Web writing and SEO

As an SEO web writer, one of my web writing goals is to make clients’ website pages more accessible to your prospective clients in Search.

I work with clients to pinpoint keywords and phrases that are commonly used for the services and products that they provide and then I attempt to use them intelligently throughout the copy on a web page.

An important point I repeatedly make with clients is this:

Never sacrifice your readers experience’ (that is, your copy and content) for search engine optimization. At the end of the day, it is your readers to whom you are writing – not search engines.

What is SEO anyway?

SEO (search engine optimization) or optimizing your website for search is a tactic to improve your rankings and visibility in search engine results organically. SEO does not include paid campaigns. Of course there are other tactics that help with your site’s visibility on the web and you should consider using them (social media and pay-per-click, for example).

Why is SEO important?

Optimizing your website for search is important because page visits from search are directly related to:

• the frequency with which your site shows up in search engine results
• your ranking on the search results page – the higher you show up in search, the greater your likelihood of a site visit from a searcher
  

The key to optimizing your site for search

The key to optimizing your site for search is found in keywords. Keywords are those words and phrases that people use to search for the product or service that you offer.  So your goal with keywords is this:

Match the words and phrases your searchers use with your copy

As you write, ask yourself, “How would a client or customer search for this product or this service?” The more closely your match your searchers terms, the higher you will show in their search results.

This brings me to an important if not somewhat debatable subject for SEO. Should your goal be traffic volume or targeted traffic?

I believe that targeted, quality traffic trumps high volume every time. High traffic volumes don’t necessarily result in conversions. In fact, it may just result in a high bounce rate.  A bounce occurs when a web site visitor only views a single page on a website, meaning the visitor leaves a site without visiting any other web pages. This may be the result of a mismatched search or some other factor (a discussion for another day).

SEO is still an important tactic to improve your visibility on the web. BUT it isn’t the only tactic that you should use.

What do you think of SEO? Is it as important as social media? What other tactics do you use?

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Cross posted on Learn WordPress.