An article in SEO terms is a piece of written content aimed to improve a website’s ranking and visibility on search engines. Writing SEO articles is different from other types of written content in that they are done with a concrete goal in mind. To accomplish that goal, certain guidelines need to be followed.

Writing an SEO article is not only about having excellent writing skills. Yes, good writing skills will allow you to make the piece interesting and easy to read. However, it is necessary to know the specific SEO guidelines you need to stick to. Part of the writing process consists on figuring out how to smoothly intertwine SEO elements into the article.

Some of the strategies that will allow your SEO article to help boost your site’s ranking are:

The tactical placement of keywords and keyword phrases

You need to consciously choose your keywords after a thorough research and analysis. Ideally, SEO writers perform their keyword research before starting the writing process. There are many different tools available to carry this out.

Typically, keywords should be included in the title, sprinkled throughout the article, and included in subheadings. This hints crawlers about what it is you are writing about.

Including internal and external links

Internal links lead the reader to another page on your site. External links are those that point to another website. The latter should always direct users to reliable sources. Why? Because that tells users -and google- that you are an authority in your field. When you link to other sites, you should set the link to open in a different window or a separate tab, so that the user is not removed from your website. Both internal and external linking strengthen your content but also help web crawlers learn what your content is about.

Create original content for your SEO articles

Search Engines can easily spot duplicate content that it deems malicious and penalize your website for it by pushing it down the search results. Everything you publish should be unique, but also valuable and relevant to your visitors. As Google puts it, users should always come first. You ranking in the first pages of search results, should be a by-product -a reflection- of what you are offering your customers.

SEO articles should be shareable

This can be done via backlinks on other websites, social media, or newsletters. Sharing your content has different advantages such as bringing traffic from various sources such as Facebook or Twitter and creating backlinks every time a person shares your article. Backlinks are one of the most important aspects of SEO. The more external links that lead to your site, the better it will rank. This is because Google identifies backlinking as proof that your content is valuable and authoritative.

Images are another important aspect of SEO articles. Your article should include them, and they should also be optimized for search engines, but since Search Engines can’t “read” them yet, you need to make sure your alt text and title text are configured in a way that helps crawlers better understand your content.