| I was recently struck by the fact that the | | | | the keyword did not appear more than three |
| top-ranking web pages on Google are | | | | times, meaning a very low density. Many of |
| consistently much better written than the | | | | the pages did not contain the keyword at all. |
| vast majority of what one reads on the web. | | | | |
| Yet traditional SEO wisdom has little to say | | | | |
| about good writing. Does Google, the world's | | | | Sub-headings. On most pages, sub-headings |
| wealthiest media company, really rank web | | | | were either absent or in the form of images |
| pages based primarily on arcane technical | | | | rather than text. |
| criteria such as keyword density, link text, | | | | |
| or even PageRank?Apparently not. | | | | Links: Most of the web pages contained ten |
| | | | or more links; many contain over 30, in |
| Most Common Website Content Success FactorsI | | | | defiance of the SEO bugbears about "link |
| took a close look at the top five pages for | | | | popularity bleeding." Moreover, nearly all |
| the five most searched-on keywords, as | | | | the pages contained a significant number of |
| identified by WordTracker on June 27, 2005. | | | | non-relevant links. On many pages, |
| Here's what I found.The web pages that | | | | non-relevant links outnumbered relevant ones. |
| contained written content (a small but | | | | |
| significant portion were image galleries) all | | | | |
| shared the following features: | | | | Text content: a significant number of pages |
| | | | contained little or no text. These pages |
| | | | were almost all image galleries (there was |
| | | | one Flash movie), with the images being |
| Updating: frequent updating of content, at | | | | photographs of the subject covered by the |
| least once every few weeks, and more often, | | | | keyword. |
| once a week or more. | | | | |
| | | | Originality: a significant number of pages |
| Spelling and grammar: few or no errors. No | | | | contained content copied from other websites. |
| page had more than three misspelled words or | | | | In all cases, the content was professionally |
| four grammatical errors. Note: spelling and | | | | written content apparently distributed on a |
| grammar errors were identified by using | | | | free-reprint basis. Note: the reprint |
| Microsoft Word's check feature, and then | | | | content did not consist of content feeds. |
| ruling out words marked as misspellings that | | | | However, no website consisted solely of |
| are either proper names or new words that are | | | | free-reprint content. There was always at |
| simply not in the dictionary. Google almost | | | | least a significant portion of original |
| certainly has better access to new words than | | | | content, usually the majority of the |
| the dictionary, with its database of billions | | | | page.Recommendations |
| of web pages. Supposed grammatical errors | | | | |
| that did not in fact violate style rules were | | | | Make sure a professional writer, or at least |
| also ignored. Google would certainly be less | | | | someone who can tell good writing from bad, |
| conservative than a grammar checker in | | | | is creating your site's content, particularly |
| evaluating popular stylistic devices such as | | | | in the case of a search-engine optimization |
| sentence fragments. | | | | campaign. If you are an SEO, make sure you |
| | | | get a pro to do the content. A shocking |
| Paragraphs: primarily brief (1-4 sentences). | | | | number of SEOs write incredibly badly. I've |
| Few or no long blocks of text. | | | | even had clients whose websites got fewer |
| | | | conversions or page views after their SEOs |
| Lists: both bulleted and numbered, form a | | | | got through with them, even when they got a |
| large part of the text. | | | | sharp uptick in unique visitors. Most |
| | | | visitors simply hit the "back" button when |
| Sentence length: mostly brief (10 words or | | | | confronted with the unpalatable text, so the |
| fewer). Medium-length and long sentences are | | | | increased traffic is just wasted bandwidth. |
| sprinkled throughout the text rather than | | | | |
| clumped together. | | | | If you write your own content, make sure |
| | | | that it passes through the hands of a skilled |
| Contextual relevance: text contains numerous | | | | copyeditor or writer before going online. |
| terms related to the keyword, as well as stem | | | | |
| variations of the keyword. The page may | | | | Update your content often. It's important |
| contain the keyword itself few times or not | | | | both to add new pages and update existing |
| at all. | | | | pages. If you can't afford original content, |
| | | | use free-reprint content. |
| SEO "Do's" and "Don'ts" that Don't Really | | | | |
| MatterA hard look at the results slaughters a | | | | Distribute your content to other websites on |
| number of SEO bugbears and sacred | | | | a free-reprint basis. This will help your |
| cows.PageRank. The median PageRank was 4. | | | | website get links in exchange for the right |
| One page had a PageRank of 0. (Note that the | | | | to publish the content. It will also help |
| low PageRank would seem to discount the idea | | | | spread your message and enhance your |
| that these pages owe their ranking completely | | | | visibility. Fears of a "duplicate content |
| to numerous incoming links.) | | | | penalty" for free-reprint content (as opposed |
| | | | to duplication of content within a single |
| Frames. The top two web pages listed for | | | | website) are unjustified. |
| the most searched-on keyword employ frames. | | | | |
| | | | In short, make sure the bulk of your |
| JavaScript-formatted internal links. Most | | | | investment in your website is devoted to its |
| of the websites use JavaScript for their | | | | content, rather than graphic design, |
| internal page links. | | | | old-school search-engine optimization, or |
| | | | linking campaigns. Joel Walsh is the owner, |
| Keyword optimization. Except for two pages, | | | | founder and head-writer of UpMarket Content. |
| keyword optimization was conspicuous by its | | | | To read more about website content best |
| absence. In more than half the web pages, | | | | practices, get a consultation with Mr. |