SEO Blog

Following on from yesterday’s post on content vs. Links for a new website I received an interesting question from regular contributor, Chad Walls, relating to the amount of content required on each page. Well, there’s no one size fits all answer to this, but let’s take a quick look.

First and foremost you need to have a page set up for each product and category on the site. This will provide you with the basic framework from which to optimise. The more pages you have, the more terms you can target; however, that doesn’t mean that you should get carried away. So How many words does each page need?

An SEO purist will probably tell you that a page needs at least 300 words on it. There’s an element of truth to this too. The more content that you have on a page, the more context that you can create for your primary keyword. However, by writing expansive content you run a number of risks.
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There are a surprising number of people that are willing to shell out thousands on SEO services but then have reservations about copywriting. Of course it is an extra expense and we’re all trying to reduce overheads, but investing in SEO without content is a little logical.

Search Engine Optimisation is, at its very essence, all about content and links. You need content for context and links for strength. Therefore if you’re optimising a site that doesn’t have decent content, then you’re already fighting a losing battle.

Link building is a skill of course. It takes a long time and to succeed you really need to be able to find ways of sourcing the strongest links from the best sites. But all of these exertions can be helped by having good content for those new links to point to.
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Where SEO is involved, content can be a hugely influential factor in where you rank and how easily the search engines are able to identify the target phrases for your page. Using that principle therefore, long copy would probably be the automatic choice – at least where optimisation is concerned. But it isn’t always that simple.

First and foremost, your content needs to reach out to your visitors. If you can’t grab their attention and provoke a reaction then it isn’t doing its job. But that doesn’t necessarily rule out long copy as a solution.

Your page needs as much content as required to provide all of the necessary information. You shouldn’t feel curtailed by the need to cut it short of 200 words and you certainly shouldn’t feel like you have to over elaborate to the extent where you’re shoehorning in phrases to reach 1,000.
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Content is probably one of the few constants across all sites. However, the one thing that is far from constant is the quality of said content.

Some people are able to get it just right. They reach out to their audience, provide them with clear instructions and information before convincing them to convert. Others though do not.

I’m not going to lie to you though, writing content isn’t easy. If it was, we’d all be professional Copywriters right? So knowing what is and what isn’t acceptable is probably the best place to start before trying some yourself.
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When you come to optimise a website invariably a lot of your efforts will go into creating some first rate content. Playing such a vital role in your SEO efforts and visitor communication, you will have to ensure that you get it right.

The good thing about content is that it is often naturally optimise. You don’t need to worry about deliberately forcing in dozens of unsightly keywords so as to appease the Google gods. When you come to write the content for any page you write on subject, therefore you should be using the related terms and phrases anyway.
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An SEO blog talking about ‘shelving SEO’, that’s almost like a get rich quick site talking about giving proceeds to charity surely?! Well, bear with me. SEO is still important. Rankings can lead to traffic and therefore you need to be optimised in such a way that you can maximise this potential. But when it comes to content, it isn’t your priority.

Do your keyword research. Have those terms that people are searching for in the back of your mind. That is about all your copywriter needs to concern themselves with before beginning their writing process. The remaining 99% of their focus ought to be on the audience and, more importantly, getting visitors to convert.

The vast majority of websites are created to make money. Whether through adSense adverts, products sold or services rendered, the underlying driving force is finance. That may be ugly, but the truth often is. So your content shouldn’t be just trying to get your site further up the search engine rankings (this ought to be a bi-product), it needs to sell.
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The actual content of a website is one of the most important aspects, both in terms of search engine performance and presenting your business to visitors. It is therefore essential that you choose your words wisely and make sure your pages are populated with copy that really represents you.

It’s easy to be flippant about any aspect of website development. Sometimes other aspects of the process take up more of your time or you attribute importance to one thing more than another. But you should never overlook copy, not at least if you want your website to succeed of course.
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Content is part of the whole SEO services package. Whilst we all talk about implementing keywords, creating embedded word links and Meta behind the scenes, it is the on-page copy that will ultimately sway visitors and search engines alike to take you seriously.

The importance, therefore, of getting your website’s content right can hardly be overstated. Despite this though, many websites still choose to ignore it; leaving dozens of pages bare or creating vapid text that neither informs nor engages. It could be undermining your site and your business.
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SEO is a multi-faceted set of procedures. Whilst many things go into optimising a website, at the centre of it all is your content.

Each page of your website should have copy. Search engines can only understand language; whether it’s implemented in Meta, Alt tags or on page content, the text is essential. Key terms can be used throughout to highlight search engines exactly what your pages are all about and encourage them to rank you for those few core phrases. But your website copy can also do much more.
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There’s often a strange belief that doing SEO yourself is impossible. It’s not, far from it in fact. Whilst you may not have the expert knowledge of a professional Search Engine Marketer, there’s no reason why you can’t make a start yourself.

Copy

The simplest place to start is with copy. We all know how to write, with some people clearly more confident than others. However, even if your understanding is basic, there’s still no reason why you can’t start padding a website out with some rudimentary content.

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