1. Writing for Google Searches
Becky Koch, 231-7875, becky.koch@ndsu.edu, November 2011
Unique Content
Never copy other material; instead, link to it. The purpose of eXtension. (e.g. Extension publications)
What makes your information different from anyone else’s?
Keyword Usage
Relevant – as Duane reminded us
Think about the words your audience will use to search (e.g. trees, not horticulture)
Google words to test them – hot dish = 13.4 million, casserole = 34.6 million
Or Google AdWords
Use these keywords repeatedly in the page title, introductory summary, subheads, early in the
sentences of articles, etc.
Content Organization
Inverted pyramid – most important information first rather than building to conclusion; conclusion
then why
Many short articles rather than one very long one
Subheads
Bulleted or numbered lists
Images
Skimmable/readable
Links to Complementary Content
Link to high-quality, complementary .edu, .gov, .org; occasionally .com if appropriate
Share/market your website so others will link to you
Make it so “wow” that others share it for you
Call to Action
Tell readers what to do to fix their problem, improve their process, etc.
So what? Who cares?
Avoid PDFs. Not nearly as searchable.
Avoid lists of links.
http://miv.ext.nodak.edu:8004/misc-sites/flood/family/family-disaster-supply-kit-1
http://miv.ext.nodak.edu:8004/misc-sites/flood/family-disaster-supply-kit-2
Craig Wood’s Writing Discoverable Online Content http://www.extension.org/learn/event/289
Best Practices for Writing and Improving Content http://create.extension.org/node/86411
Review Google’s Webmaster Guidelines at
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=34432
“In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of high-quality sites that
link to their pages.”