This is a guest post by Ben Jackson from SEO Discovery.
Once upon a time is a terribly cliché way to begin an article.
Having a keyword density of 5% is a good way to let your readers know you care more about search engines.
Talking with boring technical terms is a good way to say “click the back button”.
There is no substitute for content that gets read and shared online, and there’s no other content like it. Not your run of the mill “quality” content, I mean stuff that creates a BUZZ.
How To Write People Optimized Content
People read and specifically share content because they connect with it on some level. They likely share things THEY like on Twitter and their followers likely follow them because they like a lot of the same things.
So make content that has the ability to connect with someone and get shared. It can be tough when discussing technical topics like SEO for instance, but there’s no reason you can’t slip in an analogy or joke to catch someone’s attention:
Keyword density doesn’t matter, it’s like the Dolphins upcoming season 😛
No you don’t have to be some comical mastermind. I seriously doubt anyone actually laughed at that weak quip I shared above, but it will capture the reader’s attention.
People love sports, and even if you hate on their team they usually take it in stride and jab back at you – interaction!
Even quirky references to odd yet relatable observations or collective memories can turn an average piece of content into something very memorable. Have you ever read a post by an experienced blogger about how they got started, doing this or that for the first time?
Everyone’s all nostalgia, HARD, like they’re obligated to comment and share their own first experiences even if they just started and their first post was last week.
People only come online in the first place for one of two things: entertainment or information.
Guess what?
Most people don’t read for entertainment. There are tons of videos and
free games all over the internet and they’re fantastically entertaining! You’re reading this because you’re looking for information, so it must be delivered. That being said, informational content with an entertaining edge is truly a piece of blogging gold.
Providing information that people are looking for is a great start and is all you really need to make it, but if you want to stand out you need to stimulate your readers. Put on the clown nose and make them laugh, add “BONUS Tips” in side-boxes, embed video examples, or at least write in a provocative or thought-provoking way.
The fact is, just writing the content is not enough anymore. Forget about keyword density and bolding your keyword phrase. No one is going to tweet your post because they liked how optimized it was. You should still have it optimized, but write for people not the search engines.
In other words, optimize your content for getting shared by writing compelling posts (how many ‘Top 5’ lists can you have??).
Here are two BONUS SEO TIPS from me:
- You only need your keyword in the Title tag and have it in the content. Keyword density really does not matter – localized ratios ignore global keyword density values and normalization.
- Putting your keyword at the beginning and end of the article is not the same as putting it in the beginning or end of the page. Look at Google’s text-only cache to see where your keyword is actually showing up on your page and get creative putting it near the beginning and end – try widgets 🙂
Winding Up
There is a huge difference between crappy, spun, illegible content and what seems to be the average piece of “quality content” these days. However, there is just as much a difference between average content that gets deemed as “quality” and content that really shines.
While hard to initially measure, the difference between “quality” content and exceptional content is profound. Exceptional content is hard to come by but very influential – it’s shareable and memorable. You read it and share it now, you think about it later, and you come back to share it again.
That is the new “quality” content.
This post is a part of SmartBloggerz’s guest blogging contest where you can win cash prizes for earning the most points. Help this guest author win this contest by commenting and sharing this post using the buttons below.
Top 10 Search Terms:
• funny clown faces • funny clowns • funny clown face • funny clown • clown faces • funny clowns faces • clown face • clown faces examples
after the panda update , google has redefined SEO and we need to learn how it works . In the mean time engaging user in your content seems to be the way
I agree with you. There are so many blogs and websites that have great content but sometimes I even get lost trying to follow all the technical information—instead of explaining in more simple, layman terms. I also believe sometimes the blogger crams too much information—so it becomes overwhelming for the reader—instead of breaking up the information into pieces—delivering one piece per day, per week. The KISS (keep it simple stupid) method is what I have found to help engage more readers.
Hi Ben, I got your point when writing post it should be people friendly and full of information so that it will be shared also by them but what about those people who is relying only on search engine how can they read your post if it does not rank higher on serp.
Content is king, and it always will be, I once hired an SEO expert, he told me that keywords should always be in the title, first sentence, in the middle of the content and the last sentence, though I do not know why, but I guess this structure seems to balance the content.
Funny thing Ben. i advocate spinning BIG TIME, but only in certain cases.
I do all of my blog commenting and blog posting 100% by hand for my readers first and foremost.
That being said, I do pay close attention to my Flesch Reading East test to make sure that my content is readable for the average person.
I have been paying more and more attention to it…go figure…;)
Mark
It is a tricky balance, remembering where and when to place your keywords for SEO, while also keeping the content fresh and unique. I think practice makes perfect. Always make the article interesting and write for the human reader…..
Nice tips, Ben. One can show a cool title to People and use All in One plugin to give a different title tag for search engines. That thing really helps and Keyword density still counts, though not much.
As they say content is the king, so content it’s the most valuable asset of a blog, it is important to use seo technics to improve the rankings of your site at search engines but if you don’t have quality content to support it then rankings will drop soon
Undoubtedly, content will always be the king but a blog also cannot run just based on content, SEO works are equally important. I like the title and its completely true, one should write for the people and not search engines. Its important to write good content and optimize as well.
Yeah I’ve never written an article for my website with keyword density in mind. I always just try to make sure the content is appealing and matches what the readers are looking for. In the long run search engines are going to like that content as well, so the two kind of come together, if you will.
-Jean
I think that’s an important point – they will come together. There’s really no point trying to trick Google when you can give them what they want and rest easy knowing that your rankings will increase after every new algo update.