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SEO Cheat SheetFollow the guidelines below to make your articles
rankhigher in Googles search results
Put keywords in your headlinesKeywords are words that best
describe the main subject of an article. So,in an article about
Vauxhall launchin a new electric car called the!m"era, the best
keywords are "robably #$auxhall%, #launch%, #electric% and#am"era%.
&ecause headlines are so im"ortant for search all thosekeywords
should be in your headline.
'on%t use in(crowd termsCli)uey terms like #blue o$al% *for +ord
and #-edmond% *for icrosoft are$ery rarely searched for by normal
"eo"le, so usin them will dri$e tra/caway.
0se keyword $ariations in your body co"yContinue usin
descri"ti$e keywords throu hout your article. 1t%s a oodidea to
also use synonyms of your main keywords *#battery("owered%
for#electric% or related terms *#hybrid% but don%t be afraid of
sim"ly re"eatinyour main keywords u" to six times each.
1nterlink your articles2inkin related articles to ether hel"s
them rank for a common theme.Point links towards the best article.
+or instance, link from old content tothe latest, reatest article
on the same to"ic.
'on%t use 3Click here4 anchor text5oo le attaches reat
im"ortance to the text you use in a link, called theanchor text.
6his should contain the main keywords for the article the
link"oints at. So 3Check out Vauxhall%s electric !m"era com"etitor4
is muchbetter than 3 Click here for news of Vauxhall%s
com"etitor4
'on%t skim" on the wordsSearch en ines need text to work out the
subject of a web "a e, andthere%s increasin e$idence that lon er
articles are considered moreauthoritati$e by the likes of 5oo le.
7hile we wouldn%t encoura e you towa8e on a web site, neither
should you feel under "ressure to kee" wordcounts down. 9::(words
is a sensible minimum for an article and you may
ha$e to write o$er ;:: words *or a set of interlinked shorter "a
es to rankfor a "o"ular term such as #mondeo re$iew%. Video and
"icture articles
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won%t rank well without accom"anyin text that ex"lains what the
"icturesshows.
Pro$ide alt text for all "ictures
>ima es. oo le.co.uk . Enter the alt text in your C S%sform
for "ictures.
Consider tweakin your title ta&esides a headline, e$ery
article on your web site has a title. 6his isdis"layed in your web
browser%s to" bar or tab when you o"en the "a e*see ri ht . 1t is
also used as the headin of the "a e%s listin in 5oo le%ssearch
results *see below ri ht . 6he title should re?ect what
someonelookin for your article mi ht ty"e into a search en ine, and
it should alsoinclude your brand.
0"date articles that "erform well in search7ritin on a subject
you%$e co$ered before@ Consider u"datin an existinarticle that
already ranks well for the rele$ant keywords. +or instance, youmi
ht re$isit 3 reen com"utin ti"s4 annually and already rank well
forthis search term. -ewritin the existin article allows you to
build on thatearlier success rather than com"ete with it.
Promote your best articles to rele$ant onlinecommunities1n your
web analytics you will And sites already sendin tra/c to you.!mon
these will be sites where you can acti$ely "romote your
bestarticles. 2ook for social networkin sites, blo s that you can
comment on,and forums where you can join the discussion. 7hen
"ostin to blo s andforums a$oid bein labelled a s"ammer by only "lu
in your best articles
and only on closely(related "a es. 0se your jud ement as to
whetherinformation about an article will be well or badly
recei$ed.
0se keyword research to decide what to writeabout
6he best editorial strate y for search is to choose what to
write aboutbased on search acti$ity. 1n 5oo le Bews you can select
a cate ory to seethe to" ten search terms for that subject. 5oo le
6rends*trends. oo le.com allows you to com"are the search $olume on
terms
you s"ecify ideal when decidin whether to "roAle 'a$id Cameron
orKermit.
