Carmilia C.
When it comes to creating content for a website, the question of whether to prioritize the human audience or search engine optimization (SEO) is a common one. Let’s take a very common sample: repeating the same targeted keyword over and over throughout the content doesn’t looks natural, and it might destroy the context of the content itself.
If you had your WordPress installed the SEO plugin like Yoast, you might already know that they suggested for us to use the keyword phrase at least 3 times for a 1,000 words article. That’s sound to be no issue if our target keyword is a short tail keyword. But that can be challenging if we target a long tail keyword with a 2,000 words article.
In this post, we will explore the arguments for writing content for human first and then optimizing it for SEO, and examine why this approach is generally considered to be the best.
On the one hand, SEO is an important factor in determining the visibility and ranking of a website on search engines like Google. On the other hand, the user experience (UX) is crucial to the success of a website, as it can impact engagement, conversion rates, and overall satisfaction with the site.
So, Should We Write Content for People or Search Engine?
If you want to rank on search engine, you should be writing content for human first in order to improves the user experience, and followed by optimizing for search engine. A website with high-quality, relevant content that is easy to read and understand will be more likely to keep users engaged and improve conversion rates.
Additionally, a website that prioritizes the user experience is more likely to receive positive feedback and word-of-mouth recommendations, which can lead to increased traffic and conversions.
Search Engine Are Getting More Advanced
Another important factor to consider when writing content for human first is the fact that search engines are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their ability to understand the intent of the content, not just the keywords.
By providing valuable and informative content that is relevant to your targeted keywords, you can increase the chances of your website appearing at the top of search engine results, as well as improve the organic traffic.
In other word, you don’t actually need to repeat the same targeted keywords over and over again in order for the search engine to understand your content.
According to the research, most of the articles that rank on Google does not repeat their keywords multiple time. In our study, we found that 87% of the content rank on Google are written organically and without any obvious intention to do keyword stuffing in their content.
Other Solution: LSI Keywords
It is also important to keep in mind that keyword stuffing, which is the practice of repeating keywords excessively, can have a negative impact on both the user experience and SEO. It can make the content on a website appear unnatural and difficult to read, which can turn off users and lead to a high bounce rate.
Additionally, search engines have become sophisticated enough to recognize keyword stuffing, and it can lead to penalties or lower rankings in search engine results. The solution to this issue is to focus on creating high-quality, relevant content that provides value to your users, and to use keywords in a natural way.
It’s also important to note that, using Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords, which are keywords that are related to your main keywords, but which are used in a more natural way, can also help to improve the relevance of your content and avoid keyword stuffing.
Instead of repeating your target keyword over and over again, you can start by using the keyword “synonym”. Don’t worry, the search engines are smart enough to understand that these LSI keywords are closely related to your main target keyword.
SEO and UX
However, it’s also important to note that SEO is still an important factor in determining the visibility and ranking of a website. Optimizing your content for SEO can help to improve your website’s visibility and attract more traffic to your site. By incorporating keywords, meta tags, and alt tags in a natural and subtle way, you can improve the discoverability of your content and its ranking in search engine results.
One way to balance both of them is to create content that is both useful and relevant to your users while also being optimized for SEO. By providing valuable information that is relevant to your targeted keywords, you can help to improve your website’s visibility and ranking on Google while also providing a great user experience.
Focusing on creating a well-designed website that is easy to navigate and use, it will also help to improve the user experience and increase the chances of conversions.
Bottom Line
In conclusion, writing content for human first and then optimizing it for SEO is generally considered to be the best approach. By providing valuable, informative, and engaging content that is relevant to your users, you can improve the user experience and make your website more appealing to search engines.
Additionally, by incorporating keywords, meta tags, and alt tags in a natural and subtle way, you can improve the discoverability of your content and its ranking in search engine results. By doing so, you can increase the chances of both increased traffic and conversions.
