Search engines determine their rankings based on two things:
- Is your site relevant? (Optimized for certain keywords)
- Is your site important? (Many links back to your site from other sites)
Only when you address both of these considerations are you guaranteed of making an impact. Your degree of success depends on how hard you try and how many other people you're competing against (and how hard they're trying).
Optimizing your site for keywords is
easy part. (See Writing SEO Copy for more information on SEO copy.) Generating links back to your site is much more challenging – and time consuming (especially considering Google's dampening link filter - see Beat Google’s Dampening Link Filter with SEO Articles). But it can be done; and you don’t need a huge budget.
The key to topping Google on a budget is writing articles.
Here’s how it works…
STEP 1) You’re an expert in your field so you possess knowledge that other people want.
STEP 2) You write a helpful article – sharing your hard-earned knowledge and expertise.
STEP 3) You submit your article to recognized “Article Submit” sites on Internet.
STEP 4) Publishers of online newsletters, ezines, etc. gather content from these sites for free.
STEP 5) Helpful, well written articles are snapped up by thousands of publishers from all around world.
STEP 6) The only condition is that they must publish article with a functioning link to your site.
STEP 7) 300 people publish your article – you get 300 links back to your site.
Below are some FAQs about article writing that will help you write your articles and manage your campaign.
Q) What should I write about?
A) Write about what you know. Make sure it’s related to your business (so you can use keywords you want to rank with) and helpful (so it gets published). For example, if you’re a manufacturer of industrial plastics, you might write an article - or series of articles - on how best to handle teflon tubing prior to installation. Once you get thinking about it, you'll probably find there are hundreds of articles you could write that are helpful. You may even have some of them partly written already in your instruction manuals or installation guides, etc. Another good idea is to think of all questions you get asked by customers and potential customers. These questions show you what people are interested in. If you write an article answering every one of these questions, you'll get published, and you'll also show yourself to be a credible expert. (You may even cut down phone support time!)
Q) How long should my article be?
A) The best articles are only as long as they need to be. Keep it short and sweet – there’s nothing wrong with a 400 word article. By same token, if you need 1500 words to say all you need to say, that’s fine as well.
Q) What kind of writing should I use?
A) Simply write in a style that your audience will be comfortable with. If they’re from old school, don’t write like I am. Don’t use contractions, don’t end sentences with prepositions, and don’t start sentences with “and” or “but”. But if they’re not old school, just use conversational English. In fact, more of yourself you include in article, more engaging it will be. The key is to make it readable.
Q) Should I focus on keywords?
A) Yes! Yes! Yes! Any SEO website copywriter will tell you that just as you need to optimize your website for specific keywords, so too should you optimize your articles. If possible, turn keywords into links back to your site. And always try to include keywords in headline and byline of your article. And don’t worry about being seen as Spam; if your article provides good quality information and guidance, it won't be seen as spam by search engines even when it’s very keyword rich.
Q) Where should I submit my article?
A) There are hundreds, if not thousands, of submit sites on Internet. Too many to include here. Do a search for “article submit” and just find ones that are most applicable to your industry and offer most subscribers. Alternatively, you can purchase a list.
