Writing articles is one of the most constructive things you can do for your website in terms of both content marketing and SEO value.

Well written articles will build your authority in the marketplace, making you the expert in your field.  Crafted properly with basic SEO tactics, they will help the right readers to find your article in the short term, but aid in the entire website (and therefore your business) being found in the bargain.

This makes article writing a near perfect website promotional tool

Article Writing for Content Marketing

When you write an article for content marketing purposes, it should strive to either fill a need or solve a problem pertinent to your niche.  The idea is to build your authority in that particular marketplace. 

Write conversationally. You are laying the basis for how readers will view the relationship they have with you and your business in the future. 

As you lay out how to solve a problem common to prospects in your market, use stories to illustrate your points. 

Don’t talk down to your readers, and don’t be afraid to use technical terms common to your industry.  Just explain them and then use them appropriately. 

It is common to feel like you are giving away too many trade secrets in articles.  This is what you want! 

Transparency is the rule here.  If you do not show readers your chops, how can you expect them to consider you the expert, the authority in your niche?  Reveal how you get the results you do. 

Fears of creating a sea of DIY peeps in your field are unfounded.  Will some people try?  Sure, they would have anyway.  Those aren’t your prospects. 

Any possible prospects you might lose to this level of disclosure are in most cases your nightmare clients anyway. 

Your articles are how you tell the story of your enterprise. 

They show people who you are:  Capable professionals, generous with the knowledge you have won in the trenches.  Individuals they not only will have need of, but will want to do business with. 

Telling that story through articles means you have told your stories and given them wings.  As your authority grows, those stories get told by your readers, prospects, and clients.  This is how authority is created, grows, and evolves over time. 

Write in short paragraphs of from one to three sentences.  This helps pull readers through your content. 

Unless you are dealing with a fairly technical issue, write short articles in the 750 word range. 

The best “formula” for website articles is an old one:   

• • Tell Them What You Are Going To Tell Them 
  • Tell Them 
  • Tell Them What You Told Them

This works for a wide variety of formats, including not just articles, but white papers, public speaking, and almost anything else where there is a theme developed.  This formula makes it easy to craft an article:

• • Introduction (Tell Them What You Are Going To Tell Them)
  • Develop Two to Four Main Points (Tell Them)
  • Conclusion (Tell Them What You Told Them) 

Stick with this and your job is 100% easier.  

Article Writing for SEO Value

Now you have an article to publish. 

There are actually a few things that needed to be done at the start to make sure that the article gets found by the right readers though.   There are also some things to do as you post it to your website. 

A handful of very easily acquired SEO skills will allow you to maximize the exposure your article gets.

It will also allow you to improve the SEO rankings you achieve on your toughest keywords at the same time. 

Every article you write will start with the title.  Each article title should include at least one of the main keywords of your website. 

Here is a quick article writing SEO guide:   

• • Write Your Title On Google – Start by searching for one of your main keywords.  Click through to see what article titles others in your niche have written.  Do not exactly copy, but get a few ideas for topics, and then try searching for your title ideas as well.  Look for titles that return results with ads on the page.  This means that others view the title valuable enough to pay for the click through on that combination of keywords. 
  • Write Your Subtitles On Google – Your subtitles should also contain your main keyword from the title where possible.  Completing this process and coming away with your Title and Subtitles means you are halfway to having your article written. 
  • Tag Your First Paragraph as H3 or Heading 3 and Your Subtitles as H2 or Heading 2 – This tells the search engines what is important.   
  • Make Your First Paragraph Keyword Rich – Include a reworded version of your title in there.  It can be broken up between sentences, but the first paragraph needs to include all of the keywords in your title.   Use your keywords conversationally throughout the rest of your article, but don’t force it.  There is no benefit in the rest of your article body to stuffing your keywords in excessively. 
  • Use Your Keywords In Your Conclusion –  This is less important than in your first paragraph, but still a good idea.  Not really sure how you would summarize your article without using them. 
  • Write A Compelling Excerpt For Google – This should highlight the solution or need your potential reader has.  No need to repeat your title, as this will show up immediately after the title in the search engine results. 
  • Select Royalty Free Images – Images enhance the reader experience.  If you don’t have images of your own, you can generally find all of them you need at Pixabay.  Wikipedia images are all common use licensed, so free to use.  You can easily edit these images, add text, resize, etc. on Google Drive.  When you post them, rework your titles and/or subtitles into the Alt Title, Title, and Description fields, and then link the image back to the article itself.  This makes a huge difference in your SEO results. 

Once you have published the article to your website, share it to your social media accounts. 

Write a unique intro for each platform you share to.  Use a different intro on Facebook than you do on Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.  This shows Google that you didn’t spam these with automated software.   

Use Google Webmaster Tools to check if the new article’s URL has been indexed at this point.  If not, hit the button to request that it be crawled and indexed.  At this point you will usually find that your article is ranked pretty high in the search engine results for its title.   

As you rank more and more articles this way, you will get better rankings with more ease.  You will also find that you start to rank better for your main keywords. 

Article Writing Has HUGE SEO and Content Marketing Value

Article writing is a marketing discipline that I have been engaged in for over twenty years.  Not one article written has been a waste of time. 

They have either provided immediate targeted traffic, and increased rankings or they have supplied immediate information in the realm of SEO or content marketing education.  The former is more common than the latter. 

Once you have honed the skills by writing a few dozen articles, there are places to publish and curate your articles on other websites and platforms that will bring increased traffic, search engine rankings, and over time increased revenues,  That is another article though. 

Enjoy the victories that come from developing your writing  and SEO skills.  They are sweet, and pay big dividends.

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