Tips for writing effective SEO content

10 useful tips that will help your organization advance its mission with effective writing for SEO (Search engine optimization ).

1. Get a keyword Tool; I.e. Google Keywords. Figure out what terms people use to search for content related to your article and write articles/blog entries that include those keywords in your page titles, article titles (ideally within your page’s h-tags) and two to three times in the article content. But easy does it… the last thing you want is to come across ‘spammy’.

2. Enlist multiple writers from your ranks. If you can get five people to write once per week, your website can provide an update related to your mission on a daily basis! This is great both for credibility and for regular traffic. The more often someone visits, the more they will see that giant, bright DONATE button staring them in the face on every page! (Right?)

3. Assign an editor to check for grammar, format, length, consistency with your mission, keyword density, and so on. Remember, effective writing, though it should include targeted keywords and phrases, should first be readable.

4. Setup news alerts related to your mission. Follow the headlines so that you can write about what is going on in the world relevant to your cause, how it affects your short and long term objectives, and what action if any you would like your readers to take. You can easily do this with Google Alerts http://www.google.com/alerts), for example.

5. State your point right up front. People move quickly online. They don’t generally want to read a whole page of content unless they know that the content is something that is interesting or useful to them. So write like a salesperson: 1. I’m going to tell you about such and such. 2. Such and such. 3. I just told you about such and such. 4. If applicable, ACT NOW.

6. Write with shorter paragraphs. Paragraphs should be three to five sentences a piece on average. If the visitor only has a moment and it looks daunting to read, the visitor will probably skip your content. Consider having featured content that is longer, and shorter content for the browser. OPTIONS…

7. Write content that people can scan through, like this entry for example. The purpose for this entry is clearly stated upfront, and if someone is in a hurry, they can get the gist of the material by reading the bolded text. Bullets make it easy.

8. Become a guest writer. Write ezine articles, write guest entries for other blogs and newsletters, write a news article for or give an exclusive to a news agency. These are win-win arrangements. Your expertise for exposure to their traffic. Your bio, found at either the top or the bottom of your guest content, should direct the reader to your organization’s website. Remember: guest writing should be a taste of what the reader will find at your website. Eighty to ninety percent of the writing you do should be for your own publication!

9. Be fun! Have a good time. Allow the personalities of your writers to come through in the writing. The Internet can be a boring place when websites are overly institutional. People want to relate. People want to read people.

10. Write and distribute PR pieces. Whereas other forms of writing can draw traffic to your website via search engines, and other websites that you become affiliated with, one good PR piece can get you mentioned by multiple news agencies in their own unique way, locally and nationally, for print and online. This is especially true if you tell a great story; bait to the professional writer.