Writing to ensure your business’ website is optimized for search engines is a valuable skill in today’s business world. Gabriel Shaoolian of Blue Fountain Media, a leading web design company, has several suggestions to ensure you do it right. Shaoolian says “The goal of Google is to show the most relevant results for every query, giving users the most satisfaction when searching. To do so, the search engine has begun taking into account certain factors. To capture its attention you need to write in a way that blends your own intent with an eye for how search engines search.” Here are some simple rules that will help any copywriter write more effectively.
First let’s start by really defining Search Engine Optimization (SEO) copywriting. SEO copywriting is the art and science of combining three elements:
Human Content: Providing the reader with interesting content that educates them on a subject while providing them with an opportunity to learn or experience more about a particular topic, product, or service. The key element in making this success lies in your ability to deliver value in your content. This means taking into account your reader’s perspective, interests, and in your ability to give them a level of usability.
Search Content: While providing the reader with interesting content is of utmost importance, it is also important to imbed words and phrases that search engines will find interesting. This means undertaking a series of searches to understand what words search engines associate with your particular topic or product. By interweaving more of these associating words into your content, you will generate better placement.
Structure and Formatting: Search Engines are becoming better in how they evaluate a website and determine the value its content provides. However, they still rely on a variety of factors which are outlined below. There is no hard and fast rule for any of these tips. But use them sparingly, and remember the ability of your reader to understand what you have written is the most important part of your writing, far and beyond.
Use Bold, and Italics: Just like a regular old human reader the search engines give more weight to words and phrases that are in bold or italics. However, use them sparingly, or the search engines will flag your work.
Internal Hyperlinks: You are your own best resource, so promote yourself in your copy and text. Hyperlink to other resources/pages of your site which are relevant to the copy you are writing. This will benefit the reader, increase the amount of time they spend on your site and help you with the search engines.
External Hyperlinks: Incorporating links to external resources which will benefit the reader can help you in two ways (a) they provide a third-party validation to a certain extent of your “expertise” and (b) afford you the opportunity to pick up some extra coin if that resource provides reciprocal linking or has an affiliate program.
Use Bullet Points: Using a bullet point or numbered system helps break up your copy into consumable pieces, aids in the clean design of your page and makes it easy for the reader to “go back” and reference previous points without wasting time reading through dense copy.
Content “Mass”: Never have less than 400 words on a page. If the content you are providing is in fact valuable you should be able to come up with around 1,000 words.
Keyword Density: Depending on who you speak to, aim for between 5% density of keywords. That is, 5% of your total text should include searchable keywords. Too many keywords, and the search engines will pass them by. Just make sure they fit into the text in a natural manner.
About The Guest Author: Gabriel Shaoolian is the founder of Blue Fountain Media, a website development & online marketing firm that helps companies create profitable web-based businesses with measurable results. Visit them at www.bluefountainmedia.com.
Search Engine Optimization is one thing that I really wanted to study about. This article is a great help, Gabriel. Thanks!
Luz,
Same here. I think that SEO should be one part in your internet marketing strategy. I have experience that search engines, especially Google, like blogs.
Thanks for the tips…Your point about “Content Mass” is interesting. Sounds like you encourage around 1000 words per page. Is there a maximum on words per page? In other words, can an excessively long page cause SEO issues?
Thanks again for the information.
Most probably, Google do Martin. They even assigned a special feature for blogs.google.com. These new media like blogs are the most cost-effective marketing strategy for every business. It’s almost FREE.
Luz,
I have tested the blog search now and then. Technorati was leading the race in the beginning, but I am not sure who has the best search function nowadays.
I will look into the role of contextual ads a bit more, participating in a coursed called PPC (Pay Per Click) Domination. I have seen an increased traffic from Google searches to my blog and now I want to test AdWords.
People ignore the role of outside links when it comes to SEO. Get your name out there on the web or in publications as much as possible, that will increase your ranking! It’s even better if you get into big names like NYTimes or WSJ or USA Today, since Google scours those sites and articles with a link to your site will get huge weight and increase your exposure. So, PR is a crucial point in SEO. I’d use places like Publicity Guaranteed, which only charge based on placement – a really cost-effective alternative to expensive SEO firms and marketing.
Very good article for beginners as well a reminder for most everyone. Something to consider with Content Mass is to spread it out over more pages vs. more words on a page.
I like your suggestion of using bold and italics. I’ve been paying attention to that sort of thing and it really does make a difference, I believe. Your suggestion about content mass is interesting, too. Thanks for the thought provoking post. Now I have a thing or two to think about – nice to see you here on SMBCEO 🙂
Valuable information! With the increasing popularity of search engines, the importance of SEO for your business’ website can not be stressed enough. Meta Tags (title, description, and keywords) can also play a key role in optimizing your site for search engines.