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Book Review & Contest Insights from Real Reviews and Submissions

What separates great books from the rest? Below are articles with insights from real reviews and contest submissions—what works, what doesn’t, and how to improve your book. You’ll also find a wide range of articles covering writing, publishing, marketing, and more. Each article has a Comments section so you can read advice from other authors and leave your own.

Why Some Books Win Awards (And Most Don’t) — Insights From Real Contest Submissions New!

What separates award-winning books from the rest? After evaluating contest submissions across a wide range of genres, certain patterns become clear. Some books consistently rise to the top. Others, even with strong ideas and clear effort behind them, fall short. The difference is rarely dramatic—it...

What We’ve Learned From Reviewing Hundreds of Thousands of Books (And Why Most Don’t Stand Out) New!

After reviewing and evaluating books across thousands of submissions over the past two decades, certain patterns become impossible to ignore. Some books immediately stand out to reviewers. Others—even well-intentioned ones—fade into the middle or fall short. The difference is rarely luck. It comes down to...

SEO 101 (Part 2 of 2)

Another bonus is that most companies have an SEO expert on board who would help you determine the SEO specifications they want. Because of this, most companies are even willing to train new writers from the basic to the advanced concepts of SEO.

As mentioned earlier, you are writing for human beings--consumers in need of products and services. It is easy to get lost or forget this when you become obsessed with drawing traffic to websites. Your writing skills must first appeal to the human side of consumers, with a relevant message that does not pander to buyers' compulsions. You want people to become regular visitors to the site.

SEO is not everything. Other factors can affect website traffic. You may be the best marketing content writer in the world but still fall short at getting traffic. Yes, it happens most of the time. This is because customer satisfaction is not dictated by keywords and phrases. Search results are also dependent on how people view your site based on their experience. If your website fails to establish authority on the product or service that it offers, chances are customers will not have the confidence to refer your website to others. If your site screams “amateur,” trace the pitfalls that you should have avoided.

Never compromise the quality of your writing over SEO. Always make sure that you write about something that people care about. You do not want to become a part of the unholy alliance of online writers dishing out content without a specific purpose. These types of writers are more concerned with algorithms than talking to human beings.

Excessive keywords can do more harm than good. A careless content writer risks sounding robotic and repetitive and visitors to the site can read through something that does not sit well with them. This will trigger your content to rank far below the search results. Do not just sell, encourage interaction. Our brain is hardwired to respond to good or persuasive communication. The result would be referrals coming from different social media channels.

Optimizing a website should never stop with keywords. Think of a customer at a restaurant who returns not only for the food but also for the ambiance. Your website must provide a good ambiance through user experience. Too many popups are a deal-breaker.

So what’s next? Now that you’re familiar with the basics, try digging in and see if SEO is a suitable gig for you. You still need to go further. The Internet is a great resource for free content about everything you need to know about SEO. From there, you can find blogs and websites willing to help you understand your journey to learning more SEO. You can also take advantage of online forums and SEO groups so you don’t have to journey alone. Don’t hesitate to interact by sending queries. They are more than happy to help.

Finally, be patient. Good things don’t come easy, and becoming an SEO expert takes time and entails commitment.

Written by Readers’ Favorite Reviewer Vincent Dublado