Google Optimized Content

Google is your friend. Love, cherish and obey, or you'll find your precious web content sinking faster than a lead brick.

It is absolutely imperative that your web content is optimized for Google - why? Simply because 80% of web traffic arising from search results is Google based. If you're optimized for Google, then it goes without saying that all other search engines will pick up on you just as well.

A lot of people think they understand Google, and will happily tell you, (usually in exchange for a good deal of money), all of the various ways in which you can 'guarantee' your site will shoot right to the first page of any search results. They will amaze you with revelations of secrets in their possession which will trick Google into thinking your site is more important or relevant, and fool those little Google spiders into powering your website up the ranks.

Much of this is utter nonsense of course. To suggest that Google is that naive when it comes to the web is like suggesting that if you throw a lead brick really high it might not actually fall down.

"Writing search engine optimized content is not about stuffing as many keywords into a document as possible."

So what does Google optimized content really mean? Google uses what is known as Latent Semantic Indexing, or LSI. This is the highly complex algorithm used to assess the relevance of a page, and how appropriate it is for searches made. It is largely the LSI evaluation of your web content which decides the fate of your site when it comes to search results positioning.

Let's get one thing absolutely clear - writing search engine optimized content is not about stuffing as many keywords into a document as possible. It used to be the case that 2-3% keyword density, even 5% keyword density, did use to work. Even sticking keywords in <meta> tags worked once. Thankfully, those days are gone.

Hurling keywords into your documents as though stuffing the Christmas turkey is not path that will lead you to success. Fat, over-stuffed turkeys are not known to rise very much more successfully than the lead brick. Instead, articles and web content that are search engine optimized are written in a style which appears entirely natural, using carefully structured and exactly situated semantic language.

Unfortunately, many experts have misunderstood what LSI or semantic language means. They'll be quick to admit that including the word 'chemist' 10 times in an article won't work. But these same people will happily suggest that semantic language means replacing some occurrences of 'chemist' with 'pharmacist'.

Google's LSI algorithm sees these two words as being the same, and will therefore see all 10 instances of the same semantically identical term - resulting in a verdict of keyword bloating. Please keep hands and feet inside as you proceed down with your turkey and brick.

SEO writing is a far more subtle art, or science perhaps, and requires a professional understanding and competence in using natural language, a wide vocabulary and carefully structured content. If done well, then you may not merely find that your turkey has been given a parachute, but that it is now strapped to a lit firework.