Which is better? Great copywriting that tells a story or well-executed search engine optimization using carefully selected keywords?
Answer: Both
Artful content creators like to experiment with timbre and tone as we swish our magic keyboard keys and maneuver sentences into brands with personality and flair. (I say we because I live in this camp.) I want my copywriting to sound good, to rhyme, to please the ear and use stealthy written strategies to move prospects toward a call to action.
Matt, on the other hand—Optimize Worldwide’s CEO—calls me on the carpet every time. Nice, he says. But what keyword are you hoping to build?
Keyword, Shmee-word, I say. I’m into the art of wordsmithing. Why must I be bothered with mechanical words?
But I know he is correct in asking. And he has a point.
My copywriting, no matter how clever my use of onomatopoeia, does no good if no one sees it.
On the other hand, a keyword stuffed web page lacking structure and flow will turn the most ardent searchers away in disgust.
The truth is. SEO specialists and business copywriters need each other. It’s like art and science.
Together we keep our eye on multiple goals—getting found in searches on major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing while delivering a brand identity through copywriting once a reader lands on a page.
It’s a win win.
Just in case you are not familiar with the difference, here is an example of what is known as Black Hat SEO Content, where copy is stuffed with keywords used over and over.
For the record, Google is not at all fond of this method.
Rewritten in a style worth reading and stamped with SEO approval, the copy looks like this:
Notice the difference? The first is contrived, the second, more natural but still SEO friendly.
Optimize Worldwide offers the best of both SEO and quality content. Building high-functioning websites is critical to your web presence, but your web content strategy—and how you deliver it—is equally important.
SEO without quality content is like a Reese’s without peanut butter while great content without strategic keywords resembles a lamp without a bulb. Neither works.
Check your balance
Call today and let’s talk about how to weight your SEO practices with a quality content strategy.
This article was written by Carrie Schmeck of Bizziwriter Copywriting