Meander through a writer’s thoughts as she addresses her dilemma on the power battle between SEO and web content
The craft of writing, considered a creative art, is an important communication tool that helps people express their thoughts, feelings and emotions. Prose, poetry, drama, scripts and advertising copy are some forms of this art that people have dabbled with in the past. However the onset of Generation X brought with it copywriting for web content, a form that like most things in this day and age is geared towards the World Wide Web. In the past a scenic setting or an inspirational moment, would motivate writers to reach out for their exquisite journal and fountain tip pen, but today the muse inspires us to reach for the laptop. Writing, like everything else has also seen a change.
Exploring the web
In the hope of balancing my personal and professional life, I recently decided to explore the world of web content writing. I have always considered myself to be a writer and thought that this would be just another wonderful way to express my thoughts. But all my innocent notions were washed away on the day that I received my first assignment, introducing me to the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). I then realized that this was not writing as I knew it. In the past, I was expected to write interesting and reader friendly content with a certain word count in mind, but now, a new feature called “key word” added complexity to this once simple task.
Being distinctive
Before the onset of the web era, information was sought in books found in stores or libraries. However today, with a single click, you can open a zillion pages of the sought information online. It truly is all about survival of the fittest and thus distinguishing your work from the clutter is imperative. SEO ensures websites high visibility, which in turn results in greater return on investment. Although it is not exactly clear as to what factors impact the site’s ranking; it is believed that features like size, age of site, content based on key words, links to the website, and frequency of updates all go a long way in guaranteeing the coveted first page slot on search engines.
The mighty one
Of these, content written based on keywords is said to be the most effective as people often browse the web in search of specific information. A key word search is the most popular way of looking for web content. Key words are often a creative and unique combination of different words leading to a niche that brings up your site amongst the first few on a search engine.
Adapting to change
My first assignment was on home schooling of children and one of the key words that I had to work with was “statistics of home schooled in kindergarten”. This may seem like a perfectly decent topic to work with, but to include the same phrase, word for word at least four times in a 500 word piece was a challenging task, which led me to a dilemma - was I corrupting my art? Am I guilty of diluting the form of writing by inserting pre determined key words? I toiled through my first piece, a little unhappy, and a little lost about what to do. I grumbled, as is natural for all of us faced with change. However pragmatism soon took over and I realized that my writing was of no use, if it did not get any readers. It had to be noticed and hence using the selected key words would distinguish my work from the clutter.
Striking a balance
In essence writers today are faced with the daunting task of appeasing human readers as well as mechanical search engine algorithms. In addition to following traditional rules of writing the Gen X writer has to find clever ways to incorporate key words in their piece. Of course, in doing so, you have to be careful not to stuff key words in the article in a way that the words make no sense. This turns away both readers and search engines. Just like you don’t want your art to be lost in cyber space, you also don’t want people to turn away after reading two lines. So as is the rule of nature, it is imperative to strike a balance and put in an equal amount of effort in ensuring that web copy is simple, lucid, coherent and interesting. Including well researched and original content on a regular basis is the best way to increase traffic on your site; without adding a single link or changing the existing web pages. Links are here today gone tomorrow, but content stays and interesting content will ensure that people keep returning for more. Thus it is safe to say that content is still king and good content will ensure repeated hits on your site and help you in achieving the desired objectives.
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—About our writer:
Shailey says, "Change has been the one constant in my life and so, to me, life is all about varied experiences. I am a Communications professional who has tried my hand at film making, radio production, corporate communications and now web content writing. Interacting with different cultures and people has shaped my mind and made me who I am. My dream is to travel around the world someday."
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