So, I was cruising down MLK Blvd in my lowrider like usual, and T-Dog and Big Mike were riding with me. While T-Dog loaded his 9mm with a fresh clip, he turned to me and asked, “What’s this open source thing I keep hearing about? Sounds kind of lame, holmes,” and proceeded to empty said clip out the window at pedestrians.

I was busy checking the rear view mirror because Big Mike was in the backseat having a fit of the fear–all twisting his arms and legs while foaming at the mouth. He kept saying something about squirrels.

The question finally registered and I go, “Oh, it’s just a way to streamline your computer needs with superior software at zero cost to you.”

T-Dog stopped firing and got this look of awe, “So, you’re saying I can increase the productivity and viability of my business, work less hours for more money, and it’s completely free and @$!#, holmes? Tell me more!”

So the following is the precise thing I told him:

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Why you need to learn SEO
It appears in more and more of the job postings. Along with the regular job description, under skills, it says ‘SEO’. Search Engine Optimization. The buyers want it.

Because I am a commercial writer, it’s up to me to provide what my customers want.

This article isn’t a tutorial on SEO. You can find a tutorial here- seo tutorial. That’s where I’m learning it now. I don’t intend to become an expert, but I do want to learn enough to pass the SEO test on oDesk. I want that skill to show up in my profile.

If buyers are requesting it, I’m darn sure going to provide it. I’m suggesting that you do the same.
What’s SEO all about?
SEO used to be called ’search engine friendly writing’. It means you shape your article or blog posting in a way that a computer program likes.

The purpose of a search engine like Google is to index the Internet so that users can find relevant sites. It does this by sorting web pages based on several factors; the characteristic of most concern to us is keywords.

So far, this article has used the keyword SEO six times. Six uses in those 200 words means I have a keyword density of 3% for SEO. That isn’t too bad. A computer-indexing program would categorize this article and rank it based on that percentage.
Where your writing talent comes in.
The reason I could write something readable and still have a 3% keyword density is that I was writing about SEO specifically. I was able to match what I wanted to say to that keyword. I’m going to call this an organic usage of a keyword. It means using the word in it’s natural context.

An artificial usage is when you are forced to use a keyword or phrase that doesn’t fit well with the tone and content of your article.

That’s a real problem. When a buyer wants you to use keywords that don’t blend well with your subject, you end up with some pretty clunky writing. Sure, computer search engines will love it, but we want real people to eventually read it. Balancing these conflicting goals is exactly what we writers are supposed to be skilled at.

I have to admit I sometimes tell the client I can’t do it. I can’t work in the keyword ‘mange’ in an article about puppies if the title is, “Teaching your puppy not to bark”. Sometimes buyers are unreasonable (OK, they are often unreasonable).

Another nearly impossible request is when they have a list of keywords and they want all of them to appear at some pre-set percentage in the same short article. If you do it, I guarantee it will read like crap. We are trained to vary the nouns we use so that readers don’t burn out from overuse. SEO misapplied like that goes against our instincts because it requires excessive and even senseless repetition.
Let’s game the system.
Here’s an experiment we can try. I’m going to make up a word, a term that doesn’t yet exist in Google’s index. Freniculla. My invented word will mean: That point in a long blog post where the reader is enticed to click more to continue reading.

Here is the freniculla for this post-

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Fernando is our first contestant on the game we call “oDesk Profile Reviews.” Take a moment to glance over his oDesk profile to get the context for the rest of this review.

At the time of this writing, Fernando’s profile headline reads “Linux Administrator, PHP/Java Developer, MySQL/Networking Servers”. While it clearly sums up his many skills, I think that the title doesn’t do his skills justice.

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