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Content writing for SEO: Communication, not just writing

On Target staff

Singapore, September 10, 2006

We bet that if you have got even a fledgling interest in search engine optimization (SEO), you've got it drilled in your head that your website content is one of those indispensable ingredients that will put your site on top of the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Thankfully, that is a truth. However, what doesn't get said enough (or may be, absorbed and actioned enough) is that any content cannot just rule search engine rankings. At least, not for too long, anyway. What will help a website or page get to the top of search results is relevant, topical content.

That is only one of the three phrases that you may keep hearing in the context of SEO, the other two being "more content" and "fresh content". Obviously, relevance, freshness and volume of content do matter in getting traffic to your website from organic search engine results.

However, there is another equally important factor that can actually help achieve search marketing objectives, and that is quality of the writing. It is absolutely critical to understand that content writing with the objective of attracting search engine traffic is ultimately a subset of your overall marketing objective. After all, SEO is only a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Does the copy on your website reflect and support that objective?

The content writing industry: Need for P & Q

Web content writing for SEO purposes has mushroomed as an industry, as people acknowledge (sometimes grudgingly, we suspect) that content rules. As a result, a whole new breed of SEO content writers/ copywriters has emerged to support this need for content.

Unfortunately, the extremely rapid growth of this ancillary industry to feed the needs of SEO companies and search marketers seems to have affected two very vital attributes: professionalism (P) and quality (Q).

Some of the writing we have seen from so-called "SEO copywriters" is pathetic to say the least; the language is often atrocious and readability, zero, with the 'optimized' content nothing more than an aggregation of keyword-stuffed, disconnected sentences. Primary school compositions read better than some of the stuff dished out in the name of SEO content.

This amateurishness and lack of quality stems from misconceptions and inadequate awareness about the ultimate objective of writing whatever is being written. While the primary responsibility for this should fall with the freelance content writers and the content outsourcing companies, some responsibility should also fall on marketers for being less discerning with the kind of content they accept for their websites. After all, it is in their own interests to ensure that their marketing objectives are met; and there is no way that can happen in the long term with out professional and high-quality content that "communicates" effectively.

Effective web content writing with substance, structure and style

Content readability is as important as website usability.

In Internet marketing, we often talk about how important usability of a website is for converting website visitors. It is the same with the quality of the written words on your website.

Of course, writing for the web is certainly different from writing for the print media. However, the basics of writing for the print media apply just as much to the online medium.

Readers of web content will also appreciate substance, structure and style of the writing. We call these the 3S of all content writing: substance is the meat of the content, the message that one is trying to get across, while structure and style constitute the packaging of the content.

There is more than ample scope for creativity in SEO content writing, an aspect that is often missed out or ignored in the obsession with keyword density. In fact, the very constraints posed by the need to use a particular word or phrase a certain number of times in an article such that it doesn't appear contrived or spoil the readability of the content should be challenging enough to fuel creativity.

What separates good web content writers from the wannabes is their ability with words and their ingenuity in working around the above constraints to initially attract the audience to their website, engage the user to achieve their objectives, and get them to come back again and again.