by Christian Arno
Writing content that is both reader and search engine friendly can be a bit of a juggling act. These two aspects of web writing are certainly not mutually exclusive, but getting the balance right can be tricky.
With the vast amount of content on the web clamouring for people’s attention, it’s important that people can actually find your site to begin with, and effective use of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques can be instrumental in driving traffic your way. It’s no use having the most wonderful, engaging prose if no one ever sees it, but once people are at your site you have to be able to both grab and keep their attention.
What is SEO?
SEO or search engine optimisation is simply the process of improving the visibility of your website in the rankings of the major search engines. If you run a specialist music blog or a website for a company that restores antique furniture, you’ll want your website to appear as close to the top of the search results as possible whenever someone searches for a relevant term.
Factors such as back-linking (establishing links with other websites relevant to your content) are important in SEO, but the effective use of keywords is probably the single most important aspect, and is certainly the most relevant when it comes to writing copy.
Keyword research and placement
Keywords are the words or phrases that people actually put into the search engine when looking for relevant sites. A difference can be drawn between ‘short tail’ and ‘long tail’ keywords. A short tail keyword is typically short and simple, commonly used and generalised. More people will use the term but there will also be more competition from other websites. An example of a short tail keyword could be ‘furniture restorers’.
A long tail keyword is more involved and specific. An example could be ‘antique pine restoration in Sheffield’. This will yield fewer searches overall but there is less competition on long tail keywords and they generally have better conversion rates, meaning people who visit the site actually follow up on the services or products offered. Ideally, you should use a combination of short tail and long tail keywords.
Keywords should be placed in titles, subheadings and within the body of the text, but don’t over-use or ‘spam’ keywords. Early search engines simply counted the number of times search terms occurred on a page, but the algorithms used by Google and other search engines today are more sophisticated, and spamming keywords can be counter-productive, as well as affecting the quality of the copy.
Keyword tips
- Hold a brainstorming session to find the most relevant terms. Don’t forget colloquialisms, abbreviations and regional variations.
- Run your terms through Google’s keyword tool to check their effectiveness and levels of competition.
- Revise your keywords regularly. The search terms that people commonly use are not static and can in fact change with surprising speed.
Writing for the web
Writing for the web differs from writing for print and other media. A screen is harder on the eyes than the printed page and users tend to scan more, looking for important information that proves the page is relevant before reading in-depth.
Web writing tips
- Break the text into small, easily digestible chunks.
- Put the most important information close to the top and preferably in the first couple of lines.
- Use subheadings to break the copy into sections.
Writing for your audience
While the above guidelines hold true in most situations, the nature of your website and its audience will also dictate the style of your copy to a large extent. Are you writing for an academic or highly knowledgeable audience looking for in-depth analysis? Hardcore technophiles who appreciate technical specifications and understand jargon? Casual surfers who might need walking through the services you offer or the topic you’re writing about? Keeping the audience in mind will inform both your use of language and the format in which it’s presented.
In general, a more knowledgeable audience will be more inclined to read through involved, complex prose, but unless you want your site to have an air of exclusivity (and fewer consequent visitors) you should also cater for less knowledgeable visitors. An easily accessible introduction or overview of your topic, products or services can easily be linked to more in-depth copy. Also remember that even academically-orientated copy is easier to read online when broken into sections and presented in an orderly and attractive manner.
It’s not always easy to balance content that is both SEO and reader friendly. Even experienced writers coming from another field can struggle with the format at first, but it’s an important balance to strike for anyone wanting their web content to be both visible and effective.
About the author
Christian Arno is the founder and Managing Director of professional translation company Lingo24, experts in the foreign language internet. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 now has over 150 employees spanning three continents and clients in over sixty countries. In the past twelve months, they have translated over sixty million words for businesses in every industry sector. Follow Lingo24 on Twitter: @Lingo24.
(Photo: avrdreamer)
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I fancied myself quite the writer until I came face to face with SEO writing. It was very hard at first to juggle all the factors, like keyword density,research AND getting the message through to my reader. It’s not as easy as anyone thinks.
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April 28, 2011 at 05:51
These are VERY important tips for every writer/freelancer that wishes to work online. It’s the basics but basics that’s hidden until it’s been taught like Christian here.
Yes I agree it is a bit of a juggling act. But you can usually find what’s a pretty good compromise for your blog post.
One thing that I’ve learned is very effective is to choose keywords that are of course relevant, but aren’t too saturated, and then put them in the blog post title. Also if you put two or three in together you often end up ranking for some okay long tail combination keyword searches.
Place names and also the names of notable people and even organizations are pretty good for this. (Of course hugely famous celebrity names are not worth including, since competition for them is saturated.)