I have found my dream job. I am not going to get rich, but I can work at home and always be available for my children. I write website content and do search engine optimization (SEO ) for a law firm. To get the job, I had to send in a sample Web page. I did not see the other applicants pages, but I think mine looked far different than theirs. Mine had notes within red brackets throughout explaining what I had done and why. Here are 10 SEO tips that could help you write a killer sample Web page:

1. Choose one key phrase for your sample Web page. If you do not have WordTracker, which you dont if you have not been doing SEO, go to http://inventory.overture.com and type in a key phrase. Work at it until you have a fairly well-searched phrase. In an introduction to your sample Web page, explain what you have done to find a key phrase. You will also need to explain that having one key phrase per Web page is the ideal for SEO purposes.
2. Use the key phrase near the top of the page, preferably in the title. Make a notation in red by the title (or wherever you first use the key phrase), explaining that search engines give more relevance to keywords near the top of the page and even more relevance to keywords in the page title.
3. Place the key phrase in headings. Make a notation in red by the first heading that you have your key phrase in explaining that search engines give more relevance to keywords in headings.
4. Highlight your key phrase with bold and/or italic. Again, make a notation in red explaining that search engines give more relevance to keywords that are in bold and italic. Using bold and italic is also good, user-friendly website content writing.
5. Use your key phrase multiple times. There is no magic number, but you do not want to go overboard. Explain in your introduction to the page that the key phrase should be used at least three times. You will not want the key phrase to be more than 5% or 6% of the content on the page.
6. Use your key phrase in lists, either ordered (numbered) or unordered (bulleted). Make a notation in red the first time you use the key phrase in a list explaining that search engines give more relevance to words in lists.
7. Have links (at least one) between pages within the site contain your key phrase. Give your links in your page a different color and/or underline them. When you use your key phrase in one, make a notation in red that search engines give more relevance to words in a link.
8. Put your key phrase around links. If you cannot have your key phrase in a link, put it near a link. When you do this, make a notation in red explaining that search engines may be give more relevance to words around links.
9. Scatter key phrases throughout text. In the introduction to your page, explain that if a link is scattered throughout a text, it convinces the search engines that the page really is about the key phrase. The result is greater relevance for your key phrase.
10. Make the words around your key phrase count. Search engines may pull content around your key phrase for a description of the Web page. The ultimate goal is not to get high ranking with the search engines. The ultimate goal is to get customers or clients. To do this, the website has to rank high with the search engines and appeal to potential clients.

There is a lot more to SEO than the 10 tips I have given you here. If you do land a job writing for the Web, you will have to learn all that you can about SEO. I would suggest reading Search Engine Optimization for Dummies by Peter Kent. Although anything published on computers is generally obsolete by the time it is published, this book is still relevant and will give you a good idea what SEO is about. I would start with the book and then look on the net for additional, updated information.

If you are a freelance writer hoping to make a decent living, writing for the Web is a wonderful option. Using your skills as a writer and the 10 tips for writing a sample Web page, you should be able to get work writing website content. Happy job hunting.

You are free to publish this article on the internet. You must, however, give the author credit, provide a live link to the website I am working on, http://www.pritzkerlaw.com/, and not materially alter any of the content.

2006 Kathy Will