Secrets to Search Engine Optimized Content
Posted: May 2nd, 2008
We have all heard the phrase "content is king," and unique content indeed reigns supreme. However, beyond the mantra of writing highly unique content, exists additional SEO copywriting secrets. Some of these "secrets" are simply SEO guidelines that simply get neglected from being applied to the art of copywriting. Let’s look at some applications of SEO in generating search engine optimized content.
1. Including Target Keyphrases
Apart from achieving a moderate keyword density for your target keywords, you should be including your target keyphrases as well. (You should be doing this concurrently). Your title and header tags need to include your main keyphrase, which should also be sprinkled throughout your content. Other ingredients to your search engine optimized content cake are variations to the main keyphrase, along with secondary target keyphrases.
Note: It’s perfectly alright to deviate slightly to secondary keyphrases, as well as overlap keyphrases between pages on your website. If anything, this will make your entire website more relevant and help maintain authority.
2. Optimal Content Length
Writing search engine optimized content also involves having an optimal content length (word count). There should be enough textual content there for spiders to crawl and find useful, but not to the point of losing usability to your visitors. A rule-of-thumb is to have about 250 words per page, which is approximately half a page of text.
I personally believe that a few paragraphs up to a page is sufficient, and the nature of the page needs to be accounted for too.
For example, certain online commerce pages should only have two paragraphs max (if even that). On the other hand, it would be appropriate for more technical or literature-based websites to be lengthier. This common sense mindset plays into the "usability" factor mentioned earlier.
More to come…
That’s it for this Friday post, but a second installment of "Secrets to Search Engine Optimized Content" will likely be written. Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed (also available through email) if you haven’t already to stay up-to-date with all the shenanigans at SEP! 
This is really great tips to know about as it can really help optimize one’s website. Looking forward to the second installment
Cheers,
Marie
I don’t agree that content is the king. I do think that it is an essential ingredient.
Thanks for the tips. I had already figured some of them out on my own, but this gives me a few more things to watch for as I write content for my blog.
NathanKP -Inkweaver Review
I do believe content is king, combined with proper meta tags and keyword optimization.
It requires a lot of trial and error
I am glad to have found your site because to be honest the only thing that I do understand about seo is having good content. Hopefully reading this I can take your tips and make my site better.