One of the ways to keep driving traffic to your site is by writing and publishing informative articles on your site or on article submission directories. While writing quality articles with the right keywords is important from the SEO perspective, keeping it informative and interesting to your readers is equally necesary.

The keywords are important so the search engines can pick you out among the zillions of sites clamouring to be noticed. And by writing on current industry trends, you become a source of information for people. Even a casual visitor to your site may then become an interested reader, and, if everything else works out, a customer.

Why should articles be optimized for search engines? And how do you do it?

Quite simply, to drive more traffic to your site and increase conversions. Of course, article writing is not the only SEO trick you can pull, but it’s definitely an important one. Content is king today, and you better bow down.

It’s not enough if you write well or know a lot in the specific area of your work. You need to put yourself in the shoes of your reader/potential customer and insert those keywords in the text which they may use when searching for a service you provide. A little bit of imagination and help from some tools like Keyword Tool by Google Adwords will get you a list of keywords you need to use for a particular article.

But be discerning and creative. Don’t go for all the keywords that are automatically generated or rely solely on such tools. You know your work best and you deal with your customers daily. You are in tune with what your customers are looking for. So, if you try, you can easily get capital keyword ideas.

The keywords then have to be weaved into the sales copy, travel writing, blog post or any other piece of online writing that you intend to use.

Avoid keyword stuffing

Using keywords can work both ways for you, unless you maintain the delicate balance between keyword-friendly and keyword stuffed copy. Remember, you are not writing ‘for’ search engines, but are just using them to get to real people.
I have my doubts about the purchasing power of a bot and bots are super-smart these days. They will not even sniff something that reeks of keywords.

Write articles to create value for your readers and be recognized as an authority in your domain. Genuine wisdom will find a lot of takers, who will eventually become believers/fans, and God willing, buyers.

Get professional help: outsource your content needs

If you feel you are getting more caught up with running your business or if writing is not your core area of expertise, you can always get professional ghostwriters to do the job for you. Give them a clear brief on what you expect, work out a production schedule, and make sure both of you understand each other’s terms perfectly well. If you can show the content writer examples of the kind of work you’re expecting, that will make it easier for both of you.

Article submission – how it helps

Submitting articles to directory sites will generate inbound links to your site. You can also cash in on the submission site’s traffic volume that your site may or may not enjoy. Thus, you get more eyeballs too.

But, again, select the article submission sites with care. Check if they link to spammy or adult sites. The top article directories that come to mind are EzineArticles and Buzzle. But there are many other quality sites you can choose from.

Keyword-rich and interesting articles will win you readers interested in your niche area. It doesn’t happen overnight, but the fruits are sweet.