Keyword density is just part of the SE equation, and the SEs are just a portion of any online marketing push… but this is the one that makes a writer crazy… As a writer, with my eye turned toward the marketing value of text (both on the web and off), the SE race is almost enough to drive me back to merely journaling in private.

Yes, content is king. Thank goodness. The writer in me glows and basks in the warmth of that fact. However, with the SEs still being basically primitive – they are easily fooled. Even sites that ARE perfectly well-written, full of valuable information and a joy to read often fall below those that stuff and spam the SEs. If you follow the current “guidelines” – and one must remember that SEO is still more “art” than “science” – you often end up with stilted sounding text that no longer flows from a textual perspective.

Writers are taught to write descriptive sentences that do NOT repeat the same words, or even variations on the same words. We know to use a thesaurus. We cringe if the same word is used in two sentences that “touch” each other. So, as you might imagine, writing for the SEs puts a serious cramp in all that. As an internet marketer AND writer, some things must be compromised and others must be completely relearned… Continue reading →