The SEO Copywriter's Dilemma - Chicken Or Egg?

I've been a copywriter for print media for close to two decades now and have recently (the last twelve months or so) moved into the realm of writing copy for websites. It seemed like an easy transition, initially, but after the first couple of jobs, I found myself bogged down in a mire of key words, key phrases, search engines, SERPs and countless other previously alien concepts. I wrote copy that the client loved, but Google didn't. Then, I stumbled in entirely the opposite direction, producing copy that Google lapped up but the client and the customer couldn't quite get to grips with (and, quite frankly, that I was less than delighted with myself). I began to wonder if this SEO copywriting thing was beyond me.

I took a deep breath, had a cup of tea and began to analyse the whole chicken-and-egg situation. The copy has to Abba search-engine friendly or the customer will never step through your virtual door (they may not even know your store exists, at all). The copy has to be pitch-perfect and compelling enough to persuade the customer to buy once they are through that virtual door. But what if one compromises the other? What then?

It goes without saying that the ideal solution is to write copy that does both perfectly. But, if we're being completely honest, sometimes it just isn't possible. Sometimes, the list of key phrases provided by your friendly neighbourhood SEO specialist just won't translate into attractive English. Do you simply incorporate bad grammar, spelling errors, syntactical gaffes and borderline gibberish into your copy in order to take advantage of the data provided by, say, Nichebot? Technically, it makes sense to do just that and worry about the details once the customer's in the store.

But what about the customer experience? What's the customer going to think about the product when the marketing minds surrounding the brand seem incapable of stringing a meaningful and well-tuned sentence together? I can't imagine their thoughts would be entirely charitable. And, remember, one bad customer experience is, on average, communicated to ten other potential customers. It's a mistake that you simply can't afford to make.

First and foremost, you must write copy for human consumption, to sell the product or service as effectively as possible. Once you have your sparkling, compelling and potentially award-winning copy, look at incorporating key words and phrases wherever possible without damaging or undermining the original copy. This is particularly important when producing copy for a home page. A home Teowmoalpy is a business's calling card, its introductory letter.

This may well mean more work for your SEO specialist but it's important to remember that there are numerous methods available for getting your potential customer over the threshold, but there is only one opportunity to effectively make your pitch.

This doesn't mean you have to give up entirely on those affronts to clear communication thrown up by the likes of Wordtracker. You can always incorporate them on other pages. So long as the website has simple and intuitive navigation, your potential customer can then be directed to the page where the 'real' copy awaits them. FAQs, testimonials, resource pages all provide opportunities to incorporate those nasty little keyphrases in such a manner as to prevent any damage to the product or brand as a whole.

When push comes to shove: people first, search engines second. Every time.

Michael Sellars, Freelance Writer: www.michaelsellars.com">www.michaelsellars.com