Optimal Copy - SEO Copywriting Blog

Here’s an informative enumeration of SEO copywriting practices you do NOT want to engage in.  Courtesy of the always illuminating Karon Thackston.

Top 10 Don’ts for SEO Copywriting
By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved

Following in the footsteps of Rand Fishkin and Guy Kawasaki, I
decided to come up with my own list of don’ts.

There is no shortage of don’ts when it comes to SEO copywriting.
It seems this niche got off to a rough start many years ago
when early comers somehow misconstrued the core principles of
the trade.  Allow me to elaborate on how not to write SEO copy.

1. Don’t shove as many keyphrases into the copy as humanly
possible.  It’s not about the sheer volume of search terms you
include.  Yes, Google and other engines should be able to follow
what the page is about.  Yes, engines are looking to match a
searcher’s query with search engine optimized content on your
web pages, but which pages land at the top is decided through a
series of calculations far more complex than any simple ratio.
When you overload copy with keyphrases you sacrifice quality and
user experience.

2.  Don’t lose site of balance.  If SEO copywriting isn’t about
the percentage of keywords within the copy, then what is it
about?  Balance.  You have two audiences with SEO copywriting:
the search engines and your site visitors.  But surprisingly,
the balance doesn’t come with serving both masters well.  The
balance comes in how much you cater to the engines.  You see,
your site visitors always come first.  However, if you write
with too little focus on the engines, you won’t see good
rankings.  If you put too much focus on the engines, you’ll
start to lose your target audience.  Balance. always balance.

3.  Don’t let someone else choose the keywords.  If keyword
research isn’t a service you offer, an SEO firm, keyword
specialist or some other professional that your client hires
will have to conduct the research.  Don’t just accept keyphrases
these folks toss your way.  Ask to see the entire list with
recommendations as to which terms would be best strategically.
Then you, as the professional writer, can decide which will also
work best within the copy.

4.  Don’t sacrifice flow for numbers.  This is a follow-up to
number three and is a major issue with bad SEO copywriting.
SEOs or clients sometimes insist on using hacked-up search
phrases that simply don’t work in a normal sentence. An example?
“Candies samples free.”  Many copywriters will just grin and
bear it, sacrificing quality and flow for the sake of
competitive values or other numbers.  The result is often some
obnoxious sentence like, “If you’re looking for candies samples
free, you’ve come to the right place!”  Forcing a phrase into
the copy at all costs never turns out well.

5.  Don’t use keyphrases that don’t apply to the page.  If you
operate a site about wedding receptions, don’t try to force a
search term about wedding dresses into the copy just because it
pulls a lot of traffic.  (A) Unless you sell, alter or design
wedding dresses, it won’t be applicable.  (B) Even if you manage
to get the page ranked well for the phrase [wedding dresses],
once the visitor clicks to your site and realizes you have
nothing to do with wedding dresses, they will leave. It’s a
waste of time and effort and it creates a poor user experience.

6.  Don’t use misspellings and correct spellings on the same
page.  I fully understand that the misspellings of keyphrases
can be valuable search terms.  However, to mix correct spellings
and misspellings within the same page of copy looks like you’ve
got a bunch of typos in the content. It’s just not professional.
Some writers will go for the old, “We rent limousines
(sometimes spelled limosenes) for the most affordable prices in
town.”  I don’t care for that approach. It’s just not natural.
Would you ever see brochure or newspaper copy that reads that
way?  I think not.

7.  Don’t use keyphrases the exact same way every time.  This is
how we end up with horrible SEO copy that sounds like a 4th
grader wrote it.  (See #4.)  There are lots of ways to use
keywords in copy, not just one.  In order to sound natural, you
have to get creative with your keyphrase use.  One way is to
break up phrases using punctuation.  Since search engines don’t
pay attention to basic punctuation marks, you can easily write
something using the search term [real estate Hawaii] that reads
like this: “Currently there is an impressive selection of
available real estate.  Hawaii listings can be.”  See?  “Real
estate” is at the end of the first sentence and “Hawaii” is at
the beginning of the second sentence. The engines ignore the
period so there’s no problem.

