Did the Penguin give you “happy feet” or the cold shoulder?
Did you notice that your site rankings went up or down right around April 24th? That’s because Google changed things again with their “penguin update.” They are really cracking down on sites built solely for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes.
But there is no need to worry. If you follow a few simple rules that I’ve mentioned previously, you’ll be o.k., and your target market will continue to find you online.
The key is to provide value to your customers. And to do this, ask yourself a few questions:
• Is your copy just about your SEO keywords?
You need to include your SEO keywords throughout your copy… just don’t overdue it. If you use too many keywords, you’ll actually have a negative reaction with site visitors and the search engines.
• Is your copy easy to read?
When you read your copy aloud, how does it sound? Do you find that you are repeating your keywords, stumbling over sentences and having a difficult time staying engaged?
If your copy is difficult to read, re-write it and focus on your key messaging rather than your top, SEO keywords.
• Are you talking to your customers?
When you’re writing, think about your target-market first. You want to provide them with engaging information and talk about all of the benefits they will receive from using your products and services. If you write for the search engines, you may lose site of what your customers want.
• Do you have a call-to-action?
When site visitors finish reading the copy on your site, do they know what they are supposed to do next? Don’t leave them hanging! Guide them through your copy and send them to another link on your site to fill out an order form, get more information or take another action.
Make it easy for site visitors to purchase your products and services and get to know your organization. Then, track what they click on to see what’s working and change what’s not.
No need to where a tuxedo.
When it comes to Google’s Penguin update, there is no need to “dress up” your Website with extra, SEO keywords just to impress the search engines. Instead, focus on providing valuable and engaging information to your target audience. Add the appropriate SEO keywords without overdoing it and guide your customers through your site.
This way, you can say goodbye to the chill and have your customers, and the search engines, feel warm and fuzzy about your site!
For additional help with your SEO copywriting, please write to me below or visit www.rembrandtwrites.com for more information.
June 6th, 2012 at 10:54 am
really good advice — as soon as I open a site that is so obviously written with one keyword after another, I close it immediately.
best thing to be - genuine!
June 6th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
I know of a lot of sites that got hit by this update and it was mainly due to over optimization.
June 7th, 2012 at 6:52 am
Thanks for sharing. I read somewhere that the keyword density should be 3-5% on the page. Is this still the correct or has it changed?
June 7th, 2012 at 8:10 am
Thanks for your nice comments. I’m glad you found the article helpful.
Mike, most of the SEO copywriters do not focus on keyword density. If you focus on providing valuable content and placing your keywords in headlines, sub-heads, links, and appropriate places throughout your copy, you shouldn’t need to worry about the density level. If you are concerned about whether you are using the right amount of keywords, there are also free services online that will give you an idea of your keyword count.
Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Melanie
June 8th, 2012 at 3:23 am
It is truly a great and helpful piece of information.
I am satisfied that you simply shared this useful information with us.
Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
June 8th, 2012 at 5:22 am
You are right Melanie copy should be easy to read and adding too many key words not only bothers reader but also search engine as access of everything is bad.
June 17th, 2012 at 4:44 pm
After listening to Google’s lectures on SEO, the rule is surprisingly like the Golden Rule. Write content that you want to read. What sort of web site are you describing if it is at risk of being cut off. The only content I have seen that was in danger was atrocious writing where keyword density was obviously manipulated to game SEO. Don’t game Google, they have smarter game theorists than most of us can afford to employ.
So be a good netizen and write interesting content with a natural use of keywords.
July 1st, 2012 at 1:54 pm
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July 30th, 2012 at 2:54 am
ryweh rtwj
August 14th, 2012 at 1:29 pm
cold shoulder for sure.