After blogging for over three years I have learned a lot of things about search engine marketing and keyword ranking. And one of the things that I have learned is that it really doesn’t take a lot of content to rank for keywords in Google. Granted, there are a lot of contributing factors towards ranking for keywords, but I am finding that the amount of content written doesn’t really hold too much weight in the equation.

Content adds quality to a page. It adds value, and typically, it provides people with what they are looking for. I believe that that is what Google and other search engines seek. They seek, index, and rank pages that they feel will be important to people. In doing so, that makes their search engine favorable because people find what they need. So, in most cases, as a publisher, writing content is what’s needed to achieve ranking. But the question remains, “How much content is needed?” Many publishers feel like a lot is required, when in many cases, it’s not.

A large amount of content isn’t always necessary to achieve ranking. Content is very important, but publishers should be aware that thousands of words on a page isn’t always required to achieve keyword ranking. The point I’m aiming to get across here is that writing content is difficult, takes a lot of time, and requires a lot effort. So, putting in more resources than what’s needed is a waste. With many jobs, it’s the duty of managers to control costs and expenses, to manage payroll and control hours, and oversee that excessive materials are not being used to complete the job.

The same should apply with content writing and search engine ranking. Don’t assume that content is always “King” when it comes to targeting keywords in Google and other search engines. I have learned that the “King” is with identifying alternative keywords and phrases that have low levels of competition with high search counts. The second part is identifying what it will take to rank above the existing competition on the search result page.

When you have it set in your mind that you want rank for certain keywords and phrases, take time to study your competition on the search results page. Ask yourself, “How did they rank for this keyword?” and investigate. Once you discover how your competition achieved their ranking, then you will have a better idea of knowing how much of your own resources you’ll need to use towards ranking above them.

My point is this: The amount of content is only a small factorization in the equation of search engine ranking. Content is much like butter on toast, milk in cereal, or sugar in coffee. Content really only adds flavor to a page. And with keyword ranking, it’s your job to figure out the ingredients needed to make toast, cereal, and coffee. After you do that, then you’ll know exactly how much butter, milk, and suger to add.

If you’re a blogger, then you’re probably always on the look out for easy topics to write about so that you can build more content on your blog. The more content you have on your blog, the more potential you have for increase traffic and subscribers.

So, how do you get content for free you might be asking? Well, there are quite a few ways, but in this post I’ll reveal one. This is exactly what I suggested to one of my clients over a year ago. And today, he has more traffic than he can shake a stick at. In the near future I’ll even reveal some more ways to get content for free. In the mean time, let’s talk about this proven method first.

First thing, you need a blog. If you don’t have a blog… install one or have someone do it for you. Try to match the blog theme to your regular site theme. Quite honestly, it would be helpful if you already have an established site or blog, because getting this free content is going to come direct from the people who visit your site.

If you don’t have a source of traffic, then you’re going to need to find one. If you have a lot of friends in an online community, social network, or forum, that can work too. This group of friends or people you know, all need to share the same interest. An example would be gardening.

Now basically how it works is like this, you need to send out an email or instant message or group message to all your friends within your network or online group. I am sure you can now see what already having a blog or website plays to your advantage. But, once again, if you don’t already have a site, it’s ok… the important thing to have is a large group of friends.

The email that you’re going to send to your group is more of an announcement letting them know that you’re going to be running a large QnA on your new website, and that they are invited to participate.

You can further explain that their participating will earn them traffic to their own website over time. In order to participate, only two things are needed. They need to ask you a question and provide a lot of details or explanation, and secondly, they need to give you permission to publish their question on your website. After that, you have free content for your blog.

Now, you might be wondering about “Answers” to the questions being asked. This part is simple. At the bottom of the post, encourage others to use the comment form to supply their answers. You can also explain that answering questions can help boost traffic to the person’s website who answers the question. If all else fails, bite the bullet and answer the question yourself.

