10 Quick Tips For Using Keywords In Your Article Submissions

Using keywords in your article submissions is a whole lot easier than you might think.

It’s great to know what your keywords are, but sometimes it seems like authors are just not sure what in the world they’re supposed to do with the keywords once they’ve researched them and are ready to start submitting articles.

I hear ya!

I know that this topic can seem confusing sometimes, but it doesn’t have to be.

Here are some essential but quick tips for using your keywords in your articles:

1) Within each article, keep the keyword density below 3%. If you’re a member of SubmitYOURArticle.com, you don’t have to worry about this–there is a build-in tool that will alert you if you’ve gone over 3%.

2) Develop a list of 20-30 keywords and phrases.

3) Use a variety of keywords across all of your articles, and don’t focus on just one keyword or phrase all the time.

4) When you’re writing an article, pick one or more of those keywords to use in your article. Use semantically related versions of the word in your article rather than the same keyword over and over again. When I say semantically related, I mean for example: sail boats, sailing boats, sail boat gear, how to sail a boat, etc. All of those phrases are semantically related, but they are different. Google recognizes semantically related keywords, so it’s not necessary (or recommended) to use the same exact phrase over and over again.

5) Every couple of months update your keyword research–that list of 20-30 keywords will not necessarily stay the same for the lifetime of your website. Update your list regularly.

6) Focus on long-tail keyword terms in your articles. Long-tail terms (3-5 words long) are longer than your regular keywords (which are 1-2 words long).

Your basic keyword phrase may be this: dog collars

Your long-tail keyphrase may be: pink rhinestone dog collars

While there may not be as many people searching for the long-tail keyword phrases as your more general keywords, it is easier to rank higher for those search terms (due to less competition), and it’s easier to write an article to satisfy those terms. By writing your articles around your long-tail keyword terms, you can effectively create a blanket coverage of all applicable keywords, all directing readers to your site.

7) Titles are great places to use keywords, if appropriate. If you would like to use your keywords in your title, then your article must deliver on what your title promises. For example, if your keywords are “New Jersey bakery” and you’d like to use that term in your title, then your article must be about New Jersey bakery(ies). If your article is not about a topic that specific, then you should not include your keywords in your title. Always, your title should reflect what your article is about.

8 ) Resource boxes are also good spots for keywords, but do remember to switch them up, especially if you’re using an HTML resource box. If you repeatedly hyperlink the same words, it can be interpreted as trying to be manipulative of Google–which Google doesn’t appreciate! By varying your anchor text (the keywords that you’re hyperlinking) in your HTML resource box, it’s non-manipulative but helps Google get a good idea what your site is about. Try linking to varied semantically related key phrases rather than the same keywords all the time.

9) Write on the topic of your website–that will go a long ways toward creating keyword rich articles.

10) Write naturally, and focus on readability rather than trying to get your keywords in the article as much as possible. A reader should not be able to tell that you’re focusing on certain keywords–they should just think that they’re reading a quality article on a specific topic.

Really, if you follow these 10 simple guidelines you will have much greater success with your keywords, you’ll create higher quality articles, and you’ll make things much easier on yourself!

Photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography

Additional Resources:

SEO For Article Marketers: a collection of resources about link building, SEO, keywords, writing with search engines in mind, stats tracking tools, and more.

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