When it comes to search engine optimization it's all too easy to focus on the keywords and forget the old adage that ‘content is King'. Not only will over use of keywords and inappropriate use of keywords skewer the reading experience, baffle the audience and alienate them from returning to your site, it could also endanger your Google ranking. Google webmaster guidelines warn about using keywords without integrity. There is nothing wrong however with using keywords in an informative, entertaining, well-researched and pertinent article or web copy.
SEO Keyword Copy
To ensure you capture your audience, your copy must grab them. A compelling title is a must. Opening paragraphs should draw in the readers. One way of looking at a successful SEO article is to think along the lines of traditional news reporting. The article works in a triangular shape. You start at the tip, summarising the story in your headline in a pithy, witty or attention-grabbing way. You gradually expand offering a summary of the story to come in your subheading, before filling out the who, what, where and when aspects that flesh out the story as you work your way down.
Reel ‘em in
As well as a newsy structure, articles need to have a hook – just like any news story needs a hook or an angle to hang off. Without a hook or angle, the story is dead meat. A hook in the traditional news sense is the fact that the story is new – it has just happened, a scoop. It can be an event, a statistic, a new survey, a controversial quote or prediction. On the web, finding a new website or internet phenomenon (the Facebook explosion is a case in point) is also a great way to hook a story on, and a way to theoretically get readers to link or bookmark your article.
Also, writing for the web requires a different style:
- Sentences should be short.
- Bullet points work well
- Information should be split into short paragraphs
- A liberal sprinkling of sub-headings and lists also help make the page more digestible.
Make your writing scan-able. Readers need to be able to digest information quickly and concisely and ideally in one page – scrolling down can put people off. Of course, unlike conventional articles, SEO needs to incorporate keywords or key phrases. Although this is important, you should never sacrifice meaning for the sake of a keyword. If it doesn't work, use a synonym instead. It goes without saying that grammar is also necessary – mistakes make you look bad, amateurish and unreliable.