In my last post I talked about the importance of targeting your niche market by using more specific keywords. By using specific terms instead of just generic ones you are able to get more traffic from search users that these terms bring. In Mark Jackson’s article on “Optimizing Pages for New and Improved Search Engine Users” you will see just why targeting your niche market will benefit you.
Since I enjoyed reading Jackson’s article so much I waited for today’s article on long-tail optimization. I wasn’t disappointed. One of the things that stuck to me is Jackson’s advice to “write all site content in a very conversational and natural manner.” While I have been a firm believer in this all along it is always nice to have someone who knows his stuff agree with you. As Jimmy put it in his previous post, “stick to the simple things – simple words and sentence structure – as long as you get your point across.” Although Jimmy’s point was to keep it simple for your audience what writers/bloggers do not realize is that by doing so they also help their blog in terms of SEO.
Search engine users are, after all, mostly ordinary people who speak plain English. Though they may know technical terms the general pattern of search is that plain or common words/terms are used first. It is usually only when people cannot find the information they need using simple words that they use more technical terms. Note though that even while writing in the common language you should focus on inserting relevant keywords. Of course you will need to use more technical words every now and then, especially in certain fields, but the point is that your blog shouldn’t read like a scientific journal if you want ordinary readers to not only understand what you are trying to get across but also to also find you more easily via search.
Originally posted on September 11, 2007 @ 5:32 am
