Writing an SEO article perfectly optimized is now essential to approach the top 3 positions of the search engine results. You will see that SEO is not just the keywords that do the job. It is a unique set of rules to follow that we are going to present here:
Writing an SEO article for Google is certainly a good point, but optimizing it is something else. In order to help it rank well on Google, it is absolutely necessary to take the time to properly write your article and make every effort to make it perfectly optimized.
Perfect optimization of your content will allow you to appear in the first results of Google searches. In this article, we invite you to discover some rules and tips on writing an SEO article and thus optimize it for Google.
What is SEO?
SEO also is known as search engine optimization, it is a technique that will allow you to optimize your articles to make your page be positioned better in search engine results and more particularly Google. The top positions on Google being awarded are the Top 3.
You should, however, know that SEO is not an exact science because it involves many factors. It is not always possible to gather them all together, but respecting the rules to put all the odds on one’s side is already more simple. A legitimate website for 10 years on a subject, cannot be overtaken overnight if it follows SEO rules to position its content.
By implementing an SEO strategy, this will allow you to gain visibility while ahead at the same time with some of your competitors (as far as possible). You will have more chances to increase traffic to your website and at the same time your sales if you have an e-commerce site.
To put in place a good SEO, it is necessary to follow Google’s guidelines, that is to say, the rules that will allow you to better optimize your content at the SEO level, the loading time of your web pages, as well as several points to apply at the level of your website structure.
We will focus on the rules for writing an SEO article that is relevant to our site.
Write an SEO article
Writing an SEO article means that you write your content following rules that will allow it to be positioned at best on search engines … especially Google.
The first rule to follow in SEO is to be natural in your content writing while seeking to offer the most relevant content possible to your audience.
None of the rules applied should alter the essence of your article if you respect them. There is no question of repeating a keyword 50 times, but knowing how to use its lexical field by addressing synonyms, words related to the main treated keyword. The goal is that Google can correctly interpret your content as being directly related to the word of your target main keyword.
You could write the definition of a word without notifying it and Google could then guess it (interpret it) because it is not a human but a smart bot that will know what you are talking about.
So writing an SEO article aims to offer the maximum of elements related to a word so that Google can correctly interpret it. In the end for a web editor, this is to be relevant and provide added value to the content.
Now let’s look at these different SEO rules to follow:
1. The use of keywords for a good SEO
Like many people, you have probably heard about keywords without actually knowing what it means or what it is for. You should know that optimizing your content starts with choosing your keywords, including finding the right ones.
Writing an SEO article already revolves around the main keyword or keyword phrase.
If you choose a keyword too ‘classic’, the latter may be too competitive, and you will have very little chance of being well referenced. For that, it will be more judicious to opt for keywords with a long tail which will allow you to be better (more easily) positioned. The long tail is a key phrase revolving around your main keyword.
Example:
- Main keyword: Marketing
- Key phrase (long tail): marketing strategy – marketing techniques – search marketing etc …
Be aware that some tools allow you to find the keywords to be naturally visible on Google. We can mention ‘Google Keyword Planners’ that will allow you to find these keywords for free.
Other tools are available, but they are generally paid. Once you’ve completed your long-tail keywords research, you can then start writing your article.
2. The title of your SEO article
The title of your article must contain a keyword and usually at the beginning according to the topic. This title should also be attractive and not too long because it is partly through it that your article will be read and/or shared. Numbers are often used in titles and it really works.
For example, instead of saying ‘clothing trends’, write instead ‘3 outfits trends’.
The SEO title and the meta description that will be seen below, are the 2 elements to treat to increase your Click Through Rate (CTR) in order to gain traffic and raise your content to the nearest of the top 3 Google.
Writing an SEO article with an expressive title will increase your chances to be read, but be careful not to over-sell your article by putting a title too catchy! Find the right balance.
3. Writing the introduction of your SEO article
The introduction is often sloppy by the editor, but it has its importance. Indeed, this introduction will allow you to introduce once again your keyword for your SEO. Be aware that this keyword should appear preferably once in the first 100 words of your article.
Thus, the Google robot will be able to quickly find this keyword and index your content based on the keyword if all of your content is well optimized.
Humanly speaking, your content article introduction represents the first lines of reading through which you will have to capture your audience. It may, from time to time, be repeated as a meta description tag if it is relevant and not too long.
4. The number of words
As the years’ pass, it becomes more difficult to position oneself on competitive queries. Furthermore, it is also difficult to maintain the first position on Google if SEO articles are not sometimes reviewed and updated.
Today it is easier to position oneself on long articles than on short articles. Writing an SEO article, therefore, requires time if you want to position yourself effectively in the top position on Google. For the length, we will aim at an average 2000 words.
It’s a lot of words to get up to 2000! Yes, but it is better to take the lead where the field is still virgin or try to take the places of your competitors if they opted for short content. It does not mean that you will take their place overnight, but if you work to promote your posts on your social networks and if you do link building, it will pay off faster.
Think about the different angles of a subject to bring material to your content and do not think that you need to make an unnecessary filling.
5. Segment SEO content with H1, H2 … H6 tags
Writing an SEO article in one go will not make people want to read it, especially if it is close to or more than 1500/2000 words. To do so, you will need to cut it into sections (headings and subheadings) like this article and treat your content point by point.
The H1 tag is reserved for the SEO title of your article. It should be used only once within the content. WordPress theme normally interprets the SEO title as an H1 tag. It will, therefore, start with the H2 tags (or title 2 in the WordPress drop-down menu)
Define a central frame and the different topics and subtopics that you will have to deal with. Each of these headings will be the subject of a title linked to an H2 tag. Use then H3 tag for the sub-headings. Beyond that, we can have H4 tags which would align points under the subheadings. H5 and H6 tags are rare.