8. Don’t use all types of search phrases for every situation.
There are many ways in which this “don’t” applies.  One quick
example is that of an ecommerce site.  It wouldn’t be advisable
to use specific, long-tail keyphrases on the home page of your
site.  They are much too specific in most cases and are better
suited for individual product pages.  Broader terms are
typically best for an ecommerce home page.  If you don’t
understand the best applications for the various types of
keywords, you’re likely to have lackluster results.

9. Don’t neglect ALT tags/image attributes.  These tags are the
ones associated with images on your pages and they carry a good
deal of weight especially if the image is used as a link.  The
ALT text counts the same as anchor text in a text-based link.
Depending on a few different factors, ALT text may be a good
place for those misspellings mentioned in #6.

10. Don’t forget the chain of protocol.  There’s a method to the
SEO copywriting madness.  The idea is not to get as many
different keyphrases onto a page as possible.  Just the
opposite, in fact.  Rather than having 12 different search terms
used only one time each, you need to use two to four keyphrases
(depending on the length of your copy) per page.  The title,
META tags, ALT tags, other coding elements and on-page copy need
to support each other as far as keyphrase use goes.  Your goal
is to let the engines know that you have original, relevant
content about a narrow topic.

Unless you have an exceptional number of back links built up,
just mentioning [dark chocolate], [chocolate strawberries],
[chocolate chip cookies], [chocolate cake], [chocolate
desserts], [organic chocolate] and [chocolate cheesecake] once
each on a web page isn’t likely to do a lot of good.  Instead,
pick two or three terms which are closely related and use them
several times each along with mentioning them in your tags.

When you avoid making common mistakes, you’ll find your SEO
copywriting flows much better, is more natural-sounding and
ranks higher, too.

Need help with SEO copywriting?  Karon has written 3 excellent
books to help you learn keyword optimization techniques. Visit
http://www.CopywritingCourse.com today and click to the Order
page for details.

By Lisa Peyton, Partner - Optimal Copy

Unless you’ve been totally off the grid over the past several years, chances are you’ve at least heard the buzz about keywords. With the rapid growth of web technologies, keywords have become more important than ever. The simple fact is that if you want to find something or be found on-line, you have to know what group of words to enter into that search box. The same holds true when it comes to top employers or recruiters coming across your resume. Whether they’re sourcing your information from the web or an off-line database, keyword searches are the primary tool they use to sift through the thousands of resumes available.

Monster.com–the largest on-line job board and resume database– and other on-line resume sources offer several ways employers can search through resumes. These prominently include the resume’s received date and specific keywords appearing throughout the entire submission process—not simply those keywords found in the body of your completed resume. Any serious job seeker would be wise to regularly dust off their on-line resume, keeping keywords and content fresh, with relevant keywords always in mind when completing every field during the submittal process. It’s important to remember that submitting a keyword optimized resume is just the first step in the process of landing that perfect job. Nonetheless, it’s a vital one if you even want to be considered.

(Screenshot from the Employer’s Resume Search section at Monster.com)

Identifying Desirable Keywords

So now you’re ready to dig in and find those “magic” words that will get you noticed by your ideal employer and add them to your resume. It’s never a good idea to misrepresent your skills, but it is important to make sure that you’re using the same verbiage employers are using to define your skill set. Simple things like using the plural form of a word or using an industry wide acronym can keep your resume out of the running unless the employer or recruiter uses that exact same search phrase.
There are several lists available with suggestions of where to find the best keywords for your particular industry,
Quintcareers.com’s article “Resources for Identifying Resume Keywords” (http://www.quintcareers.com/identifying_resume_keywords.html)
offers quite an exhaustive list with several creative suggestions. Here’s a brief list of the top sources to get you started:

• Job Postings – Search out job listings for positions similar to what you’re looking for. Monster.com is a free resource for job seekers and can source hundreds of jobs to pull keywords from.

