If you’re struggling with article writing, in this post I will go through some SEO content writing tips and recommendations, such as how to properly use keywords in your content. Keyword stuffing and SEO content spinning were all the rage before Google’s Panda and Penguin updates. While these algorithms (and subsequent other algorithmic changes) have made these methods obsolete, there are still some that adopt keyword stuffing techniques.
Article Writing Tips
The goal of optimising articles for SEO is to help search engines find your material organically. You may have created the greatest piece of writing on Earth, but if it does not show up in search results, you will be missing out on its full potential. When you invest time and money into creating excellent content, you want to make sure it has a fighting chance of being seen.
You should optimise every article for SEO, even if it does not have a lot of text or keywords in it. This is because Google’s search algorithm may not take into account the amount of words there are on a page, but rather what that page is about, but how relevant it is to the search query.
Here are some SEO article writing tips and suggestions to help you understand how to correctly position keywords in an article to improve your visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).
1. Article Writing Tips – Focus on The Primary Keyword Phrase in Your Articles.
The best approach to write SEO-optimised content is to base it on a single keyword phrase. Rather than attempting to juggle gardening and trainers in the same article, focus on a single primary keyword. This method helps content writers to produce better articles about that one subject/idea rather than trying to do everything within one piece.
Just be sure to use the keyword phrase in several different ways throughout the article. For example, an article entitled “Practical SEO Tips for Articles” would not be very useful if it only used the keywords “SEO tips for articles” over and over again. Instead, you could use the primary keyword phrase as part of the following:
– The title
– The introduction
– Twice within the body of the article
– As a summary or conclusion
You get the idea. Try to use the keyword phrase in different ways to avoid being penalised by Google for over-optimisation.
This guideline not only helps the writer, but also the reader to better understand the main point of content being delivered. When it comes to relevance and keywords, less is more when it comes to SEO. It’s fine to include a few additional relevant keywords within your content, but don’t go overboard.
SEO Keyword Hierarchy Examples:
The hierarchy should be as simple as possible. The below image is an example of a keyword hierarchy. The primary keyword should serve as the article’s focal point, and it should be easily recognized as the main topic. Other keywords that are inserted should enhance and strengthen the primary keyword as its major theme. You should also include sub-keywords, other related keywords and synonyms to help the content read naturally.
The First and Last Paragraphs Should Include the Primary Keyword.
While the primary keyword should be used naturally throughout the content, there are certain best-practice SEO content writing rules when it comes to placement. First, make sure you have the primary keyword in your first paragraph, ideally near the top. This again establishes your keyword research work in a way that search engines won’t confuse it with other keywords or phrases.
Similarly, include your keyword phrase in the final paragraph of your article to help establish it as a main theme of the content. If you write your blog post using this method, not only will search engines get a better idea of what it’s about, but so will your viewers. Always proof read and double check your article before publishing.
If it’s written and formatted properly throughout, this should help to get your article ranked. It’s well worth the effort to check and double check your work.
Expert SEO Article Writing Tip: Include the Primary Keyword in Meta Description, Title Tag and URL
It’s probably obvious, but many companies don’t put the main keyword in their content’s meta description, title tag, and URL. These are three places on a website where search engines look for pages to crawl and quickly identify what they’re about!
Because meta descriptions are only 160 characters long, and title tags even less, it shouldn’t be difficult to include your keywords if you think about it. Don’t squander any chances to improve your SEO content writing skills!
2. Article Writing Tips – Include Related Keyword Phrases
Related keyword phrases that are also known as secondary keywords are another example. Secondary keywords should be closely linked to your primary keyword so they may be included in your content while further enhancing the focus of the piece.
SEO Writing Examples of Unrelated Keyword Usage
Consider the following example of an SEO content writing using unrelated keywords. Let’s suppose you run a sports equipment store and have decided that one of your major keywords should be swimming goggles. Here are some poor keyword alternatives to use as secondary terms:
- swimming mask
- swimming caps
- swimming trunks
It should be straightforward, but it is worth mentioning. What if you want to write an article about the various types of swimming goggles? Secondary keywords that may have been useful are now prohibited because your primary keyword, “swimming goggles,” is mentioned in the title. For example, you would not want to use:
- swimming goggle accessories
- how to use swimming goggles
- why do you need swimming goggles
SEO Article Writing Example of Related Keyword Usage
Inserting related keyword phrases is beneficial for your SEO content, especially if the keywords you’re looking to rank for are only slightly different than the main keyword or just a few extra words. For example, if your key term were swimming goggles again, some excellent secondary keywords might be:
- best swimming goggles
- eyewear for swimmers
- goggles for swimming
Expert SEO Article Writing Tip: Longer Content Can Include MORE Secondary Keywords
However, if your article was going to be more long-form advice, with hundreds of words, you might be able to include a few keywords that would have previously been unrelated keyword phrases. For instance, if your content was a Guide to Swimming Goggles you could use terms like:
- Cost of swimming goggles
- Types of swimming goggles
- swimming goggle features
- swimming goggle brands
Consider the length of your content and how broad it is to see whether secondary keywords that have previously changed the article’s tone too much may now be related.
3. Article Writing Tips – Use Keywords in Headers
The next best of my article writing tips is to include your primary and secondary keywords in your headers. Headers indicate to both readers and search engines that the material inside them is essential and relevant to the topic. Because they have a different HTML tag than paragraph text, headers are an easy indication for search engines to use to signal importance.
