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Writing online isn’t any harder than writing for print, but it’s not the same. While we writers may not like to admit it, long-form pieces don’t work as well online, especially if they’re arranged like a novel with endless blocks of text.

Nor can writers ignore foreign terms like ‘meta description’ or ‘tags’ or, especially, ‘keywords.’ While I don’t like to write to specific keywords (total drag on my art, man) any writer looking to get their work read by more than their mom and friends needs to at least know how keywords, and writing for the web, works.

Or you could go with the bear necessities.

Mother Nature’s Recipes
Far too many writers concentrate on writing what’s popular, has already been talked about and wasn’t all that interesting to begin with. Instead of focusing on hot keywords that are likely to be competitive, try focusing on the individual impact rather than the idea as a whole and writing to something more specific.

There are plenty of blogs (tech blogs are the worst) that seemingly parrot the same topics every single day. Want to stand out? Tell how what they say affects me, without their artificial analysis.

Under Rocks and Trees
There’s a reason why most easy, popular topics and/or keywords are that way–they’re easy to spot out in the open. But I suggest you take a tactic from Gaping Void: instead of being the best at what you do, be the ONLY person doing what you do.

I’m not suggesting anyone start writing about deliberately obscure topics, but you’ll go a long way if you choose to write about industry-specific ways you use your WordPress-powered site instead of another ‘Top Managed WordPress Hosting List’.

Prickly Pear
Don’t shy away from controversial topics, provided you have an opinion that’s either different than most other people’s or you’re coming at the topic from another angle. It’s far easier to talk about the national debt than it is to discuss how student loan payments are crippling young job seekers.

Be careful about being controversial just for attention’s sake. If you keep yelling fire in a crowded theater, eventually people are going to stop listening.

Scratch Someone’s Back
There is a secret network of bloggers out there who promote each other’s sites, write reviews of each other’s books and generally make it their thing to support each and every member of their group. Say what you want about the mafia-like exclusivity, but promoting other people helps everyone out.

Do your research before posting. Blatant praise or support of someone shady will hurt your reputation and likely not help theirs.

Scratch Your Own Back
It’s more than okay to talk about your projects, past pieces or interesting stories in your life. Whether you write for a tech blog, running blog, your own blog, a sales blog or a company blog, injecting real life into boring business topics helps writers related to readers.

Cool It (Now)
Many writers will tell you that keeping a publishing schedule makes their lives easier. Whether you publish thrice a week or once a month, consistency will improve your writing and increase the chances people will read what you produce. But don’t think you somehow owe your readers a post at the scheduled time every single time.

I believe bloggers are far more likely to lose readership when they publish a lot of crap rather than not enough great posts. Quality will win the day.

Sing Along
Many, many bloggers are really only writing for the SEO boost it will give their site (it’s okay to admit that). And while I’d love to tell you that great content alone is enough to make sales, entice readers and help your get noticed, it isn’t. Most “real” writers bristle at the thought of writing with SEO in mind, but all you really need are a few things:

• Keyword(s) density: 3-5%
• SEO Title with keyword(s) near the front
• Meta description (can also be used as excerpt) written like you wrote the piece, with keywords again up front.
• Meta tags that include keyword(s) used.

That’s it. Also make sure to spell words like ‘bare’ correctly so you don’t write an entire article and then have to go back and relate it to the Jungle Book.

Or do, because that was fun.