~~~Successful Online Writing~~~
From: B. Visnuswami
In Rank Write Roundtable - Issue No. 033 you mention Web Position Gold
as though it is unnecessary and not a good program. We are puzzled by
this. We have used it successfully and achieved #1 rankings
consistently in a number of search engines for several web sites. And
these ranking seem to hold over long periods of time for the sites.
We find WPG's "Page Critic" analysis of pages we design invaluable for
fine tuning their optimization. We start with keyword rich pages, with
everything (title headings, links & alt tags with keywords) in place
already, based on our experience. That is, we just design the pages we
need and optimize them all as we go. We find that without the help of
"page critic" we would certainly miss hitting the mark and just be
guessing. WPG even points out inadvertent same color text on same
color background. For pages which need large amounts of text or many
links, it is near impossible to get the keyword frequency and
prominence right otherwise.
So, my question is, what is the alternative to such a tool? We are
very satisfied and can't imagine optimizing our pages without WPG.
B. Visnuswami
Vermont Y2K Lanterns
http://www.y2klanterns.com/
~~~Heather's Response~~~
Hi,
I'm sure Jill can discuss more WPG pros and cons in her two cents (and
if you missed last week's Rank Write about WPG, you can check it out
at http://www.rankwrite.com/archives/issue033.htm ).
As an SEO writer, I have *never* worried about keyword density. Nor,
do I write separate keyword-rich pages for each engine. In fact, to
get that literal about SEO writing (especially when I don't need to)
would drive me stark raving mad.
I'm not saying keyword density doesn't matter. Of course, you want to
carefully research your keyphrases with a database like WordTracker
and optimize for the most targeted phrases possible. But, I don't
think having X percentage of keyphrases versus Y amount of total text
means much at all. In fact, we're incredibly successful with top 10,
long-term placements - and I've never even glanced at WPG results.
Not to mention, when you're constantly measuring your keyphrase
density, then it's VERY easy to ignore the marketing aspect of your
writing. That is, you don't want to satisfy the search engines with
your carefully-constructed keyphrases and ignore your prospect's
experience. Successful SEO is more than just "the right amount "of
keyphrases and Meta tags. It's getting the search engines to notice
your site - and providing strong copy that engages your reader.
(OK…I'm off my soapbox now.)
Seriously, if you research your keyphrases well, choose two to three
phrases per page to write around, and include your phrases enough
times to keep your marketing flow without alienating the engines,
you'll be fine. Typically, I try to include each keyphrase around
five times each (but even that isn't cast in stone). Just remember,
the best optimization starts at the ground up - meaning, research your
keyphrases first, write killer and keyphrase-rich marketing copy next,
and THEN worry about your tags and coding. If you write your copy
well (and have good tags and coding to enhance your success), the
rankings will come.
BTW - for more information on keyphrase density, check out my article
"How to Write a Keyword-Rich Home Page that the Engines will Love"
Thanks for your question! Keep those online writing questions coming!
Heather
~~~Jill's unsolicited 2 cents~~~
First of all, if WPG's Page Critic works for you and you get high
rankings, then by all means, go ahead and keep using it! It sounds
like you don't need any other tool. However, for others, the problem
with Page Critic as I see it (and I haven't looked at it in years so
it might be different now), is that it will tell you a whole slew of
different things for different engines. Meaning that you'd have to
create doorway pages for each engine as opposed to simply optimizing
the actual pages of your site for all of the engines. Not only that,
if you run a page through it that is getting number one rankings in a
whole bunch of engines, it can still tell you that your keyword
density and frequency, etc. are WRONG! To me, that's just plain
frustrating. Why make yourself crazy with something that in actuality
doesn't matter? I know that some of you need to see hard numbers and
statistics, and that's fine. If you are like that, then it's not
going to hurt you to use a tool like Page Critic to satisfy your
number crunching needs. Just remember that it's not a necessity for
everyone. If numbers aren't your game (and they sure aren't mine),
then use the keyword phrases where and when you can, without the
writing sounding dopey, and you'll be fine. Seriously.
Jill
~~~Send Us Your Questions~~~
If you have questions about online copywriting or search engine optimization (or both!), just zip us an email to questions@rankwrite.com. We've had some folks ask if their question
was "too basic" to be printed - and you don't have to worry about
that! There are no "stupid" search engine optimization or copywriting
questions, so ask away!