Because of this, it’s vital to include your primary keyword in at least one or two headers and then a secondary keyword or two in any additional headers. In order for your secondary keywords to not overpower the importance of your key phrase in your writing, make sure they’re listed in order of priority.
SEO Keywords Example in Headers
If you’re using a keyword in the header, it should happen naturally and shouldn’t need to be changed. However, there are occasions when primary or secondary keywords may have been used in the header. This may have been overlooked when you were putting the article together. Here are some examples:
Keywords that could be used:
- electrician in London
- electrical service in London
Bad Header Example: “Contact an Electrician Today“
Good Header Example: “Contact an Electrician in London Today“
Good Header Example: “Get the Best Electrical Service in London“
This is how simple it is! Changing a single header to include the targeted keywords will help improve your SEO optimisation. You need to be on the lookout for it and hopefully now you will be.
Expert Article Writing Tips: Every 200-300 words, include headers.
This is not only a fantastic technique for readability, but it’s also useful for including more keywords in your material. Keep in mind, though, that you don’t want to abuse headers. You don’t want every single header in your article to include obvious keywords so that the content becomes less readable and fluent. However, breaking up the material every 200-300 words with a header that naturally includes your target keyword phrase is an excellent way to ensure that you’re covering all of your SEO bases.
4. Article Writing Tips – Use Keywords Naturally in Your Content
The term “natural” is the key to implementing these article writing tips. Look at the image above. Is it gorgeous? Easy to look at? Impressive? Now, consider if there was a huge bouncy castle on top of that mountain in the lake. Would it appear out of place, unnatural, or jarring to the rest of the scene?
In the same manner, articles must be carefully planned. They may read smoothly and impress a reader, or they can jar the reader out of reality with an ill-chosen keyword.
There are numerous writing samples on the internet that use keywords incorrectly. Here are a few of them:
Example of Unnatural Keyword Use
Let’s assume your major keyword was “strimmer Birmingham.” Here’s an example you shouldn’t follow:
“When looking for strimmer Birmingham, you should talk to the experts at…”
While there may be some who believe that this example is funny, there are still far too many of these type of poor SEO article writing on the internet every day. Not only does this sort of improper keyword usage degrade the piece’s relevance, but it also makes it practically unreadable and unprofessional. Poor sentence structure and grammar, as well as poor keyword choice, make your article look like it was written by an amateur rather than an expert in the subject.
Example of Natural Keywords Use
The poor example above demonstrates how keywords are employed incorrectly in a sentence grammatically. It does not make grammatical sense to say, “when looking for strimmer Birmingham,” however it does make sense to write:
“When looking for a strimmer in Birmingham...”
Connecting words such as “in” can make a geo-location keyword fit much better within a sentence if you use it. These are known as “stop words”. Stop words are terms that search engines ignore. Please double-check these so you can take full advantage of them!
Expert Article Writing Tips: Write for the Reader
When attempting to incorporate keywords in your content, you may occasionally come across unusual phrases that you don’t know how to insert even with the help of stop words. If ever unsure, err on the side of a keyword phrase that makes sense from the reader’s perspective. If changing a keyword to suit is necessary, go for it. If quality and not quantity is your main article writing goal, this is the right choice.
In order to ensure that your article is polished and professional, be sure to use keywords naturally throughout your content. This means integrating them into your sentences in a way that sounds smooth and fluid, without sacrificing the quality of your writing.
5. Article Writing Tips – Don’t Repeat Keywords Over and Over – AKA Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is both gluttonous and unpleasant for both the reader and the search engine trying to crawl it. For those who need a refresher, keyword stuffing is when you cram your target term into your writing a thousand times. It’s easy to identify and even easier to dislike. Here’s an example:
Keyword Stuffing Example
“Birmingham has a lot of great strimmers. Nothing beats a good strimmer in Birmingham. In order to locate the finest strimmer in Birmingham, do your research. Using a high-quality strimmer in Birmingham will guarantee you have the tidiest lawn edges on your street.”
Keyword stuffing no longer helps content for SEO but instead can get it in deep water if keyword densities are unnaturally high. A healthy keyword density range to stay within is 1-3% when using keywords in your content. Any more than 3% will throw the red flag and will essentially make your content useless.
Expert Article Writing Tips: Use Tools to Help Avoid Keyword Stuffing
Another method to avoid keyword stuffing is to use online tools that have been designed by other incredibly intelligent individuals. The Rank Math SEO Plugin is one such tool that we like using. We’ve downloaded and installed this plugin, and it will analyse your content automatically to see if you’ve used a term too many times (among other things).
It’s a way to monitor your writing so you can ensure that you’re using your keywords in the right way, and it’s very easy to use. It’s always important to remember that quality should be the number one goal when writing your articles.
How to Write Good SEO Articles
While content writing for SEO may not be rocket science, there is a creative side to it. If you can master the nuances of how to place keywords in an article while still providing high-quality, engaging, and informative material, you’ll quickly start dominating the content marketing battlefield.
The fact is that keyword usage will never go away, but providing useful and valuable information to your reader should be your top priority. Your content can be optimised for good SEO using keywords as long as you adhere to the article writing tips covered in this post.
