Questions, questions. Your commonly asked SEO copywriting queries.
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What should I do about spelling variations?
Web language is still evolving, and some words (like webcam) have alternate, yet still correct, spellings (like web cam.) If your research indicates both phrases pull well, there's a way you can strategically use both spelling variations.
A little premeditated keyphrase planning will boost your keyphrase benefits. Simply write and optimize one page (like the home page) around the phrase "web cam" and another page around the term "webcam." Just make sure that you don't use both variations (like webcam and web cam) on the same page. Although the search engines won't care if you mix your phrases, your readers will - and your alternative spelling will scream "typo."
How should my company strategize keyphrase forks?
Decisions, decisions. Keyphrase forks clatter on your search engine marketing plate when you're torn between two similar keyphrases, like "auto insurance" and "car insurance." In this example, both terms gain fantastic hits and both terms are supremely specific. Which term should you choose?
Why chose one term when you can have both? It is possible to optimize for both terms, as long as they are equally specific to your product or service. You can mix and match phrases on the same page, as well as focus pages around each keyphrase variation.
If it is your corporate philosophy to choose one form over the other, you have options available to you via Trusted Feed solutions. The only exception is Google, who does not offer Trusted Feed, but Trusted Feed can facilitate you obtaining positions for the keyword fork sending users to the same destination page by having a dual-page entry. All such strategies are sunject to approval by the search engine in question, however it is these value added features that Trusted Feed was designed to deliver.
What about singular versus plural words?
Thanks to a concept called stemming, "Engines have the ability to search for the variations of a word based on its stem," according to Search Engine Watch. "For example, entering 'swim' might also find 'swims' and maybe 'swimming,' depending on the search engine."
If the singular and plural versions of a keyphrase pull equally well, use the keyphrase variation that works best within the text. Will you get an extra boost if you use a plural version (like flowers) over the singular? Maybe. But if it takes more than five seconds of thought about how to work the plural variation into the copy, forget about it.
Do I really have to include keyphrases in my body text copy? Can't I insert my keyphrases in my keyword Meta tag and still get good rankings?
No. Don't even think about it.
And if you do start thinking about it, just remember that search engines don't stress the keywords tag. Inktomi stated in their Content Policy FAQ (Inktomi now subsumed by Yahoo!):
"This line is not as important as is commonly believed... Don't overload the Keywords line; as a rule of thumb, if you're putting things in the Keywords line that aren't in the rest of the page, you're probably putting too much in."
No matter how carefully you craft your Keywords tag, you won't see the rankings if you don't have the writing. Search engine spiders require text - not the keyword tag - for their ranking determinations. If a keyphrase doesn't appear in the body text somewhere, it shouldn't appear in your Keywords tag. The only exceptions to this rule are common misspellings and language variations (think of the British optimization versus the US optimization).
'Nuff said.
Can I optimize my page for just one term, rather than two or three?
No.
Optimizing for one keyphrase is considered spam, and the search engines don't like it.
However, more importantly, why only optimize for one keyphrase when each page can gain positions for two or more phrases per page? The key is to increase the number of ways your prospects can find you. Not create such a narrow net that people can only find you if they know the secret word you're targeting.
You talk about "editing for keyphrases." Can I edit my home page for keyphrases rather than rewrite it?
Perhaps, assuming it already has around 250 words. And you can also run naked through a police station parking lot, screaming "Open source code rocks" while tossing popcorn kernels to seagulls. But I wouldn't recommend it.
Trying to use new keyphrases on old copy is like squeezing into old clothes after you've gained a size. Sometimes, the new pounds don't matter. You still look stylish, and the new pounds don't change a thing. But other times, it's painfully obvious when you're trying to shove new pounds into your old clothes. And you don't want to face the world looking like that.
Remember, your home page is your site's most important page. It's the page with the highest PageRank, and gets more page views than any other page. In other words, your home page is the virtual star of your Web site show. You don't want to even think about messing with success.
According to Jakob Nielsen's May 2002 article, "Top 10 Guidelines for Homepage Usability":
"Homepages are the most valuable real estate in the world. Each year, companies and individuals funnel millions of dollars through a space that's not even a square foot in size. For good reason. A homepage's impact on a company's bottom line is far greater than simple measures of e-commerce revenues: The homepage is your company's face to the world."
Rewriting your home page (and all crucial inner pages) provides you the opportunity to build your copy around your desired phrases, maximizing keyphrase and conversion opportunities. Unless you are absolutely sure that you can make your new keyphrases seamlessly flow within the copy, rewrite the page.
The SEO writer's job doesn't end when the final period is typed. Conversion starts as early as the SERP, where a compelling Title and Description transforms eyeballs into clicks. In the next chapter, "Creating Title, Descriptions and Meta tags," you'll discover spider-friendly techniques for creating strategic Meta data.
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