Writing good content for a clients website is not enough. A freelance writer must take into consideration SEO, also known as search engine optimization. A great writer needs to be able to answer key questions such as "What is SEO content writing?" and "How can SEO writing better help my clients". Understanding and incorporating SEO content writing into your Freelance writing will not only help you gain clients it will make you a great writer.
What is SEO Writing?
Search engine optimization writing is a form of writing that better allows the website to become visible with major search engines such as Google or Bing. These search engines send out what is known as "Robots" to crawl the websites looking for SEO. Think of when you boot up your computer, tell your internet browser to go to Google, and type in a key phrase such as, "Fifty Shades of Grey" or "Best Movies to watch of all time". The first page of results given are because those websites have great SEO writing. The websites content is relevant, search engine optimized, robot friendly, and matches your search prerequisite. SEO content writing jobs are in increasing in demand. It is imperative that freelance writers have a background understand of SEO writing allowing the writer to be a value to their clients.
What are Keyword Phrases?
Keyword phrases are identical to the phrases people type into the search engine to look up information. For example, someone may use Google and type in the search bar "SEO Writing" to learn more on the topic. All articles, websites, or blogs relating to "SEO Writing" then appears in the results now making "SEO Writing" the keyword phrase.
A writer should use keyword phrases exactly as they appear just like "SEO Writing". For editing purposes keyword phrases are best used with parentheses. For example: "There is a high demand for freelance writers who have knowledge in (SEO Writing). In using parentheses you are highlighting the keyword phrases for the editor thus, ensuring the keywords will not be altered in any way.
What happens if Keyword Phrases Do NOT Sound Natural?
There are times when an article calls for keyword phrases that unfortunately do not sound normal in everyday speech. Most people tend to type in keywords into search engines that come to mind often it is in the most simplistic form. For example, someone may be looking for a doctor and simply type in "doctor New York". For one the person did not specify what type of doctor they were wanting and secondly, used a phrase not commonly used in everyday speech.
When writing we use natural and engaging language. In some cases can make writing for SEO a challenge when keyword phrases do not sound natural. However, there is a way to handle such keyword phrases that do not sound natural.
There are several different ways to handle keyword phrases just like this. The most popular and used way to handle unnatural keyword phrases would be to separate the phrase with a punctuation. Most search engines will not take into account most punctuations except in rare cases.
A couple ways to acceptably address this are as follows:
Comparing (doctor New York) has many options.
Our office is home to some of the most well known (doctor New York) and have been trusted for over 80 years.
How Many Keywords Should I use?
Simply put as a freelance writer utilizing SEO writing you should use a lot of keyword phrases, but not too many! Using keyword phrases should still allow the content to sound natural. Keywords should appear in the content, but you do not want them to appear awkwardly or too many times. If you use too many keywords you are "over-optimizing" which can harm a websites rankings. A good general rule of thumb would be to use 5-7 keyword phrases on an article 300-500 words, but to never use a phrase more than 10 times.
SEO writing is constantly changing and we must stay current with the new writing methods. Our clients depend on us to have the most knowledge and understanding of SEO writing. Staying current and furthering your training in SEO is a great idea. No writer or person should ever stop learning. As a freelance writer, seo writing is a must for clients these days. Most clients would like for you to spruce up their website content or enhance SEO. Keeping your knowledge current makes for pleased clients and higher ranked websites.
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