A Few Basic SEO Article Writing Tips

Are you a good SEO writer? Writing well is one thing but writing well online is quite another. I'm amazed by how many websites pump out a lot of good content without taking the time to make some basic SEO moves that can easily double their website traffic. Writing "for search engines" is indeed a very hot debate where some argue that its unnatural and that it can detract from good writing principles. On the other hand, great writing won't be rewarded with readership if it can't be find.

In my opinion the secret lies in finding a compromise between good writing and making some basic moves that will allow the search engines to find and rank a particular article. Its not rocket science either. Here are a few basic tips to get you started.

1. Keywords
All articles needs to be based around keywords or keyword phrases. As far as possible you need to do some basic keyword research to see what people are looking for. The secret is that people often type in different words to find something that you might call by a different name. This is particularly true if you are an expert in a field and you are caught up in your own world.

2. Titles
The title of the article is the most important SEO element. Firstly, the title will find its way into the URL (depending on what CMS or article directory you use) which is critical from an SEO perspective. Secondly,the title with have either the H1 or the H2 tag which is yet another important SEO component. Off course you need to keep your keywords in the title and URL as well.

3. Article Body
Obviously you need to use your keyword or keyword phrase in the body of the article. A good practice is to use it in the first paragraph because this often becomes the summary of the article in directories. Don't overdo it though. A keyword density of 2 to 3% is recommended and try and use as many variations of the as possible.

4. Length Of Article
The ideal SEO article consists of four 100 word paragraphs with your main keyword phrase in the first and last paragraph. Some argue that writing longer articles with more content is more valuable but there is no conclusive proof of that. Too short however might be a problem. Try and write at least 250 words and always pay attention to the keyword density.