, ,

Why content is still king

In our previous post, we talked about the importance of including keywords in your site structure.
What we didn’t say is that keywords mean nothing if they’re embedded in cruddy content.
By cruddy content, we mean content that’s poorly written or organized. That’s salesy or full of typos. That’s been pulled from a print publication and slapped into your site without being webified.
As web developers, we’d like to think that we can create perfect sites using clean code alone. But we can’t. It’s the content in your site that matter most. Great content helps establish you as an expert in your field. It gives customers a reason to visit your site. And it helps Google understand your site and classify it properly in search results.
Need help creating great content? Here are a few tips.

  • Unless you’re a professional writer yourself, hire one. And not just any writer – one with experience writing sites optimized for web readability and web searchability.
  • Write for your customers. Yes, your website should tell your story. But think first about your customers’ story. Who are they? Why are they visiting your site? What information do they need? If your content consistently addresses your customers’ questions and interests, you can bring them back to your site again and again.
  • Remember that size matters. To optimize search results and get Google visiting regularly, you need lots of content – and you need to update it regularly. How much content do you need? Start with at least as much as your competitors have, and go from there.
  • Don’t write for search engines. Yes, keywords are important.  But if you overload your copy with keywords, you’ll lose credibility with your readers. Plus, Google knows that trick and is so over it.

The bottom line is that customers come to your site for content. Give ‘em that, and they’ll always be happy.
Want to talk with our SEO copywriter about your content? Contact us today.

,

Keywords: the key to an effective website

Most people know that including keywords in your website helps improve searchability.

For example, if you sell backyard playsets, you’d want to include terms like swingset, gymset, and playhouse throughout your site – terms that customers might use when Googling your products.

What most people don’t know is that you should include keywords in the structure of your site as well as the text.

Why? Because when Google “reads” your site, it doesn’t start with the text. Instead, it starts the same way you would – with the title of the site, the navigational structure, and the names of the pages. If your keywords aren’t included in those elements, Google won’t understand and classify your site as well as it could. And your search results won’t be as good as they should.

At Atomic, we work with our clients before planning or building their site to decide on the right keywords. We use a four-step process:

  1. Our clients brainstorm several keywords for their site
  2. We research those terms to find out if customers are actually using them in searches – or if they are using alternatives or derivatives of those terms
  3. Together with the client, we pick the best keywords
  4. Finally, we build the site structure around those keywords, embedding them in important elements like the title tags and heading tags.

For clients who are serious about optimizing search, we revisit their keywords regularly, helping them evaluate their effectiveness and pick new ones as needed.

Wondering if you’re using keywords as effectively as you could? Contact us anytime for a free consultation.