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The Top 3 Essential SEO Tools

Top 3 Essential SEO Tools

Try Googling “what are the essential SEO tools“? You’ll find as many opinions as there are content writers.

Everyone agrees that SEO tools are needed to compete for the top spots. Everyone is using them.

There’s a lot of noise out there. I’m going to boil these tools down to the three essential SEO apps that I use and have worked well for me.

And these tools are all free!

#1 Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a really cool SEO tool if you’re having trouble nailing down your keywords or key phrase. Even if you aren’t, it’s still an excellent SEO research tool.

Screenshot of the landing page for Ubersuggest.
Screenshot of the landing page for Ubersuggest.

It gives you an idea of how many people searched for the term, and how difficult it will be to conquer that spot in the ranking.

But here’s where Ubersuggest earns its stripes. It gives you suggestions on how you can rank higher by tweaking or changing your keywords.

For example, I entered “Gartner Magic Quadrant” into the Ubersuggest search bar. By adding the date 2019 to the end of my key phrase, I should be able to easily dominate that search.

I also like that it tells me what the cost per click will be if I decide to purchase advertising.

Here’s another feature that I appreciate. Ubersuggest tells me who my competition is for my keywords.

I always read the top sites. Here’s why. Google has already rewarded these sites with a great ranking. That means that they have answered the keywords the best.

I make notes as I read the article.

Things I look for are:

  • Who is the target audience (CEO, engineer, etc.)?
  • What sort of vocabulary did they use?
  • How did the use of images enhance the article?
  • What is the tone?

Now, I can better mold my writing to meet my target audience.

#2 PageSpeed Insights

This is a free Google tool. In summary, you enter your domain and it tells you how quickly the page loads. It also gives you tips on how to improve the loading speed.

Why should you care? The amount of time it takes for your page to become viewable to the searcher affects your SEO. A page that quickly delivers the answer is more valuable than a page that the searcher has to wait for.

Screenshot of Google PageSpeed Insights showing how quickly Google.com loads.
Screenshot of Google PageSpeed Insights showing how quickly Google.com loads.

PageSpeed also gives you tips on how you can improve your page loading speed.

Honestly, I find this free tool super valuable.

#3 INK

I developed a tool called INK. It’s the best free SEO writing app available. INK is the only app that you need to assist you in writing great content. It optimizes your content for the highest Google ranking possible.

Sound too good to be true? That’s what others have said also, but INK really will change your content writing for the Web.

Google likes sites that are error free with a high degree of readability. INK checks for grammar, spelling, typos, punctuation, overuse of adverbs, and passive voice. It also checks for hard to read sentences.

All of these factors work together to improve the readability of your content.

Screenshot of the INK website.
Screenshot of the INK website.

Think of INK as your personal proofreader.

INK also runs real-time analytics to ensure that your content is going to rank at the top of Google.

This article was written in INK. While I’ve been writing, it has been running in the background sharing important SEO tips.

Here’s How INK Works

You should’ve used Ubersuggest to identify what keywords or key phrase you’re writing for. When you launch INK, it asks you to enter those words or phrases.

Screenshot from INK providing me with key phrase tips and box to enter my words.
Screenshot from INK providing me with key phrase tips and box to enter my words.

INK reminds you that short, generic terms are hard to compete with. Be specific when identifying the keywords or key phrases you are writing for.

Once you click the plus sign, INK begins working its magic.

I’ve created a proprietary algorithm that analyzes the sites you are competing directly against for ranking. Then INK provides you with a content relevance score.

Screenshot of INK"s content relevance score for this article.
Screenshot of INK”s content relevance score for this article.

INK breaks my to-do list down to word tasks and relevance tasks. Remember this advice is customized for my key phrase that I entered.

INK’s Word Tasks

I’ve learned that I need to write at least 1276 words for this article to be deemed relevant by Google. While keyword stuffing and writing a bunch of nonsense is discouraged, I can add more relevant content to this article.

Screenshot from INK showing that I need to increase my word count.
Screenshot from INK showing that I need to increase my word count.

