Google as publisher
Google is not just the largest search engine in the world. Google is also the most prolific publisher in the world. As a marketer or small business owner, you should think of Google like the publisher of your local newspaper. To get “earned media” or “free press coverage,” you must write in his or her preferred style and follow their guidelines on how to submit articles.
In this short article, we explain some of Google’s “secret” preferences for selecting websites to summarize its search results, with a particular focus on Google’s preferred writing style.
SEO friendly keywords and tags
HTML is the language of the Web and is the language of Google. HTML intersects with humans through tags. Tags like TITLE, H1/H2, STRONG, B, EM, I, A HREF, and others tell the web browser how to display characters on the page: what size, what font (in some situations), and even whether a word is a ‘ link’ to another. However, what many humans don’t realize is that these tags also create the syntax for a special language: the language of HTML as a communication between your website and Google. Google reads your website and interprets the relationship of your tags to your keywords to figure out what your website is about.
The first secret to writing Google-friendly SEO prose is to identify your target keywords. If you are a personal injury lawyer in New York, for example, you can generate a keyword list of:
Personal Injury Lawyer, Lawyer, Lawsuit…
Medical Malpractice, Hospital Malpractice… (A practice area)
New York, New York, Manhattan, New Jersey, New York area…
Automobile Accident, Car Accident, Automobile Injuries, Automobile Injuries… (Other Practice Area)
The second secret is while writing your prose for Google is to prioritize your SEO keywords. Outside of your home page, each individual page on your website should generally focus on a single keyword phrase. So you may have one page pointing to ‘New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer’ and quite a different page focusing on ‘New York Car Accident Lawyer’. In other words, the second secret to Google-friendly prose is focus. You should focus your page on a single keyword/keyphrase.
As we teach in our page tag classes at JM Internet Group, you then ‘weave’ your keywords strategically into your tags. Begin first of all with the TITLE tag of the page. That tag should succinctly characterize the SEO keyword target of your page. For example,
Repeat, repeat, repeat (but don’t be obvious)
Matt Cutts and other prominent Googlers argue that you should write prose for Google that is essentially the same as what you write for humans. We respectfully disagree. SEO friendly prose is, on average, slightly more redundant than prose that would be written for humans. SEO friendly prose targets a particular keyword or key phrase and repeats that keyword. Now the trick is to repeat the keywords in different ways, in different syntaxes, in different organizations so that your page has a large number of keywords and at the same time is not so obvious or ridiculous that Google dismisses it. like spam.
For example, let’s take a look at one of our favorite SEO-friendly websites: geico.com. Here is a sample from their motorcycle insurance guidance page. We’ve highlighted the motorcycle occurrences below:
Before you start your engine, get a motorcycle insurance quoteAccelerate your savings with motorcycle insurance from GEICO. No matter what you own—a sport bike, cruiser, standard bike, touring bike, or a sweet custom bike—you can turn to us for great rates and the best coverage. We even offer scooter insurance. Enjoy the freedom of the open road knowing that the gecko® has your back! Get free motorcycle insurance quotes anytime. Why choose GEICO for motorcycle insurance?
You thought GEICO was all about car insurance, right? Think again! We take motorcycles as seriously as you do, and we’re happy to provide you with high-quality coverage for your motorcycle. With GEICO, you get:
Excellent customer service (rated 4.7 out of 5 by our motorcycle insurance policyholders).
Affordable premiums and flexible payment plans.
Secure online payment and account management.
24-hour access to our licensed insurance professionals at 1-800-442-9253.Get a motorcycle insurance quote and see what GEICO can do for you.
Read more at http://www.geico.com/getaquote/motorcycle/
What is the point? The point is keyword repetition and keyword density. Despite what Googlers say, successful SEO friendly prose actually has quite a few keywords. Not obscenely, but definitely more keyword-heavy than what you’d write for mere humans. Google prefers keyword-heavy text and uses the Geico pages as examples of what I would call Google-friendly prose. Successful SEO friendly copywriting is a brand of heavier prose than we were used to, before the internet.
Another great example of SEO friendly prose can be found at http://www.sfflowershop.com/ – scroll to the bottom of the page and press CTRL+F for SEARCH in Firefox. Write the word Flower.
Finally, keep in mind that both Geico and SFFlowershop.com do very well in terms of SEO for your target keyword searches. They are successful in their SEO. Type “Motorcycle Insurance Quote Online” into Google or “Motorcycle Insurance Quote” and you’ll find Geico. Type ‘San Francisco Flower Delivery’ and you will find sfflowershop.com. They have both their tag structure and keyword density in good shape.
Abnormal and normal keyword density
So to summarize. First, identify your target keywords. Next, keep in mind that one of the main secrets to SEO friendly copywriting success is focus. Geico’s motorcycle page focuses on a single type of insurance and a family of primary keywords: motorcycle insurance. Yours should do the same. Third, make sure to strategically place your target keywords in your main tags, such as the TITLE and H1 tag. Fourth, write SEO friendly copy. That means frequent and repetitive use of the target keyword. Don’t overdo it. Don’t be crazy and repeat the keyword thousands of times. Google agrees with that!
Instead, use your target keyword frequently in your written copy. Read it out loud. It should sound clunky and repetitive like Geico and Fillmore Florist do above. But it shouldn’t sound too modest or incredibly repetitive. Be balanced and look for the middle ground! Finally, use a keyword density tool like http://www.keyworddensity.com/ to compare your keyword density to other sites that are doing well for your target keywords. Stay at the top of the pack in terms of density. Just a little denser than top performers, but don’t overdo it.
Google has created a new style of English prose. Clumsy, keyword heavy prose written primarily for Google, and not humans. So who said that writing is dead? Writing has just evolved with the internet.