By now you probably know that writing content for the Internet requires a combination of creativity and technical skill. In addition to producing content that’s well-written, relevant, and engaging, go the extra mile to make sure it’s SEO friendly.

These are two goals that should always be top of mind. I want to share a couple of tips in order for you to produce material that’s optimized for search engines:

1. Do Keyword Research Before Starting to Write

If you want to dominate search results, figure out what keywords or phrases your audience is looking for. This provides a guideline on the kind of topic you should be writing about and how to best structure the content so your target audience can easily find your post.

2. Determine the Purpose of Your Article

Think carefully about what your post is going to be about. Ask yourself what your objective is, what you want your readers to do after reading your article, or what question you hope to answer. It helps to actually write down the answers to these questions to understand the intention behind your audience’s searches. Then your articles can be tailored to address them.

3. Write Following a Clear Structure

Readable, SEO-friendly posts almost always follow a clear writing structure that divides all your salient points into a readable, engaging post. Typically, it will start with an introduction of your topic, then the main body of text containing your message, a clear conclusion recapping the main ideas, and prompting your audience to respond to your call to action.

4. Divide Your Post Using Headers

Avoid writing a big wall of text. These are hard to read and can easily put readers off. Instead, divide your post into short paragraphs and use relevant headings. Proper headings can help search engines better understand what your post is about and make it more likely to be found during searches.

5. Make Sure Your Writing Style is Natural

Through the years, search engines have become a lot smarter about pulling up relevant searches. Keyword stuffing no longer ensures your posts rank at the top of searches. These days, algorithms take into account a lot of factors that involve the thoughtful use of keywords and phrases as well as related keywords.

6. Use Links in a Smart Way

You have probably already written previous content related to the material you’ve just produced—be sure to link to it. This makes it easier for Google to recognize the relevance of your new post for that specific topic, and boost its visibility on search engines.

While it’s good to keep these SEO tips in mind, you should be writing to prioritize quality above everything else. Search engines can detect if you’re trying to stuff your post with keywords and links just to rank high on searches and will penalize you for it.

Hope my answer helps! If you have more questions, feel free to comment below or join the conversation on Twitter and LinkedIn.