SEO for Journalists:Taking your New Feature to top Google Pages

SEO corrupts journalism. In a world where including a keyword has taken over quality and content of articles, many would be forgiven for adopting this idea. However, this is far from the truth. For the journalists who realise that trending in top Google pages goes beyond stuffing of keywords, the future is bright.

Understanding search engine optimisation is important for every journalist who dreams of taking his writing career to the next level. Comprehending the relationship between your writing skills and the digital era is important. Remember, it is not all about the lessons you learnt in the school of journalism. Instead, approach your writing from a more realistic angle. How will the readers understand you? How do you acquire the global exposure that every journalist yearns for? The answer lies in search engine optimisation. So how do you ensure that you get your news trending without losing the highly esteemed journalism ethics? Here are the secrets!

It’s still about the Inverted Pyramid

One of the most widely used theories in the school of Journalism is the Emil Dovifat theory of arranging facts. It recommends that news features should be highlighted in order of importance. It is the same with SEO. Search engines grade articles and new features in order of relevance. If your article doesn’t catch the reader’s attention in the first few lines, then another one will. Technically, embracing SEO techniques is not all about forgetting the Journalism rule; you only need modifications to fit into the online world.

Search engine optimisation doesn’t mean compromising on your artistic integrity and settling for less than you are capable of.

Make the title tags and Meta descriptions count

Before publishing your work, you need to be certain that the search engines will discover it using the least of efforts. Optimising the title tags and Meta descriptions plays a significant role in achieving this. Use applications like the Google Keyword Planner to search for the most appropriate keywords which best suit your articles. Subsequently, incorporate these keywords into the head sections of the article pages HTML codes.

It is essential to ensure that your keywords fit naturally into the headlines and Meta tags without necessarily misleading the readers or distracting them from the main agenda. Ideally, you want the entire Meta tag to appear in the search engine result pages so keep it below 65 characters. The Meta descriptions on the other hand, should be less than 160 characters if they are to be captured entirely in the search engine results.

Blending SEO and journalism doesn’t mean forgetting all about your audience; you are there for them. Make the Meta tags compelling enough to click on. Carry on with you your journalistic duties while upholding the governing principles by conveying the crucial facts in the headlines and tags, and you will never be worried about your article reaching the intended audience.

Keep it Organised

Gaining entry into the online world has nothing in common with disorganisation. Just because there are no page layouts to guide you doesn’t mean your news feature should resemble a 19^th Century Journal. Organise your articles using bullet pints, creative sub-headings, a variety of numbered lists and even pull quotes.

Try to visualise your reader who has been in front of the screen all day. Will he/she give attention to the lengthy paragraphs and inappropriately formatted work? Let the spiders crawl through your article and find it simple, organised, and presentable. You can be certain that they will have no problem displaying it among the first result pages in the News Feature.

The power of Descriptive Images

Every journalist should learn the simple fact that search engines have no capability of crawling through the images. It is all about the accompanying image’s alt tags and the image descriptions. Make the alt attributes in the image tags count by making them more relevant and keyword dense. Give the search engines an easier task of finding the attached images in your news feature.

Tactfully Link the relevant sites

Journalists need to learn and embrace the power of link building when it comes to search engine optimisation. Linking your news feature with other notable sites gives your article better chances of getting first page appearances. However, this should be handled tactfully without exposing your motives to the unsuspecting readers. Giving credit where it’s due is an essential writing technique so start by linking credible sources where you obtained some of your writing ideas from. Use external links containing descriptive anchor texts in citing these links.

There might be other relevant sites sharing related news features; make the power of link building work for you. Someone who has interest reading about obesity might also like articles featuring weight loss techniques. In the process, you will not only be keeping your readers engaged immediately after reading your article but this also ensures that you stand better chances of having your article featured among the first few pages of search engine results.

The Headlines still Count

In the SEO world, the headlines play a significant role that can’t be underestimated. Present your article with the best headline that will not only aid the search engines in locating your work, but also get your target audience attracted the moment they spot it. The idea of testing several headlines before making the final decision is advisable. Type your choices of a headline in the Google search box and see the results it generates. Do the results bear close resemblance to your story? How many search results were generated?

Although used by marketers and not necessarily journalists, tools like Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyser can also help you test the quality of your title. Capture the essential details of your news features in the headlines and ‘sell’ it to your audience without the slightest arousal of marketing motives. Optimising your headlines for search engines shouldn’t compromise the integrity of your work. Keep the headline information relevant to the rest of the article and convey your message without raising unnecessary suspicions amongst your readers.

It has always been the content; nothing has changed

Contrary to what most journalists believe, SEO has not killed the spirit of quality writing and creative imagination. As a journalist, you do not have to compromise on the quality of your news feature for the sake of a good search engine ranking. Just like in print media, answer the five W’s and H in your articles. Make the what, who, why, when, where and how lavishly revealed in your news feature. Make the difference after reading your article because no one wants to remain the same after going through a masterpiece. You not only want to inform your audience of something you’re passionate about but also capture their emotions and attention throughout the article. The search engine robots give precedence to relevance when displaying the search results. Enriching your content with informative pieces gives your article higher chances of appearing in first search engine pages. So how best do you achieve this?

• Avoid repetitive content structure simply because you want to make your article keyword dense. Have the keywords in mind but do not let that compromise the news feature. Remember it’s news and not SEO blog post.

• Use anchor texts to link your article to other relevant post or news features. An informative journalism piece goes beyond the obvious motive of supplying particular information; it gives you insight into other relevant ideas that might spark your interest.

• It is a digital world so try balancing the vocabulary, theoretical and practical relevance. In displaying your content, make it easier for your readers to find you by including keyword phrases and not just single words.

• Use relevant tools like Google Keyword Planner in finding the best keywords thatseamlessly fit in with the body and the title of your article. Slot in these keywords in your article. While doing this, ensure even distribution of the keywords without necessarily being monotonous.

• Naturally and skilfully, fit the relevant keywords in the content of the article without making the content too keyword dense. It might get you penalised.

Organise the URL

Before publishing your content, ensure that the URL in which it is hosted is well organised and perfectly descriptive. Just like in print media where every article should fits its rightful place, it’s also important that your news feature fits perfectly into a relevant section. Restructuring the URL’s by including hyphens instead of underscores not only make it easier for the users to identify with it but also counts when it comes location of the article by the search engine robots. For instance a URL like www.NewYorkTimes/2015/November/Paris-Attack-Leaves-hundereds-dead is more captivating than www.NewYorkTimes/2015/11/Paris-AttackLeaveshunderedsdead. Whenever possible, have the SEO optimised title of the article included in the URL. It eases the work of search engines in locating your article and presenting it to the right audience.

At this point, most of the journalists are probably cursing for obvious reasons; going against some of the common journalism style writing styles. However, the truth is that getting your content the online attention it deserves goes beyond perfect adherence to the Ethics. The future is bright for the journalists who are willing to blend their writing skills with essential SEO techniques.

VinodJethwani is the CEO and Founder of Walnut Solutions and he helps web based companies with his SEO strategies to grown their revenue. He started his career in 2007 as a software developer with an Indian based MNC and later in 2011 became an entrepreneur. Follow him on Twitter @VinodJethwani or through his blog.