Further Advice on Sub-Headings Needed

[Phil]

Hi, I am working an article in the outline stage that will be keyword optimised for three specific ino-niches. It will require a title, headings, and even sub-headings in some places.

Example:

Title
By Phil

This is the introduction para...

Header1

Sub-Heading One

This is the text of the first para....

This is the text of the 2nd para...

Sub-Heading Two

This is the text of the first para....

This is the text of the 2nd para...

Header2

Sub-Heading One

This is the text of the first para....

This is the text of the 2nd para...

Sub-Heading Two

And so on. I'm wondering how the staff and writers who've done this think it should be formatted. I want the article to be easy to scan by readers. If the Title and Main Headers are bold, would the Sub-Headers being italicized be appropriate? In advance, I really appreciate the time everyone takes, both staff and authors, to help out the rookies. That is a major reason why a large amount of my effort is being shifted to CC. - Phil

[Ed]

If the piece is a long one that you plan to write, this could work. However, you do have to be careful that your article doesn't look too much like an outline upon completion. If the amount of detail you plan to give warrants subheadings, so be it, but if, under each subheading, there will be only one or two sentences, you might want to rethink your plans for such rigid and conspicuous organizational devices.

Thanks,
Ed

[Phil]

Thanks Ed. So far I've got over 400 words in just the outline of the article and it is not complete. I mentioned in this thread that I compulsively outline/mindmap every article. So far there is a really good possibility that this outline will show a need to break it into a few articles instead of the uber-treatise it seems to be intent on becoming. I know you are very busy and I do appreciate your time. Thanks again, - Phil

[Lysis]

Just from my experience writing web content, the general rule of thumb for SEO in writing content is:

Header (bold and with keywords)

paragraph

Header (bold with alternate keywords)

paragraph

This is basically what people look for in web content writing from my experience. It separates the paragraphs to make it easier for people to read and the bold headers with keywords are SEO. I don't try to put too much redundant keywords in the headers, because I think from an editor's standpoint, it's sloppy. I figure the customer can change the keywords in the headers when he buys full rights.

So, my humble advice is to take out the subheaders and leave the headers.

[Phil]

Thanks. I may just do that. The mindmap is up to about 600 words. Starting to look like breaking it up might be the thing to do as well. Thanks again, - Phil

[eek]

Phil,

I'm not an expert on SEO content, but it can't hurt to use subheadings if it makes things more clear within one of your "header" points, and the subheadings really can't be broken up into their own points. I agree with Lysis that subheadings shouldn't be used just to increase keyword density.

And hey, don't be too afraid of writing an in-depth article. I think Ed mentioned a specific number somewhere in here that was a good rule of thumb for cutting off - was it 2,000 words? And if the topic is right, it might sell for a pretty decent price. Breaking it up into shorter topics might increase the chances that one or more of them will sell, and if they all sell, you could make the same amount or more money than for the single piece. I've thought through this before myself, and for me it usually comes down to the topic and how badly I want to expound on it. Longer articles (1,000 +) sell okay, but the average lengths (+/- 750) do better. There is a thread somewhere on that, too.

emma