Writing for Search Engines Versus Writing for People

The best SEO writing has to deliver information to a human just as well as it pitches keywords to a search engine. Satisfying a search engines appetite for keywords and content challenges the SEO writer who wants to also write effectively for a human. Using keyword-heavy content to entice search engines is a great idea until an actual person gets to the web page and starts reading the repetitive mess.

Avoiding reader turn-off can be accomplished in SEO writing just the same way it is done with any writing. You should compose an article or report that is coherent, organized, and informative. A bunch of hacked out fluff sprinkled with keywords like too much salt on greasy French fries lacks appeal and will not leave your reader with a positive impression of the website.

A good working rule when writing some content that is meant to be high in one or more keywords is to simply write the article while being mindful of the keywords. With this process, you can focus on the mechanics of writing such as engaging the reader, presenting information, and smoothly transitioning between each point. Then after the first or second draft, you can take a look at your keyword usage and begin to analyze density.

Increasing keyword density can be done by using pronouns as little as possible. For example, if you are writing an article about Caribbean cruises, avoid refer to the cruises as they. As often as it is comfortable, write out Caribbean cruises.

Another suggestion for increasing the keyword density does admittedly break a rule of good writing, but not too badly. When editing and polishing a work for publication, writers and editors look to remove wordiness. Unnecessary words clutter the composition and take away from the message. Sometimes, however, when writing for search engines, you can pack in another keyword by using a prepositional phrase that is not really necessary.

In this example, the keyword phrase is search engine. Note how the use of an extra prepositional phrase allows the keyword to be used again without being overly annoying.

Original: The search engine provides the best system for people to find information on the internet.

Modified: The search engine provides the best system with its search engine software for people to find information on the internet.

With even-handed techniques an SEO writer can produce content that appeals to human readers while serving the purpose of attracting search engines with selected keywords. The temptation to sloppily stuff keywords into content instead of making the effort to tastefully blend keywords into a well-written article is counterproductive. Attracting traffic through search engine optimization cannot succeed if the reader is disappointed with the content once he or she arrives. Getting that click from the search engine results page is only half the battle.

As the author of SEO Success: Fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization, Tracy Falbe has been researching SEO and testing a combination of SEO techniques since starting her company Falbe Publishing in 2004. She has achieved substantial improvement in her search engine positioning and is now getting organic traffic from keywords relevant to her book titles.