Keyword
Density
Nip
and Tuck – Three Quick Tricks for Writing SEO Copy
by Karon Thackston © 2003
Have
you ever been to one of those sites that has obviously been written
to get high search engine rankings? You know the ones… they
have copy that sounds like this:
“When
you buy quality silver jewelry from us, you know your
quality silver jewelry is of the highest quality because we only
sell
quality silver jewelry that is top-notch. No other quality silver
jewelry
site on the Web offers the selection of quality silver jewelry that
we do!”
Want to take a wild guess at what keyphrase they’re targeting?
Copy
like this simply doesn’t sound “real.” It’s
very forced. Yes, it may very well get ranked high in the search
engines, but what then? When visitors click to your site they’ll
be faced with stiff copy that sounds like a robot. It doesn’t
flow… and it doesn’t sell, either! With a little nip
and tuck, you can create copy that appeals to your target audience
AND ranks high with the engines.
So
just how do you get your keywords and phrases into your copy and
still have a nice, flowing sales message? It’s really easier
than you might think.
Here
are a couple of strategies I use when writing SEO copy.
Headlines
and Subheadlines
These
make the ideal place for keywords. Why? Because keywords are normally
descriptive by nature. Since headlines describe what the site visitor
is about to read, it makes perfect sense to include keywords within
them.
Titles
Create
a chart, or a list, and give it a keyword-rich title. Just as with
headlines, titles should be descriptive… another perfect keyword/copy
match.
Lists
In
your chart or list, include keywords in the headers and within the
list descriptions. For example, if your keywords include softball
trading pins, employee recognition awards, lapel pins, and lapel
pin you could create a list that reads like this:
<Keyword
Title> Creative Lapel Pin Uses
<Keyword Headers & Descriptions>
- Baseball
and Softball Trading Pins - Lapel pin trading among baseball
and softball teams has dramatically grown in popularity…
be sure to support your team with custom-created baseball and
softball trading pins.
- Employee
Recognition Awards - Employees take great pride in wearing
lapel pins that show their achievements, and they will treasure
employee recognition awards that they can frequently show to others.
See how the list uses keyphrases within the headers and again
within the list description itself?
Using keywords in carefully chosen places allows you to have more
freedom with your copy itself. So now, instead of the forced, unappealing
copy we read in the first example, you can have something more relaxed
like this:
Quality
Silver Jewelry Is A Rare Find!
If
you’ve been looking for quality silver jewelry long, you know
that quality is, in fact, a major issue. Unfortunately, many companies
combine low-cost metals with their silver. That compromises the
quality and the appearance. That’s a practice we never participate
in!
How
To Recognize Quality Silver Jewelry
When
shopping for the best, look for these tell-tell signs of excellence.
·
Quality silver jewelry that is truly created of pure silver will
display a radiant sheen.
· When you touch the surface, quality silver jewelry will
immediately show a fingerprint.
· Breathing on the finish of quality silver jewelry will
produce a fog, while breathing on the finish of poor-quality silver
will not.
And
so on, and so on.
So
you see, you can have copy that makes sense, provides solutions
for your site visitors, and ranks high with the search engines.
It’s not impossible… it just takes a bit of training
and practice. Before long, you’ll be tucking keywords in all
the right places!
Want to become more effective at writing SEO copy? Karon has lots
of other tips to get your customers drooling and your rankings soaring!
Learn
more here
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