The Battle Between SEO and Copywriting
Search Engine Optimization is rapidly becoming one of the best ways to promote your website online and ensure that you get listed high in the rankings by Google and various other search engines.
For those readers who are not familiar with the practice of SEO, expert Aaron Wall defines it as: “The art and science of publishing and marketing content in a way that brings significant profitable and targeted traffic to your website.”
Because of this shift in Internet promotion there are numerous providers available that make ridiculous promises that are unattainable. Be very dubious of any company that:
- Promises to take you to the top of Google’s search rankings in a matter of days
- Only fixes your “meta-keyword” tags
- Offers to fix your website to make it “SEO-friendly” so that fine tuning over time will not be a necessity
- Creates numerous doorway pages and mini-sites that are simply duplicate copies of your primary site. This is a sure way to get black listed.
However, there is another problem with SEO that exists further below the surface and it involves the conflict that it can create with your website copy.
A company that you end up working with may do all that they promised in helping you work your way up the search engine rankings – – yet as a website owner your ultimate goal should be conversions whether they be in the form of leads or sales. Just because something is 100% SEO optimized doesn’t mean it’s engaging for visitors.
There is a practice called “keyword stuffing” that involves placing keywords an inordinate amount of times within the copy on your website. There are two types that can be damaging to your brand:
- The over-reliance on these words are deemed to be “black-hat” tactics, and can get you penalized or even banned by Google
- An abundance of keywords is used, not to the point where you will be penalized but where it detracts from the copy and does not leave the website visitor with a good impression of your company.
In either case you are setting yourself up for failure in the long run. Strong SEO takes time and practice (and in many cases some struggles along the way). However, make sure you take the time to educate yourself before you invest thousands of dollars into optimizing your website.
Also, take a look at the latest list of the top SEO companies in the U.S. and if you have any questions about best practices don’t hesitate to contact me directly at brad@daveyoho.com.
