A Note to self (and others): Write to people, not Google
As I've been laying out the groundwork for this years goals, i.e. writing blog posts on my site, I realized I was doing something that you shouldn't be doing. I was writing for Google.
You see, I'm an engineer. I very easily go to this process thinking and analyzing mode, which can be a very useful skill for planning and researching but it's not good for writing content.
Why you ask? Because we are writing to people. The aim is to offer solutions to peoples problems in a easy to understand way.
I caught myself actually focusing in if I have:
- the optimal keyword density
- applied enough LSI keywords,
- hit exactly my minimum work count of 3000 (even if I don't have anything to add).
- enough internal links
- external links
- included my main keyword in a picture
- at least 5 comments
- shared the post in all social media
- etc. etc. etc.
I bet you can see where this is going?
I was so caught up with the process and SEO that I wasn't seeing the forest from the trees, so to speak.
Instead of focusing in clarity, flow and direct answers, I was focusing on technicalities.
I was essentially writing for Google instead of people.
The pros of writing for people
So can you rank content that is simply written with SEO on mind? You definitely can. But that is about to change.
I bet in 5 years over optimized content can't compete with well written and flowing copy.
Machine learning is advancing in huge leaps and Google is constantly improving it's algorithms to improve user experience.
What does this mean? That Google wants to offer the user the most relevant and easy to understand information.
It wants to give you a simple answer to a simple question. It does this by actually going through the content and analyzing if it answers the question clearly and if the source is trustworthy.
When machine learning is advanced enough, it will not care about backlinks and scattered keywords etc. to decide if the post is relevant to the search.
It will understand the post just like a human being.
The other obvious benefit of writing to people is better conversions and following.
Nobody will buy anything from you if you can't convey your message clearly and convey emotions to build trust.
Need For Improvement
So I guess I have some learning to do. I think the best way to learn how to write good copy is by writing more.
It can be hard to get into a real flow and convey emotions when writing in foreign language, like English is to many of us.
While writing in English has obvious benefits like global traffic, if you are not a native English speaker you might want to consider creating a site in your own language.
In many cases the competition is much lower and you can convey your message much better. One thing I've found unfortunately is that many keyword research tools simply don't work in other languages than English.
On the other hand writing in English is an excellent way to improve your English.
I plan to continue writing in English but I will definitely focus on writing to people instead of Google.
So tell me, have you caught yourself writing to search engines instead of people?
Recent Comments
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You made a good point. We are writing for people and working in SEO. People are the priority. Thanks for this post
The SEO part is definitely important but it shouldn't be the main focus of your content. It's a fine balance really. Focus too much on SEO and no one will buy anything through your site, don't focus on SEO and no one will see your content.
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I see many, many WA members following the same destructive path, focusing on word count instead of word quality. They are looking for the "right" way to write a post - the formula for success - when instead it is writing quality which will determine that. I often ask what good is a high rank in Google because of word count or keyword density when the writing is so weak that consumers bounce from your page almost immediately? Page rank isn't the be all, end all if no one responds to your top-ranked post (which won't remain top-ranked if your bounce rate is high!).
You must write for your readers.
Remember - Google will never buy something from you.
Thanks Jeannine! This is exactly the message I was trying to convey.