Before I came to work here at Vertical Leap towers, for a period of time I worked freelance doing Search Engine Optimisation. As a self employed individual, you have to take work wherever you can get it and this can lead to working with clients who range widely in the level of sophistication regarding the internet in general and SEO in particular.
One of the questions that I frequently was asked was whether it was worth writing copy for a site that concentrated on a keyword, again and again. You’ll probably recognise this; we call it keyword stuffing. On the face of things, there is a degree of sense to it – Google’s algorithm looks at the content of a site to try to find out what it’s all about. Surely, then, if you use one word or term frequently, then this will be emphasised, you’ll rank number one for ‘waffles’ and next thing you know you’ll be taking calls about buyout options?
Well, as is often the case, it’s not quite as simple as that. Perhaps at one point in time this might have worked (the ‘1990s’?), but nowadays, Google’s algorithm is way, way smarter than that; it recognises ‘natural’ content, and penalises obviously stuffed text. So what to do with your content? Obviously, you do need to use keywords, or your visitors won’t know what the site is about, let alone search engines.
Therein, though, lies the answer – and you’ll like this – Keep. It. Natural. The most important thing you can do with the content on your pages is keep it natural, relevant and on point. This will help with things like conversions and return visits, too. In the course of talking about your waffles, you’ll naturally mention them and their toasty goodness a number of times, in a natural and non forced way.
Of course, the story doesn’t end quite there. There are ways you can draw attention to your chosen keywords – the use of the h1 tag or proper use of anchor text in links(‘find out more about our waffles’ is way better than ‘for more waffles, click here’) highlight them as significant phrases, giving an indication of what your site is all about.
Another example, really, of how good content will always be best.
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