What is The Best-kept Secret About SEO Google Doesn’t Want You to Know?

Do you want to use SEO? Learn Why, When, and How. Also, what is SEO’s big mistake you don’t want to make

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process used to get free, organic, or natural traffic to your website, blog, or in our case, any written article, and position your content at the top of the search results pages.

There are only two ways to get to the top of any Google search page: paying them to put you on top or mastering the secrets of SEO. By the way, it’s not that complicated.

Let’s face it, when was the last time you scrolled down to the second, third, or fourth page in a Google search? Probably never, unless you are searching for work, looking for someone you know, or if you are googling yourself.

So, here you’ll find a simple How to Do way about why, when, and how to use SEO, as well as the big mistake you should avoid. After reading this article, I suggest you bookmark it for future reference.

Table of Contents

· Why to use SEO
· When to use SEO
· How to use SEO (An SEO beginners course)
  ∘ 1. Publish Relevant, Authoritative Content
  ∘ 2. Use Keywords
  ∘ 3. Use links in your work
  ∘ 4. Use alt tags
  ∘ 5. Never forget captions
· What is SEO’s secret that Google hides and the big mistake you don’t want to make?
· Take away
· Here are some examples
· The exception to the rule
· My hope for the future

Why to use SEO

The first two things we have to make clear are: (A) you are a writer because you like to share your knowledge, advice, humor, or art, and you are becoming auto-immune to rejection letters.

Also, (B) you want an audience. In other words, people who see your articles read them and leave likes/claps. Strictly speaking, you want followers and make money writing.

Otherwise, you would journal every night in your diary, sketch on a paper notepad, or film home movies instead of writing on this or another paying platform, Tweeting, posting memes on Instagram, or uploading a ridiculous dance or funny cat content on TikTok.

So, after we made that clear, we can say you want to learn how to use and apply SEO because you want your content to become viral and make tons of money.

When to use SEO

As I explained before, SEO is a simple set of instructions to tell the fast but dumb Google algorithm that your content is relevant to what its users are looking for.

Therefore, your work should be at the top of the first search result page. And you want this without expending an obscene amount of money.

The only way you will achieve it is to learn how to speak in a language their algorithm understands. For example, let’s say you write an article about where to get baby formula.

Since thousands of new parents are looking to buy baby formula for their children, you know this is a current concern affecting many families in the United States.

In a stroke of luck, your baby supplies company received a lot of baby formula weeks before stores ran out. Now you want to sell all your inventory before your competition has a chance to re-stock their shelves.

You have several options to promote your baby formula, either placing a big sign on top of your warehouse, buying an ad in some newspaper, or investing a tremendous amount of money to buy TV or radio time. Another option is the traditional door-to-door product sales, and the last is to sell it in your online store, but for this, you need to be at the top of the search.

To achieve it, you must convince the Google algorithm that your baby formula is what the people are searching for. Also, to get you to the top place on the first page ASAP.

It would be easy if you followed the following instructions.

How to use SEO (An SEO beginners course)

Ok, now let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work. Here are the basic 5 points to improve your search engine optimization (SEO) and elevate your article/website’s place in the search engine results.

1. Publish Relevant, Authoritative Content

You’ve heard this before from many top writers. There is no substitute for quality, authoritative writing to show the Google algorithm your content is worthy of reading.

Content specifically created for your intended user increases site traffic, improving your site’s authority and relevance. Be sure to fine-tune your web writing skills and let your readers know you are an authority on the topic.

Make your content clear, non-threatening, conversational, engaging, and easy to understand for most audiences. No one likes to read a boring scientific publication with lots of technical data unless it is for research, a college degree, or if you are a member of that narrow audience.

2. Use Keywords

Another secret for improving SEO, and the way of getting to the top, is to find the key to unlocking the algorithm. And since every search engine and web page is a simple or complex text, the combination code is the use of the correct word.

Hence, the name Keywords. Find a specific keyword phrase describing your content. What are your readers, or future clients, searching for?

For example, if baby formula is your keyword phrase, your content will be relevant for those searching for “where to buy baby formula?” or “where can I find baby formula?” on the search page.