After receiving this tip, I realized INK is correct.

I read over what I had written and found areas that seemed weak in my description. I found ways to elaborate on the points that I wanted to make. In the end, this tip created a better article that answered my key phrase in a more thorough way.

Spelling and Grammar

Now, I need to focus on my spelling and grammar. INK does that for me. INK performs a number of other tasks that improve my site’s readability. It checks for grammatical errors, misspelled words, complicated sentence structure, and overuse of averbs.

Screenshot from INK showing I misspelled adverbs. It gives me choices for correcting it.
Screenshot from INK showing I misspelled adverbs. It gives me choices for correcting it.

This customized tip is quite helpful. INK has found that I have a sentence that is very hard to read.

Screenshot from INK showing that I have a sentence that is very hard to read.
INK tells me I have a sentence that is very hard to read. I need to fix this.

When I click on this task, INK highlights the sentence that I need to fix. Usually, this happens to me when I’ve combined multiple thoughts into one sentence. It could also be that I forgot to keep my sentence short and concise.

Whatever the reason, if my sentences are difficult to read, this hurts my ranking. Searchers are looking for a quick and easy to digest answer to their question. They don’t want to interrupt what you’ve written.

Passive Voice

For this article, I’ve used passive voice too much. Is this the end of the world? No. But INK tells me my audience prefers active voice and I want to write in a manner that you’re expecting.

Screenshot from INK showing the overuse of passive voice.
Screenshot from INK showing the overuse of passive voice.

Plus, according to INK, I really only need to fix one sentence. INK will show me where I’ve used passive voice, so I can easily make the corrections.

Unique Hyperlinks

INK has discovered that I need to add more hyperlinks in order to compete with the highest-ranking articles.

Screenshot from INK showing that I need to add more uniique hyperlinks.
Screenshot from INK showing that I need to add more unique hyperlinks.

This is a suggestion, but an important one. Give credit where credit is due. Hyperlink to the sites that contributed to your article.

INK’s Relevance Tasks

Here’s another tip from INK. I need to add a meta title and description. I decided to use my headline as my title. Now, I need to come up with a description.

Screenshot from INK with instructions on how to write a meta description.
Screenshot from INK with instructions on how to write a meta description.

Fortunately, INK has given me a tip on writing my meta description. I’ve followed it. Now, I’m ready to share this easy SEO content writing app with the world.

Key Phrase and Keyword Suggestions

Google’s algorithm gets smarter every day. Your site is no longer ranked by how many times you can work your keywords into the first paragraph.

However, its good practice to use your keywords or key phrase throughout your article. After all, it is what you are writing about.

INK shares with me that it would be helpful if I could work my key phrase into a subheading. I’ll take this tip into consideration. But if I can’t make it sound natural, then I’ll dismiss this task.

Image SEO

It’s time to focus on image search engine optimization. Not only do I need to upload my graphics, but I need to write a great image ALT text and caption. By doing this, I’ll give Google more insight into what this article is about.

Unfortunately, INK can’t select my images for me. But it can optimize what I upload.

screenshot from INK helping me optimize the previous screenshot.
screenshot from INK helping me optimize the previous screenshot.

It’s important that this page loads quickly as we discussed when talking about Google PageSpeed Insights. I don’t want searchers to become impatient and click on another article. INK resizes images to improve your page loading speed.

Topically Complete

This is where INK really earns its keep. I’ve built a feature into it that checks for the topical completeness of the article.

What does that mean?

Screenshot on INK which indicates that I"m writing on topic so I"ll rank with this key phrase.
Screenshot on INK which indicates that I”m writing on topic so I”ll rank with this key phrase.

You’ve stumbled upon this article because INK is the first content editor that uses AI to determine how the semantic breadth of my article stacks up against the competition.

INK says that I’ve done a great job (but there are always areas of improvement) of crafting this article so you will see it. And that’s the goal that we are all working towards.

INK is Free

Every feature I mentioned above is free. It’s not a free for three months and not onlyfree if you use the app version, it’s just free.

