My 15 Minutes of Fame: seo techniques

Monday, April 16, 2012

What is SEO Article Writing?

What is SEO?

SEO is an acronym for the phrase "search engine optimization." Search engine optimization is all about doing specific things to your website to drive more traffic to it so that you can increase online sales - and traffic.

What are some of these "things?"

There are many, but here we will discuss what it is as it applies to freelance writers. And, this means writing text in a certain way so that web surfers (ie, internet users) can land on a particular site.

What is SEO As It Relates to Freelance Writers?

What freelance writers need to be concerned with is keywords. What are keywords? Keywords are the words and phrases that web surfers type in when they search for things online.

For example, let's say you were interested in starting a foreclosure cleanup business. You may not know anything about it other than foreclosures are hot in the news right now and you are interested in starting this kind of company.

So, you log onto your favorite search engine, (eg, Google, Yahoo! MSN, etc.) and type in the keywords "foreclosure cleaning business" or "foreclosure cleaning" or "foreclosure cleanup" or some other relevant keyword phrase.

Note: When you type words into a search engine to find something on the internet, the words you type in are called a keyword (one word) or a keyword phrase (two or more words with commas in between).

How Businesses Get to the Top of Search Engine Results

When you type in these words and hit "ENTER", a bunch of sites pop up and you start to surf (ie, click on the results) and start investigating the sites to see if they have the information you need.

The sites that pop up are the results that search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, et al think are the most relevant to the keyword phrase (aka search phrase) you typed in. Companies pay a lot of money to be among the first two or three pages in the results that search engines return.

Why SEO Copywriters are So In Demand and How They Make Their Money

One of the ways they get to pop up in the first two or three pages of results is to have relevant text that contains the proper keyword phrases. And, this is where you as an SEO copywriter can make a lot of money. You write the text that their site needs to pop up high in search engine results.

Many times, companies will simply give you a bunch of keyword phrases and let you write what you want -- as long as it's a certain length (usually 300-500 words).

There are many freelance writers - hundreds of thousands, if not a few million. BUT, only a tiny minority know what SEO is and how to write this type of copy. And, this is why they're so in demand.

SEO copywriters have an in-demand skill. And, as more and more companies move larger portions of their advertising budgets to internet marketing, there is an even greater demand for their skills.

In the SearcheEngineWatch article, The SEO Copywriter: Wordsmithing the Web, William Flaiz, underscores the importance of an SEO copywriter. He writes:

"The role of the agency SEO copywriter is unique because.... Suddenly, the writer must optimize press releases, craft articles for social news, monitor social network communications, and develop wiki content.... a strong SEO copywriter is adaptable and capable of internalizing a lot of new information extremely quickly. These unique individuals have fast become the backbone of many SEO engagements. If content is king, then they [SEO copywriters] are the kingmakers."

And this is why SEO copywriters can charge a premium for their services. If you're looking for a way to start or maximize your income as an online freelance writer, then SEO copywriting is they way to go.

(Via)

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Timing Your SEO Efforts to Rank During Traffic Peaks & Spikes

Some keywords have seasonal trending, search volume life-cycles, and hype spikes. When you need to rank during the peak of these trends, organic ranking requires you to do most of your work before the peak.

Riding the waves of search volume hype is hard, but it can also be very rewarding. Knowing when to exactly time your search engine optimization (SEO) effort provides a huge lead over your competitors, so how is it done effectively?

Predictable Search Volume Peaks

Sudden peaks in search volumes are more predictable than you might think. Each year has the same seasons and holidays. New products will be launched in many industries.

Sports games are bound to have winners and even certain accidents are bound to happen … again. The exact details can still be an unknown, but you can prepare your prompt reaction for when they do occur.

A great example of a predictable life-cycle occurs when a new mobile phone is introduced. A mobile phone is launched and after about 5 months it is bound to be replaced by its successor.

The search volume peak can often be found in the first month of sales, so before regular links take effect you’ve already missed the hype. There is however a strategy that provides the right ranking at the right time.

The Right Ranking at the Right Time

Before the peak you should focus on gaining as many links as possible to keep the lead during the most important part of the life-cycle. High ranking itself asserts your authority on the subject and when you’re one of the first to have good information on a new mobile phone, for example, you’ll be cited and linked by all early adopters.

During the peak you need to reap the benefits of all these links, so that is when your commercial message should be the one ranking.

After the peak and during the aftermath most other commercial websites would have done their regular link building and you’re likely to be outranked by then. Luckily you’re already focusing on the next hype to keep ahead of the masses.

Timing Your Effort

Certain types of links take some time to ripen and take effect. Others affect ranking almost immediately; however, the affect wears off after a short time. Effectively combining all of them requires a well though through strategy, which is best described with a mobile phone example.

With the first rumors of a new mobile phone model being launched, create a page with its supposed name and some info on the rumors.
When its name becomes more certain create something easily spread through social media like a desired features poll. These links will provide a short lived ranking spike that is needed for the next phase.
When it is officially announced, be one of the first to have a press release and reuse the already ranking URL for that message. Update the page whenever needed so both insiders and enthusiasts will start following and linking the page that therefore keeps on ranking.
Reuse the same URL for the first preview of the new phone model and you can always move the old content to a different URL when needed. Again, the high ranking asserts your authority and the preview will be intensely linked to as well.
Reuse the same URL again and again for news, pre-registration and eventually having it available for sale.

Here is where our extreme link acquisition efforts can stop for now. Most of the ranking will remain for the two most important months of sales.

Once the device is no longer a priority, you can even change its URL and redirect all remaining link value to a successor with (probably) a partial keyword match. This provides a much needed head start for new hypes within existing themes.

SEO for Hypes

Always be monitoring and predicting new great hypes in your industry. Monitor social media, look for insider information to be the first to know about new terminology. Map out earlier similar hypes to see how these have spread across the internet during their entire life-cycle.

Devise linkable messages for each phase of the life-cycle and accumulate all that link value close together or on the same URL.

Reuse partial relevance for future hypes and ranking for more generic keywords.

And … always be prepared for future hypes!

(via)