about how much competition you have, whether people rely on your content and like to share it and whether the content is valued high enough to pay a subscription. There may be some sites out there that can make paid content work for them but tread carefully as British sites might not be the best suited.

At SearchEngineOptimisation.co.uk we are an SEO company with experience in creating winning SEO campaigns.

Writing blogs used to be all about the freedom to express yourself, although they are just as often used to report and comment on industry happenings. However, there are still some guidelines to consider before you rush to hit the ‘publish’ button and post your first blog or article for the internet world to see.

Here are some guidelines that will help you to write using best practice tips when content writing to boost your SEO efforts. They will help you to create articles that are consistently well received. Take care to follow the advice before you make the content live.

Down to Basics

Use post headings that are short and concise and also include some relevant key phrases or words for your SEO. Make sure you avoid writing in long blocks of text. Break text up into succinct paragraphs using sub heading so that readers can find the information they are looking for.

Use Other Ways to Break Up Text

Not all articles will need to be sub headed, but if you are writing a long piece of information bullet points can be very effective and make it easier for people to read and digest the information presented. There is nothing more off putting and intimidating than large solid chunks of text, so help your readers by breaking it up.

Be Careful About Spelling

You need to make sure your grammar, spelling and punctuation are correct before publishing. Proofread your work and correct any mistakes. Poor spelling and bad punctuation scream out amateur writer and it will not build you any credibility. Readers will be quickly put off and you will fail to build a reputation as an authority in the market.

Avoid Ranting

Blogs are a great vehicle for expressing opinions, but bear in mind they are available to the public and can be read by anyone. Before you publish something take a moment to think about whether the content should be open to the world.

Avoid Using Slang, Jargon and Abbreviations

You may know what the jargon means but your global audience might not. You can very quickly alienate your readers by lacing your content with ‘in-the-know’ slang and abbreviations.

Who Are Your Readers?

Think about who could read your blogs or posts. Even if you are posting on social media sites from a personal point of view, remember how this can impact upon your professional image if your business customers see them. In many cases, you can change privacy settings to remain anonymous but its best to write about topics that are safe.

Keep Real

Writing material that is honest and passionate will always attract more readers. On the other hand using long sales pitches, huge lists of information or praising something insincerely can switch readers off. Use the advantages of informal blog chat to create content that is unique and engaging.

Hit Save

Finally save posts as you write – there is little worse than when your award-winning masterpiece suddenly disappears as your computer crashes.

At SearchEngineOptimisation.co.uk we are an SEO company providing expert advice to all our clients.

Advice that comes directly from search engines tells us that featuring a blog is very productive from an SEO point of view.

There are many number of ways in which featuring a blog is beneficial. It allows for the introduction of new material on a regular basis, which is a must as far as search engine optimisation is concerned. It provides a platform for promotion, ideas and opinion and encourages debate and discussion. SEO consultants will tell you that failing to feature a blog is equivalent to deliberate sabotage of your site these days.
So, what are some of the reasons why blogging is important?

Blogging Is Important for Marketing

Search engines currently place a lot of weight on the value of blogs, as SEO consultants will tell you. This is mostly because they’ve proved to be so effective in promoting the Internet generally. Blogs have provided the Internet with a usefulness it very much needed. Blogs offer an instant platform for observation and comment that is part diary and part essential commentary. It’s just what the Internet was intended for and why we need it, surely.

From an SEO perspective, blogging is important on many levels. From a marketing point of view a blog allows a company to communicate with the world. This means speaking to devotees as well as those unfamiliar with the product. Think of blogging as the ultimate means of describing a product as a feature of every day life. When featuring a blog you need to see it as a vehicle for expression on many levels. From a social media angle, your blog is your connection with real time users.

Blogging Is Good for Links

Blogging provides an ideal way of encouraging inbound links. A blog should be a key feature of any modern link building strategy. Not only does it invite links purely by is presence; if it’s good then it begs to be syndicated and used for reference in any number of ways.  If your blog is linked to from other blogs, ready-made audiences will gravitate to you. The voice you present will come to be recognised and people will appreciate your presence on the web.  With appreciation comes links and with links comes good SEO.

Blogging Is Good From a Social Media Angle

Social media optimisation is the new buzzword when it comes to optimisation generally. Given that social network sites have risen to such dizzy heights. It’s only natural that you need to take advantage of them from an SEO point of view. Coupled with a well-developed corporate identity in terms of social media profile, a blog can be an incredibly useful tool. It can offer the consumer with a casual interest in what you do a point of reference that keeps on giving in terms of news and entertainment.

Blogs Tell Search Engines That You’re Worth Indexing

The original content you feature on your blog informs search engines that you’re worth noticing when it comes to ranking for results pages. Without fresh content sites are seen as stale and uninteresting for users.

Your Blog Can Promote Your Product

People like to feel part of a community. If your hobby is skydiving and you’re at home thinking about your favourite pastime, you want to read well put together blogs from people who have experience and write well about your favourite thing to do. The feeling of a user reading a well written blog can be compared to that of a music fan who listens to the latest release via a bands website. It all adds to the sense in which an online community of consumers is more like a community of friends.

Traffic That Didn’t Arrive via Search

RSS feeds are incredibly useful ways of bringing traffic to your site and blogs offer a perfect way to encourage them. Content needs to be of a high quality if users are to want to subscribe, and this means knowing their requirements.

In Conclusion

Blogging is really the perfect form of marketing if it’s done well. It presents so many avenues down which you can carry your product to new levels that it’s hard to accurately gauge its potential. If you want more information on how a blog can work for you, get advice from a good social media company or SEO agency.

Remember that a blog is not just a means of advertising. The best blogs are those that feature commentary people want to read.