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Search engine optimization is very important. However, many
find that writing webpage text to please the search engines isn't easy.
Often, people are so caught up in using the keywords that it appears
that they are repeating the same sentence over and over. The sentences
just don't flow naturally. These tips can help you learn how to write
for the search engines in a natural way.
1. Start by forgetting what you learned in high school English
class. Just write. Think about your topic, and simply write. Don't
worry about spelling, grammar, keywords, outlines, or anything else.
Just write what you want to say. The purpose is to simply say what you
want to say in a natural way. Don't be afraid to have fun!
2. Set aside your first draft, and make an outline. This is
absolutely the reverse of what your English teacher taught you, but it
does work for what you are doing. Write the first draft the way you
want to write it - then do an outline. In your outline, make sure that
you list all the points that you want to cover in the text of your
page.
3. Once your outline is complete, compare it to what you
originally wrote. Rearrange what you wrote to match your outline. You
may need to move paragraphs or sentences around. Don't worry about
"re-writing" just yet. Right now, you are just "arranging" what you
have already written to make it match your outline.
4. Compare your outline with your draft. Have you made all of
your points? Do the sentences, as you have them, make sense? Now is the
time to check grammar. You are still ignoring spelling and keywords. At
this point, you may need to rewrite sentences, or whole paragraphs, to
make sure that your text makes sense, covers all the points that you
wanted to make, and matches your outline.
5. Once you have the text written to your satisfaction - still
ignoring keywords and spelling - remove any text that strays from your
topic. Each webpage should cover one specific topic. Avoid straying
from that topic if possible. Next, remove any unnecessary sentences
from your text. Make sure your paragraphs flow easily from one to the
next.
6. Now, make a list of the keywords and key phrases for this
particular page. Go back through the text, and make sure that your
keywords and/or phrases are used two or more times in each
paragraph. This can be tricky, because you don't want to change
everything so much that it no longer reads naturally. After making the
changes, read back over it, and make sure that the text "sounds" like
you said it, and that the sentences are still grammatically correct and
make sense. It should not read like a technical manual.
7. Finally, your page should be just as you want it to be - and
just as the search engines like it. The only thing left to do is to
write the title of your page in the head tags of your page, and put the
title, keywords, and description in the meta tags of the page.
About the Author: Monique Danielle owns Portland Marketing Agency DivaDesignWorld.com,
a full service firm that offers web development, graphic design,
consulting, and a wide variety of creative services. She is also
the founder of divadirectories.com,
a free online resource designed to promote the growth and development
of female business owners throughout Oregon, Washington, and the
Northwest.
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