Like many types of copywriting, SEO copywriting is somewhere between an art and a science. Writing for both Web users and search engines takes a certain amount of skill. There are far too many tips and tricks about SEO copywriting for a single blog post. A book would be a more appropriate format. So instead, this post will cover some of the key things one should avoid when beginning SEO copywriting. Here are the 10 “don’ts” for SEO copywriting.
- DON’T overstuff your keywords and keyphrases into the copy. SEO copywriting is not solely about quantity. It’s true that Google and other search engines do take into account what words and phrases are on a Webpage when ranking it, and Google and other search engines will try to match a searcher’s query with the SEO copywriting on a Webpage. But the Webpages that rank near the top in search engine results are derived from an extremely complex algorithm. By overloading keywords onto your page, you risk turning off users without making any real contribution to your actual Webpage rankings.
- DON’T forget who you are writing for. As we already mentioned, you really have two audiences with SEO copywriting. The Website user and the search engine. The best balance you can strike is one that caters to search engines in the right way. SEO copywriting that pays too little attention to search engines, you risk low rankings. Too much attention, as we have already said, means you lose Website users.
- DON’T let software be the sole decider of your targeted keywords. Keyword-finding software can be incredibly useful. But one must not rely solely on the keyword results. Think about what keywords you want to go after when planning an SEO copywriting project. You’ll usually get the best results when you combine your own keyword targets with the keywords suggested by whichever keyword software you use.
- DON’T sacrifice the quality of your copy for better rankings. Some SEO copywriters think that throwing in many nonsensical or grammatically-incorrect keywords anywhere they can is worth it. It’s not. Don’t sacrifice your SEO copywriting “flow” for clunky keywords. Disrupting the Website reader will make them feel like leaving.
- DON’T use keyphrases that are unrelated to your Webpage. If you run a Website that sells car floor mats, then don’t include a keyword for car hubcaps simply because it’s a high-ranking keyword. Even if you do manage to pull some traffic to your site, most of your visitors will leave as soon as they realize there are no hubcaps to be found. It’s wastes time and it makes users hostile towards your site.
- DON’T use misspelled words and their correct spellings on the same page. Misspellings can be valuable, but only if used correctly. Mixing misspellings and correct spellings in the same page creates a poor visual. It looks like there are typos strewn throughout your SEO copywriting.
- DON’T use the exact same keywords every time. Using the exact same keywords and keyphrases over and over creates a dulling repetitive effect. There are ways around this, though. Break up your keyphrases with punctuation. Search engines don’t give much attention to punctuation marks, so you can shift the rythmn of your keyword phrases by adding hyphens, commas, semicolons and periods.
- DON’T use all types keyword phrases in every situation. There are certain SEO copywriting keyphrases that do better on certain pages. Usually, you want the most general and most important keyword phrases on your home page. Long-tail keyword phrases should generally be relegated to less prominent pages, ideally the pages that specifically deal with those more specific keywords.
- DON’T forget about ALT tags and images. ALT tags are the little windows that pop up when a mouse hovers over a particular phrase or an image in a Webpage. Many search engines track these. That’s why it’s a good idea to put keywords in your ALT tags and your image attributes.
- DON’T forget about hierarchy. Some SEO copywriting keywords and keyword phrases are more important than others. It’s up to you to decide which ones, but it’s also important to give your highest-rated SEO copywriting keywords the most exposure.
