Why SEO & CDO are Important to a Writer

The Internet is full of websites. Millions of them. Getting noticed or found in an ocean of sites is a challenge. Even when someone searches directly for us or the content we create, we still might not be one of the first sites to appear.

There are two ways search engines look for content. Both are important and work together to increase the visibility of a website.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) focuses on keywords. When someone searches for a particular word or words, search engines pull up the best examples. Writers can take advantage of this by:

• Good metadata and meta tags. Precise and specific metadata will help people to find you. Metadata describes other data - an image’s resolution or color depth; a document’s creator and length; etc. Meta tags are keywords used to describe a page’s content. These can be added to blog posts in the form of tags or used when setting up a website to list the contents of each page.

• Popular but not competitive key words. You want to use key words in your web copy that people searching for the content will actually use. You also want to appeal to emotion as well as state facts.

• Don’t use generic words. Avoid big words and be more specific. “Automobile” will turn up a million site, but “1975 blue Chevy Corvette” will narrow the search.

• Which brings up the next point - use a string of words. People tend to search with phrases rather than a single word. This is called a long-tail keyword search. “How to write better dialogue” is better than just “Dialogue.”

• Keep an eye on the news and what’s trending. Can you capitalize on what is popular or happening in the world?

Content Discovery Optimization (CDO) focuses on content rather than keywords. It’s looking for detailed and concise information. We can improve our content by:

• Doing our research. Get the facts and the full information. Fluff only works against us.

• Don’t be afraid to go into details. A 200 word piece that casually talks about improving dialogue will be buried in a search by articles that outline all of the options, using bullet points, images, and examples.

• Use current and relevant information. Keep an eye on new developments and the news. Focus on what’s happening right now. Old news won’t draw much attention unless you can put a new twist or spin on it.

Improving our keywords and content doesn’t work just for websites and blogs, either. It can do wonders for our book’s synopsis and gaining its visibility.

Make your work and sites stand out.