SEO Writing Checklist: Write Winning Articles in 15 Easy Steps

 

A cheat sheet for writing winning SEO articles that rank on page one of Google.

 

1) Match search intent: Does your article match search intent by addressing the most common and related issues in the people also asked section?

 

2) Heading tags: Did you use heading tags to structure your article?

• H1
• H2s
• H3s

 

3) Keyword placement: Have you placed your keyword in important places in your article?

• First paragraph
• Heading (H1) a.k.a Title 
• Subheadings (H2s and H3s)
• Last paragraph
• URL Slug
• Meta Title
• Meta Description
• Images
• Image alt text

 

4) Keyword density: Is your keyword density around 1% of your article? [i.e. keyword should appear 10 times for a 1,000-word article]

 

5) Semantic words: Are there semantically related words in your article? (e.g. you can’t talk about search engines and not mention Google and Bing)

 

6) Internal Links: Have you added relevant internal links with matching anchor text? (At least 4-7)

 

7) External Links: Have you added at least 1 relevant external link?

 

8) Active voice: Did you use the active voice in your article? 

 

9) Short sentences: Are your sentences short and punchy?

 

10) Short parapgrahs: Are your paragraphs short and easy on the eyes?

 

11) Simple words: Is your article easy to read and understand? Did you cut off jargon? (This depends on your niche and audience, but simplicity always wins)

 

12) Multimedia: Did you include images and/or videos in your article? 

 

Did you rename the images to include your keyword before uploading? 

 

Have you written the alt text of the images to include your keyword?

(NOTE: Avoid copyrighted images/videos that require a licence for use. Unless you and your client have the permission)

 

13) Quality check:

1. a) Plagiarism 

Have you checked to ensure plagiarism is below 5% and doesn’t contain any obvious and fatal copy of someone else’s work?

 

1. b) AI Score (if that’s something your client cares about)

Is your AI score less than 20%?

 

14) Final checks

Is your intro and hook catchy enough?

Have you included CTAs where relevant?

 

15) After publishing: Internal link from other articles/pages on your website to your new article.

 

Things To Avoid

 

1. I) Keyword stuffing (using your keyword in more than 1.5% of your article)

 

Ii) Copying other articles (plagiarism). 

 

Iii) AI score more than 20% (some clients hate it)

 

Iv) Copyrighted images (can put you or clients in trouble. Find free stock images on Canva)

 

A Little Heads Up 

You can do everything right and still not rank.

 

Here are 5 reasons why;

1. a) Low Domain Authority.
2. b) Low Topical Mapping.
3. c) The website has the same/similar article on page one.
4. d) The website has technical issues.
5. e) Google has penalized the website.

 

I wish you top rankings.

 

Made with much love, Tari.

 

PS: If you found this valuable, there’s more where it came from.

You can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube @tariyousuotech.

 

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