One of the most important statements from Google, and every SEO expert who claims to know Google so well, is that it’s time to stop writing content for search crawlers (or robots) and instead to focus on writing content for human beings. Now, if you have ever written articles for “robots” (meaning a bunch of standard paragraphs, somewhat coherent, but mainly existing so as to accommodate a series of odd keyword texts) then you may find the idea of writing for human beings intimidating.
How does one write for people and stop thinking of search engine optimization in terms of keyword density? (Indeed, keyword density is not as important as it once was) There is still such a thing as keyword density in web marketing and SEO today. The only difference is that the algorithm has been highly improved, and can now detect “natural” occurrences of the keyword rather than the somewhat obsessive 5% or even 1% repetition.
When you converse with or write to other human beings, there really is no reason for keyword density – a staple of the search engine design. Rather, there is a need for repetition and emphasis; an artistic and persuasive use of a recurring word or sound. Obviously, using too many instances of a word would distract your audience. And yes, when they read content obviously written for SEO robot purposes and not for human readers, they will lose interest.
So your first order of business is to analyze all of your website’s pages and make sure they pass the “human test.” Do all of the articles and the web copy pages make sense? Or is there incoherency from one paragraph to the next? It helps tremendously to stop “selling” your idea and instead to focus on more important issues like product details, the ins and outs of your industry, and the latest news that concerns your customers and your unique market.
Writing for human beings is actually a much more rewarding process so take steps now to make sure your entire website passes the human test and is spared from Google’s Penguin rampage!
