The Anatomy of An Effective Article

What’s the definition of a great online article? It has to grab your reader and convince them you know what you’re talking about. It also has to tell the search engine spiders that your online content is relevant and worthy of indexing.

Internet marketers want to fill their sites with content. They know that content is king and having rich and relevant content on their site can help them get more visitors through search engine optimisation and that a great article can also convert those visitors to customers once they arrive on site.

What is the anatomy of a great article?

A great online article has an intro, some meat and a conclusion that equates to a strong and convincing call to action.

The intro has to grab the reader before they wander off with a case of online attention deficit disorder. You have about two seconds to grab their attention so your title and your opening paragraph need to tell readers they’ll get a benefit from reading the article.  The rest of the article has to have some real meat in it so that you deliver what you’ve promised and in the end, you need to convince them to click, buy, subscribe, or ______(fill in the blank with the desired call to action.)

Finding the perfect blend of seo and readability isn’t always easy. That’s why you might hire a professional web content writer to help you.

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Dana Prince is a writer specialising in LSI writing, SEO, blogging and high quality online content.

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In the quest to improve your SEO, don’t discount the power of your stats software. Google Analytics or AWStats should be studied religiously to help you figure out what you’re already doing right so you can expand on that. Don’t just use the stats to figure out what traffic you’re getting but also use it to get more of the same traffic. Because the search engines are already starting to recognize you for specific words, you’ll do yourself favours by using LSI writing and more of those same search terms.

Take the phrases you’re already getting search engine traffic with and use them in your articles, your blogs and in your website copy. Don’t be afraid to write articles that sound similar but have different wording and put it in an information or article section of your website. Even content that’s not on the front page can help you even if it’s not written to convert visitors into customers.

Sometimes awkward SEO phrases or long tail searches work the best to bring you not only organic search engine traffic but targeted traffic that is more likely to result in new customers.

Want info about great and profitable keywords?

More and more, in my SEO writing efforts, I’m hearing that guest posting once in a single location is much more powerful than posting multiple article submissions. The word on the street is that a valuable post on a relevant site will get better results than ten e-zine article postings.

There are varying schools of thought on different aspects of search engine optimization. What works for you might not be just a matter of where you are posting articles but in my opinion has a lot to do with things like:

-How competitive your niche is

-How much LSI you use in your articles

-How frequently your website gets updated

In my opinion, share the wealth. Do some guest posting, submit to some of the high PR article directories and do a little bit of some social bookmarking, too. Have a writer do up a press release for you when something interesting is happening in your business and treat your SEO as an ongoing effort. Update your site regularly, have a business blog and get out there and network as well.
Once you hit the elusive top spot in Google, MSN, Yahoo and Altavista it’s only a temporary state of bliss for you because someone somewhere is working their fanny off to dethrone you.

Cheers,

Dana Prince, Freelance Writer

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Dana Prince writes, blogs, does press releases and SEO copy for clients with web content needs on a global basis.

When you write keyword articles, they can do a lot for your business and SEO. Use them on your website, submit to article directories, write blogs with them and offer them up for syndication so that you increase your inbound links to your website. 

When you write keyword articles it’s important to choose the right words and the right keyword placement. Too many of the same words and you’ll be considered as spam by search engines and readers. Not enough density of targeted words and phrases and the search engines won’t take any notice. By placing the keywords in specific areas of your documents and choosing the right words without overdoing it you can get the best results out of your article writing efforts.   Where should you use your keywords and how much is too much? 

SEO Tactics in Article Writing 

The search engine spiders will look at the beginning of your article, the end of your article and at things like titles and sub headings for relevancy. It’ll also look throughout your document to see if related words to your niche are present. When you write, think about the first few sentences and the last few sentences. It’s also worthwhile to realize that the length is important as well. Most experts say that you need at least 250 words and you probably shouldn’t go any longer than 600 words unless you don’t want search engines to take notice of the document past that point.  Placing related words and phrases about every one hundred words or so throughout the document is also a good idea and it’s also wise to break up your phrases with prepositions, by changing the order of the words, breaking up with punctuation and a few other techniques. 

