Writing for Search Engines

By Keran Krane

Writing copy for your website or blog can be a daunting task even for the most confident writer. (Which most of us are not). Writing for search engine optimization can be especially intimidating, as most bloggers don’t even know what the search engine is searching for.

Search engines seek to find the most relevant, sites for a particular keyword. To do this the search engine looks for “expert” content. That’s why the most successful websites contain multiple blog entries which are updated regularly.

For search engine optimization, (helping the search engine find your site and give it a high ranking), it’s actually key phrases that are key. That’s because single words don’t count. When you are searching for a topic in a search engine, you would usually enter 2-3 words that focus your search to your specific needs. Instead of searching for “movies” you will narrow your search to “new horror movies”, or “movies times, Amarillo” . To determine what key phrases you should use for your website, simply ask yourself, or better yet your customers, what key phrases you would search to find your product or service.

For the most successful search engine optimization, you should select 3-4 key phrases that describe in full detail your products, services, or topic.

Search engine key words should be descriptive and specific. For example, use “commercial and residential rental property in Amarillo” instead of “rental property” If you write descriptive text you can get more key phrases in your article without it seeming spammy.

Be careful not to overdue it. If you are using the same key phrases over and over again it will turn off the reader and dilute the effectiveness of your copy. You should not use more than 4-5 keywords. The goal is to establish a theme in your writing, not to stuff the site with keywords a practice that cause search engines to give you a lower ranking.

As with any good writing the overall tone should be conversational. Write like you speak. To make sure your copy is clear and not overly stuffed with key words the best practice is to read it aloud. If it sounds repetitive then you have probably over used your key phrases.

Also be on the lookout for words with multiple spellings – for example, work place and workplace. Don’t use more than one form of the word in your site.

The most important thing to remember is your not writing for search engines. You are writing for readers. So keep you’re writing fresh, relevant and interesting so your readers will keep coming back.

As always Connections is happy to answer questions and assist you in any way we can to get your e-business up and running over the competition. Contact us at service@ConnectionsIS.com.