Good copywriting skills can benefit you sell with your blog. But if you think by "copywriting" I mean "SEO copywriting," you'd be wrong. In fact, you're probably wasting your time even worrying about traditional SEO techniques when it comes to blogs. Here's why.
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Writing for Search Engines
Search engine optimization ("SEO") copywriting means writing web page copy that is optimized to rank well in the search engines. This includes inserting targeted keywords in certain places (like titles), and in frequencies and densities designed to satisfy a particular search engine algorithm. Why isn't this as important anymore? Essentially, SEO experts think traditional SEO for blogs is a big waste of time.
Humans Matter More
The essence of the argument is that when it comes to search rankings, what's written on a web page is less important than what other people say about that web page, and how many times. It all comes down to links. First of all, referral traffic (links from other bloggers) is of higher quality for the things that matter most - subscriptions and sales. It's like the difference between a prospect who is sent your way from a happy former client, measured against someone who finds you in the Yellow Pages.
But this also impacts your search engine rankings. The algorithms favor sites and pages with incoming, non-reciprocal links from body text - in other words, express recommendations from other people. And much more weight is placed on the words used in those links (anchor text) than the words on the page linked to.
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You won't find the words "miserable failure" anywhere on the biography page of the current U.S. President, and yet that page ranks number one for the search term in Google. That's because a whole bunch of other people (mostly bloggers) decided to link to W's bio with the anchor text "miserable failure," and obtained the top ranking. The trend of the search engine's favoring what others say is intensifying. Just like offline, word of mouth matters most. As mentioned above, search engines like Google already incorporate user feedback (links + anchor text) in their algorithms. When people link to and tag the posts of other bloggers on social bookmarking sites, and tagging is more fully integrated into the current version of search, rankings will rely on recommendations even more. The end result will be better searched, and the end of traditional SEO techniques.
Content Matters Most
This is why traditional (not SEO) copywriting skills that catch and hold reader attention are important for bloggers. I would argue that great copywriting is the new SEO for bloggers if it gets you positive links from others. And since blogging is a new form of public relations, and PR depends on great copywriting... Well, you get my point. So, maybe you should quit worrying about SEO and start producing incredible content and networking in your niche. Copywriting techniques will help you excel in both.
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Don't be Search Engine Ugly
good thing. For example, take this article. It's got the keyword phrase "SEO copywriting" right up front in the post title, and yet the headline still manages to be provocative. There's no reason why you shouldn't strive for human titillation and keyword relevancy. But... if you have to choose between the two, go for the human factor first and foremost. So, optimize your post URLs and include your keywords, but beyond that, let it go. Search engine algorithms come and go, but human nature remains the same.
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