(ok, it’s not really…)

I definitely agree that writing for people is the only thing that works in the long term.

The keywords should just be there in context and as micro-content – eg. a good title can quickly tell people and search engines what your content is about.

Pictures are great to sum up content quickly too (did I tell you how much I like that pic Melinda?? )
Anni Taylor´s last post…12 foot trampoline tricks in a small yard

Also from an SEO perspective using bold (or italic or underline) for the same word over and over is considered to be search engine spam. One bold, one italic and one underline is probably more than enough.
Marc – WelshScribe´s last post…How to Create a Character | A Review

What I meant was, off to read Marc’ intro now. Looking forward to the series.

And yes, of course I agree bold should be used sparingly. Just imagine how unpleasant it would be to read if folks thought everything they wrote was important!

Then you’re basically back to not helping people enjoy your work. Not good, that.

Until later,

Kelly
Kelly´s last post…The Next BIG THING

Re: use of bold. There is some evidence that bold, italic and underline can be used to emphasise words for the search engines but *use sparingly*, particularly underlines as they can be confused with hyperlinks.
Marc – WelshScribe´s last post…How to Create a Character | A Review

I’m going to be watching my stats with interest to see how well the keyword stuffing in the title draws traffic and from where.

Melinda,

From Men With Pens. Now you don’t have to dig through your analytics for at least one reader. I’m a sucker for a good sex and business post… which this wasn’t… which I expected. I could see tongue planted firmly in cheek from over there.

I’m quite used to gently adding my targeted keywords, a little at a time, over the months and years, but it’s natural for folks to want an SEO magic bullet. For one thing, “over the months and years” sounds a lot like work.

The trouble as you point out, is that a magic bullet for machines would just kill readership. I would be happy if Google and others would finally figure out a way to reward naturally targeted work, and not keyword-stuffing, but that does sound like an awfully tall order.

Oh, and to add just a bit to the h1 thought: other tags like h2 and even bolds also help search engines decide you meant those words to be more important to SEO. The funny thing is, they also break up your copy nicely and help readers to move through a post, so sometimes writing for the search engines IS good for readers.

Off to read Marc’s series now!

Regards,

Kelly

P.S. Thanks for a guy with at least a bit of hair on him. LOL.
Kelly´s last post…The Next BIG THING

@ Marc, I was wondering who was going to make the first comment about the guy. Keyword stuffing to write nonsense posts is thankfully on the way out and we’re starting to see people being sensible about keywords.

@ Alex, yes, it can be hard to incorporate the keywords that you want people to find you with, and have it read naturally. I tend to have an idea what keywords to use in an article, but I’m not concerned about putting them into every sentence. I trust that the right people will find me when they need me. (Ok, I can hear every marketer screaming in horror at that comment)

@ John, greap point and thanks for posting it. Yes, categories are very important places for keywords, as are titles.

@ David, *coughs* you’ll need to ask your wife about the sex. That’s the best suggestion I have for you. Seriously.

@ Sally, definatly! Content is king, long live content! Getting people to your site is relatively easy – keeping them there and having them come back for more is a whole ‘nother story.

Search engines are machines and websites aren’t read by machines – they’re read by people. You need to write for people and not for search engines.

You’ve hit the nail pretty much on the head Mel. Even Google’s engineers are trying to make their machine behave more like a human. I hear they’re looking to change their name to Skynet.

No seriously, you’re absolutely right. At the end of the day it’s about creating content that’s worth linking to.
Marc – WelshScribe´s last post…How to Create a Character | A Review