by Ruth Belena

Created on: June 27, 2009   Last Updated: February 02, 2010

Internet terminology is often confusing, and some writing terms might be unfamiliar  to a writer who has previously only submitted to print publications. Understanding what is meant by these Internet writing terms is of great importance for a writer who seeks opportunities for getting paid to write for the Internet.

• "Web content"

Most writers understand web content to be text that appears on a website, but should also understand how writing web content differs from writing for print publications. Internet writing should be clear and concise, be broken into short paragraphs, separated under subheadings or listed as bullet points.

• "Search Engine Optimization" or "SEO"

It is highly important for web content to be optimized for search engines. Internet writing requires some knowledge of what is often referred to as "SEO content", or writing SEO articles. This means the text has to be written using keywords in the correct density, to enable a web page or a blog post to be correctly indexed by search engines. Effective SEO content will show up higher in search engine results, whenever an Internet user searches for information using the same or similar keywords.

• "Keywords"

Writing effective SEO content involves the use of keywords. These are not necessarily single words, keywords can be short phrases that will get indexed in search results. Writers can use a free online keyword suggestion tool to find the best keywords for each article they write.

• "Keyword density"

For keywords to work efficiently, the exact same words and phrases should be repeated throughout an article, particularly in the opening and closing paragraphs.  Keywords should also appear in titles and tags.

Keyword density refers to how frequently the same keywords appear within a piece of writing. Online articles should never be stuffed with keywords or have too much repetition.  There is a skill to writing quality web content so that makes sense and is well presented .  When it is done correctly, SEO and keywords will get a lot more traffic to a website, and increase page views for articles published on writing sites.

• "Website traffic" and "Page views"

Traffic is the general term for visitors who arrive at a website. Page views refers to the amount of times a page is accessed online. It counts as a unique page view each time a new visitor arrives on that page.

Page views are important because of revenue generated from the ads and banners that appear alongside the text or embedded into the content of a page. Some banner hosting websites get paid per thousand impressions, which means the number of times that banner receive a unique page view. Other forms of advertising and online marketing pay a website owner or blogger whenever a link is clicked, or when an item is purchased through a link.

Page views are of great value to any Internet writer who earns recursive income from advertising, whether posting on a blog or submitting to an article site like Helium.

Understanding these basic Internet writing terms will benefit any writer who intends to earn an income by writing articles, blogging or creating content for websites.

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