4:10 AM

10 Easy Writing Tips For Creating & Optimizing Your Articles

How To Write Quality Content

Easy writing tips for creating quality content is probably one of the things I looked up more than anything when first starting blogging – I mean you need people to read your articles right?!

Assuming you are the same, I thought I’d share a few simple tips and techniques for working with search engine optimization in articles.

One of the things I mention a lot, is making sure when you pick your niche that you at least ‘like’ your niche and feel you have something of value to offer your audience.

Most writers will be writing for their audience and that is exactly what they should be doing. However there are some things you want to do to ensure your content gets better exposure and ranking on the search engines.

Tip 1. Start By Writing Content Purely From A Service Viewpoint – Don’t Worry About SEO Initially

Write quality information that speaks directly to your audience (their problems, solutions, pure information). So, write high quality content that will engage your reader – that you can be proud of.

While writing in this phase, don’t worry about keywords, SEO or anything else, just concentrate on research, communication and have fun writing (and re-reading!)… that’s when you’ll get most creative and write the best stuff!

Keep your readers first and foremost in your mind.

Once you begin, you will see the article start to take shape – often an article takes on its own life as you start writing – and quite often 1 article will turn into 2 as you write you will get new ideas!

Tip 2. Take Notes And Start A File

As you start to write open a document on your computer (I like Evernote) and keep your ideas and any websites you might reference or like all together in the one file. This enables you to go back and forth and really pull your thoughts and resources together.
Also, take note of keywords you would like to research in this file.

Some of your best work will be done over time which is why I suggest starting a file for notes – some of my articles have taken some time to put together (especially ones with 10 points!)

Tip 3. Once Your Article Is Finished – READ IT!

Good tip: Read your article out loud – you will be amazed at how it sounds and how you will pick up things you can’t ‘see’.
But as you read your work out loud, you will ‘hear’ the delivery of the article or the “tone of the article” and you can make it flow much better.
Once your article is complete, it’s time for a little SEO and some optimization.

Tip 4. Keyword Research and Keyword Placement

Best Tip I Can Give You: Please DO NOT miss the Keyword Research part of your business!

It never ceases to amaze me how little time website/ blog owners put into this one thing that can make all the difference on whether you are found in Google or not!

There are a couple of free Keyword Tools (Google Keyword Tool, WordTracker) However, my preferred tool is Jaaxy – the training is sensational, the outcomes will give you exactly what you need to move forward.

Of course you can get some in-depth Keyword Research Training, at Wealthy Affiliate.

i. Make sure your TITLE has the keyword/phrase in it.
ii. Make sure your first sentence has the keyword/ phrase in it. Now, I hope I don’t have to point out that you need to make the sentence ‘flow’ and sound good – don’t slap keywords in anywhere because I told you to – remember you have an audience of people who are reading your content!
iii. Pay attention to focus on the researched phrase, especially re Title Tag, Description Tag, Heading text and the link text.

There are advantages to writing your article FIRST then going back over it to add the keyword phrase to ‘optimize’ the article. Try to stick to one keyword phrase per article
Google will rank you better if your content is unique, well written and is full of valuable content. The better you write quality content and match the theme off your article so that it reads intelligently, the better off you and your readers will be!

When ‘fleshing out’ the article – don’t spam it with the keyword, sound natural and conversational, but do pepper it and any relevant keywords throughout.

Tip 5: Your Writing Needs To Be Original.

Please don’t ‘copy and paste’ someone elses work – trust me it will hurt your business and you will kill your chances of being ranked. Duplicate content is not awesome.

That’s all I have to say on the matter – don’t do it!

Tip 6: Make Your Headlines Awesome!

Stand out from the crowd – just think about what makes you open an email or look at an article. Usually it’s a pain point or something that baits you with a question or statement. Stir up some emotions!

Tip 7: Use Bullet Points or Numbers

It makes it easier on the eye for readers and rather than reading one long diatribe, the reader has a beginning and end point. Quick. Easy to follow. Good.

Small, straight to the point sentences and paragraphs. Most people now-a-days do a quick scan looking for the content they want, they won’t necessarily read a long article word for word… I know that’s what I do!

Tip 8: Lets Get Visual!

Never underestimate the power of the eye and how much we are drawn to colour and photo content!

Make your photos good quality and relevant – this provides a great user experience -and the aim is to get your readers back to your site – so make it appealing.

If you’re looking for free photos online check out my post Best Free Stock Photo Websites.

Tip 9: Re-Read Your Article, Add Links

Once all your drafts are done and you’ve added your keywords and visuals, check it again, add your affiliate links or links to your sources and publish.

Also add backlinks to other articles in your site – Google loves this as it makes you seem the authority on your topic. See my article on Linking to Other Articles.

It’s also going to bode well for you to link to other authority sites such as Forbes or Wikipedia – this adds authenticity to your article – as long as the links are going to high quality sites.

Tip 10: Take Imperfect Action!

In my coaching practice one of the things I tried to push home the most is ‘take imperfect action’… Great words coming from a perfectionist.

It’s because I’m a perfectionist that I can say this – if you wait for something to be ‘perfect’ you will NEVER get anything published…

There’s a reason Nike spent BILLIONS to coin the phrase ‘Just Do It’ – because if you don’t Just Do It, it will not get done… No complaining, no lying to yourself, no blaming – JUST DO IT!!!!

Follow my steps, read more articles, learn, develop, publish, refine… get involved with a community of other bloggers such as Wealthy Affiliate and bounce your articles off them prior to publishing… but ultimately be brave and get on with it!

Must Watch: How A 28-yr- Old Got Fired &Then Built A $500k-A-Month Business ⇒

Conclusion:

Look it’s easy for me to give you tips but YOU have to be the creator, and unless you are bursting at the seams with a topic or niche you know inside out – it can be difficult to come up with original, unique content.

It is important that whatever you produce is said in your own voice. You shouldn’t copycat other people – however: sometimes it’s only by copying skilled writers that you’ll find your own unique voice.

It’s not unusual for skilled writers to go through 3 stages of development:

Imitation, Mastery and Innovation.

You’ll start by reading and studying other writers then you’ll use what you learn to develop your own writing style in your own voice.

Here’s some quick steps to follow:

1. Find 5 content writers whose style you like

2. Select one piece of theirs you enjoyed

3. Get your favourite of the 5 pieces and read it out loud

4. Study what the writer does:

a. How do they write their first sentence
b. How do they format their introduction
c. How is the article structured
d. How was the topic developed and ideas presented
e. How was the article drawn to a conclusion or close
f. What was the call to action

Now you try, in your own voice and let your personality shine through!

With each new article you will develop your own style and before you know it you won’t be intimidated.

I hope this has helped if you are super keen on learning more, by all means get involved in the community that got me started, the help is invaluable and it will cost you nothing to get started!