Are you struggling to draw readers to your website or blog? Trust me, I know the feeling. Here’s 8 ways to use keywords effectively in online writing. I’m not adwords expert, but I have learned a few online writing tips in my two years at Suite101.

I wrote this in response to an email from Siobhan, a fellow Suite101 writer: “Help! I’m struggling with KEYWORDS and linking…I feel good about the article and I’m okay with the subheadings…but it’s the keywords that are killing me. I don’t know how to do it right!”

Siobhan, you’re not alone. Here’s how to use keywords the right way when you’re writing online…but first, a quip from Annie Dillard. (Click the book cover for more information).

“One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book: give it, give it all, give it now,” says Dillard. “The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water.”

Of course, Dillard wasn’t talking about keywords - nor is she an adwords expert - but still…what a great writing quotation! Spend it all now, fellow scribes.

10 Ways to Use Keywords Effectively When Writing for the Web

1. Keep studying keywords. Think you know it all? Think again. I daresay every article on the internet about online writing and keywords will teach you something new, or reinforce what you already know. The most skilled, talented writers keep learning about their craft. Buy books that you can read and re-read - such as How to Make Money With Your Blog by Duane Forrester and Gavin Powell (pictured).

2. Use words and phrases that people actually search for. Look at my title, for instance. Is it a search term? I’m fairly sure that “how to use keywords effectively” is a search term - I’ve used it myself! To narrow down a broad search term (”writing for the web” is too broad), Google the phrase “keyword suggestion tools.” With these tools, and time and effort, you’ll hit the exact right search term. Effective keywords and web writing requires you to strike a balance between being too common versus too rare.

3.  Create a specific title. I like “10 Ways to Use Keywords Effectively When Writing for the Web” because it summarizes exactly what I’m trying to convey. Plus, it answers specific questions: How do I use keywords effectively? How do I write for the web? To be really specific, I sometimes use a Title: Subtitle combination (we’re required to do that at Suite101). Finding the right title can be the most time-consuming part of writing for a website (or a print magazine); I struggle with titles all the time. 

4. Vary your keyword phrases. In the article Siobhan asked me to help her with - the first she’d ever written for Suite101 - she kept using a variation of the same words. Her first five keywords all included “nanny working with parents at home” or some variation. She repeated those same keywords five times in her first six keyword phrases…but she only needed to do it once. The adwords experts at Suite say that repeating keywords backfires because it eliminates your chance to use different keywords. Different keywords that mean the same thing can increase traffic.

5. Pepper your article with keywords and key phrases. Sprinkle keywords in every paragraph, if possible. It seems redundant, but it’s necessary to keep your article high in the search engines. After I write my article, I often go back and add my keywords to various sentences. But don’t go crazy - my first few dozen articles for Psychology Suite101 (I’m the Feature Writer there) are embarrassingly full of keywords. I had read info about “how to use keywords effectively”, but I went overboard.

6. Make your subheadings keywords. Subheadings are your best friends forever, both in writing for the web and writing for print. To use keywords effectively, include them in your subheadings. Making your phrases work as both subheadings and keywords can strengthen your whole article.  This may be too obviously repetitive if you do it for every subheading, but it could work - I’ve seen it done well. And remember, if you do it for one subheading, you should do it for the others.

7. Perfect the first sentence. When you Google something like “how to use keywords effectively”, you always see the first line of the article directly underneath the article title. That’s a crucial sentence! It’ll convince your reader to click on or move on. Similarly, when you’re writing for the web let the first one, two, or three sentences in your article be their own paragraph - otherwise there’s too much text cluttering up the beginning of the article. In fact, all paragraphs should be less than five or six sentences long.

8. Study excellent articles. Pick a topic - any topic - and Google it. The first page of that you see should contain articles written by people who know how to use keywords effectively. On Suite101, there are dozens of Editor’s Choice articles, which highlight the most excellent articles on Suite. These Editor’s Choice awards go to the writer that has hit upon the key points of writing for the web; they really represent the best in Suite writing. Look at these excellent examples of web writing, and practice applying what you see to your own blog.

Writing for the web really takes practice - so be patient. Before you know it, you’ll be using keywords effectively without even realizing it!