The Right Keywords and the Long Tail Approach 

If you’re selling computers you don’t just want to target the word computer in your articles. That’s going to be too competitive a word to target. You do need to be sure you use the word in your article because it’s relevant but you might want to narrow down to a city, a type of computer and a niche audience such as those looking for discount computers. For example if you sell discount laptops in Toronto you might get the right traffic and search engine optimization when writing an article about how to get a discount laptop computer in the city of Toronto. The right people and the search engines will both take notice when you choose long tail keywords and find the right blend of relevancy, phrasing and placement in your articles.

 
Need article writing services? Dana Prince Writing can write and submit high quality SEO optimized articles for you.

Need help finding profitable keywords

When I write articles for my clients I need to know who the audience is going to be. Article writing really does require more than just some keyword optimized paragraphs submitted to as many sites as possible. When I write for a client I should know whenever possible where the article is being placed so I know what the surroundings will be as well as who might be reading the articles. These important details can help me do my best work possible.

What Kind of article is needed?

It’s important for clients to talk to me about what they’re using my articles for so I know how to approach the project. Article directory pieces will have to have a really broad appeal and entice the reader and the search engines. These types of articles needn’t have as much depth as something on a client’s website but the will need to be keyword optimized along with being interesting to maximize syndication possibilities as well as search engine indexing for targeted key words. The more readable the article is to humans the better the click through rate will be as well as the rate of syndication. The more readable the article is to search engine spiders, the more exposure the article will get which means more readers will be shown the article in relation to the optimized words and phrases.

What is the purpose of the article?

Articles put directly on a client’s website might not have to be as generic and can speak more to the client’s abilities. Sales letters need to not only identify a purpose for buying something but need to address potential objections and answer nearly every question that the reader might have. If I want them to buy something, click something or pass on the word about something I need to take approach when I write.

As a freelance writer it’s my job to write client’s articles in such a way that I am able to effectively reach their desired audience. When I look at a project I consider the audience when I outline and plan my articles. Not only am I looking for what primary, secondary and tertiary keywords to use but I’m looking at the short teaser or meta descrption and I’m looking at latent semantic indexing and I’m looking at the article from the eyes of potential readers. The title has to be catchy. The articles have to have a decent keyword density, the sub headings and the amount of detail I want to reveal. The flow has to be quick and crisp so the reader can almost scan the article within a few minutes and see enough words to make them either want to read or make them want to click surrounding advertising and links.

Article writing secrets

Article writing secrets aren’t rocket science but they are an art that comes with seeing how search engines and readers react. Whether you write your own articles or are looking to hire a writer to write them for you do consider who is going to be reading your articles and who you would want to read them.

If you want to grow your online business rapidly, you can do so by promoting your company through article directories. Not everyone has the time or the desire to do this though so here’s where my article writing services can come in and get you some great SEO results.

Not only will you gain search engine exposure for your company with articles but you can help increase your search engine exposure and page rank as well. Many of my clients have achieved great success through my article submission services because they want the fresh content I write and want the search engine results but don’t have the time to submit by themselves. You have better use for your time, too. Correct?

Let me write your articles and submit them for you. My team of experienced writers and I have helped many online businesses achieve greater success through my unique SEO package.

For a limited time, I’m offering a promotion to new clients where you can order my SEO article package for a 20% discount off regular pricing.

SEO Article Packages

The SEO article package provides you with ten original search engine optimized articles that will be submitted to an article directory with a resource box containing two keyword anchored links to your website (one landing page link and one deep link) with keyword optimization throughout the article for maximum exposure.

You don’t just get ten articles submitted though… those ten articles will be submitted to a second article submission site with different optimized titles. The results? You’ll receive no less than forty links coming in to your website and the articles will be available for syndication.

What does article syndication do for you?

Syndication can help your articles spread online like wildfire which can give your website a phenomenal boost with even more inbound links and potential for more incoming traffic. What will these articles do for your business?

Not only will people stumble upon your articles in their search for the products and services you sell because of search engine indexing and be able to reach your website through the links in the articles but the article linking will drive search engine spiders to connect your niche with your website which means a better search engine rank over time. The more links there are out there pointing to your website, the more traffic you’ll see on your site. Because the articles are well written they will draw human readers and search engine spiders to both the articles and to your website.

Write to me through the contact page at danaprincewriting.com for a quotation. When I’m all finished with the submissions and your order has been paid for, I will provide you with your ten articles. You can then use them as you see fit which means you could:

-publish the articles on your website as content

-rewrite them to create new and fresh content for your site or other directory sites

-turn them into blog posts, a special report or use in your e-zine or e-book

-or whatever! They’re yours to do with what you please.

