subject: How to optimise your copy for increased exposure in the major search engines [print this page] How to optimise your copy for increased exposure in the major search engines
The first thing you should always remember when optimising web copy is to write your copy in a clear, natural fashion that is accessible to both users and search engines alike. There is very little point in jamming your copy full of so called relevant terms there is little benefit to be had from inserting you target keyword within your copy six times over the benefit you can gain from inserting it once. Google is a search engine that tries its utmost to find and promote good content providing you write your content in a way that is accessible to both users and search engines, and providing you perform the necessary promotional tactics on your content's behalf, then you should have little to no problem gaining additional exposure in the Search Engine Results Pages.
One factor in gaining more visibility in the Search Engine Results Pages that many webmaster more often than not fail to target is long-tail optimisation. This generally refers to the process of targeting long-tail terms within your web copy and trying to rank for the various variations that exist around your main target terms. Long-tail terms are generally 4 or more words in length and generally signal a far greater level of buyer intent than standard generic keywords. These are the types of visits you want to attract to your website if your overall aim is to increase revenue through your site.
The easiest way to target long-tail terms is through using a few research methods and also looking at your analytics data. Remember, 20% of the queries made through Google on a given day are unique, they have never been made before. Long-tail terms are generally only used once or twice however it's quite likely that long-tail traffic will account for the majority share of traffic and revenue finding its way to your site. The best way to optimise for this traffic is to plough through your analytics data and look for the terms that are driving maybe one to two visits to your website and look at the types of terms people are entering within these terms. In particular, look for patterns that are perhaps emerging and try and integrate these patterns into your web copy.
