SEO Copywriting

What is SEO Copy writing?
SEO Copy writing, or to give it its full name, search engine optimization copy writing or search engine copy writing, is the technique of writing the viewable text on a web page in such a way that it reads well for the surfer, and also targets specific search terms. Its purpose is to rank highly in the search engines for the targeted search terms.

As well as the viewable text, SEO Copy writing usually optimizes other on-page elements for the targeted search terms. These include the Title, Description and Keywords tags, headings and alt text.

The idea behind SEO Copy writing is that search engines want genuine content pages and not additional pages (often called "doorway pages") that are created for the sole purpose of achieving high rankings. Therefore, the engines cannot possibly view SEO copy written pages as undesirable, and the rankings they achieve tend to be as stable as those that are achieved by other search engine optimization techniques.

Practitioners of the search engine copy writing method recommend around 250 viewable words per page, with one, or at most two, targeted search terms strategically placed within the text and other on-page elements.

SEO Copy writing strengths
One thing that can be said about search engine optimization copy writing is that works for suitable websites and for suitable search terms (see below). SEO Copy writing can achieve rankings that tend to do well across the search engines, although no page can do equally well in all engines.

It is sometimes said by practitioners of search engine optimization copy writing, that the method tends to maintain its rankings as the engines tweak and change their algorithms, whereas other methods produce less stable rankings. This can't be true. If 2 pages are in the top 10 search results; one getting there by the SEO copy writing method and the other by different search engine optimization techniques, they are both there because they match the engine's criteria (algorithm) quite well. When the criteria is changed, the match that each of them had is necessarily changed. The matches could become closer to, or further from, the engine's criteria. Whether each page goes up or down in the results depends on what changes have been made to the engine's criteria. It is a matter of chance, and not a matter of whether SEO copy writing was used or not.

SEO Copy writing is good when:-

• there are not many search terms to target
• the search terms are on the low to middle end of competitiveness
• money isn't a problem, or if it is your own website
• you don't mind the text on your pages being frozen (if money does matter)

Otherwise, 'search engine friendly' techniques should always be done as a first measure, and real search engine optimization should be done for the search terms for which 'search engine friendly' techniques are unsuccessful.

NOTE:
Competitive search terms are not necessarily those where millions of results are returned. They are those where people are competing hard for the top positions. There's a big difference.