Page experience, link spamming, user intent, crawling… Oh my! These are terms that you never thought would matter in your freelance writing career. But, they do!
Granted, taking a deep dive into the best SEO trends could help your writing stand out. Even so, the path to the best use of SEO tactics has been difficult to navigate for many freelancers. But, it doesn’t have to be! The best way to do this is to focus on what matters! Don’t get sucked into a swirling whirlpool of digital data. Instead, show your client you understand SEO, and always bring value to the project. This way, you can charge higher rates because of your expertise.
Here are 5 SEO trends that you should stop worrying about as a freelance writer:
Shoving in the keyword phrases:
For many years, freelance writers believed that one of the best ways to pump up SEO is cramming keywords into an article. But, is this strategy effective?
We did this before because search engines looked for keywords but, like everything else in tech, this strategy is slowly evolving. With numerous Google updates over the years, search engines are better at discerning meaning rather than single words or phrases. Since they no longer scan letters, you don’t have to cram your article with keywords.
Instead of writing for the search engine, focus on writing for the readers. Integrate one or two keywords organically, and allow your content to revolve around a central idea rather than several keywords.
Adding LSI keywords to support your main keyword:
LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords are search terms that are related to the main keyword that you are targeting. For instance, if your keyword is “weight lifting,” your LSI keywords will be terms like fitness, gym, weight loss, and personal trainer.
The assumption amongst writers is that, if they include plenty of LSI keywords on their content, the page will rank better. This couldn’t be far from the truth! While these keywords will support your content, they are not the most important factor for SEO.
Search engines use more advanced concepts for SEO. Don’t focus on checking words off a list. Instead, write naturally.
The more words, the better:
Have you heard of this before? “The longer your article, the more keywords you can include, and the higher it will rank.” Unfortunately, when it comes to SEO, the length of your article is relative. It’s not an important ranking factor. There are search engines that require “straight-up facts” that are woven into a short blog post while others call for more in-depth content.
Duplicate content on different platforms will make you rank faster:
Duplicating content on different platforms and avenues does not help in search engine ranking. Where many know this as a way to gain a Google penalty, it isn’t!
According to SEO metrics by Google, duplicate content does not get penalized. However, it confuses the search engine as it will not know which one of the identical pages to rank first.
Maintain originality and the right SEO algorithms, and all of your pages will rank highly.
All the geeky, technical stuff:
Forget about technicality, or using the best fonts and alt texts under your images. Your writing is the true SEO magic. Quality content will always rank better than links or images. No matter how many times Google’s algorithm changes, quality content will always remain one of Google’s top SEO requirements.
The Bottom Line:
When it comes to SEO, there’s more to think about than the aforementioned trends. Your writing is all that truly matters. Write for your readers and they will read.
When you write for a machine, it will have a field day, but it won’t keep readers on your page.
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Emily Thompson is a freelance writer who has contributed to publications such as Reviewed, Freedom With Writing, The Sun, and many more. In her free time, she enjoys whipping up recipes with her daughter and walking her dog.
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You have a fundamental misunderstanding about two of these points.
Duplicate content on different platforms is not the same as duplicate content on your own site. Scraping (different platforms) and duplicate content on your own site have different effects with Google. The latter will result in Google ranking only one of your pages – the former can result in a penalty.
The “geeky, technical stuff” is very important. Alt text isn’t for Google – it’s for visually impaired users, and if you don’t have it, Google is less likely to rank your site because it’s less accessible. Without alt text, you are literally setting yourself up for an accessibility lawsuit. When you say fonts don’t matter, they do – from an accessibility standpoint. And headers matter from an SEO standpoint.