Download it today and see how much better your content will rank. Then tell your friends.

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Rank Candidate Theory Explained

Close up of a black keyboard with a red key that reads "perfect match"

You have a burning question. You need it answered now. 

You type the question in the Google search bar. Within seconds, you have hundreds of websites and posts literally lining up to be the best answer to your question.

But how does Google decide which piece of content deserves to answer your question first? How does Google rank content to filter the best matches for your search.

While the specific mechanics of Google’s RankBrain algorithms are still a bit of a black box, we have an idea of how RankBrain reads, understands, and ranks content. We call it the Rank Candidate Theory (RCT) and it goes a little something like this…

What is the Rank Candidate Theory?

The Rank Candidate Theory is the idea that Google crawls your page, scrapes your content, and determines from a deep understanding of the content if you meet the user’s intent. If you do, Google considers your page a rank candidate. As a result, it directs some traffic to your page to test user satisfaction. If users like your page, your rankings will go up.

Content relevance and user experience will, therefore, become increasingly important ranking factors.

In short, Google reads your page and decides if it is good enough to answer your query. If your page seems like a relevant candidate, Google will send some traffic your way as a test. 

In this way, Google is like a match-maker. It listens to you and works to understand what you want. Then, it looks for options that match what you’re looking for and filters them into a list of candidates. 

A cartoon drawing of two avocado halves reuniting by holding their mutual pit surrounded by hearts.
Image courtesy of Lia Rey

It sends you on a first date with them to see if you’re compatible. If you’ve found everything you were looking for in that candidate and enjoyed your first date, it’s a match made in heaven. 

In 2016, we founded Edgy Labs to validate the Rank Candidate Theory 1.0.

Rank Candidate Theory Background

Google is now able to read a page just like a person does. But, it didn’t get there overnight.

Let’s rewind to 2012 when Google was first able to detect cats in YouTube videos. Then, in 2014, Facebook made news when they announced they were able to recognize faces with 97.35% accuracy using DeepFace4.

These two technological breakthroughs were like a flashing neon sign that the world of internet marketing was about to change forever.

A woman of color sits at her desk and watches how her content goes to the #1 position in Google search results.
Our Rank Candidate Theory helps explain how Google ranks content.

The industry was inevitably moving toward neural networks. Global ranking factors as we knew them were about to be killed off. 

The nail in the keyword stuffing coffin? Google would begin using their neural network advances for search engine optimization (SEO).

So, in 2016, we set out to test the hypothesis that would become the Rank Candidate Theory developed by INK Co. CTO, Alexander De Ridder.

Putting the Rank Candidate Theory to the Test

Our first priority in testing the rank candidate theory was purchasing a brand new domain, edgylabs.com. 

Being a brand-new site, it had no domain authority. The goal was to optimize this fresh-faced site for technical SEO and publish content.

Also, the key to testing our theory was to not influence our experimental content with link building strategies.

Using this method, we were able to test how Google responded to different content optimization strategies. And, different types of content. 

By the sheer power of content optimization, we organically grew a brand-new domain to 100,000+ monthly sessions — all from a cold start.

Chart demonstrating the results of the Rank Candidate Theory experiment.
By the power of content optimization – organically growing a brand new domain to 100,000+ monthly sessions from a cold start.

The above chart helps illustrate how content relevance was a new “page authority” signal, capable of outperforming the link-based rank approaches of the past.

Rank Candidate Theory Test Results

1. Relevancy is King

First, we noticed that content will be tested by Google with some traffic. This occurs even if the content lacks backlinks and comes from a site with little domain authority, provided the site has decent technical optimization.

The decisive factor? The content must match the searcher’s intent by completely answering the query searched. In short, the content must be relevant to what you search and must be the best answer out there on the topic. 

In practical terms, this is exactly the reason why many pieces of content fail at becoming a Rank Candidate; they just don’t do a great job of meeting the searcher’s expectations. 

