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What is an SEO Writer?

B. Miller
B. Miller

An SEO writer is a professional writer who creates web content based on search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Because SEO is really only relevant or possible online, an SEO writer is solely a web writer. Many SEO writers, however, have other writing jobs both online and offline, so it is best to consider this when beginning a career as a writer.

It is the responsibility of an SEO writer to incorporate a keyword, or number of keywords, into each written passage for a particular website. For instance, a website might give a writer the assignment to create an article or blog post about healthy vegetarian lasagna; the keyword in this instance might be "healthy vegetarian lasagna," which the writer will be expected to use a certain number of times within the passage. Certain other keywords or tag words might be provided that are related to the topic at hand, such as "vegetarian cooking," "vegetarian recipes," or "vegetable lasagna," just to name a few.

SEO writers create content for the web based on SEO techniques.
SEO writers create content for the web based on SEO techniques.

Then, when search engines are indexing the website to include it in search results for "healthy vegetarian lasagna," the website that uses SEO will likely be ranked higher in the results because it uses the keyword a high number of times. It is the job of the SEO writer to incorporate the keywords into each passage in a non-obvious way. The reader should, in a well written passage, not be able to tell that he or she is reading a post based on search engine optimization techniques.

Many techniques that are now considered black hat SEO used to be perfectly legitimate, but some people abused these methods and caused problems for others on the Internet.
Many techniques that are now considered black hat SEO used to be perfectly legitimate, but some people abused these methods and caused problems for others on the Internet.

An SEO writer may also be responsible for adding tags to the posts once they are written, which can also make the posts easier for search engines to find. These tags may be simple things like "recipes," "vegetarianism," or "cooking," etc. The more search keywords that can be incorporated into a post, the easier it will be for users to find. The companies that use SEO typically do it for advertising purposes; many companies use pay-per-click advertising where the company receives a certain percentage of income whenever a web user clicks onto their website, based on the ads they are displaying.

SEO writers may use keywords and tags to assist with proper pay-per-click advertisement placement.
SEO writers may use keywords and tags to assist with proper pay-per-click advertisement placement.

Typically, an SEO writer will submit his or her work to an editor. It is generally not the job of the writer to edit or proofread their own work, though it is expected that the work will be reasonably free of errors. Many SEO writers are freelancers, and it can be a great way to supplement income.

Discussion Comments

Mor

@indigomoth - Another SEO tip is to make sure you have a Google Alert on each of your articles. That way, if someone copies them you will be notified. If there are multiple copies of your article online, it doesn't matter how great it is, Google won't like it and will mark it down. They also say it is guided by how long people stay on the page, and that you can be penalized for putting too many SEO keywords into an article.

It's all speculation though, since Google refuses to let people know exactly how the search algorithms work. They know that if people know they would come up with ways of getting around the system.

indigomoth

The skills you need to be a good SEO writer are constantly changing, as Google and the other search engines change their search algorithms. Generally, I think the best way to stay up top of the search pages is to try and write the best and most useful SEO content you can. If it is really relevant and interesting, people will link to it and come back to it.

If you can get enough people to do that it will increase your SEO relevancy more than stuffing a lot of keywords into the article.

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    • SEO writers create content for the web based on SEO techniques.
      By: ronstik
      SEO writers create content for the web based on SEO techniques.
    • Many techniques that are now considered black hat SEO used to be perfectly legitimate, but some people abused these methods and caused problems for others on the Internet.
      By: Eugenio Marongiu
      Many techniques that are now considered black hat SEO used to be perfectly legitimate, but some people abused these methods and caused problems for others on the Internet.
    • SEO writers may use keywords and tags to assist with proper pay-per-click advertisement placement.
      SEO writers may use keywords and tags to assist with proper pay-per-click advertisement placement.
    • Since SEO is only possible online, an SEO writer is solely a web writer.
      By: Adam Radosavljevic
      Since SEO is only possible online, an SEO writer is solely a web writer.