Six Secrets to Search Engine Copywriting Success

by Heather Lloyd-Martin

Writing for search engines isn't as hard as you might think!

So, you've just been told to write a Web page for the search engines, with a strong emphasis on "maximum keyword density." Then your client walks away, leaving you wondering what the heck "keyword dense copy" is, anyway.

Good news. Writing for the search engines is actually pretty easy.

Search engines rely on visible content for their ranking determinations, so keyword-rich body text is incredibly important. If your site's text appears as a graphic - or if it's chock-full of cool-looking flash pages - you'll hobble your chances for a prime ranking.

These six helpful tips for savvy search engine optimization copywriting will help your text keep a strong marketing flow - while still emphasizing the crucial keywords you need.

  1. Get a keyword/phrase list from your client. Hopefully, the client has done some research to determine keywords people *actually* search for (rather than words that sound good.) Hint: Don't figure folks will be searching for "cost-effective end-user communications solutions," when what you're offering is "free voicemail." If your keyphrases are filled with long, business-speak phrases, refine your words and choose better search terms.
  2. If your client doesn't have a keyword/phrase list - or if the keywords you have sound like marketing-speak - specialized databases like Word Tracker (http://www.wordtracker.com) help you discover the most heavily searched upon phrases relating to your product or service. Also, some "pay-per-click" search engines let you search on the popularity of a given keyword or phrase. However, be warned - the results you see are only the results for that particular search engine. People will search on keywords they've purchased to see how their site is ranking, so results from "pay-per-click" sites can be skewed.
  3. When you're writing your home page, focus on two to four of your most important keywords/phrases. For instance, if your client wants to rank high for the phrases "dog breeder" and "dog breeds," include these phrases as much as possible. (Hint: Emphasize your main keywords in the first paragraph. This is the first thing the search engines "see," so keyword-dense text helps influence the rankings.)
  4. Remember that longer is better. It's easier to write keyword-dense text when you keep your page length to at least 250 words (and it's typically more effective with the search engines as well.) Tricks like writing short paragraphs, including subheadlines and integrating keyword-rich bullet points will help enhance usability while satisfying the search engines.
  5. Focus on two to four secondary keywords/phrases for the inner pages. That is, if you're writing for a dentistry site and one of the secondary keywords is "cosmetic dentistry," you could include variations of that phrase on an "about cosmetic dentistry" page.
  6. Does everything you write sound stilted and strange? If you can't determine where to put all those keywords, make it easy on yourself. Try writing "normal" (non-optimized) copy first and add keyphrases where you can. Also, you can search your text for words and phrases like "our product" and "it," and transform them into keyword-filled phrases. This way, you know your text and marketing flow are covered - and adding keywords is as simple as "filling in the blanks."

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