Since Google’s Panda Update back in February of 2011, webmasters have been moving away from keyword density driven content to themed content. If you’re a freelance SEO content writer and haven’t started providing this type of copy to clients, you could be doing them a big disservice. Here we discuss why.
FYI, you can charge more for themed SEO articles – anywhere from $50 to $75 per article on the low end, on up to a few hundred dollars on the high end.
Why “Regular” SEO Web Content is No Longer Good Enough
In order to get rid of a lot of MFA (made for AdSense sites) – many of which were set up by spammers just to get clicks on those Google ads – Google cracked down on keyword-density driven content. You know, those short, spammy articles that repeat the same keywords over and over again just to rank high in search engines.
A search engine’s job is to return the most relevant, “quality” results to web surfers. And by and large, most keyword-stuffed articles just don’t do that. Many are nothing more than general info you can find all over the web – with the relevant keyword stuck in over and over again.
In order to prevent this, in its Panda Update, Google dumped a lot of sites that had this type of content in favor of those that followed what I call their “SEO writing guidelines.”
These guidelines could be deemed the foundation of writing themed SEO content. As an aside, I reference Google here because it’s by and large the most popular search engine. FYI, the three largest ones are Google, Bing and Yahoo!
What Exactly Is Themed SEO Content Writing?
Instead of focusing a specific keyword phrase, for example, themed web content focuses on a myriad of keyword phrases – in the same article.
Remember, search engines are just robots, they’re not human. So, they if they read a block of content with the word “apple” in it, they don’t know if you’re talking about apple pie or apple computers. And this is what themed SEO content is all about. It helps search engines accurately discern what a piece of content is all about — and keeps keyword stuffed content from rising to the top of search engine results.
The Difference between a Themed SEO Article and a Regular SEO Article
Let’s explain seo by way of an example. Let’s say you write a blog about homemade apple pies and you write a post about how to make an apple pie. Some of the “keyword” phrases that search engines would expect to find in that post are how to bake apple pie, apple pie recipe, make an apple pie, how to make a apple pie from scratch, etc.
See how there are many different ” keyword phrases” there are and how they’re all interrelated? Conversely, a keyword-stuffed, SEO article on this topic might just have the phrase “apple pie recipe” repeated over and over again.
Because themed SEO web content takes longer to write – and tends to rank higher in search engine results – as an SEO writer, you can charge more for it – a lot more.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a red-hot technical field right now. Hence, there’s increased interest for many professionals in learning SEO — whether it’s to learn how to write search engine-optimized copy, or become an SEO consultant, or a website optimizer, etc. Many SEO courses are offered online, others are offered offline (in-person), and then there are ebooks and DVDs on this topic. So, how do you know which one to choose? Is one option better than the other?
As the owner of an SEO writing company and developer of an online and offline course that teaches this skill, I receive questions like this all the time. One potential student emailed me, asking the following:
Take an SEO Class Online or Off: 3 Questions to Answer That Will Help You Decide
Following are three questions to ask yourself that will help you decide whether learning SEO online, or via an in-person class, is better for you.
I. Can I Afford In-Person Training? Usually, taking an online class is cheaper because it doesn’t expenses – for you, or the course developer, over and beyond the actual cost of the class. So, even if taking an offline SEO course seems like the better option for you, it won’t matter if you can’t afford it. So, answer this question first.
II. How Much Do I Already Know?If you have a fairly good grasp of SEO, then an online class may work for you because it means you don’t need the hand-holding that a lot of newbies need.
On the other hand, if you know practically nothing about SEO and find the language around it confusing (eg, blackhat tactics, latent semantic indexing, meta tags, reciprocal links, stemming, static content), then an in-person class is usually the better option.
III. How Do I Learn?All of us learn differently. Some do just fine by researching concepts on their own and building on it. Others need a knowledge source in front of them (ie, an instructor) to explain things – and ask questions as needed – before they grasp a concept.
For example, I learned SEO on my own – just by researching, reading and testing concepts for myself. But, I’m horrible at math. I need a knowledge source beside me to explain it to me and allow me to ask questions before I can fully understand.
One way of learning is not better than the other; it’s just different, that’s all. Which camp do you fall into?
If you’re what I call an “independent” learner in this area, then an offline SEO class may work for you. If you’re more dependent when it comes to search engine optimization, an in-person SEO course is probably the route you should take.