A few weeks ago, during a webinar that I hosted on how to write a coworking website that brings in members, I got an interesting question when I discussed the need to keep copy concise and minimal.

To paraphrase, I was asked the following…

‍I’m reworking my website right now and my SEO consultant told me I should actually be adding more copy so that I can capture more keywords and improve my Google ranking. What's the right move?

‍I found this really interesting because it highlights the constant push-pull between content and SEO. They both serve the save goal, but with different approaches.

Here’s what I mean.

Content writing focus more on creating sales-driving copy that prioritizes reader experience and communicating the most important points in the right way. It caters to humans.

SEO focuses on putting the right keywords into the right places in order to help websites rank higher. It caters to algorithms.

Both are incredibly important. They go hand-in-hand. And for optimal results, both need to work well together. It’s just a matter of finding the right balance.

‍My response to this question was essentially as follows…

‍When someone lands on your website, you have five seconds to tell them what you offer, who it’s for, and how it benefits them. If you can’t do that, they’ll bounce off the page.

The best way to do this is with strategically-crafted, concise, compelling, and pointed copy.

So, it’s important to include your keywords within that, but not at the expense of the experience of the human who’s reading it. They should feel natural rather than like they were stuffed in.

If you want to add in more keywords, consider building out bigger paragraphs lower down on the page, or adding new pages.

Make sure to include them in a place where, by the time your reader gets there, they’ve already attained the key information they need to make an educated decision.

‍Remember…

‍Keywords help websites rank higher and be seen more, but they don’t turn visitors into members.

And great web copy has less impact on website ranking, but it does a lot of the legwork of turning visitors into members.

The two need one another, but not at the expense of the other.

The best content specialists will be able to leverage both great writing and strategic SEO to find the right balance for you.