How To Plan a Great Online Article
Using Search Engine Optimization & Pay Per Click Secrets in Writing
Jan 5, 2009
This article is about planning online content using keywords as the basis for:
- the title
- the subtitle
- a summary
- the flow
- associated keywords
The techniques revealed here can be used on Suite101.com, or any other site that equates success with search engine ranking, affiliate marketing, or pay per click revenue sharing.
Search Engine Optimization & Marketing
The difference between search engine optimization and search engine marketing is:
- SEO : writing content so as to be visible to search engine users
- SEM : using content to specifically market to search engine users
So, as noted by SEO experts RaiseMyRank.com (SEO and SEM: Two Names for the Same Thing?), "in the case of sites that promote a business (or are a business), increase profits. SEO, therefore, would be a subset of SEM.""
Using good search engine optimization, creators of online content will find that the search engine ranking they gain from writing about popular topics enhances their income substantially. Those who use only search engine marketing may find that their results differ : in short, pay per click schemes that boost search engine placement as part of SEM might get good page views, but not generate revenue.
The visitors will be willing to browse, but not buy.
Using Pay Per Click Secrets
This is where pay per click search engine research comes in. The value of tools such as the Google AdWords Keyword Tool cannot be underestimated in uncovering valuable keyword phrases.
A valuable keyword phrase is one that attracts pay per click internet advertising.
The reason for this is simple - people will only by adverts that attract visitors in a buying frame of mind. Piggybacking on their research, by uncovering these keyword phrases by using a tool such as the Google AdWords Keyword Tool will allow the writer to attract both revenue and page views.
It is a simple process:
- Condense the thrust of the piece into a single, keyword-free sentence;
- Provide this sentence to the Google AdWords Tool;
- Ensure that CPC and Search Volumes are visible;
- Export to an Excel spreadsheet.
Once in the spreadsheet, the keywords can be sorted by CPC (for revenue generating keywords) or Volume, to generate traffic. To get the best of both, the writer can create a column which multiplies the CPC by the Volume, and sort on that column. The first 10 to 12, two to three word phrases that make sense then become the target keywords for the content.
All the rest can be discarded (at least for the time being). It is worthwhile being ruthless in only selecting 10 to 12 top performers - it allows the article to be extremely focussed.
Planning and Executing the Online Content
The final stage is to create the content around the keywords. In the past, marketers have tried many tricks, such as keyword stuffing, and random insertion of keywords into content, but these remain false economies. What might please a search engine will not please the reader, and vice versa.
So, whatever search engine optimization the web site design calls for, it has to remain in line with established affiliate marketing content creation guidelines. In essence, the keywords give the writer a base, and must be present in the title, subtitle and any summary meta tags that are provided to the search engines.
The content body must then be organized around the keywords too, but targeting no more than two or three key concepts, backed up by other pertinent keywords which are sprinkled through the content at a lower density.