The key to remember is to explain to the group that you’re contacting is to “Include Details” in their question. You want them to explain everything, or at least provide you with about 250 to 500 words. Also, because you have raw material being sent to you via email for free, you can now afford time to edit the content and shape it up a little bit and even do some SEO on it.

All in all, most people don’t understand the value of content like we do. It cracks me up when I see people texting each other or using instant messenger. I say to myself, I sure wish they would do that on my blog! I love free content and even crazy instant messenger chat content has some value to it.

What are some other things you can think of to get free and unique content? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

As a blogger, often I find myself staring at a blank white screen, wondering what I should write about. My job as an author is to write content that I monetize towards earning money online. The tools I use are simple. I need a tool that enables me to discover which keywords are profitable. The Google AdWords Keyword Tool is a great example. The second tool is I need a platform to use to publish my writing on line. WordPress is a great example. Inside of that, of course, there are a few other tools needed in my business, but overall I just need to know what is keywords are hot and I need a an online word processor. But what happens when I have that terrible case of writers block?

From time to time though, I sit here staring at that blank white screen. I have writers block. And as a writer, that can be a very scary thing. Over time I have learned how to deal with what I call search engine marketer’s writers block, and I want to share with you one of the solutions I have created towards dealing with it. The solution is so simply, you will kick yourself for not thinking about it on your own.

So here is what I do to eliminate writers block. I ask people what advice do they need. How can I help you? What can I help you with? In short, I open up my email inbox, open up my instant messenger profiles, and open my social networking profiles to the public and I ask people, How Can I Help You? And I invite people to contact me with their questions.

The next thing that happens is a beautiful thing. In less than 24 hours, I have enough material to write about for almost an entire month! Granted I have a lot of contacts, but really, you don’t have to know a lot of people in order to get requests for help. For instance, if you have around 100 people following you on Twitter, you can simply write a tweet stating that you have experience with a certain skill, does anyone need help? If you do that, it is very likely that at least one person will reply with a request for help.

The next step is to take the material that you have received and write content based off these requests. The process is the same as you would apply for any article publication. Research your material, research your keywords and proceed to produce a very well written article and publish it on your blog. After you publish the article, send an email back to the person who requested your help and inform that person that you wrote an entire article for them and published it live on your blog. They will be so thrilled that you took so much time to help them.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this article. What are some other ways search engine marketers can do to avoid writers block? Share your feedback and opinions in the comments below.

I know this is an SEO blog, but I’m going to stray off the beaten path a bit with this post. I want to discuss the importance of website copywriting. Of course, SEO is an important part of copywriting, but there is so much more to it than placing keywords in your content.

What you need to think about is what your plan is for converting the visitors once they land on your website. After all, what good is it ranking well if your content stinks? Search engine rankings are not the be-all-end-all for SEO.

In all forms of copywriting, convincing the customer you’re worthy of their business is important. This is especially true online because the consumer is even more wary of doing business with a company they’ve never heard of online.

The website copywriter’s job is to tell the visitor what makes them so special. And no, that doesn’t mean cliché statements like “Customer service is our number one priority.” Also, “We are the experts in our industry” doesn’t count either.

Everyone says these things. Frankly, the consumer isn’t buying it.

Your website copy should tell the customer specific reasons your company is unique. More importantly, they need to understand how these unique features will benefit them. Because at the end of the day, all the consumer cares about is how your product will benefit them.

For instance, suppose you manage a business that makes team uniforms for youth sports leagues. Maybe you are the only uniform design company that prints and sews the uniforms in-house. You could let the customers know that since you do all the work yourself, you’re able to pass the savings on to them and directly oversee the quality of the uniform.

Or, maybe you run a jewelry store. If you have a designer on location, you could differentiate yourself by telling your customers you’re the only store that can custom design pieces instantly. This saves them money, and allows more flexibility in the design of their jewelry.

So, spend some time this week identifying what really differentiates your company from the others. Then, incorporate that into your website copy. You’ll truly begin to convince visitors that you’re worth their business.