Some professionals are worried that if they stuff too many key phrases into the site text it will be awkward to read and turn off readers. This is a healthy concern. Remember that websites need to serve an end user first and a search engine second, so place key phrases strategically when you can, but do it in a way that never compromises user experience. Do remember that most web surfers scan versus read, so use keywords in headlines (which may seem like stuffing but is most often ignored by a human’s perceptual filters).
Don’t be shy about keyword stuffi ng your copy. The more descriptive terms that appear in the website, URLs, links, meta tags, image names, and more, the higher the page may rank. “Tell them, tell them what you told them, and tell them one more time” works for SEO too. This content should have value to the reader, not just be a piece crammed with buzzwords. These pages should answer the questions people have about the topic (which would be the same things people would search for). When in doubt about site copy, remember to serve, not sell. Try a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page with key phrase-rich copy that answers questions, or a blog post that has helpful information but also has key phrase-rich links pointing to other pages of the site or older blog posts.
Search engines like what people like. External links show popularity, and search engines want to show relevant and popular results. Customers might want to link to Minnie’s handy form that people could print and take with them when they kick the tires of different minivans. Maybe she has a list of things to check before a long car trip. Maybe she has quirky stuff like how to cook a chicken dinner with the heat from the minivan’s engine block as busy parents pick up their kids after work. She could create a list of the top minivan models to use as commuting cookers. All of this content will find an audience and, if it is linked to, those pages will rise in the rankings.
