Here’s a news flash for you, SEO copywriting is not bad copy.
Granted, there is a lot of gobbledygook out there pretending to be high-quality content, but it’s usually written by someone who has no idea what they are doing.
It’s entirely their fault; they foolishly believe the BS that’s still floating around on the internet that tells you SEO content is all about:
- Focusing on one keyword per page
- Repeating that keyword x times
- It must have a density of x%
- You must exactly match your keyword x times in your content
The result is complete crap that no one in their right mind will read.
SEO will ruin your content if you’re doing it wrong.
The person writing your content has no idea what they’re doing
Most of the keyword stuffing you see is done by people who don’t know what they’re doing, believe the misleading information they’ve been fed, or simply don’t know there’s a better way to write.
They churn out stilted writing that’s unreadable, but you accept it because they’ve told you that’s how SEO copywriting works.
Writing for Google not readers
It never ceases to amaze me how many enquiries I get from web designers and agencies asking me to write for Google. They even go so far as to tell me how many times I need to repeat a keyword.
They reason that the website is all about getting great rankings because ‘no one reads it anyway’. Their client just wants to be seen at the top of the search listings.
They’re wrong on both counts.
Keyword stuffed titles
Over optimised titles (and copy) show laziness and ineptitude.
They won’t attract real people, and they certainly won’t convert them into paying customers.
Your content must be all about your reader (the real, living, breathing flesh and blood audience) and focus on what you can do for them. That’s the only way you’ll get the results you’re looking for.
SEO content doesn’t have to be bad content
Is SEO killing content?
No.
Only stupid SEO will do that.
SEO copywriting can and should be high-quality content that attracts both the search engines and customers, so it’s worth going the extra mile to track down a copywriter who understands SEO and does not believe in the four points I mentioned earlier.
Sally Ormond is an international copywriter. Working across all industries, she creates on-brand content for on and offline marketing as well as internal communication