We have come a long way since we first started typing words and sentences for the website. The novelty factor associated with reading “free content” has long been overspent. People now get free content delivered to their mails in tons. Even the use of keywords in all types of tags has long passed its “use by date” mark.
In 2011, SEO and writing is going to change big time as the rules of SEO game has changed and so has the readers’ mindset. People have stopped paying attention to copy that looks crappy, as lot of bad content has been littered on the Internet.
Not just the search engines, but users even are a lot more conscious of the value your content adds to his or her life, and after the introduction of snapshot feature in Google SERP, it has become more difficult for badly written content to make its way to the customers’ computer. Even when it gets a chance to get there, they are quickly thrown out.
So how to make a content interesting both for people and machine?
To make your content interesting for your readers you need to do the following:
- Use the language that your visitors converse in.
- Provide them the value they are looking for.
- Do not just write anything. Do a research before delving into the actual writing process.
- Read blog comments, forum posts, and watch YouTube videos to see what your customers are getting and what their requirements are.
Following the handful of tips given above will take your writing business to all new height, but how to make the same content accessible for machines (search engine bots).
If you are new to the field then the fact that you have to write content for machines as well may make you cringe, but this is what we all have been doing since always in the name of SEO content. We have been working to satisfy the needs of machine, so that it could display our websites when visitors come searching information on the topic we are writing.
To make your content standout with machines you need to do the following:
- Do not write for the machine. Even it does not want anything to be written exclusively for it.
- Place important keywords and other related terms at appropriate places.
- Do not go overboard with optimization.
- Write with audience in mind and SEO should be the secondary thought.
Content written for the two groups that we talked about above should not be mutually exclusive. You need to write content that meets the needs of both of them. This is not very difficult, all you need to do is practice.
Tags: Big Time, Converse, Cringe, Forum Posts, Game, Google, Handful, Keywords, Mindset, Paying Attention, People, Search Engine Bots, Search Engines, Sentences, SEO, Serp, Snapshot Feature, Standout, Watch Videos, Writing Process
If you thought by choosing freelance writing as a career you will just write, write, and do nothing else then let me prick the balloon. Your client wants many more things from you. Do not get scared, you will not be asked to do any fancy stuff like coding, scripting, PPC campaigns, and all.
Then what other works a client will demand?
Basically, you will be asked to do stuffs related to writing only. And in my career, primarily I have been asked to do following types of work (other than writing):
- Many clients have asked me to do like keyword research, for writing purpose only. This actually is not all that bad. It helped me conceptualize the article or press release while researching.
- At times, clients also asked me to submit articles to various social bookmarking sites. I helped my clients with 2-3 submissions, at max. I do not think I would have agreed to submit an article to 100 or so social bookmarking sites. It would have been waste of time for me, but for 3-4, I never said no.
- Clients may also ask for content suggestions, and about other things he can do to meet his goal. This in fact is an opportunity in disguise to cross sell other services that you offer. If you are writing only articles for your client then you may suggest him to use press release to get some link juice, or may be forum posting and all.
- I have also given some marketing and SEO suggestions to my clients. Depending upon your background (I have my background in marketing), you can either say yes or politely say no.
Word of caution
Do not say no to your clients’ request, at least not directly, if you can help him. And also do not ask for money for every suggestion that you offer—I know people who do so—because it looks cheap. For that work you may get paid, but it will reflect badly on your professionalism. You may lose the client.
If the work is going to take hours of your work then say this to client, and if it is going to take hardly 10-15 minutes then do not bother. It also depends upon your relationship with your client.
Tags: 15 Minutes, Background, Balloon, Campaigns, Caution, Content Suggestions, Disguise, Freelance Job, Job Description, Marketing, Press Release, Professionalism, SEO, Social Bookmarking Sites, Submissions, Suggestion, Waste Of Time, Writing As A Career, Writing Career, Writing Job
Increasing your Google PageRank is extremely important if you want your website to appear in Google searches more often. Google’s PageRank feature is how Google will judge your website. Your PageRank is based upon how many quality websites link to yours, thereby determining your sites importance from these statistics. If you want your site to get more Google search attention, you have to have a decent PageRank.
So the best way to approach improving your PageRank, is simply by getting your website out there. Network and exchange links with as many like minded sites and businesses as possible. Try to search out sites with higher traffic volumes, and higher PageRanks, as these are the more likely to increase your individual PageRank. The more quality websites that link back to yours, the better Google will view your site. The importance of networking just can’t be overstated. That’s your internet bread and butter, and the better networked you are, the better your website is going to perform.
Remember to use SEO (search engine optimization) for everything you write, as this helps with all things regarding Google. Your PageRank is also more likely to be higher if you make effective use of SEO. It will increase search engine success, and the popularity of your site. Both of which you need to build your Google presence, and therefore your website’s overall presence.
But also remember that improving your Google PageRank isn’t as likely to increase traffic as SEO. Just because your site has a higher PageRank, does not mean that you’re the most likely to pop up first with a given keyword. The only way to make that work is SEO and linking to as many other popular websites as possible. These will also build your PageRank, and should remain your focus for building website traffic.
Tags: Bread And Butter, Focus, Google, Google Pagerank, Google Search, Google Searches, Higher Pagerank, Importance Of Networking, Networked, Popularity, Presence, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Success, SEO, Statistics, Traffic Volumes
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