In the world of web content and SEO strategy, this is a hot debate. Is repetition of keywords and key phrases good or bad for your blog, website and social media?
The answer is not so simple. For the purpose of this article, let’s focus on the body content. Page titles, custom URLs and meta tags/descriptions are really a different story and you can/should go nuts with repetition there. However, the bulk of the content (the body copy, if you will) is a little trickier discussion.
SEO Keywords and Key Phrases
From a search engine optimization (SEO) standpoint, repetition is beneficial. There are some SEO experts out there that would have you put the focus keyword in every paragraph of your body content, if not every single sentence. Then, you should also work in variations and other related keywords and phrases throughout the copy.
Yes, this approach may help with SEO, especially if someone happens to be searching for that exact keyword/phrase. However, so much repetition will likely make your content unbearable to read. It may lead them to your site or landing page, but will it work to convert them into a customer? There is definitely a point where too much repetition is just too much for the reader.
Finding the Right Blend
Always remember that you have a lot of back-end elements helping with SEO, such as the tags, description, headers, URLs and other things you do that aren’t really seen or at least noticed by the average consumer. You’ll want to use these in conjunction with a healthy—but not too much—amount of strategic repetition in the body content of any web page or blog post.
There is definitely an art to it, which is why many companies will hire a blog specialist, SEO specialist and hosting company who are all specifically skilled at doing things the right way. Good SEO will be somewhat overt, yet also subtle at the same time. The content needs to be engaging and well-written, with the SEO strategy (keywords, phrases, etc.) peppered in just right to satisfy all the objectives.
Evolving Technology
Also, consider that search engines are getting more and more sophisticated. The quality of the content is becoming more and more of a factor in addition to the overall quantity, the keywords and the SEO tags, so it requires a more comprehensive, blended approach to do it right. When done right, however, you will have strong SEO and better customer conversion numbers. People will find your pages and they will take action.
For more information about SEO, web content and blogging strategies, contact NextGear Marketing and get more out of your online marketing plan.
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