ScottHallett.com

So, in other posts I talked about not compromising creativity and quality when writing your articles or blog posts.  But SEO does have to factor in a bit.

Suppose you are writing about the best tasting corn dog ever.

You could title your article “A Chance Encounter at the Texas State Fair”.  This might be a great article or post that your reader will totally enjoy - but what kind of results will that get you in terms of search results.

Even if it’s the best article, if no one can find it, will it matter?

The bottom line, as far as SEO is concerned, is that the keywords that people use in their search requests matter and Google will do its part to deliver what it thinks are the best results of that search.

If you want to write about the best tasting corn dog, you might do well to title your article or post “The Best Tasting Corndog Ever”

If you want your article or post to generate targeted traffic in regards to this search phrase, then this only makes sense.

You have to get into the minds of the people you are trying to reach by finding out what they are trying to find – and *EXACTLY* how they go about doing it.

It is imperative that you get a good keyword research tool (I can recommend one later) and use that to cross reference what sites Google delivers.

Make this an ongoing part of your overall SEO strategy.

Google is constantly changing the way it does things and just having a keyword dense article is not the best approach anymore.  And I personally believe that for long term positive branding of you, your product or service – you shouldn’t compromise quality just to get search results.

But you have to use your head and approach it in a kind of hybrid approach.

Often times just identifying the problem or solution the end user has or is trying to resolve is probably the best way to craft your article.

The last thing I want you to think about is watching the overall results that your post or article brings.  Tweaking things (especially titles) to see if your results change may do some good as well.  If a single title change brings in more visitors, then you know just how important this aspect of article writing can be.

As an experiment, write an article based solely on who you want to bring in.  After obtaining initial results, change it up and see how your results may change.

This kind of information can completely change your entire marketing initiative for the better.

I hope this helps.

More to come…

It’s a losing game.

Well kind of…  Actually SEO is very important, but for this post what I am talking about is compromising the integrity of your content just for Google.

The Internet landscape is a polluted wasteland of millions of people writing content, not for people, but for Google’s search algorithms.

Google constantly changes its algorithms, and trying to keep up with them seems to be a losing battle.  I think the only people who really know what’s going on are the people behind closed doors at Google Labs.

If you are in it for real results over the long haul, here is the simple alternative:

Don’t write for Google’s search algorithms.  Write for people.

Write for the target demographic for which you are trying to reach – in a way those people want to be communicated with.  And deliver content of such quality that your product or service will be rewarded with a loyal following – naturally.

By the way, this is how true viral marketing happens…  Getting others to rave about you, your service or product on *their* terms based solely on their positive experience with you (not for something that was in it for them).

Google has some of the brightest minds working for them and they know best how to deliver quality content to *their* target audience – users of their search engine.

I would say this is Google’s number one objective, and they have the market cornered and are getting better everyday.

Focus on the relationship between you and your customer, and let Google do what it does best.

Those who try to take advantage of the Google machine this way will come and go, but the ones who stay are the ones who build up a brand by providing quality information geared towards the audience they choose to serve.

If you write for your demographic alone, I can’t help but to think you will always be on Google’s good side.

Now, I know the title to this post is called “Forget about SEO”, and I didn’t mean that completely.  As a marketer, you still need to focus on streamlining your content to the subject matter at hand and SEO will always factor into that.

The point is DO NOT write exclusively for Google at the cost of personal service to those you are trying to reach.  Long term success is not just about search results.

Good Luck!