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Plenty of rich content, full of valuable insights and how-to’s, will prove to be your best viral and search engine optimization (SEO) marketing in the long run. Content is King and should be the primary focus during all stages of your web empire whether a fledgling website or an experienced internet mogul. Below are 7 great guidelines to follow for writing quality content thus maximizing your traffic and subscriber potential.

1. Keywords - the first 25 words are critical. Your article, especially the introduction, should be rich with keywords. The introduction, approximately first 25 words, is many times pulled by search engines as the article’s description. Thus the first few sentences can play a very important role with your article’s page rank.
2. Clear Description - Get to the point! You want people to find your site then once they get there you want them to stay as long as possible. A good introduction will not only ensure success with the search engines but always explain to the reader what exactly your article is about and compel them to read more. Expand upon your introduction and stay on point.
3. Use Links - effective linking within the context of your content can add value, increase your search engine presence and cross market other portions of your site. Three quick examples in context: let’s say your ChipIn campaign is related to your article. You can link to the campaign within the article. You can also learn more about using ChipIn here.
4. Relevancy - Let’s pretend your website or blog is on real estate and you spend two weeks writing about fly fishing with day traders. Do not be surprised if your feedburner.com subscriber list bottoms out. Write valuable articles relevant to your intended audience. Some may view a blog as being different than a traditional website where it is somewhat understood that the blog author may write about personal life events. This view is subjective and may or may not be shared by your entire reading audience. The best practice is to spend the majority of content related to your blog’s purpose or mission statement.
5. Frequency - depending on your online and organizational goals - whether every day, x number of times a week or quarterly - you should always be providing fresh content for your audiences.
6. Formatting - while there is no MLA or APA guidelines for blogging there are a few best practices.
   • Instead of paragraphs try to use lists
   • Lists size - at least 2 but no more than 10; 7 is a good number (7 Tips for Writing Great Content).
   • Use headings and sub headings
   • KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. Write short, concise sentences. People will read and remember more if you do.
7. PROOFREAD - proofread, proofread, proofread! Everyone has spell check. Misspellings and blatant grammatical errors stick out like a sore thumb. Worse, they can serve to discredit your article, authorship or website as a whole. Always proofread.