I always feel conflicted by SEO. On the one hand best SEO practice demands you write your page content for search engines, based on one or two keyword phrases, then optimise it using various techniques. But on the other hand you write the best content you can, just for your readers. Which way is right? Can you do both? I’ve always had difficulty doing both together. Yet, you need SEO to get visitors, but if you don’t provide good content, you won’t keep your visitors. What do you do?
Jill Whalen argues you can do both. What a relief! In choosing search engines over users, she suggests the two seemingly conflicting goals are closer together than you might think, because a good search engine and a good writer is attempting to achieve the same goal; to provide exactly what the surfer wants. This is what makes google head and shoulders above the competition. They focus on relevance. Isn’t that the writers objective too? But what about all the other SEO techniques, like link building? But then doesn’t an authority website get lots of links naturally, because it has good content? So, you could argue google is only modelling the normal growth of a good content-based website.
So, if link building strategies are both natural to website growth and an important ranking measure for google, how should you be building links to your website? Joe Eitel discusses proven link building strategies that work. And he starts the discussion with keywords and how important it is to begin by choosing your keyword phrases. Then he suggests that natural backlinks come from great quality content. There’s a theme developing here.
But what if you have already written and published plenty of content, but the search engines don’t rank your site well? Is that an indication you’ve failed some aspect of this delicate mix or great writing and effective SEO? I think we know the answer already. We know what we focus on. Can you change it? If you haven’t considered your keywords, can you rewrite your content and is it worth it? The SEO professionals say it is. Nathan Campbell thinks SEO is a lot like surgery. There can be discomfort but in time the patient recovers and is much better.
There doesn’t have to be conflict if you focus on what your visitors want.
