When it comes to earning online, one of the best things you can do is by writing articles. On average, content writers can make a lot, depending on the project or piece that they’re writing. Intermediate level writers can earn as much as $30/hour or $.11 – .25 per word. As you can see, writing is a lucrative job that, if done correctly, can earn people a lot of money.

So why do writers earn such an amount? Well, the trick here is that the articles that writers write need to rank high and convert. In articles, ranking means the place at which your piece gets placed on a search engine results page when searching for something specific. A high ranking would mean that your article is on the first page. Although being on the second and third pages might be okay, being on the first page yields the highest conversions. 

Conversion means that whenever users or visitors get to read your article, they find something in it which persuades or interests them to click on a specific link within it. Roughly speaking, more people who feel good about your article can become a lead. 

However, it takes more than just a “good feeling” for your article to rank and convert. Here are some of the best tips for writing an article that can rank incredibly high.

Minding Your Word Count

One of the best ways to get people hooked on your article is by writing “meaty” articles. Meaty articles are pieces that often have a thousand words or more in them. However, word count isn’t the sole reason a piece can be considered as meaty. Articles should also provide users with relevant information and less fluff about the stuff they’re searching for.

Most word processing programs often have word counters that can be used to monitor the words you’re using in your article. However, to be more thorough in following your article word count, you can use an online character counter. 

Content Is Key

Although a 1000 word article can have a more significant advantage to ranking compared to a 500-word article, a clear and concise 500-word article can beat out a fluffed filled 1000 word article any day. Take note that visitors read an article, not because of its word count, but its content. Content is critical whenever you want your articles to rank high.   

Research, Research, and Some More Research

Most of the time, having some knowledge about a specific topic can be a great help for writers who want to write some incredible stuff. However, no writer knows everything in this world or life. This fact is the reason why writers should always do credible research.

Remember, when writing for specific content or topic, do note that most of the possible readers are knowledgeable about that topic. If you’re writing about something they already know, chances are that you won’t get very far with your article. Try to be thorough and research as much as possible when writing about something very specific.

Being SEO-Savvy

Having at least an understanding of how SEO works is a significant advantage for writers who know SEO than those who don’t. SEO stands for search engine optimization. SEO involves a lot of processes that help tweak a website or article to fit the requirements of a search engine better.

Although it sounds easy, the “requirements” or algorithms that search engines use to separate the good stuff from the bad stuff online aren’t readily available and are often closely guarded secrets. You can say that SEO is a study or more like an effort from everyone all over the world dedicated to finding those algorithms. 

Plagiarism Is a Big No

Copying other people’s work and calling it your own is a good way to get yourself a nasty reputation and can even land you in jail. Search engines can also flag your articles if it contains plagiarized content. Because of this, search engines penalize writers who create plagiarized content by giving them extremely low rankings or by not giving them ranking at all.

Always remember that originality is still the best way to go when writing an article. It may sound complicated, but borrowing someone’s idea and writing your understanding about that idea isn’t plagiarism. If you must use a thought or idea that’s already published, you should give due credit.

Keywords

Some of the stuff you’ll learn in SEO is the importance of a keyword, it’s placement and usage in an article. Keywords are words or phrases that help people find a particular website, product, or anything online when reading an article. Most of the time, keywords are also the words that users type in the search bar of search engines. 

With placement, a writer should know when and where to insert keywords in an article. A good placement could be the headings of your article, the content itself, meta description, title tags, etc. When using keywords, make sure they’re not forced or too obvious. 

For example, if your article is about “shoes,” and your keyword is “buying shoes,” try to insert the keyword in your article where it feels natural. Users will know that a keyword is being forced when it sounds too persuasive or out of place in an article.

Takeaway

One of the best feelings a writer can have is writing an article that ranks high on the results page of a search engine. The tips mentioned above are great ways to create content that’s informative and useful for both businesses and readers alike.