When writing articles, should I "just write" or think about keywords?

Interesting that so many have suggested just writing first and thinking about keywords later. This is backasswards to me because your article is far better when it's written around a keyword phrase. This also reduces the amount of work.

Imagine...

You write your article, then decide to find a keyword. Now, you have to figure out how that keyword is going to fit what you said.

now imagine...

You find a keyword and everything you write responds to the meaning in that keyword phrase. You make it fit as you go along. You slant your writing into the keyword.

My story is similar to Shannon's, except I didn't get the same results.

For 6 years, I paid absolutely no attention to keywords. I wrote because it's what I do and have been doing for 28 years professionally. So you could say I just "let it flow".

After that time, I kept reading about keyword targeting but being a little dense sometimes, I didn't grasp the value or the intent of this strategy.

Meanwhile, I wondered how I (a pro writer) was not getting many responses to my articles when other people were claiming great success with article marketing alone.

Two years ago, I began focusing on keywords and after about six months, noticed a boost in visits and sales.

Keywords are extremely important and the easiest way to use them is to write around them, rather than trying to insert them after the fact. If you wanted to build a table, you wouldn't build it first and then try to figure out what you want in the table (particular style, a drawer, fancy trim, type of wood used, a specific use for it, etc.).

Sylvia