Is Your Content Too Optimized

Everyone who runs an online business understands the importance of optimizing their content.  But what many are not aware of is that it is possible to optimize your content too much.  This happens when you create content that is focused on grabbing the attention of search engines and not customers.  To help you determine if your content is too optimized, I have put together some helpful tips on what you can look for.

• Hyperlinks – Some website owners believe that including hyperlinks on their pages will help them improve their ranking or to provide their customers with as many options as possible, while it does help, there is a point when you can have too many hyperlinks on one page.  When it comes to improving your current rankings, adding hyperlinks to your pages will not help; and when customers are presented with too many options they tend to become confused and will often leave your page without clicking on any of the links you presented.
  
  If you notice that your pages a hyperlink heavy, it may be time to go in and remove the majority of them.  When you narrow down the choices for customers, they will likely find it easier to make a decision and investigate everything that your site has to offer.  Removing extra links will also allow you to achieve higher conversion rates and increase your ROI.

• Keyphrases – We know that including a few select keyphrases will help your page get noticed by search engines.  But, just as with hyperlinks, when you include too many in your content, it will have the have opposite effect.  For someone who is actually trying to read what your page has to say, trying to navigate through all of the keyphrases can be become a bit annoying. 
  
  To remedy this, you will need to cut down the amount of keyphrases that you currently have in your page content.  In some cases you may discover that you will need to rewrite the content altogether.  In this case, you will have the opportunity to improve your existing content and use your keyphrases more effectively while providing readers with content that they can enjoy.

• Fluff – Website content that comes across as fluffy is typically the result of a writer trying to meet a specified word count.  Rather than providing the reader with informative content that could have been stated in fewer words, the writer chose to inflate the content.  This often results in content that is hard to read and follow and does not offer any value to the reader. 

          If you notice that your content appears to be somewhat fluffy, you may need to revise your existing               content and the way you think.  Rather than trying to impress search engines with a specific amount of           words on each page, focus on the reader and make the content appealing and easy to read.  If you               create content that is benefit driven and well-written, you will not only end up pleasing your customers           but search engines will also begin to take notice.

How You Can Create Content That Search Engines and Readers Will Love

One thing that has become increasingly clear as Google continues to release updates is that quality content is extremely necessary.  This doesn't just mean that including content that has been optimized is a guarantee to get you ranked anymore.  In today's world, you need to include content that is effectively optimized and well-written.  To help you understand if your content is meeting these requirements, I have put together some tips that will help you create the best content possible.

• Keywords – The majority of online business owners understand that keywords are important.  But it is common that they are not using an appropriate amount of keywords to ensure that their content is recognized.  In some cases the keywords that you have chosen to create content around may be too general.  To ensure that the keywords you choose are effective, you should narrow them down into specific groups that are designed to target your target audience.  This will also help search engines discover your content as well.
• Content – Once you have focused your list of keywords on relevant terms that your customers can relate to, the next step is to create content that will entertain and inform your readers.  The best way to grab the attention of a reader is to create a headline that will appeal to them.  The content that you create around your keywords should be informative and contain information that will entertain or educate your readers on your products or services.  This type of content will be recognized by search engines as being original and of high quality.
• Optimization – Once you have created original, high-quality content you should carefully go through it and optimize it.  To do this, you should include keywords and phrases that will help your content get recognized by search engines and customers.  When you optimize your content, you should think as your customer would and use the keywords that they would likely choose when searching for your product or service.  This will help ensure that you have chosen keywords that will help optimize your content in the best way possible.
• Promotion – Now that you have written your content and optimized it, you should now get busy and promote it.  Simply writing it and posting it on your site isn't enough to guarantee that it will get noticed.  To ensure that your content receives the attention it deserves, you should promote it on all of your social media pages, blog comments, and forums.  This will help bring your content to the attention of potential readers and drive traffic to your site.