Let’s talk about the 4 must haves for any article you decide to write. A topic is obvious but beyond that, many writers are clueless. So, we’ll start at the beginning and talk about 4 must haves that can’t be ignored.
The 4 must haves for any article are important. With so many websites being created and published daily, you must do something to stand out. It’s easy to say you want a website for your business or to promote your passion but it’s hard to stand out without a plan. As you are thinking of your website’s goal, planning your content and beginning to write your articles, you should not ignore these 4 must haves.
Start with Your Why and What
No, this isn’t the first must have but it will help you focus on your 4 must haves. Why do you want a blog? Why are you writing your content? What do you expect to do with this site?
These questions seem stupid to those that haven’t thought about them before. Some people think blogs are only created for passion projects and don’t realize how many people make a living because of their blogs. There are others that think having a blog on their website with a few mediocre articles will be enough to take their website to the first page of Google. None of that is true and it takes WORK to get to the top of the search engine rankings. Yes, your blog can help you with that but only if you have considered your why and what.
Why do you want a blog?
Why are you writing your content?
What do you expect to do with your site?
What are you willing to invest to make your site successful?
4 Must Haves #1: Keywords and Keyword Phrases
The first thing to be considered are keywords and keyword phrases. Unless you are writing a vanity blog and don’t care about traffic, you need to focus on specific keywords and keyword phrases.
Keywords and keyword phrases are the words and phrases typed into search engines. These keywords and keyword phrases are what search engine bots look for. When a website has great content, has the right keywords and search engine bots think it’s a great match, your website will be suggested to the browser. That is what any webmaster wants for their website. The more popular it is, the more it will be suggested and the more opportunity a webmaster has to meet their goal.
Instead of writing without purpose or for no reason, write with keywords or keyword phrases to meet your goals. ALWAYS use keywords and keyword phrases.
4 Must Haves #2: Keyword Density
Before you get type happy and stuff your articles full of keywords and keyword phrases, please understand you will be penalized if it doesn’t sound natural and is poor quality. Anytime you use a keyword or keyword phrase, it should be used just enough.
Search engine bots work by algorithm. The little fairies in the search engines are not reading every page of your website, checking for errors. These bots are looking for a specific rhythm that matches certain criteria. If an article is stuffed so full of keywords and keyword places the article is hard to read, it won’t rank well against others. Although the keyword or phrase may be great, the site will continue to be ignored.
There is not a specific percentage anyone can use to the satisfaction of search engines. The key is to make the article reads smoothly and the article is relevant to the keyword you use.
Must Haves #3: Excellent Blog Content
The fastest way to make a mockery of your website is to post poor quality and ill-informed content. If that is not your goal, you need to make sure your blog content is quality and well written.
There are so many websites being created by people that are too cheap to hire professional writers or buy PLR articles, can’t write and don’t want to admit it or don’t know they need to be able to write well. Most of these websites are hidden in the very back of search engines, never to be found unless the exact URL is typed into the address bar. Yes, that’s how important blog content is.
For sites that don’t have excellent content, you call into question your authority on the topic and you lose audience confidence. If you created a blog designed to sell perfume and scented oils, you need to make sure your content is written to build confidence in your audience and encourages them to purchase their fragrances from you.
When you are creating content, you should use spelling and grammar checking tools. If you are using Microsoft Word, it’s a tool that’s already built into the software. If you are quoting an expert, add a link to where you got that information.
People respond much better to well written content than content that is not easy to read or understand. Poorly written and executed content does not rank well in search engines.
Must Haves #4: Linking to Authority Articles
Many writers don’t understand the power of linking to authority articles. Many don’t realize that by doing research and linking to another website makes you look much better as an author. You don’t know everything and for you to present information with supporting documentation, you look better in the eyes of your audience.
When you link your articles to authority articles, you are getting the attention of search engine bots and those bots give you a boost in your rankings for “proving” your article is not filled with junk. Not only are you going to get better rankings in search engines, the authors for those sites are probably going to notice. As you share your traffic with those titans, you are increasing your reputation as one in the community and many webmasters have been known to return the favor. Overnight popularity has happened to unsuspecting webmasters because a well-known blogger or business mentioned their site.
You never know who is paying attention so make your links count!
There are many more must haves for articles than the 4 mentioned. Those are the 4 that many web writers overlook or don’t think apply to them. These 4 tips will make a difference in any website so these 4 must haves for any article will work in any niche and industry.