This is how I’ve approached SEO for over a decade. No matter what Google does with its algorithms, the content I write ranks.
I follow Matt Cutts’ advice from WordCamp 2009 (when he still worked at Google):
- Write descriptive headlines
- Use headings to separate sections and highlight big points
- Use descriptive link text (ie never/rarely click here)
- And most importantly…
Write like a human.
When Matt gave his talk spam results and keyword stuffing were big problems at Google. Matt’s job was to get spam results out of results.
He succeeded, but I think people still over-complicate SEO.
Keyword research is good to understand what people are looking for and what terms related to the topic you might think about. I get post ideas and insight from other posts. But most of all I start with a simple question:
“What would I like to know if I asked this question?”
I use that to guide everything else. Tone, style, wording, links. Everything comes back to being in the head of the reader. Don’t make SEO a chore. Write good content on the topics relevant to you and your product/solution/business.
And follow Matt’s rules.
You’ll be fine.
I originally posted this on LinkedIn inspired by another post hitting the similar points: