Warning! The SEO web writing bubble is about to burst.
Yes, just like the housing bubble, the student loan bubble, the bubble in your champagne bath. Why?
Bubbles burst when the fuel tank dries up, or when there are not enough excessively optimistic or ignorant fools to keep it inflated. In the case of SEO — where self-proclaimed experts and hucksters reign supreme — excessively optimistic or even foolish marketers rush to learn this week’s “best practices,” use the “correct” SEO software or worse, resort to “tricks” to game the system to get more page views.
The biggest sign that the bubble is bursting is already here: content marketing.
Content marketing employs original, valuable and niche-specific information. This kind of content is more valuable to people and search engines alike.
To create original, valuable and niche-specific content, you need:
- a content strategy founded on engaging copy
- a regular infusion of new and valuable information in multiple media and in a narrow niche, and
- copy that inspires a specific action or other form of participation.
Do legitimate SEO web writing techniques exist?
Yes.
Do you need a basic understanding of them?
Yes.
But never forget this: There’s no use in employing SEO traffic techniques if the content is weak. Think of the frustration you’ve experienced searching for a particular topic to discover a “robo RSS” site that is filled with keywords but offers no useful or new information.
Here are a few SEO writing techniques to use once you’ve nailed the above.
Keyword placement
Narrow your keywords or phrases. Add them in your headline, your meta data, and in the majority – but not all – of your paragraphs. Placing keywords and phrases early in the sentence and early in the copy will help. Be careful, though, as too many of the same keywords repeated will hurt you in the search results. So, find other ways of saying the same thing. Think of your reader first, not the search engine.
Careful tagging
Remember to tag your photos. Build a tagging hierarchy that has fewer root categories and more descriptive tags per post.
Inbound, outbound and cross-bound links
Ultimately, you want a lot of people linking to and sharing your content (inbound links). How? Be generous with your willingness to link to others exploring similar topics first (outbound links). Reference similar, helpful content on your site with cross-bound links.
Regular publication
You’ll win search engines and people if you deliver content on a regular schedule and consistent basis. Yes, you’re busy. So is everyone else. That’s why you win if you’re the person who is consistent. If you can’t manage the content, hire an SEO web writer who can. Here is my best tip: Expect to pay for quality content. Cheap “content mill” writing may win in the search engines over the short term, but won’t win the loyalty of your audience.
Great copywriting combined with search engine optimization will give you a massive push forward toward sales, readership or engagement. Just remember: The “SEO” bubble is about to burst. Search results can be tinkered, but your audience can’t be fooled. They want quality.
The search engines are wising up, and so are the people embracing content marketing.
