One of the small ironies of SEO is that while the internet has decimated the “old media” of newspapers, putting a lot of writers out of work, having a journalistic background can be an advantage in the highly aggressive realm of SEO – because ultimately, whatever the importance of high-traffic websites and relevant back links, for Google it all comes back to words – and let’s not forget phrases.
Such it is that looking over the NSW Writers Centre SEO program, that there are a core group of key-phrases that are simply must-rank, but in achieving big-ticket rankings, one shouldn’t lose sight of the long-string potential of phrases that most of us never know we’re ranking for.
Absolute must-have rankings phrases that any self-respecting writers centre would consider de-rigour, are typically:
writers courses – they have a healthy #4 out of 129 million results
writers course – never forget to check singular vs plural – in this case they’re #5 and #6 out of 274 million results – one thing we specialise in is “double-rankings” – it’s not always achievable but we know how to take a shot at it and it’s double-ROI for the client when it works.
writers workshops – at the start of our campaign they were not seen on the first ten pages of Google results, but now have bounced up to number 6 after just 2 months.
And of course geographical location can be important – but it’s nowhere near as important as it used to be – because Google’s fine-tuning based on location has made searchers lazier.
writers course sydney – a search like this will still be performed by a small group of people.
But the game isn’t complete without checking word variations and in this case it’s worth exploring the word ‘writing’ as an alternative search term. Being ranked for writing course is in fact more important than ‘writers’. And interestingly Google chooses to rate writing courses as a separate search to the singular.
One must then branch into the next phase of SEO, the 3-word phrase, and one of the most crucial ones for NSW Writers Centre is:
creative writing courses – previously not seen on the first ten pages, they have now clawed their way onto the first page – they’re at #10 – a lot more work required to reach the summit but at least they’re at base camp.
Combine much of the above permutations together and you get creative writing courses sydney which they could likely do with a push on as they’re currently at #9.
Invariably expanding into other terrain it’s early days for them with the phrase business writing course which they’ll be keen to see float upwards from #26.
For more info on best practice SEO and social media call Stewart Dawes on 0413 276 780.
Most Searched Terms: SEO, creative writing courses, sydney writers, writing classes, best writers workshops in sydney, SEO in the creative arts, SEO vs journalism.