Now that you found your keyword phrase (baby formula), be sure to include it in:

1. As part of the SEO title and SEO description. (click the three dots … at the top right to access the story menu, click on “More settings,” scroll down to “SEO Settings,” and make the changes in “SEO title” and “SEO Description,” then click on the green [Save] button)
2. Include your keyword phrase in the article Title (e.g., Where Can You Buy Baby Formula) and Subtitle (e.g., Looking for baby formula? You can buy it here)
3. If the text allows it, use your keyword phrase in the page headings and subheadings?
4. Your article’s content is the most important thing to influence the search engine rankings. Repeat your keyword phrase in your document once or twice in the introduction, the closing section, and several times throughout the content. Some experts say about 1% times your article’s word count (e.g., if your article is 1,000 words, about 10 times).
5. Don’t forget to use it in bold, italics, TITLE, and Subtitles, but don’t overdo it. Remember to keep your writing casual and easy to read for your audience. Don’t sacrifice the quality of your article trying to fool SEO.

3. Use links in your work

To improve your credibility and let your readers know you are an expert, follow these rules about using links to increase your SEO.

1. A well-written article is unbiased, easy to read, helps readers learn more about what they are interested in, attracts links from other websites, and improves SEO.
2. Remember, no one likes copycats. Don’t steal other people’s work. Credit the author and add a link to the source if you use information from other sites. Google algorithm will punish SEO if your article has a high piracy grade. Avoid this by using a free plagiarism checker.
3. Add relevant links to your work. Using “click here” links won’t increase SEO. Instead, a text-rich link helps the algorithm value your article’s relevance to the readers (to create a hyperlink, select the text to open the text toolbar, click on the chain icon 🔗 and write or paste the link). You can find more information about links by reading “Using the story editor.”
4. Always use descriptive links by linking keywords. It helps your reader find more information. Also, people with disabilities using screen readers and makes Google’s SEO algorithm rank your work higher.

4. Use alt tags

For people with disabilities, having an alternate text describing your image and video media using alt tags, or alternative text descriptions, is something they will thank you for.

Try to be clear in your description. Avoid phrases like “image of” or “graphic of” to describe an image. Always use a clear description of the picture. Instead of “image of a girl with a cat,” write “young smiling girl in a red dress, carrying a light-brown Siamese cat.” Check the “Using Images Page” for more information.

Using alt tags allows search engines to locate your page through the image, which is crucial for people using text-only browsers or screen readers and increases SEO.

5. Never forget captions

Have you ever wondered why all publications insist you add the picture captions?

Besides being sure, you have the copyright or a license to use the image. It is a way to avoid copyright infringement disputes, and also because it is a way the Google algorithm uses to choose in what place the article will appear.

You can go to the “Using Images Page” for more information and learn more about captions and how to use them.

There you have it. This is one of the most straightforward SEO courses you can find. If you follow the instructions, your article will rank higher on the search page and help you sell more baby formula than your competition.

But before you do it, please read the following chapter.

What is SEO’s secret Google hides and the big mistake you don’t want to make?

Now that you know why, when, and how to use SEO, you can start using all the information in your next article.

But first, let’s talk about SEO’s awful secret and what they don’t want you to know. Though achieving organic traffic is feasible, Google and other web search pages don’t value your effort as much as their customer’s money.

They hide the fact that they’ll give priority to their paying customers, no matter how well you managed to include all your SEO parameters and keywords or if you should rank higher than some big company.

If Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, or another corporation pays for advertisement, you will be demoted to a lower place.

Still, there is always the chance to rank your work higher than the rest of those who didn’t pay.

However, remember SEO will increase your chances for your article to go viral on the internet, increasing the link, views, and reads, but only on what your article stats define as EXTERNAL VIEWS and EXTERNAL READS.

These views and reads reflect your article’s performance in Google, email, Facebook, Twitter, Bing, Reddit, Duckduckgo, or Yahoo search, not with paying members.

The biggest mistake many writers on this platform often make is to think SEO will help them increase their followers, reads, and income on this site.

If you are looking for visitors for your business website, blog, book site, or want to boost your ego, SEO will help you accomplish that. But if you want to go viral on this platform, and earn thousands of dollars here, SEO it’s not the answer.

In the last chapter, you can find some examples of my articles, they went viral on the internet but barely made a couple of bucks except for one.

Take away

No one can tell you if it’s right or wrong to use SEO techniques in your articles. In the end, only you can decide on what to do.

However, at least now you know why, when, and how to include SEO instructions in your future work.

Nevertheless, be aware of the problems it might bring, like an enormous boost to your ego, no income, and staring at your computer screen for hours. Hoping the almighty curation and distribution algorithms find you, and you also go viral with paying readers.

In a nutshell, these are the lessons I learned. I hope they help you.

Before using SEO, consider why and when to use it if you want to go viral and promote your business, blog, or brand. If you follow the instructions, you will have an excellent chance to do it and be at the top of the list.

