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| Writing for Search Engines
& for People |
| Posted: 4-05-2006 |
| Author: Jennifer |
Writing for the
search engines is much different than writing in any other
medium. Search engines are finicky, but they love text,
so you're talking thier language. When writing your web
content, it's important to to keep the following three
things in mind.
1. What You Want the Reader to Do: While writing your
content, keep the overall objective of the page in view.
Think about what you want the reader to do. Do you want
them to sign up for something? Click to another page?
Buy something? Visit your store? Download an e-book? Whatever
it is you want them to do, keep that in mind as you write.
2. Search Engine Optimization: Remember the search engines
as you write too. Usually it's better to do a quick draft
without thinking of the search engines first, then later,
come back and optimize the writing of the page. We will
get into the details of how to make your web content friendly
to search engines later. For now, just remember that it's
one of those things you have to keep in mind as you write
your web content.
3. How people use the web. Know that people do not use
the web like we sometimes think they do. People are more
likely to briefly scan your writing rather than to dig-in
and read it. Keep your content should be relevant and
informational and conversational. People don't want to
read a book, they want to be informed. Give them the information
they crave and they'll keep coming back for more.
Now that you know what to keep in mind as you write your
classic web content, we are going to discuss the different
elements of search engine optimization. The good thing
about SEO is that your page will show up at the top of
search engines so that people--lots of people--will actually
be able to read what you've written. What a concept!
The SEO Lowdown
Keywords
Keywords are what drives search engines optimization.
Here's how it works:
People type words into the search boxes at Google.
Google goes through all the pages it already knows about...these
pages are in its database because they've been crawled
and indexed beforehand.
Google delivers webpages that match the keywords the searcher
uses to find what they're looking for.
When Google comes to your page, the only way they know
it's good for the search is by keywords--period.
More About Keywords
We've already established that you need keywords woven
throughout the content of the page, right? You also need
keywords in your title. Here's a few other things to know
about keyword placement in your webpage.
Do not overdo it. Don't gross people out by sticking keywords
everywhere. That's not good business. Be discreet when
inserting keywords in your website content (hint, hint).
If you are optimizing for a certain keyphrase, you must
keep the entire phrase in tact throughout the page content
for the keyword phrase to have any affect on SEO.
The keywords you should use should be carefully picked
out and are always industry and subject specific.
Optimize for one to two keywords or phrases per page,
with the exception of the homepage. Your homepage contains
everything but the kitchen sink, but that's another article.
Putting your keywords in bold gives your site a boost.
Headers
There are up to six levels of headers in an html document.
Usually as a web content writer you won't be going beyond
the third or fourth header. Headers are very important
to search engines. They use them to decipher page relevancy
for searches. When you include keywords about your subject
your article's headers, you are scoring points with the
search engine crawlers. Here is an example of the different
header tags.
This is an H1 header
This is an H2 header
This is an H3 header
This is an H4 header
There is a really good explanation for why headers exist,
but I don't have time to tell you. For your purposes of
writing for the search engines, just know they are mega
important for optimization.
H1 - This is the title of your article.
H2 - This is the sub-title of your article.
Keyword Proximity in Headers
As if it couldn't get any worse, would you believe that
where you place the keywords in your title is bigtime
important? It is true. To score more points with search
engines, place keywords and phrases at the beginning of
your titles and paragraphs. Keep unnecessary words out
of the titles. This is a very delicate issue, especially
when you consider that keywords aren't always good for
the human palate. Therein lies our dilemma. Who do we
write the title for? People or search engines?
Well, the answer my friend ... is BOTH. Yes. If you don't
write for both, you're defeating your purpose. Why would
you write something that repulses people, but that search
engines love? Some SEO people do this. Gross. First, write
a title that search engines love. Then, use your noggin
to write enticing words drawing the reader into your copy.
Here's how I do it.
SEO Tips | Search Engine Optimization Techniques
10 Ways to Make a Lot of Money with Your Website
See? Don't give up having a compelling title for the sake
of the search engines. (God help us all.) What good is
having alot of traffic to your site if no one can stand
to read your copy. To see an example of this on a live
site, look here: http://www.internationalbcs.com/ibcs-payment-performance-guarantees.htm.
Compelling Titles and Headlines
According to John Caples, there are five rules for writing
headlines:
Self Interest. Your titles need to speak to the self-interest
of the reader. People just want to know what's in it for
them.
News. If you have news, get it in your headline.
Curiosity. Don't let curiosity drive alone. Pair it up
with other headline writing techniques.
No bad news. Avoid the urge to paint the negative picture
in the headline. Be positive.
Quick and easy. Show the reader how there is a quick and
easy way to get something that they want.
Links on the Page
The whole web is made up of links. Links help humans get
around the web, but search engines use links too. Since
both search engines and people use the web differently,
you need different types of links for both.
General Search Engine Links: Search engines only index
those pages on your site that are linked together. They
use your internal links, such as your navigation bars
to find their way around your site and make record of
your pages. That's why it's important that your navigation
be 100% text.
Anchor Text Links: The anchor text link is a different
animal. Anchor text effects the page that it is linking
to, not necessarily the page that it is on. Your anchor
text should consist of keywords. So, instead of making
"click here" a link, you would make, get keyword here
a link.
Now, be careful here. Remember when a search engine zooms
on your page, it follows the links. So, if you want it
to read all your content, don't stick links arbitrarily
in the page. Be strategic. If you want it to read the
whole page, put your anchor text and any other links at
the end. Usually, you can put anchor text links anywhere
because it is the page you're optimizing for in the first
place, so you don't care if the search engine goes for
a visit there.
People Links: Make your links for people clear, concise
and accurate. Don't just put a link on your page. You
need a description of what's behind door number three.
By being consistent and having the correct link descriptions,
you build trust with the people on your site.
Jennifer Ryan
The Marketing Shop
July 7, 2005
About the Author:
Jennifer Ryan is founder of The Marketing Shop.com, specializing
in search engine optimization and lead generation for
corporations, small businesses, real estate agents and
auto dealers. Visit our website at http://www.themarketingshop.com/.
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