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Don’t write for search engines, but think about them
July 5th, 2009Honestly, I think saying “don’t write for search engines” is just as ridiculous as saying “write for search engines”. Both are bad ways of doing things. I prefer to say: don’t write for search engines, but think about it.
I’m all about building communities, authenticity and transparency, but why are we always putting social media efforts and SEO appart? Why do people say: “I don’t care about SEO, I prefer to spend time building a community”? Both can go together.
I would never advise someone to write an article solely for search engines, but why not think about the fact that Google, Yahoo and Bing will index your content? I mean, your content is going to get indexed anyway, so having search engines in mind when you write content isn’t a bad thing for extra visibility. Having search engines in mind doesn’t mean writing keywords stuffed articles, it just means paying extra attention to basic SEO.
Then you know what? You can still build that community and benefit from some search engine traffic.
21 Responses to “Don’t write for search engines, but think about them”
What do you think?
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When I write, I dont think about writing for search engines, but every now an then I create a SEO jackpot post. In general, its not something I think about, but I know that I should put more "SEO planning" into my blog writing.
This is another way to see things, writing an article targeted to SE once in a while isn't a bad thing as long as it's still a useful article for "regular readers". Thanks for your comment Carla!
Social Media and SMO both are the part of search engine optimizing. Many people prefer to build links on community and write articles for people to convey messages, like blogs and other social networking websites. Really informative. Thanks
I agree that it is a bad idea to completely ignore search engines when writing web content. If you know all the little things that the search engines look for, why wouldn't you try to jump through some of those hoops? Are you too good to accept search engine traffic? SEO & community building most definitely can go hand in hand. It's just a matter of finding the right balance of effectively using keywords without overdoing it. By ignoring search engines you would put yourself at a major disadvantage.
Focusing on search engines takes most of the fun out of writing the content. For me anyway. Focus on the current audience you have, make them happy, then worry about the rest. Word of mouth is more powerful than SEO — sometimes.
Yes, both are important when writing an internet article, but it is a delicate balance that you must accomplish to have a successful page. Some of my pages have done well with Google, yet some that I was really proud of are even cracking the top 20 pages of Google. Sigh…it can be very frustrating.
You will need to optimize your website, and work on a link building campaign. If you choose to optimize your own site, here are a few sites where you can learn more…
You can also outsource your SEO efforts, but it can be costly to find a reputable SEO consultant. And just a warning, there are tons of SEO's out there that promise the world.
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I think the main point is "don't write for search engines but don't be stupid".
Of course the content should not be stuffed with keywords, but topic, why not, it's the relevancy that matters for a visitor, if he sees keywords that are of interest of him he will visit the page and that's what SEO is supposed to be doing.
i write article for SEO in some blogs.
I always like to think it's a fine balance between gearing towards the search engines, and also towards the readers of the website. The two can merge very well, sometimes it depends on what type of website you have, but the two can merge real well. It does come with experience though.
Till then,
Jean
While I have to admit, I rarely ever take search engines into account when I start an article, it seems that by the end I have to rewrite it a couple more times hoping that it reads right for SE's and my visitors. I understand it's a fine line, I just wish I could get it right the first time around.
Good point of view that don't write for search engines but think about it. I agree with you write for users not for search engines. Main focus is provide information to users.
I think the way to go is to write informative articles that readers will enjoy reading but they can still be search engine optimised without losing the message. Why would you put up content that doesn't rank well – it is kind of like putting a new line of clothing in a store but instead of placing it in the window and advertising it, you keep it in a box and the back of the shop….why bother??
Your articles should be for users before anything with some SEO in mind.
Good post. Yes, our main target is visitors so, don't write for search engine but keep in mind and try to write user friendly content.
Nice article. Community building should come first. Thanks for the information.
I think it's a fine balance between gearing towards the search engines, and also towards the readers of the website. The two can merge very well, sometimes it depends on what type of website you have, but the two can merge real well…
Thanks for clarifying this issue for people. There are a lot of people who are strong believers in each side. You don't want to produce horrible content by stuffing keywords for the search engines. You want to find a nice balance of using good keywords where it makes sense.
There are plugins that automate this, they're never going to be perfect but they do the job good enough for you to only have to concentrate on blogging.