These articles are written specifically for your business and optimized for the search engines and several of my clients purchase a quarterly package just like this (or customized to suit their own needs) to help increase and maintain SEO positioning. My articles are used on clients’ websites as well as in marketing brochures and e-books or special reports. Feel free to browse a few client testimonials for information and feedback about my writing services.

Using article submission /directory sites is a great way to help your business. You can use it once and have it pay you back several fold. I’ll explain how five minutes of your time submitting and a short time writing (or small fee paid to have an article written) can make your business more effective and more profitable.

If you have something to sell or a service to provide, writing articles that target your keywords is a really good idea. These articles can have a hard sell, can be informational or can provide enough interest to pique someone’s curiosity and encourage them to learn more. You can convert readers of your articles into customers and you can use those articles to get you great SEO results, too.

Your articles can be syndicated throughout the web and be published in many places. Article marketing is a great form of viral marketing.

In your articles, your link directs people back to your blog, your online store, your website and maybe even your affiliate link or e-book that’s for sale. This article will do multiple things for you. First of all, it helps you with your search engine rankings or SEO. You anchor words that you want to be your target keywords to your desired URL. The human readers click though and the search engine spiders read these links and this propels your website higher in the ranks.

Not only will people reading the articles have the ability to click through to your website but you will also have organic search engine results that can propel you to the top of the rankings for your keywords.

If you write the articles well, you can get some great results. Perhaps you’ll want to hire an seo writer such as myself to help you. Many of my clients use my articles on article directories and some pay me to submit on their behalf to help them with their marketing and seo.

Some successful internet marketers use these articles for bum marketing and to help them with their own SEO for their websites as well as to help them be considered an expert in their niche. I’ve seen great success from free article directories. Don’t let the fact that you submit them and don’t get paid for them in instant dollars or pounds turn you off. In reality, the small investment of writing these articles or paying to have them written can pay off substantially in the short term.

There are dozens of free article submission sites including:

www.ezinearticles.com

www.goarticles.com

www.articleson.com

www.1888articles.com

and many others. Some sites have differing results with google and at the moment, www.ezinearticles.com is considered the most effective option. There are requirements and limitations of what you can write about and your links so be sure to read the fine print so your articles are not rejected. Be sure to use SEO skills when writing them as well with effective keyword placement and keyword density.

Writing for article directories and posting your own work online is a great way to be sure you’re building a name for yourself, creating buzz and seo rankings for your website and utilising a free service in a way that can help you become successful very quickly.

The meta description is a key element of successful web based copywriting and online article writing. Writing the meta description is something many people fail at with their articles. The meta description can make or break you on the search engine results page. You want Google to love it and you want it to be irresistible to your human target audience as well.

What is the meta description?

The meta description or summary is the two sentences that show up in the search engine when your page gets indexed. This is what people see in Google, Yahoo or MSN that they scroll through. When they Google something, unless they click “I’m feeling lucky”, they’re presented with ten results. Those first ten to twenty results are where you want to be listed.

If you manage to get there, what you now want is a killer meta description that will coax the searchers to your website. If your description or summary doesn’t tell them that you have the information that they want, you might as well be on page ten.

What makes a great meta tag?

A great meta tag tells people in twenty or so words why they should click on your link. It should tell them what they will find. If that tag or description convinces them that they will find the information they want by clicking your link, they will click it.

When I write meta descriptions, I write as many keywords in as possible and I make sure it makes sense. When I have a client striving for top spot on Google, I often search their keywords and look at their competition on page one. I look at what might have helped them get to page one with primary keywords and Long Tail keywords and I also look for human readability so that people and search engines will like them. My quest is to write a better description than the top ten results! That way, even if my client makes it to spot #10, they have a good chance of being clicked on.

One of my article writing secrets:

When I write for clients that don’t ask me to write meta descriptions for them and even otherwise, I try to treat my first two sentences of each article as the meta description!

Many people getting into e-commerce and Internet marketing are looking for content for their websites, articles for bum marketing and looking for ways to increase their visibility on the web. Articles can do a lot for your business and your website rankings but content is still king so you need to be very cautious about what you do with those articles.

Should you purchase cheap or inexpensive private label rights articles to get your business going? Many people consider this a low cost opportunity to get some content for their website or put articles out there into directories with their name on them. The articles are made available for a low price with the understanding that you will tweak and customize the articles and post them with your name on them. Various sources for PLR have different terms and conditions and it’s important that you read the fine print.