Drawing of a large head in black against a red background. A smaller head pops out of the top and an even smaller head pops out of the top of the second head like Matroska dolls.
Image courtesy of complot

They just aren’t as relevant or as comprehensive as they need to be. As a result, these sites aren’t prioritized in SERP. 

2. Google Sends Test Traffic 

Typically, the next step after identifying a relevant candidate would be for Google to send a trickle of traffic to the candidate page. 

Then, Google subsequently either stops sending traffic to the candidate page or sends a lot of traffic.

It’s in this period of time where that Google is testing to see how satisfied users are with the answer that the candidate page provides. 

Just like a first date, the more engaging, comprehensive, and relevant the content, the better the final outcome. This is what we understand as “RankBrain activity”. 

In other words, AI decides if you are worthy of a chance. But RankBrain uses actual users to contribute to the ranking data. This, in turn, helps further the decision of where your page will end up ranking.

Bottom Line

Worry about how to become a Rank Candidate by making your content the best resource available on the subject. Then, ensure that the content achieves good engagement metrics with its target audience. 

How Do You Know If Your Content Is the Best?

Ranking is a competitive process. Therefore, understanding what your content is up against is paramount. 

We developed and tested our Rank Candidate Theory over the course of two years. During this time, we learned how to do these kinds of competitive analyses. 

The process involved studying which pages were already ranking for a certain keyword or intent group. Then, we identified all of the ingredients that made the top pages the best resource on the subject.

Basically, we watch Google and picked its (Rank)Brain.

Screenshot from INK showing my content relevance score, word, and relevance tasks
Since Relevancy is a crucial ranking factor, INK helps you understand and improve how relevant your content is to your target audience.

Once we had a baseline of what defined “the best”, we set out to craft a piece of content that beat it.

After much research, we realized that practically all SEO apps and content optimization tools were still using a rules-based approach to content recommendations. None of them accounted for this crucial analysis of the competition.

Like RankBrain, we realized that content optimization in itself is a black box for most writers out there. We know how many hours go into crafting a post or creating content. 

And, we know how frustrating it is when all of that hard work does get seen by the people you’re writing it for.

Pink text on a white background reads "94% of web content will never be read".

We discovered that 55% of marketers say content creation is their top inbound marketing priority, but over 90% of web content will never be read. 

So, we decided to take all of those years of research and our Rank Candidate Theory and put them into designing a next-generation Content Performance Optimization (CPO) platform. Our objective is to help content writers take control of their own search destiny. 

We developed the AI-enabled INK platform. We designed it based on our Rank Candidate Theory principles:

  • Optimize the content’s chances to qualify as a rank candidate with Google by ensuring it is the most relevant resource on the topic
  • Optimize the content’s language to improve user satisfaction by ensuring it is written precisely for the target audience.

Start typing in INK. Just like Google, the INK platform reads your work as you write and compares it to similar content online, in real-time.

It comes back with a Content Relevance Score which lets you know how relevant your content is to the topic or keyword you’re targeting and gives suggestions on how to increase relevancy.

To learn more about the science that powers INK and more about the Rank Candidate Theory, check out my white paper on the subject and play around with INK. It’s free. We made it for you. Put our Rank Candidate Theory to the test. How high can your content rank! 

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How ALT Text Can be Your Secret SEO Weapon

A graphic that reads "ALT Text don"t forget about me."

If you aren’t optimizing your images, using image ALT text to your advantage, and creating SEO-friendly graphics, then you’re missing out. These are important tools in your arsenal to organically boost your site’s ranking.

Image ALT Text and SEO

Let’s talk about what image SEO is. It’s the optimization of images, videos, graphics, etc. so they rank on Google and other search engines. This is another chance for you to capture the attention of your target audience.

A graphic that reads "ALT Text don"t forget about me."
Image from Digital Vidya

How Does This Relate to Image ALT Text?

ALT text can also be referred to as “alt tags” and “alt descriptions.” Whatever you choose to call it, it’s the written copy that appears in place of an image if the image fails to load.

