SEO Madness

SEO Madness.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process by which content is done in such a way as to attract the attention of a search engine through the placement of keywords. But many marketers are now decrying SEO, calling the whole thing madness.

Search engine optimization is important, don't get me wrong (it better be, or I've wasted three years of my life learning it!) But it can get insane. Google.com, the world's largest search engine, is the target you're aiming for and SEO is one of the ways to do it. But Google only looks for your keywords in a few places:

Your Title

In the sentence blip that shows up below the title (usually about 160 characters)
Perhaps a few times throughout the article such as at the end and in a subheading.

That's it!

However, many newbie freelance writers (and many marketers) panic and think that they have to force the keywords in as much as possible. This leads to stilted, awkward, and unreadable articles which readers will ignore and Google will drop like a hot frying pan. The fact is that Google doesn't just rank your site based on keywords, but also on things like how relevant your content is and how many people come in and out. You can't get these two important factors if you overdo the SEO.

If you are going for SEO, it's important to keep the following in mind:

-Your keywords should be placed in such a way that they are natural and easy to read.
-Your keywords should not be intrusive
-You only need a few keywords and phrases overall, not thirty of them (I've seen clients do this and while I didn't say anything, I also didn't jam the articles).

It's up to freelance writers to not only, well, write, but also to advise. Sometimes I've had to tell clients that something is wrong, a product is useless and their format may be off. A good client will listen to you and take your words into account. Bad ones will ignore you. You may still have to work for the bad ones, but at least you will have made your point and they may come back at some point, heads hanging, and say you were right.

Or they might not. But remember: the client is always right.

Even when he's wrong. (unless he violates your conscience in which case, you should just leave the client and find other pastures).