Ever sat down to write some content for your website and been unsure of what you wanted to say? If you find yourself in this position, don’t panic! Collect your thoughts, get a general idea of the topic you want to address, and choose your target demographic. Whatever you do – don’t just sit down and write aimlessly. Unfocused writing can be one of the most frustrating experiences. Odds are you’ll read everything back and feel like you filled the page with nothing but fluff. While you may have added some content to your website, did you really say anything of substance and was there a central focus to your thoughts?
Most of us write to keep our clients up-to-date and attract prospects that may be looking for the information we have. When your blog posts and pages have a clear topic, your content will speak volumes to your current and future clients.
When writing in a focused manner, you will need to start conducting your own keyword research to concentrate your efforts.
A keyword basically just refers to the phrase you want to show up for when searched.
So, when doing keyword research, you need to put yourself into the position of the searcher. What would you want someone to write into the search engines in order to find you? Would it be something like “best neighborhood for families in Orlando”? Then you need to start writing blog posts that would include this phrase…or phrases and words like it.
Search Engines are Smart.
Believe it or not, you’re not required to write your focused keyword or long-tailed keyword in the same order and wording each and every time in order to rank for it. Search engines anticipate the other ways that your keyword could be used. In the case of the focus keyword (which is long-tailed) “best neighborhood for families in Orlando” you could also write it as “what neighborhood in Orlando is best for families?” or “where do families live in orlando?”. All of these kinds of phrasing would help you rank for the kind of search that you’re shooting for.
In your keyword research, it is also important to check out what you’re competition is doing. If Joe Schmo, the leading company in your area, is killing search engine optimization by using a certain keyword, piggyback off of it and elaborate. As the saying goes, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.
The biggest take away should be that, prior to writing for your website, you should do your research. Find our what your clients are looking for and what your competition is doing right. Doing these two big things will make your blogging efforts better and give you greater SEO results.