The reason image ALT text is so important to image search engine optimization is because it allows search engines to better explore and rank your website.

When you combine image optimization with great ALT text, you have a winning combination.

Google now delivers about the same number of image results as text-based results. That’s huge. If you aren’t writing your ALT text and image captions to help boost your SEO, you’re missing out on a valuable opportunity.

With the modern trend of Google favoring long-form content, images are now more important than ever. Gone are the days of 250-word answers to a keyphrase.

Images, graphics, videos, and screenshots not only visually help explain the answer, but they also act as a page break for long content.

One of the most important things image alt text can do for you is turn your images into hyperlinked search results. This is another way that searchers can find your site.

Here are some tips to use to optimize your image ALT text SEO ranking.

Tip #1: Use Images That Support Your Keywords

Know your target audience. Before you began writing your content, you should have defined the keywords or a key phrase that you’re aiming to rank number one with.

Try to find images that compliment the keywords that you’ve identified. These act as another opportunity to boost your SEO.

However, this is not the time to stuff keywords into your text. You are describing the image for someone who can’t see it. That should be your main focus.

Home Slice Pizza"s Christmas lights light up outdoor dining. Sign says, "Queen of Pies."
Image from Business Insider

For example, Home Slice Pizza wants to increase its online presence. They post this picture of their restaurant.

Here’s what not to do…

alt=”Pizza is our specialty at Home Slice Pizza. We offer friendly service and outdoor dining. “

Close your eyes. If someone read you the above description would this be what you picture? No. The image ALT Text sounds more like a meta description of the site that describes the picture.

They stuffed keywords like “pizza,” “outdoor dining,” and “friendly service” into the image ALT text. Those keywords are important to mention in your content, but they do not explain to the reader what’s happening in the picture.

How to Fix it

alt=”Home Slice Pizza’s Christmas lights light up outdoor dining. Sign says Queen of Pies.”

This is why this image ALT text works. Close your eyes again. If someone read you this description I bet you would imagine something close to what is happening in the image. The ALT text also mentions the name of the business and the keyword of “our door dining.”

Tip #2: Short and Sweet

The recommended ALT text length is around 125 characters. Remember the main goal of your image ALT text is to explain what’s going on in your picture to someone who can’t see. Try to keep the explanation simple.

If ALT text gets too wordy, some search engines will cut it off. Imagine being blind and your screen reader is reading you the description of an image. Then, just when it gets to the good part, it stops. How frustrating!

Tip #3: Be Specific

You not only want to be descriptive but you also want to be specific.

Former President Barack Obama is sitting behind his desk in the Oval Office.
Image from daileydot.com

alt=”A man is sitting behind a desk holding a sheet of paper.”

The image ALT text above is quite descriptive. If you close your eyes and someone reads it to you, I bet you’d picture exactly what’s going on in the photo.

However, the man is former President Barack Obama. He’s in the Oval Office in the White House.

How to Fix it

alt=”Former President Barack Obama is sitting behind his desk in the Oval Office”

Now, if you close your eyes again, you will picture the former president. You can see him sitting at the iconic desk in the White House. This improves your SEO ranking because it tells specifically what’s happening.

If someone is searching for “Barack Obama oval office,” you want your image to appear at the top of the search results page.

Tip #4: Context is Important

The examples above have good context. The pizza restaurant offers outdoor dining and former President Barack Obama is in the oval office. What if you aren’t sure exactly the location of the picture?

Think about your target audience when writing the image ALT text.

professor holding his student"s child so the student could take notes.
Image from CNN.com

alt=”baby dressed in pink in a carrier is being latched on a man”

This is descriptive. However, the target audience typed in the key phrase “professor holding student’s baby.”

How to Fix it

alt=”professor holding his student’s baby so the student can take notes”

This image ALT text now clearly supports the keyphrase typed it.

Tip #5: Optimize Your Images

Image ALT text and captions are important. However, pictures and other images must be the correct file format and size if they are to improve your SEO ranking.

