They’re not the same kind of feature articles that you would read in The New York Times or Oprah’s magazine. (Although, a good SEO article writer could easily write an SEO feature article…or an SEO web page for that matter…we’re just not talking about that kind of web content here.)

Articles used for article marketing are usually between 250 – 500 words long. They have a “bio box” in or after the last paragraph, which points the reader to a product sales page or a web site that has more detailed information.

Keyword research for SEO

“Thin” articles are poorly written and researched, have lots of grammar and syntax errors, and are often just paraphrased from other article directories. In the early days of the web, they pulled traffic simply because there was so little content. Back then, every web page and article was new and interesting, whether it was well written or not.

But the internet has grown and matured. Websites and web surfers have become more sophisticated. The competition for eyeballs and clicks has become more intense. When people are using search engines to find products or services to buy, they’ll click away from content that’s boring or barely readable. This is where a well written SEO article comes in.

What are SEO articles?
First, your SEO article will be written to attract targeted web traffic. By doing careful keyword research for SEO, readers interested in your topic will be able to easily find your article when they use search engines like Google or Yahoo.

Compared with articles that aren’t optimized, your article will have higher search engine ranking. It will show up in the top results of the search pages, because it’s optimized for the exact search terms, or keywords, that your readers are using.

For example, if you’re selling “koi pond pumps”, your SEO article will have the keyword “koi pond pumps” in its title and somewhere in its first couple of sentences.

Next, your SEO article will be well written, with good grammar and syntax. These elements are the basis for creating your site’s authority and credibility, which will determine whether or not your readers feel comfortable following your recommendations.

A good SEO article will be well researched, and provide interesting and entertaining information that’s relevant to what people are searching for. They’ll want to stay on the page and read what you have to say. They’ll want to look around your site for more great content, or follow your recommendations as a trusted authority.

Natural search engine optimization is hands-free.
Really, a quality SEO article writer is an internet marketer’s dream come true. Each article is a one-time investment in long term free search engine traffic. Spend the time (and money) to do it properly, and your SEO article will work for months or years after you publish it, delivering free search engine traffic to your web site while you golf or sleep.

Word count: 593

SEO keywords

What makes SEO press releases effective?  A combination of good keyword research, search engine optimization and a compelling announcement.  In this article , we’ll only be talking about the SEO components, and we’ll leave the ‘how to write’ elelment for another article.

SEO keywords

Good keyword research starts with common sense.  So write down all the terms you think people will use to search for information on your topic. When you have a list of likely words and phrases it’s time to plug a few of those words and phrases into Google’s keyword tool at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.

Find the keyword phrases that best describe your product or service and that have the least competition.  This means there are a high number of searches for the keyword and a low number of competing websites.  Then create a list of the most useful keyword phrases.  For example, a search for “catering services” will yield a list containing “party catering service”, “wedding catering services”, “corporate caterers”, “gourmet caterers” and many other keyword phrases related to “catering”.

Choose the keywords that are the best fit for the topic of your SEO press release.  You will select one keyword phrase as your focus, and use other related keyword phrases from your list within the content portion of your press release.

SEO keyword research

To put the keyword process into perspective, you’re trying to find the search terms that most people will be using to search for the kind of information presented in your SEO press release and on your website.  You’re using your own niche market knowledge and combining it with statistical keyword research tools to support your intuition.

The search engine optimization industry is based on the statistical analysis of keywords and how they influence natural search traffic.  You could literally spend your life studying it, especially since the search engines change their algorithms on what seems like a daily basis.  (SEOmoz.com is a good source of in-depth information about keyword research.)   But no matter how much scientific data you gather, the end goal is to get inside your customers’ heads so you can deliver what they already want.

SEO press release

Once you have selected your keyword phrases (or “keywords”), it’s a matter of where to place them and how to optimize them.  With SEO press releases, you have two opportunities: the press release you distribute online (off-page optimization), and the press release that you post on your own website (on-page optimization).   And they both start with good writing that makes people want to read what’s on the page.