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SEO Copywriting Tips and Secrets - How to Write for Google, Yahoo, and Bing
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Google may not be human, but it has its own language: HTML. If HTML is the language of Google, then tags are its grammar. To be effective at SEO, you must learn to write copy in Google's language. Here are some tips at writing effective, SEO-friendly content for Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
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By Jason McDonald
Senior SEO Instructor - JM Internet Group.
Posted: June 28, 2010
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Contents:
Tags and SEO-friendly Keywords
HTML is the language of the Web, and it is Google's language. HTML intersects with humans via Tags. Tags like the TITLE, H1/H2, STRONG, B, EM, I, A HREF, and others communicate to the Web browser how to display the characters on the page - what size, what font (in some situations), and even if one word is a 'link' to another. What many humans do not realize, however, is that these tags also create the syntax of a special language: the language of HTML as a communication between your website and Google. Google reads your website, and interprets the relationship of your tags to your keywords to figure out what your website it about.
The first secret to writing Google-friendly SEO prose is to identify your target keywords. If you are a personal injury attorney in New York, for example, you might generate a keyword list of -
Personal Injury Attorney, Lawyer, Lawsuit...
Medical Malpractice, Hospital Malpractice... (One practice area)
New York, NY, Manhattan, NJ, New York Area...
Auto Accident, Car Accident, Car Injury, Auto Injury... (Another practice area)
The second secret is as you write your prose for Google is to prioritize your SEO keywords. Outside of your home page, each individual page on your website should generally focus on just one keyword phrase. So you might have one page that targets 'Medical Malpractice Attorney New York,' and another quite distinct page that focuses on 'Auto Accident Lawyer New York.' Stated in other terms, the second secret of Google-friendly prose is focus. You must focus your page on just one keyword / keyphrase.
As I teach in our classes in Page Tags, you then 'weave' your keywords strategically into your tags. Start first and foremost with the page TITLE tag. That tag should succinctly characterize the SEO keyword target of your page. For example, <TITLE>Medical Malpractice Attorney - New York<Title>
Repeat, Repeat, Repeat (But Don't be Obvious)
Matt Cutts and the Google gang argue that you should write prose for Google that is essentially the same as the prose you write for humans. I respectfully disagree. SEO-friendly prose is, on average, quite a bit more redundant than prose that would be written for humans. SEO-friendly prose targets a particular keyword or keyphrase and repeats that keyword. Now the trick is to repeat the keywords in different ways, in different syntax, in different organizations so that your page is at once keyword heavy and at the same time not so obvious or ridiculous that Google will kick it out as spam.
For example, let's look at one of my favorite SEO-friendly websites: geico.com. Here is a sample from their page targeting Motorcycle Insurance. I have highlighted the occurrences of motorcycle below -
Before You Get Your Motor Running, Get a Motorcycle Insurance Quote
Rev up your savings with motorcycle insurance from GEICO. No matter what you own – a sport bike, cruiser, standard, touring bike, or a sweet custom ride you can turn to us for great rates and the best coverage. We even offer scooter insurance. Enjoy the freedom of the open road knowing that the gecko®'s got your back!
Get free motorcycle insurance quotesanytime.
Why Choose GEICO for Motorcycle Insurance?
Thought that GEICO was all about car insurance, did you? Think again! We take motorcycles as seriously as you do, and we're pleased to provide you with top-quality coverage for your bike. With GEICO, you get:
- Outstanding customer service (rated 4.7 out of 5 by our motorcycle insurance policyholders).
- Affordable premiums and flexible payment plans.
- Secure online payment and account management.
- 24-hour access to our licensed insurance professionals at 1-800-442-9253.
Get a motorcycle insurance quote and see what GEICO can do for you.
Read more at http://www.geico.com/getaquote/motorcycle/
What's the point? The point is keyword repetition and keyword density. Despite what the Googlers may say, successful SEO-friendly prose is actually rather keyword heavy. Not obscenely so, but definitely more heavy in terms of keywords than you would write for mere humans. Google prefers keyword heavy text, and use the Geico pages as examples of what I would call Google-friendly Prose. Successful SEO-friendly copywriting is a heavier, clumsier brand of prose than we were used to, pre-Internet.
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Another great example of SEO-friendly prose can be found at http://www.sfflowershop.com/ - scroll to the bottom of the page, and do a CTRL+F for FIND in Firefox. Type in the word Flower.
Finally, notice that both Geico and SFFlowershop.com do very well in terms of the SEO for their target keyword searches. They are successful in their SEO. Type 'Online Motorcycle Insurance Quote' into Google, or 'Motorcycle Insurance Quote,' and you'll find Geico. Type 'San Francisco Flower Delivery' and you'll find sfflowershop.com. They have both their tag structure and their keyword density in good shape.
Abnormal and Normal Keyword Density
So, to sum up. First, identify your target keywords. Next, realize that a major secret to successful SEO-friendly copywriting is focus. Geico's motorcycle page focuses on just one type of insurance and one major keyword family: motorcycle insurance. Yours should do the same. Third, make sure to strategically place your target keywords in your major tags such as the TITLE and H1 tag. Fourth, write SEO-friendly copy. That means frequent and repetitive use of the target keyword. Don't go overboard. Don't be crazy and repeat the keyword zillions of times. Google is hip to that!
Instead, use the target keyword frequently in your written copy. Read it aloud. It should sound clunky and repetitive as Geico and Fillmore Florist do above. But it should neither sound overly modest, nor insanely repetitive. Be balanced, and strike for the middle ground! Finally, use a keyword density tool like http://www.keyworddensity.com/ to compare your keyword density with other sites that are performing well for your target keywords. Stay at the top of the pack in terms of density. Just a tad more dense than the top performers, but do not over do it.
Google has created a new style of English prose. Clunky, keyword heavy prose written primarily for Google, and not for humans. So who said writing is dead? Writing has simply evolved with the Internet.
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