• Job Descriptions – Find on-line job descriptions for the position you’re seeking. Typically they are great repositories of desired skills and competencies for any given job title.

• Articles and News Stories – Research the latest industry news–specifically searching out anything from the employer’s viewpoint.

• On-line Keyword Tools – For those of you that really enjoy data and research, you may want to take the time to check out some tools that are specifically designed to find and analyze phrases that users are searching for. Keyword Discovery offers a free keyword tool - http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.html and Google has an analytical tool that will allow you to compare and contrast two separate phrases and spot trending within your given industry. Google Trends - http://www.google.com/trends.

Adding Keywords to Your Resume

The next step involves integrating all these great keywords in to your resume. While I wouldn’t suggest doing anything as blatant as adding a “Keyword” section to your resume, there are ways to include lists or summaries that include the keywords while engaging the reader at the same time. By using headers like “Summary of Qualifications”, “Areas of Expertise,” and “Professional Profile,” you create a handy list of the keyword skill phrases as well as brief explanations of how you’ve demonstrated these skills in the workplace.

Free sample resumes can act as a good template. The keyword rich section above was taken from a PDF found at Resumesandcoverletters.com (http://www.resumesandcoverletters.com/Corinthian_Chrono_Resume.pdf ).
Here are some other tips to keep in mind while optimizing your resume:

• Keep important phrases near the top of your document where they are more likely to be noticed and given more weight.

• Sprinkle the keywords throughout your resume and try to use important phrases multiple times as keyword density is often considered when indexing documents.

• Be sure to use synonyms, plural and non-plural variations, and both acronyms and spelled out versions of all of your phrases.

Giving your Resume a Check-Up

Whether you’re planning on making your information key-word friendly or you’ve always understood the importance of keywords, it’s a good idea to take a close look at the final draft of your resume. Katherine Hansen offers up a great suggestion in her article, “Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume’s Effectiveness” (http://www.quintcareers.com/resume_keywords.html )
“To determine the keyword health of your current resume, highlight all the words in it that, based on your research of ideal positions in your field, would probably be considered keywords. Electronic resume guru Rebecca Smith says a good goal to shoot for is 25-35 keywords, so if you have fewer than that currently, try to beef up every section of your resume with keywords, varying the forms of the words you choose.”

Resources

http://www.free-resume-tips.com/10tips.html - Resume writing - 10 tips to generate more interviews and higher salary offers

http://www.quintcareers.com/resume_keywords.html - Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume’s Effectiveness
http://www.quintcareers.com/researching_resume_keywords.html - Researching Keywords in Employment Ads

http://www.quintcareers.com/identifying_resume_keywords.html - Resources for Identifying Resume Keywords

Technorati Tags: resume writing resource, resume tips, keywords on resume, keyword research, seo, optimized resume, resume resources, optimal copy, lisa peyton

By Lisa Peyton

A few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting Stoney G deGeyter at a SEM conference in Portland, OR. Since that time I have spent many hours on the web sifting through tons of articles and information on the topic of keyword research and it’s importance surrounding every aspect of web optimization and marketing. Stoney’s pdf entitled “Keyword Research and Selection: The Definitive Guide to Gathering, Sorting and Organizing Your Keywords into a High Performance SEO Campaign” has held up as the best free resource on the topic. He lays out a very organized and methodical process, simplifying what can easily become an all consuming and unfocused mess.

Taking the time to read, comprehend and implement the plan he lays out will save you money and many hours of your valuable time. Investing the time up front to fully research keywords can be the one step amateur internet marketers overlook but it is by far the most important.

keyword research, internet marketing, seo services

Technorati Tags: keyword research, internet marketing, seo services