Posted on October 16th, 2010Nothing is more important than the content of a web site when it comes to search engine optimization and building site popularity. In essence, people do not want to routinely visit a site that does not have interesting and informative content. The job of a search engine is to bring web surfers the most suitable results for their search queries, by referring them to pages which have content that will solve their problem or answer their question. This is the basic concept of the internet, and it should be thoroughly understood by any aspiring webmaster. If you’re interested in learning how to make search engines and your readers love your content, then you may want to consider the following information.
Keyword Selection and SEO
Perhaps the most commonly discussed aspect of SEO is the importance of keyword optimization in the form of keyword density and keyword placement. A keyword is simply a term or phrase that people use to find content on the web, and it can be anything that someone would type into a search engine box. Appropriate keywords are often chosen based on the niche of the site. For example, if the site is about dog collars, then some keywords used within the site’s content may be “cheap dog collars” or “strongest dog collars” etc. An ideal keyword will be highly searched for, but will have less competition than comparative keywords within the niche.
Keyword Density and SEO
Placing a keyword within an article too many times in a row or with high prevalence is a great way to completely negate all of your content writing efforts. In fact, most search engines, especially Google, will frown upon a high keyword density because they will see it as spam. Keyword density is basically the percentage of the article that contains our chosen keywords. Search engines use highly intelligent bots to index your site, and can detect the theme of the site fairly easily. If they detect too many of the same phrases being used in a single article, the quality score of the site will decrease and it will be very difficult to rank highly for the chosen keywords. A keyword density of 1– 2% is ideal, and with quality content it is enough to make your site rank highly.
Lots of Content Without Keywords
A new school of thought is emerging that is getting rid of the old stigmas involved with strict keyword placement,. In the past few years people have gone from recommending that keywords be placed in certain places within the article, to suggesting that keywords not be used at all. While this may seem counter-intuitive, it actually helps build the popularity of your site if the content is useful. Some experts believe that producing a high volume of informative content that is related to your niche is enough to earn you high rankings within the search engines, even more so than strategic keyword selection and placement. If you;re planning on producing a large quantity of articles for your site, then make sure the emphasis is put towards making the content original and informative, rather than focusing solely on keywords.