Search Friendly Writing, Get Noticed in 4 Easy Steps

Want to increase your audience reach and generate lots of views?  Why does one post get hundreds or thousands of views and another post does not?  It’s typically not a difference in the content quality or the author’s connections that is the deciding factor, it’s more often the case that one post gets picked up in the search engines and another does not.

In a search engine dominated world, every online writer should understand the benefits of getting viewers from the search engines.  Luckily, there are methods you can follow to improve your chances at getting your content found at the search engines.  Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art of doing just that. 

While SEO is a very deep topic, the good news is that there are some basic steps that you can take to dramatically improve your content’s ability to get search engine traffic. Writing search friendly content isn’t something for the SEO experts only.  In today’s age it’s a necessity for any serious online writer that wants to get noticed.  By following the simple 4 steps I’ve outlined here you can transform your posts into search friendly content and build a larger audience.


Step 1: Build your target keyword list

Before writing your post you should first consider what keywords to target.  Your keyword list should target the keywords and phrases that people are actually using in the search engines. 

Your keyword list should contain a single primary keyword phrase and a few secondary keyword phrases.  You also want to concentrate on multiple word phrases, not just single word keywords.

There are a few really good free tools that can help you here:

Google AdWords Tool

WordTracker Free Keyword Research Tool



Wordtracker has a paid subscription service plan for the serious keyword researcher, but makes some of this available for free too!

SEOBook Keyword Tool

Google Hot Trends







Google Trends is a great tool to see what is hot on the web right now.

These tools can help you target the popular keywords that are searched for most often. 
Start by entering in the description or post title that you’ll be writing on and see what comes back.  You will want to select a primary keyword phrase and a few secondary keyword phrases.  Keep your list small.

Note: These tools can also help you discover new content ideas too!  So if you are in a bind as to what to write about, why not see what’s popular?


Step 2: Search friendly writing

The next important step is to write your post with the keyword phrases in mind.  It’s critical to NOT overdue it here.  Mentioning the same phrases over and over is sure to look really fake and stupid.  Just keep the keyword phrases in mind and mention one or more of them naturally if it makes sense.  The key is to NOT sell out!  Your writing will stand on it’s own merits and you should never compromise your creative integrity.

It’s also best to place the primary keyword phrase in the title of your post somewhere, preferably in the beginning of the title.


Step 3: Share your writing

This is the easiest part.  When sharing on Gather you will want to ensure that the post is properly tagged.  This is where your keyword list is most critical.  Your tags should be your keyword list and maybe a few other relevant keywords.  Keep it short and focused.  Tagging with hundreds of keywords isn’t a good idea.

You can also elect to share your post with one or more Gather Groups.  Again, be selective.  It’s critical that your content be contextually relevant to the group.  Broadcasting dilutes your relevance and can be interpreted as a warning sign to the search engines that your content isn’t unique or original.


Step 4: Bookmark, shameless self-promotion

No its time to get the word out and let others know what you have written.  The easiest way to do that is to use social bookmarking.  The easiest way to social bookmark is to use the SocialMarker tool that I mentioned in an earlier post.


That’s all there is to it.  Just a few tweaks and a bit of keyword research is all it takes.

Join the search engine optimization Gather group for more insights and updates on search engine targeting best practices.