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.
