In this edition of Web Enlightenment we'll be talking about writing copy for search engines.

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Translated from the Original Japanese

Lots of folks are interested in writing copy that has been properly "optimized" or otherwise setup to please search engines, but there is an important principle for Internet Entrepreneurs to keep in mind when thinking about this issue.

So we start with the basics - your keyword phrase list. This is a list of phrases for which you wish to rank well and it typically has three categories on it: your name, your proprietary products, your generic products. For some folks this list is only has a dozen items, for heavy duty Internet retailers it can easily be thousands of terms.

Then that list is used to create a search engine rank analysis report - literally a list of your phrases and how well you rank for each one at all the major engines (a quick aside: never try to create one of these reports by hand as doing that is a bit like smelting your own iron).

So once you have those things done and you know where you want to improve it comes time to do the hard work - get going on making content designed to improve your rank.

This is the spot where you need to remember the two audiences your website has - real people and search engines.

If all you care about is search engines you'll have copy that is often referred to as "stuffed" , which reads like it was translated from the original Japanese:

Here at John's Maine bookstore we sell books with our bookselling skills while keeping focused on any maine book needs you may have as we deliver the very best maine books a bookstore could offer.

You've probably been to a few sites like this - oodles of seemingly nonsensical copy on the page, you often get to a site like this because it had a good 1st page placement in a search engine.

And if all you think about is real people you'll have copy that contains sweet subtleties like:

John's is a literary treasure trove of adventures for you to have. Our staff will guide you to lots of fun filled days of fictional pleasure.

And as you may notice no where in the above copy can you find the word book, so sites with copy like this often have lousy placements in search engines.

So I promised you an important principle and here it is:

The optimization of copy for search engines can drive conversion rates through the floor which often obliterates any traffic gain.

Did I just lose you going around third? No worries, stick with me for just a moment and everything will be clear.

The object of your website is to sell stuff.
Your conversion rate (percentage of people that buy stuff) is a way to look at site quality.
Your site traffic (people visiting you) is a measure akin to the circulation of your ad or the number of people that come to your physical store.

So basically what I am saying is that while optimized copy may in fact draw more visitors it also usually reduces the percentage of visitors that actually buy something - and sales are all you really care about at the end of the day.

As I often say to folks - there are two ways to double your sales. Double the number of people visiting your site (traffic) or double the number of people that actually buy your stuff(conversion rate). You should really never look at one of these numbers without the other, they always work together.

In terms of copy what you need to do is to be on the lookout for words that read like they were translated from the original Japanese. Such copy will definitely increase the flow of visitors to your site but think back to your own visits to such sites - did you buy something? Probably not.

You need to keep a good balance between your two audiences - search engines and real people - the best way to do that is to make sure your copy does contain the relevant words (like book) but that it also reads reasonably so you can actually close the sale with your site visitor.

For Internet Entrepreneurs the bottom line is this - it is dangerous to let a traditional marketing person rule your copy as they will do things like not use the word book, it is also dangerous to let an SEO person have total control as they will often drive your conversion rate through the floor - your job is to keep the balance between these two ideals.

Off to the MGA Conference

Next week I will be traveling to Minneapolis, Minnesota to attend the summer conference of the Mail Order Gardening Association. This organization has been in existence since 1934 and of course my client Johnny's Selected Seeds is a member that encouraged me to join.