3 quick tips on writing search-friendly content

How many times have you read  a chunk of copy on a web page and seen the same phrase repeated again and again? And again. And again…

When a phrase has been stuffed into copy, it just looks stupid. And if we  are put off by content that doesn’t read correctly, you can be sure that the search engine robots will be too. They may not be human, but their job is to find the best information for humans for specific searches.

So, as search engines evolve, they are acting more and more like a human searcher in order to get the best and most relevant information.

Here are 3 quick tips on writing great content that will appeal to your users and search engines.

1. Do your research

Before you write your content, do some keyword research. That way, you’ll have some idea of what words people use to find your website or your products.

Don’t just limit keyword research to online tools that give you an idea of estimated searches. Speak to your customers and staff, check your internal search log if you have one, and see what words your competitors use.

If you do PPC, you can also use that data – what phrases are most successful at bringing users to your site and encouraging conversions?

2. Keep it natural and varied

You’ll probably want to target certain keywords that you know your users or customers will search for. But don’t repeat them and stuff them willy-nilly in your content.

Just keep it natural – use variations of words like plurals and synonyms and alternative names if it makes sense in the context of the page.

Not only will this ensure you get found for the keywords you have targeted, you are also increasing the potential to be found for lots of other words and phrases that you may not have even considered. You’re also telling the search engines about the general ‘theme’ of your page and site.

Write a decent title tag

The title tag is usually the first thing search engines and people see when they visit a page – it’s the link to your site on the search engine results pages and is usually the first part of the page that loads, so is especially important if they have a slow connection.

So, make sure it includes your main target keywords and that it accurately describes the content on the page.

Like with the main page content, you also need to ensure it makes sense to users. If users are put off there’s a good chance the search engines will be too.