How would you optimize a news site with no defined keywords in mind

[jimsterg164]

Hi I have setup a news site giving young writers a (paid) place to write mobbly.com but I want to promote it.

there is no specific keyword apart from the top of the individual article

should I  choose some or just let each article do its own thing

any advice would be greatly appreciated

[Anthony_NorthSEO]

Two directions I'd go:

If you're looking to attract young writers:

Journalism, Freelance Writing, etc

If you're looking to attract readers:

News, Entertainment News, Opinions, Columns, Blog, etc.

You're looking at very broad keywords, and you're right, the individual article pages won't really require much keyword optimization. However for your home page and root domain in general, you should do some research about what phrases readers or freelance writers search for when submitting or reading news, and concentrate on those.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Anthony

[loopyal]

Jimmy, as Anthony says, you need to be careful about who you are targeting.

You want writers but you shouldn't be trying to attract them to the main news pages. Those are to attract readers. There should be a separate page to attract writers, otherwise you will attract writers but no readers.

My writers page does well, even though I've never really optimized it.

For stories, your keyword or theme will be in the headline and title. Make headlines short and snappy. Don't bury the lead, make sure the story covers the theme and wrap up at the end. Hints, in the form of subheads work well. So do relevant pictures (make sure you have rights to them)

[Sexandmetal]

Jimmy,

I would say Anthony's second direction would be the route I would go. If you are paying your writers, ultimately your goal is to get some ROI somewhere down the line, right ?

Although people will search for journalism freelance writers ect, when you search for journalism or freelance writers you get job postings. You really want to build your subscriber base and readers and not attract more writers.

Ranking for keywords like news is probably harder to rank  but if and when you do, I think you'll be better off for it.

S&M