Content is the lifeblood of you Web site. Well-written, original content is essential to the success of your Web site efforts. Web sites with keyword-rich, naturally flowing, original content are judged better than web sites that simply stuff keywords into otherwise poorly written text.
Write for People, not Search Engines
The algorithms of today’s popular search engines are sophisticated enough to determine whether a page is acceptable for human consumption; search engines tend to favor and reward high rankings to Web sites with well-written original content.
Keeping your content flavorful and persuasive is the best way to accomplish superlative rankings and consistent conversions.
Search engines grant high rankings to Web sites deemed most relevant and valuable to the user; therefore, writing for search engines and writing for people are not mutually exclusive concepts.
- Write original, persuasive, and natural content
if your content is original, persuasive and has a natural tone, search engines tend to recognize it as worthwhile and therefore rank it positively. Packing too many keywords into your content creates an awkward tone and unnatural flow. - Structure your content with your reader in mind
it is beneficial to view content as your Web site’s salesperson. Your content must address the gamut of possible questions and concerns your reader may have regarding your product, service or message. Supply genuine, thought-provoking product information rather than hollow, stale slogans. - Avoid Poor Grammar
Your Grammar should be of the highest caliber. The key to writing accessible yet impressive content is determining the level at which your target audience reads. - Write Useful and Informative Content
it is important that your content be informative, concise, and easy to navigate. Write in a concise manner and use headings, subheadings, bold type and similar formatting that illustrate the information contained in each subsequent section of your page. - Using Bold-Type Headings
many inexperienced copywriters make the mistake of writing their material in one large block of content without headings that grab the reader’s attention. Some readers are looking for specific information, and consider the task of reading the giant blocks of content to be too time consuming. - Using Call-to-Action Statements
present your readers with readily accessible call-to-action options such as Sign Up Today or Register Here. Make it eye catching, reminding readers that they can take action whenever they feel ready. - Write Interesting Content in a Friendly Tone
On of your main goals is to keep readers engaged long enough for them to read all the facts: the best way to accomplish this goal is to entertain while informing. Keep your content interesting and persuasive, and you will be pleased to find that not only people but also search engines will enjoy it.
Avoid Duplicate Content
A trustworthy content writer understands the importance of writing and maintaining original content on a Web site. Search engines award original content and penalize identical content.
Tools exist that allow you to scan the Web for instances of duplicate copy and prevent plagiarism of you work from ever happening.
One of the most commonly used tools is Copyscape.com. It offers a free plagiarism warning banner that you can display on your Web site to deter others from stealing your work.
You can submit reports of spam to Google at: www.google.com/contact/spamreport.html. Or to Yahoo: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/hahoo/search/spam_abuse.html . Microsoft’s webpage: http://feedback.live.com/eform.aspx?productkey=wlaccounts&mkt=en-us.
The most successful way to minimize this common problem is to write unique titles and descriptions for all your products when submitting them to comparison engines and affiliates.
Using Proper Keyword Density
The goal of search-engine optimization is to make sure that your Web site ranks at the top of the search results when high-converting, target keywords related to your product or service are typed into popular search engines as search queries. Using proper keyword density is a process that includes the strategic repetition of select, target keywords and the minimization of nontarget keywords throughout your content.
Keyword density tools like WeBuildPages.com can help you with this process. Once you identify your competitors that rank #1 for the keywords you want to rank for, use the keyword density tool to look for similarities among them that you can use to rank well.
Tip: As a rule of thumb, search algorithms apply more weight to the title of you Web page than the density of the keywords on it. Therefore, your most important target keywords should be contained in your title and should also be dispersed throughout the content of your Web page. Keywords should not be repeated more than four to six times per 350 words of content. It is best to optimize each page of text, including title, for no more than two keywords or phrases.
Using Latent Semantic Content
Search engines use latent semantic indexing to determine a site’s thematic relevance to a particular search query. You can use latent semantic content to create relevancy while maintaining the organic flow of your content.
In the world of organic search, latent semantic content refers to words that are connected thematically to a specific search query.
If you perform a synonym search for ~apple on Google, the result pages then show several terms highlighted in bold type. Quintura.com is also an excellent source for latent semantic keyword research.
Keep Content Current
It is vitally important to you Web site’s success that you update content on a fairly regular basis. Search engines consider fresh content to be of greater value than outdated content. There are many ways to keep content fresh and original. User-generated content from testimonials, forums, and blogs, as well as content through content aggregation networks, are highly recommended methods for supplying your site with fresh, stimulating content.
Another approach to keeping content current is through the use of free content aggregation systems such as Really Simple Syndication, or RSS. RSS technology allows you to subscribe to various content sources, such as relevant news and blog feeds.
Freshcontent.net offers a newsfeed. YellowBrix.com is a leading paid online content aggregator that offers real-time online syndicated content from reliable and respected premium sources and numerous industry-specific trades.
Another approach to keeping content fresh is to launch a company blog.
Optimize Non-HTML Documents
For SEO purposes, you should fill you page primarily with textual content rather than image files. Bottom line: Text lends itself to SEO: images do not.
If you choose to post non-HTML files to your Web site, you can optimize each document to improve the results when search engines index them. Make sure that it contains readable text.
Treat each PDF file lie it is a separate Web page and link to it from your sitemap the same way you would an HTML page. Break your PDF documents into several smaller documents if it is very large or if it contains multiple topics. PDF files should be used sparingly and large PDF files should be minimized.
HTMLDOC 1.8.27 from Easy Software Products located at www.easysw.com/htmldoc is a tool that provides a free 21-day demo.
If you have a very popular PDF file, you may want to consider structuring it as an e-book and charging your visitors to view it. The downside of an e-book is that because you restrict access to it, search engines do not index it and therefore your Website is not ranked based on the content of the book.