Let’s say you are writing a web site to
sell beach homes on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.
You look for some good keywords and come up with ‘Vancouver Island
waterfront property’. So you use that term in your title, headline and
here and there in the text.
So far, so good. The phrase will help you with your rankings. And the
use of the phrase on the first screen of your home page will let your
visitors know they are in the right place.
But for writers who focus too intently on keywords and phrases, there is
a danger.
A danger in optimizing your pages for good keywords? Yes, I think so.
There is a significant difference between the keywords that pop into
visitors’ minds, and the hopes and ambitions they carry in their hearts.
Let’s look at the real estate example again.
As a potential buyer I might type the phrase ‘Vancouver Island
waterfront property’ into the Google search box, because that’s what I’m
looking for. But that term doesn’t reflect what I’m feeling.
Having a home on the coast may have been a lifelong dream. It may be
something I feel very strongly about. So when I come to your site, I am
looking for two things.
- First, the rational part of my mind is looking for confirmation that
your site can help me find what I want. And this is where the use of
keywords and phrases makes perfect sense.
- Second, there is a strong, emotional element at play. As a potential
buyer, I am looking for someone who can help me fulfill my dream. And
this is where a writer who focuses too intently on keywords and phrases
can end up with poorly performing copy.
By all means, optimize your pages for Google and for the rational part
of a searcher’s mind. But be sure to understand and address the
emotional needs of the visitor as well.
That means using keywords as the starting point. Beyond the keywords,
you need to use language that addresses the deeper needs of the reader.
Yes, understand what Google wants. And understand what your visitor is
looking for. But if you want results, you also need to understand and
address what the visitor is feeling and hoping for.
Nick Usborne is a
copywriter, author, speaker and advocat of good writing. You can access
all his archived newsletter articles on copywriting and writing for the
web at his
Excess Voice site. You'll find more
articles and resources on how to make money as a freelance writer at his
Freelance Writing Success site.
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