If, on the other hand, you want to reach an enormous number of readers on this platform, first be sure to do the following:

1. Expand your writing skills by reading books like Stephen King’s “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” Ray Bradbury’s “Zen in the Art of Writing,” Ernest Hemingway’s “On Writing,” or “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott.
2. You can also subscribe to a writing course specialized in this platform. There are lots of them. In my case, Zulie Rane and Sinem Günel’s advice helped me.
3. You will have a greater chance of a better-performing article if you read almost every publication’s guidelines. They have links to help you with your titles, images, tags, and format, e.g., “The Writing Cooperative Submission Requirements and Style Guide.”
4. And last but not least, the only proven method to go viral here is to write and publish in a major publication a high quality captivating, easy-to-read, reader-oriented material with a great title and an intriguing picture.

I hope this article helps you master SEO and gain views, reads, claps, and followers.

“Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of job: It’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.”

— Neil Gaiman

Here are some examples

10 Lessons Learned From the Book “Fail Fast, Fail Often” Self-published on March 20, 2020

Views, 3.7K, External 3.6K (98%), Internal 80, Earnings $11.38

This was my first viral article, self-published on my first days writing here. I didn’t know about publications, but I used the SEO instructions.

The article went viral, and it has been the first organic post for the “Book Fail Fast Fail Often” on Google ever since, just after Amazon and Penguin Random House’s paid links. I had an enormous boost on my ego; however, I didn’t make much money.

10 Lessons Learned From the Book “Ikiagi, The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life” Self Published on March 21, 2020

Views, 3.2K, External 3.2K (98%), Internal 80, Earnings $3.47

My second viral article was also self-published the next day (yes, I was that stubborn). I still didn’t know about publications, but I used the SEO instructions. The article once again went viral, another ego boost without income.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, The Four Magic Words That Changed My Life Forever. And How They Can Improve Yours Chosen for further distribution Published on April 21, 2021, in Know Thyself, Heal Thyself

Views, 1.3K, External 1.2K (92%), Internal 112 (8%), Earnings $9.45

For my third viral article, I’d already learned about publications and how to submit an article thanks to Zulie Rane’s YouTube video (I highly recommend it).

The article was curated (Chosen for further distribution) but didn’t gain internal views. Once again, I added all the SEO instructions, yet, another ego boost without income.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (Spanish Version) Cuatro palabras que cambiarán tu vida Published on May 10, 2021, in Vestigium

Views, 11.1K, External 11K (99%), Internal 153 (1%), Earnings $0.53

This time I translated my previous article to Spanish and published it on Vestigium, with all SEO instructions. This is the article someone plagiarized, and I featured in “Someone Stole My Article, And It Went Viral. It Might Be Happening to You Too.”

Though the Spanish article wasn’t curated, it went viral on the internet and didn’t get many internal views (153) or income ($0.53).

At least writing about my experience to help others is steadily making money. To this day, 2.6K internal views and $149.04. I guess it really pays to help others!

The exception to the rule

10 Book Recommend by Bezos, Gates, And Musk Published on October 22, 2021, in ILLUMINATION

Views, 15.8K, External 8.9K (56%), Internal 6.8K (44%), Earnings $463.53

I could say this is my Unicorn. Published it in ILLUMINATION, where many say that since they almost accept everyone and have a huge number of articles published daily, it is difficult for readers to see your work.

However, without curation and all the SEO instructions, it started viral on the internet in the first weeks, with 5.6K Total views, 5.5K (98%) External views, and 162 (2%) Internal views.

Then subscribed members got interested and started clicking on the article, maybe because of the internet virality, the title, or some other unknown reason. Still, the number of paying members’ views started growing.

It’s still a mystery to me, what was the reason, but I won’t complain. I hope I can find the answer to share with you and duplicate it in my future work.

My hope for the future

Some of the Most Exotic Cat Breeds Is your kitty one of them? Chosen for further distribution Published on June 8, 2022, in Catness

Views, 6.4K, External 6.3K (98%), Internal 132 (2%), Earnings $1.57

This is my latest viral article on the internet. I published it in Catness, it has all the SEO instructions, and it was curated (Chosen for further distribution). It is performing on the internet like a rollercoaster with ups and downs. Still, not many paying members’ views.

I hope the internal views and readings start to grow. If so, I might have found the answer, in which case I’ll update this article and share my findings with you. Meanwhile, check the article if you like cats and want to help me improve my stats.

© Copyright Jose Luis Ontanon, 2022