Topics and sub-topics have the advantage of being able to slip in your keywords but especially to streamline the reading of your SEO article. Writing an optimized SEO article using the H tags to segment it, also allows you to drag photos within topics to illustrate the points addressed.
6. Internal links and outbound links
Whether it’s internal links or outbound links, they all matter when writing an SEO article. Internal links connect your articles to each other. The outgoing links allow them to bring additional information to your content.
Internal links: These links will allow you to refer to other pages within your site. They allow for different links from your website, to do what is called an internal linking.
This will increase the SEO of all your pages. In addition, be aware that internal links are a great idea to encourage the bounce rate (by lowering it) and make the reader want to read other pages (articles) of your website. The lower your bounce rate, the more your audience will browse your articles, instead of going out directly after reading or browsing the article your reader has arrived at.
Outgoing links: They will redirect the reader to another website or page. This will allow the reader to discover more about the subject, and this will add additional value to your content. Google Search engines highly value outbound links.
Internal and external links are therefore of great importance so that you can easily improve your SEO.
7. Backlinks
We remain in relationship with backlinks, which unlike your outgoing link is a link from your website but shared from another site. For the site that shares it is, therefore, an outgoing link and for you, it is a backlink, a link that ensures a return to your site. In this case, it is you who benefit from the traffic generated from a website to yours.
Backlinks are highly sought after by website owners and bloggers. They significantly contribute to the popularity of a site and its positioning on search engines like Google. When it comes to SEO, SEO agencies or experts are usually used to work on a link building strategy to gain positions and authority.
Agencies and SEO experts usually have a portfolio of bloggers and important media. Some of them manage the link building part by buying links. They get sites with a higher DA to ensure a better positioning of the content or site in itself.
The backlink has a real importance to go up in google position rankings. To earn them, it is better to outreach for an influencer high authority blog site with an optimized SEO article that can sometimes accept to post it according to your content topic.
8. The images weight and alt tag
As a web editor, you often tend to overlook images, but know that they are very important for optimizing your article. Indeed, it is necessary to optimize your images so that they do not slow down your website.
This is one of the first things to do in order to meet the requirements of Google. It is an important ranking factor, especially for Mobile-friendly sites. It is a priority if you want to have a site and pages that load quickly on mobile devices. Google appreciates sites that are fast and it will tend to favor them.
Finally, know that you can (must) add an alternative text or alt tag on your images, so you can place your keyword again by indirectly associating your images to your content and therefore your website. This is a good strategy because Google’s robot will be able to reference your image based on this alternative text. You should include in it the keyword that you are interested in.
Do not neglect to reduce the size of your images and filling the alt tag. There are plenty of plugins to help you do it. Find a software that can also help you do it manually. Start by looking for a small software that compresses images for the web, if you do not have Photoshop.
For the filling of the alt tag, look at the screen below. You will fill your alt tag when uploading your image to one (you can return to it if necessary) For the images within your article, click on the image and select the small pencil to edit the information.
9. The meta-description
The meta-description is essential for your SEO. It is an integral part of your article writing, so do not make it a dilemma. This meta-description is a kind of a summary of your content article. Focus your strategy to attract the reader’s attention to want to read your content.
When a reader types a query on Google search and your content appears, he will read the meta description and click if it is relevant. This principle helps to increase your CTR (click through rate) or rate of clicks and participates in the SEO of your article. When your article appears as a result of a query and the user doesn’t click on your article, it lowers your CTR. If your CTR is low on one or more of your articles, you will have to rework your articles.
It will notably be visible on the search engines and therefore on google results. Automatically, it will contain the first 140 characters of your article, but this is not the goal. You must write it in a strategic way and of course include, again, your keyword.
10. Measure and analyze your content with Google Analytics
Finally, consider installing Google Analytics to measure the results of your work and analyze all the information about your related content. The number of readings, the CTR, the origin of your audience etc …
You will have a code to place on your website (within the theme) to activate it. It is essential to monitor the evolution of your traffic and your website as a whole.
Also consider other paid tools that will help you as SEMRush, Majestic SEO, Moz explorer etc …
11. Consider SEO voice search
One of the strong trends considered in 2017 is voice search. It is probably one of the next challenges in SEO. The use of voice search is growing day by day. In a study commissioned by Google, 41% of adult Americans are using this feature. Also, the rise of more than half of teens is using this feature on a daily basis. Seeing this heavy trend, optimization for voice search will now be a major key for companies specializing in SEO.
It will be wise to quickly get up to date with all the voice assistants who arrive in homes, in addition to those who equip our mobile devices such as Google Assistant, Siri or Cortana.
You do not type a Google query on your computer or mobile as you speak. When speaking to a voice assistant, we build more explicit sentences such as: ‘How do you write an SEO article? Instead of ‘SEO Article’ usually typed on Google.
Writing an SEO article should not be done for the sole purpose of responding to a direct keyword. You should focus on answering one or more questions about a key topic. You do not need to put a question as an article title. The Google bots are now smart enough to detect content that meets a problem or a question.
Simply think about it when writing your article. You will get better success when answering as best you can to one or more questions about a topic.
The conclusion on writing an SEO article
The process of writing an SEO article for Google may seem complicated at first glance. However, with practice, it will grow over the months and becomes almost a game for you. Learn these steps and follow the progress of your site.
