Of course!
OK, see ya next week!
Just kidding… sort of…
I recently had a conversation with someone who was griping about having to write “SEO copy” and coming off sounding awkward and forced.
Hmm.
That can happen. That does happen. I read awkward copy all over the web, copy where you can skim it and say to yourself, “OK, this guy’s trying to rank for XYZ.”
But it doesn’t have to be like this! There’s a better way!
Here’s the big secret.
Ready?
Write for people, real people, not for bots.
See, all the SEO tips and tricks in the world are designed for the bots that skim websites to catalog and rank the copy.
Writing for a non-human results in non-human copy, and no one wants to read that.
OK, so how do you write good, authentic copy AND appease the bots?
Write for people!
Seriously, write for your readers. Cover the topics that your readers are interested in, and write in the way that is unique to you and your style. Create posts with passion. Write well. If you deliver the copy your audience wants, people will find you. They’ll stick around (another important, but often overlooked, ranking factor). They’ll share your content. The bots will notice.
It can’t hurt to have an idea of what you want to rank for. So, for example, if you’re a blogger who covers training reactive dogs (HI! My name is Maggie, and I would love to read your blog!), you obviously want to rank for phrases like: how to train a reactive dog. So, write a post with that as the headline. Work that phrase into a post here and there as a header IF and ONLY IF it fits that post naturally.
That is truly the secret sauce for SEO. Write for people. Write your blog, write your topic, write your passion, write your best. Then you will have authentic, search-friendly copy, along with hordes of readers who love and adore you! At least, I think that’s how it goes… 🙂