Large file sizes can increase your page loading time. If it takes too long for your page to load, your SEO ranking will suffer. Your searcher doesn’t want to wait for you.

Resize or compress your images to optimize them.

Here’s a great tip. Use your images to sneak in keywords by naming them accordingly.

For example, you have a website that sells makeup. Don’t name the image “moisturizer 3.” Instead, use a name like “best moisturizer for over 40 skin.”

INK Optimizes Your Images for You

I believe so strongly in Image ALT text’s impact on your SEO, that I have created a piece of software to help you out. It gives you tips on writing the best ALT text for your image. It grades your alt text score. If you forget the tips discussed in this article, there’s even a reminder on how important your ALT Text is to your SEO.

INK optimizes my images for me. It rates my alt text score and image caption.
INK optimizes my images for me. It rates my alt text score and image caption.

INK also has a built-in feature that automatically optimizes your images when you upload them. This ensures they are the proper file size. Remember you want your site to load quickly as not to frustrate readers.

Because your content is also important in your SEO, INK checks for grammar errors, punctuation, spelling, typos, and overuse of passive voice. It’s really a one-stop-shop for all of your SEO needs. To start using INK, just visit our homepage and download it for free.

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How to Use Vocabulary to Boost Your SEO

Use Vocabulary to Boost Your SEO

The vocabulary you choose to pepper in your article will either have a positive or negative effect on your SEO. If a reader can’t absorb what you’ve written, they won’t remain on your page. Google takes this into account when ranking sites.

However, by choosing the expected vocabulary, you can create a positive impression on your target audience. Answer their question and you are deemed an authority on the subject. This has a very positive impact on your SEO ranking.

In this article, we’ll discuss the impacts of your vocabulary on your SEO. We’ll also look at how keywords and key phrases play a role in this.

Readability is key in SEO. But what is readability? It is the ease in which your target audience is able to digest written text.

Target Audience

Before you can decide what vocabulary you are going to use in your article, you need to determine who you are writing for.

  • Are they technical or nontechnical?
  • Do they talk in acronyms?
  • Is there a vocabulary set that is unique to them?

A man with a megaphone is shouting the the vocabulary of the target audience.
When you know your target audience, you can shout your message and they will listen.

Do your homework. I encourage you to visit the sites where your target audience hangs out. Who are their influencers? Do you notice common vocabulary being discussed? Are there catchphrases or slang that is unique to them?

For example, you’ve been hired by a craft brewery that just opened up. They’ve asked you to create the content around each type of beer they’re going to be serving.

You have to use the vocabulary that craft beer fans are expecting. Indian Pale Ale is a type of beer but it’s referred to as IPA by your target audience.

It’s okay to call it Indian Pale Ale one time, but then you should refer to it as IPA. It’s what your audience expects. If you aren’t using the expected vocabulary, your audience will not take you seriously.

Another example would be West Coast IPA versus New England IPA. If you are writing for a beer enthusiast you would compare the type of IPA you’re brewing with one of these styles.

This is writing for your target audience.

If you aren’t using expected vocabulary, you lose your authority. This has a negative impact on your SEO. Your audience doesn’t spend enough time on the site, and they exit quickly.

Choosing Your Keywords or Key Phrase

This is a part of your vocabulary also. Think about your target audience. Put yourself in their shoes. What would they be searching for?

Let’s take our craft brewery for example. Because they just opened, their goal is to let people know they exist. Here are a few keywords and key phrases you might consider using.

  • Craft brewery near me
  • Best local IPA
  • Types of craft beer near me

Illustration of a beer bottle that reads beer & SEO.
Name a better duo. ¦ beerandSEO

It’s important to develop a list of keywords that you are writing for. Let’s use “best local IPA” as our example.

Your article would compare and contrast your brewery’s IPA with other craft brewery’s IPA. This is an informative article that a beer enthusiast would be excited to read.

You obviously think your IPA tastes the best and it’s okay to say that. However, this article is not a slam to your competition or marketing materials for your brewery.

