In the great search for compatibility between search engine optimization and engaging copy, it’s possible to sideswipe both, dumping your business into the depths of the Internet without a life raft. With copy geared only to the search engines, you’ll lose your audience. But with clear copy that lacks optimization, your website may never get seen in the first place. So how do we accomplish a healthy balance between the two?
In order to get that balance, you must understand each end of the equation. So this copywriter spoke with two SEO specialists to pick their professional brains on how to create powerful SEO, how a copywriter can help and to reveal why an SEO specialist is crucial to online marketing.
Nicki Hicks is the Search Engine Marketer at flyte new media (), a Web design and Internet marketing firm in Portland, Maine. Angie Weeks is the founder of , a search engine optimization company. (More information about these gals and their companies can be found at the end of this post.)
The Problem:
I’ve had clients come to me with 70 keywords they’ve determined on their own and asked me to incorporate all of them into their home page copy. Their intentions are good, but these folks lack crucial information regarding effective SEO copy. (Perhaps a good example of cutting your budget despite your business, as Angie mentioned in my last post.) So, I asked these ladies to help me breakdown the responsibilities and workflow of an SEO specialist and a copywriter. Pay attention, this will help you understand the marketing of your business.
Determining keywords: The SEO Specialist presides over the techie end of things. They determine the client’s most powerful keywords, key phrases and their variations or synonyms. These are delivered to the copywriter.
Determining keyword formula: Again, the techie stuff is taken care of by your SEO Specialist. He or she gives the copywriter a formula to guide them through their incorporation of keywords into the content. The formula consists of how many words per page and how many times to use the keywords/phrases/variations. Every situation is different, but Nicki approximates the following:
- Homepage: 100-200 words on the page, with keywords used 2-3 times in the copy
- Internal pages: 250-500 words per page, keywords used 3-5 times in the copy
As far as the number of keywords to use per page, this varies. Angie explains that the more focused your SEO is, the more likely your website will be ranked. So her company offers one main phrase and two additional phrases. Nicki explains further:
“The number of key phrases you use really depends on the keyword analysis and what people are searching for. For example, if I find that no one is searching for “red sneakers” or “red tennis shoes”, but only “red running shoes” (and no other variations), there is no reason to use other keywords other than what would seem natural.
On the flip side, if I find all three keywords in the example are searched upon (with similar volumes), I’ll want to use all three and – again, depending on the length of the copy – at least once or twice within the copy itself as well as scattered throughout titles, description and URL.”
Application of keywords: This is the responsibility of both the copywriter and the SEO Specialist, depending on where these keywords are being used. Nicki suggests the following priority for keyword application (I’ve indicated who is responsible for each item:
- Title tag (SEO Specialist)
- URL (if possible) (client/SEO Specialist)
- Navigation (SEO Specialist)
- Hyperlinks on page/in copy (/SEO Specialist)
- Header (Copywriter)
- Sprinkled throughout the content (Copywriter)
Writing SEO content: Let the copywriter go to work. I take the information given to me by the SEO Specialist and write the effective copy you need, careful to incorporate keywords into a natural flow.
So, the solution:
The explanation above should make it clear why it’s imperative to have both an SEO Specialist and a copywriter on your team. I may be an expert writer, but I don’t have the head to figure out what your keywords should be. And your SEO Specialist probably doesn’t have the head to write naturally flowing copy around those keywords. It’s a left-brain, right-brain thing. With both of us, you get the best of both hemispheres working on your website.
Angie and Nicki both provided several other suggestions about using keywords in header tags, photo captions, links and other places, but instead of scaring you with all the geeky language, I’ll just repeat that you should defer to your SEO Specialist to take care of the technical stuff.
A couple of final things to keep in mind:
Plan ahead. Even before you buy a URL, meet with your SEO Specialist to work out your optimization plan. Google-wise, it’s a big setback to change URLs and navigation after you’ve already launched your website. When you do that, you’re starting from square one. So any good rankings you were getting before the change are destroyed when you begin again. So plan SEO just like you plan design, goals and copy.
Build links. Links from other websites not only build up your link value (Google likes links) but they also build opportunities for potential customers to click over to your site and make a purchase.
Don’t try this at home. Remember, don’t cut corners trying to save money by attempting to do all of this yourself. Unless you’ve driven to the deepest depths of online marketing and have the specific skills needed to write successful copy, the time you put in will not get you the results you want.
The healthy balance you want can be found in trusting your experts. Trust that your SEO Specialist will analyze your keywords to your greatest benefit. Then trust that your copywriter will incorporate those keywords into clear, effective, engaging copy with a natural flow. SEO and copy can not only live together on your website, they can work together to bring you the business you need.
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Nicki Hicks is the Search Engine Marketer at , a Web design and Internet marketing firm in Portland, Maine. Her focuses on search engine optimization and marketing, social media, blogging, and other important Web marketing tactics. For more on SEO and other unrelated, interesting fun facts, .
Founded in 2002, is a cutting edge search engine optimization company. We pride ourselves on guaranteed organic ranking programs, A+ BBB rating, and totally unique-to-the-client web designs. No matter how big or small the website, we can build it and get it found in search engines! With roots in Orange County, Cal Coast is at the forefront of the technology industry. Let us build your next website and … and watch your business soar into success!
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