The Most Despised Phrase Online? Search Engine Optimised Content
From a journalistic point of view, search marketers can come under a lot of lexicographical fire when it comes to writing copy. However, I strongly believe producing keyword rich content does not have to come at the sacrifice of quality prose.
Writing is a craft, as is optimising content to perform well in the search engines and it’s fully possible to have the two working in perfect harmony. Just before I started an SEO internship through Wired Sussex all those fateful years ago, I was doing some research and came across an article on search marketing written by Charlie Brooker. Now I don’t want to join a cult but if Charlie started one just show me where to sign. In his article the self-confessed ‘miserablist’ warned against prose manipulated for Google and the dangers these new trends posed for quality reportage. And although his points had a faint whiff of truth, anyone in the industry knows that it’s quite possible to write content that not only is picked up by the search engines, but it also enjoyable and informative to read.
Keyword rich content does not mean stuffing your paragraphs with the most popular search terms such as “New Moon”, “Katie Price” and “Twitter”. As you know Google’s algorithms are far too advanced to even entertain this idea. Irrelevant content will be penalised and no one wants to get sandboxed. Neither does keyword rich content entail filling your work with the industry specific keywords relevant to the client for which the material is being created. A good search marketer produces content optimised for the user as well as the search engine, after all, the search engine is just the conduit via which the user finds your site.
Seasoning your material with targeted keywords in the right places is an art form, one which I and many other copywriters are very proud of. However I feel an unfair stigmatism has developed over the last 12 months around this subject. When I propose search engine optimised content to potential online partners I can often hear the groan of cynicism from their replying email. It’s the “Oh yeah, that old chestnut” sentiment, but writing provocative prose that also tickle the tentacles of Google requires a very deft pen hand.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:01 pm
[...] The Most Despised Phrase Online? Search Engine Optimised Content, White Hat Media [...]
November 24th, 2009 at 7:31 am
So many people in business, as well as agencies that should know better, still miss the importance of good, balanced Web prose. While that equates to a lot of wasted collective marketing budget, it also means less competition for those who can craft online prose properly.
November 24th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
When you write “pros” do you mean “prose”? (Sorry, I was an editor for more than 20 years, and I’m a newbie at SEO.) And my query begs the question: What exactly does a search engine do with misspellings? “Seasoning your material with targeted keywords in the right places is an art form …” What happens when those targeted keywords are misspelled?
November 24th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Ironically, this post wouldn’t rank for searches including “prose” (until now), as that word is misspelled the three times it appears in the essay.
FYI:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pros
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prose
So when Zak writes, “producing keyword rich content does not have to come at the sacrifice of quality pros”, I’d respond, “Completely agree, as long as the ‘pros’ is first reviewed by a real pro: A competent editor.”
November 25th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
What happens when those targeted keywords are misspelled? Well Juliette first the author blushes. Then he’d say that often search marketers consider optimising articles and web pages for mispellings too. This is particularly true when working for international clients and having to optimise for english and optimize for american spellings.
November 25th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Very true Winooski, a decent editor is a vital element but resources and time don’t always permit such freedoms. Thanks for clearly the spelling up my prose will now be written by a bunch of pros. Zac
November 25th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Many thanks! I truly appreciate the SEO community’s open and educational attitude!
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:53 am
In some markets I completely ignore copy. I find it makes less and less of a difference how your copy is put together. Especially in competitive markets where everything is about links.
Still, I agree, a lot clients feel SEO consultants will just keyword stuff their content. The problem is, a lot of poor SEO consultants probably still do this and make a living off it. I have talked with people who work in SEO and their main skills are SEO copywriting + meta tagging.
January 26th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Interesting post.