Your writing should position your IPA as something that a beer enthusiast would be excited to try. They should not feel like they have just stumbled on an advertisement.

Vocabulary’s Effect on SEO

SEO is really this simple. Your target audience types in their key phrase in Google. They are expecting that one of the top sites on the search engine results page will answer their question.

This is, of course, where you’re aiming for your site to be. Spend time on these sites. Notice the vocabulary that they are using.

Use of Technical Terms

Graphic image of technology vocabulary laid out in an artistic way.

If your audience is expecting a technical vocabulary, there are a few rules you need to follow.

  1. Make sure you completely understand what the terms mean. YouTube is a great resource. Listen to how they are being used. Remember you want to be an authority on the subject. The terms must be used correctly.
  2. Spell the words correctly. There is a good chance that if they are very technical vocabulary they will not be in spell check.

If you do not follow these rules, it will hurt your SEO ranking. Your target audience can spot a fake. Your explanation might be on point, but if you misuse technical terms or misspell them, you immediately lose your authority.

Use of Swear Words

My gut reaction advice is to avoid swear words like the plague. However, there is a time and place for them.

Writing for your target audience is the number one most important influence on your SEO. Curse words do have a place in our society.

Google doesn’t seem to have an official policy on swear words in website content.

However, it does appear that the number of curse words used and the severity of the meaning does have a negative impact on SEO.

comic style drawing of thought bubbles filled with edited words
.

SafeSearch Filtering is a feature of Google Search and Google Images. According to Wikipedia, it acts as an automated filter for potentially offensive content.

If Google deems your site unsafe for an audience under 18, it might be filtered out by SafeSearch.

This negatively affects your SEO because you’ve now been censored and your site will not show in results.

Also, if you put curse words in your meta title or meta description, Google may choose to edit or rewrite them.

If you are a content writer for an industry that is commonly filtered by SafeSearch, then it seems the use of curse words is okay. Just don’t use them in your meta title or description.

If you are writing an article for an industry that is normally not censored by SafeSearch. It is a good idea to steer clear of inappropriate vocabulary. It’s just not worth the risk.

There is a Tool That can Help you Optimize Your Vocabulary

INK is a content writing tool that I’ve been developing for content writers like you. Among many other things, it analyzes the articles you are competing against.

INK looks at the vocabulary used by these sites. It tells you if your content is at the same reading grade level as your competition.

INK screenshot tells me the vocabulary I"ve used it higher than my competition.
INK has analysed the competition and I need to choose different vocabulary.

Every content writer is focused on achieving the highest site ranking possible. INK analyzes the competition, giving you real-time data.

It calculates the number of words of your competing articles and compares them with yours.

INK tells me that I have written 1244 words and I need to write 1294.
In order to compete for the top spot on the search engine results page, I need to add 50 more words to this article.

INK also takes into account the indirect factors of readability. It indicates sentences that are too complex for your target reading level. This ensures a consistent flow of information without readers exiting too soon.

Always remember that sentences need to be short and concise if that’s what your target audience is expecting.

INK shows the word count of the competition and too complex sentences.
INK shows the word count of the competition and too complex sentences.

INK performs a number of other tasks that improve your site’s readability. It checks for grammatical errors, misspelled words, complicated sentence structure, duplicate sentences and overuse of adverbs.

INK shows that the word "checks" is misspelled. It gives like word choices.
INK shows that the word “checks” is misspelled. It gives like word choices.

INK also notes if there is an overuse of passive voice. This is important in your ranking. You want to position yourself as an authority on the subject. Your reader should want to hang out longer and maybe even shares your content with others.

Screenshot from INK showing the overuse of passive voice in this article.
Screenshot from INK showing the overuse of passive voice in this article.

INK optimizes your images automatically when you load them in your document. This is another component of creating great content. You don’t have to worry about your page loading too slowly and hurting your SEO.

Also, part of the content writing tool is an image ALT text option. This is another vital part of search engine optimization.

I’ve written this article in INK. It’s free to download this valuable tool. See just how much higher your content can rank.