We’re still seeing a great deal of heated discussion online about what makes for good web content so I thought the subject is worth revisiting.

It’s all very simple really. Websites need words, whatever their reason for existing, they need words.

Each and every website is created to attract visitors–that goes without saying. But in order for people to see it, that website has to first impress the search engines because if it doesn’t, the search engines will never throw it up in a search. So unless you’re doing an obscene amount of Pay Per Click or you have other concrete sources of traffic, the search engines need to love you, and most important of all the search engines is Google because they have the lion’s share of the search industry. Period.

So let’s look at what the search engines look for first:

1. The title of your page needs to clearly define what the page is about. If you’re wondering what I mean by that, take a quick look at the top left-hand corner of this page. See what I mean? Lay out for your visitor exactly what the page is about in a way that will make them want to know more.
2. The main heading of your page also needs to contain your major search terms. This is different from the title as it’s seen actually on the page. To pick the right search terms, or keywords, make sure you do adequate keyword research using a reliable keyword tool.
3. The first paragraph should talk about your main focus (major search terms). Your most important content is what comes above the fold (what’s seen on your page without someone having to scroll down). It’s rather like writing for newspapers: you have to grab your audience in the first paragraph (in this case digital and human visitors) and then add the less-important facts lower down.
4. Sprinkle well-chosen sub headings throughout your text and link out to relevant content using your keywords in the anchor text (the words you click on in a link). Simple but effective.
5. Arrange for links from other pages of your website using those relevant keywords as anchor text.
6. Arrange for links from other websites, again using your chosen keywords as anchor text.
7. Don’t make the huge mistake of trying to target too many keywords. Just pick four-six really good ones and leave the rest for another page. There’s no limit to the number of pages you can create and doing it this way is a powerful way of making your website into a valuable resource for your target market.

Even if you don’t want the search engines to love you for some strange reason, you still need to get your human visitors to love you. Quality web content is the only way to do it.

Some kind of content management or content development strategy should therefore be high up on any webmaster’s list of priorities. If you can’t do it yourself, good content is well worth paying for even if it’s not on a regular basis. A decent SEO copywriter can put your website on the map.

Would you Like Your Website to be as Popular Online as Sarah Palin?

Notice how Sarah Palin is showing up again and again in the search results all over the web, and mainly because of her choice of words? Good SEO copywriting can get your web pages exactly the same sort of results.

What Google Loves about Keywords

Google loves skillfully-written SEO copy that feeds the bot lots of good, juicy, related and popular keywords. And it can make a huge difference to your popularity in search. The reason is not hard to find: the more accurately you target your article with keywords, the happier visitors will be. This makes Google, or any other search engine, look good with their customers.

Not just anyone can be a good copywriter, never mind an SEO copywriter. It takes skill. OK, well we won’t draw any more comparisons with Sarah Palin there.

An article on Webpro News the other day caught my attention. What? After all this negativity we’re being told that Content IS King again? Amazing. Don’t let me say ‘I told you so!’ For some time now we’ve been reading mistaken claims that it doesn’t make any difference what kind of copy you write.

My theory, as one of the first-ever SEO copywriters, is that rumors were put about deliberately. Makes sense if you don’t care about ethics, to clear the way so your own sites rule the roost. Wouldn’t it be nice if your competitors didn’t believe that the strategies you use work? And who’s to know if you mislead them? Hmm. You could call that a political policy I suppose. But probably not one that Sarah Palin would use according to John Cleese.

You Can’t Learn SEO in 48 Hours!

As far as SEO advice online is concerned, it’s definitely a case of take everything you read with a pinch of salt. Especially concerning SEO copywriting. If you doubt the usefulness of SEO, just hire someone to write one page of good copy for you and see what kind of difference it makes. The more pages you have with good copy, the better your SE results will be.

I was reading somewhere that all online business owners should arm themselves with SEO knowledge so they’d know if they were hiring a good SEO or not. This advice is good up to a point. But a little knowledge can be a very dangerous thing, and it takes a long time to accrue significant SEO knowledge. Ultimately you should hire an SEO who you trust. How can you tell? Recommendations! Do they run a successful blog? Do they have a thundering presence online, especially in Social Media circles? Can you find online rants from customers complaining about their failure to deliver?

It’s not necessary to hire the most expensive SEO out there. But you do need to hire someone who clearly knows what they’re doing. No go and have another look at Cleese’s video, lol.