Wouldn’t it be great if every word on your website was a Google magnet? Or if search engines awarded higher rankings based on the quality of your writing?
Keep dreaming. There’s an infinite amount of content floating around online, and interactive copywriters have to make the best of both worlds by crafting good copy that speaks to the audience and produces hot search results.
Before you hit the keyboard, here are some SEO best practices to take into consideration:
• Get keyed in. List the keywords and keyphrases your target audience uses (be sure to include obvious synonyms and other related words). Then, fully integrate your list into your copy. Need help? Just ask Google.
• Think HTML. Keyphrase and keyword placement in title tags — as well as <H1>, <H2> and <H3> tags — also help ramp up your search engine visibility.
• Be specific. Provide search engines with context. When you reference your firm, for example, don’t just cut it short at “agency”. Incorporate modifiers such as “interactive”, “marketing” and other relevant keywords from your list.
At the end of the day, good writing always comes first. While keywords indeed are helpful, don’t let their placement affect your copy. Searchable content and solid copywriting both lead to the ultimate goal: providing value to your target audience. Once you’ve done that, your readers will be bookmarking, tagging and linking to your content — and that’s the icing on the SEO cake.