Find out the PLR article terms and conditions before buying

A batch of articles might be sold fifty or more times or might be sold fewer times than that depending on the package and the source. If all your competitors buy the same packages and you all do very little to tailor those articles to your business, the result will be that the articles are not very effective for you.

Not only does Google have a duplicate content filter but customers and potential customers will quickly recognise that the content on your website or pointing to your website is regurgitated. This can harm your reputation and cause people to click onto other places to see/subscribe/buy/learn, etcetera.

The plan and intent for these types of articles is for you to tweak these but many people who buy PLR articles are not professional writers and don’t know how to do this effectively. In this case, what should you do? You can either make a best effort at it yourself and use tools such as copyscape or dupecop to ensure your content is original or you can hire someone to rewrite the articles for you. When you hire someone else to help, it’s costing you more money than anticipated and some will say that you might be better off hiring a writer from the start to write original, unique articles specifically for your company. This is subjective of course and you will find many people with differing opinions.

What do I think about PLR articles?

As a writer, I’ve done my share of rewriting on private label rights articles and I can tell you that when I do that, the rewritten articles are virtually unique and practically unrecognizable compared to the original but not all writers can do this. Some writers will take main ideas from these articles and expand on them. Other writers will take the article and rewrite it with different words that mean the very same thing. Which is better for you? It all depends on your needs.

In my somewhat expert opinion (whatever the worth of it) if you are going to buy PLR articles, be sure that you have them changed so that they barely resemble the originals. If you aren’t sure if you even want PLR articles, you might elect to hire a writer to write unique articles for you. If you have found a great source for PLR, chances are that the writer who wrote them is willing to write unique articles for you as well. If not, feel free to contact me for a writing work quote.

Looking at SEO and articles? Different article writing can help your business in many different ways and can be used for different purposes. Some articles serve many purposes for you and the more content you have out there in cyberspace, the more success you can have in online business. You may want some of the following or you might have your own idea of what your business needs are.

SEO articles
SEO articles are used for article directories and placed online. SEO articles often have a few to several of your targeted keywords in them but they don’t talk specifically about your company. They provide information to an interested user and a section where the viewer can click to learn more. This will include a link to your website and can do two things for you. It can bring visitors to your website and it can also increase your search engine rankings because it creates links pointing to your website with relevant content that applies to your business. These articles generally are not sales pitches but can pique interest enough to get you some visitors and even if they don’t, they work for you out in cyberspace to create more links to your website which translates to better rankings.

SEO articles can be very effective and an important element of your SEO strategy. These articles are often syndicated and free for others to use as long as they leave your links in tact so you can see why these might be useful to your business in a viral marketing way!

Content articles
Content articles generally live on your website and talk specifically about you as a company and / or the products you sell. They are often informational articles that exist on your website that tell people more about what you do or more about your products. If you have a health site for instance that sells a specific health product, you might have several of these content articles on your site that talk about various aspects of your product. These provide content for your website which can help not only your search engine traffic but can help you as part of your efforts to keep people on your website longer. If your information provides value to them, there’s a great chance they’ll buy from you and be back for more.

Multifunctional SEO articles
Some articles have a bit of a blend to be used as both an seo article and a content article. They talk about your products and / or services without generally talking about you. These articles are general overviews in terms of content but multifunctional. They can be placed on your website and in directories but often provide general overviews without explicit detail.

Sales Letters
These articles are used to persuade people to buy your products. Many websites use a long sales article as their landing page. The sales article will provide your users with a sales pitch, talk extensively about how your product or service can benefit them and it will often be filled with testimonials, answers to objections and a call to action at the end.

Press Releases
Press releases are very basic but very effective. They announce something to the world in a way that follows newspaper articles with:

Who, what, where, when, why and interview type questions and answers. Press releases can be very effective for SEO and for getting interest in a big announcement.

This is not an exhaustive list of types of copy and content that you can use online to help you but is a great start in terms of types of articles you can have written to help your business grow. Whether you choose one of these approaches or a multi-level approach with several types of articles, getting familiar with SEO strategies and working continuously to not only get higher rankings but to keep them is an important online business strategy.

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I’m Dana Prince, a professional article writer. I focus in many areas in my freelance writing career but spend quite a vast amount of my time focused on article writing for clients and SEO companies.