Comments on: Do Keywords in Post Titles Really Matter?

By: The Copywriter Underground » Blog Archive » The blog title battle: I say light a fire or go home.

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 17:19:56 +0000

[...] The redoubtable Copyblogger is running a series, including an interesting post pitting the “use keywords” crowd versus “the humanists.” Some say keywords are critical. Others say write the best headlines you can, and the users will come. The battle rages. [...]

By: Geek News

Geek News — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 05:09:06 +0000

GNC-2006-07-18 #188…

I talk about RSS and some resources to use, plus how many of you had a large honey do list this past…

By: Shimon Sandler

Shimon Sandler — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 19:41:32 +0000

Hey Brian, I couldn’t agree with you more. Keywords definitely matter, especially if you want to attract visitors from Search Engines. But, it’s not only about keyword density. That for sure will look spammy. It’s about mixing up phrases, hyperlinks, and KW Density.

By: Geek News Central

Geek News Central — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 08:45:44 +0000

GNC-2006-07-18 #188…

I talk about RSS and some resources to use, plus how many of you had a large honey do list this past weekend, wait to you here mine. Podcast Awards Review, the BrryCast and much more. Sponsors: [Save 15% on……

By: John

John — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 23:39:49 +0000

I hate SEO.:( Sure, put some keyword metas in your index or whatever, but trying to SEO blog posts is just a little sad.

Beside being whipped around by the changing winds of Google’s latest algo’s, you could be setting yourself up for some major heartache down the road (as Google slowly perfects real, organic indexing.)

After all, when we do a search, we’re not looking for the most streamlined, keyword-rich SEO-jockeyed drivel; we want the most relevant results.

So why should we sacrifice relevance by spending cycles looking for the middle ground? Intellectual honesty, please…

Keywords research is great, though; I agree. It’s a good source for inspiration. But a great title inspired by keywords is likely better than anything someone can contrive to integrate the two.

By: The Writer Underground » The Copywriter’s blog title primer: SEO or Humans?

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:38:12 +0000

By: Tommy

Tommy — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 09:32:43 +0000

Hi Brian

Many thanks for this series – I’ve long been promoting the importance of headlines in my own copywriting work, and it’s great to see the subject finally coming to the fore.

By: Liz Strauss

Liz Strauss — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 04:24:25 +0000

I try writing the headlines first. Then I write the post and find that the headline needs and darn good tweak. In th editing my post has gotten a stronger focus or a slightly different one. It’s rare I end up with the headline that I started with. Guess I write to find out what I’m thinking.

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 15:17:50 +0000

Valid point Jon, but even then you’re writing for humans, right? Last time I checked, search engines were primarily used by people.

By: Jon Morrow

Jon Morrow — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 15:14:00 +0000

Another element is the number of links available in your niche. For a site related to internet marketing (like this one), there are tons of sites out there looking for great articles (like yours) to link to. As a result, you’re less dependent on in-page optimization, removing the need to “write for machines.”

But some niches, such as pre-Internet-craze products, don’t have so much link love. You might be the first person to start a content site on the topic, so there aren’t that many people to link to you. As a result, you have to think much more about in-page optimization and pulling traffic from search engines, heightening the benefits of “writing for machines.”

Ultimately, you have to figure out where your traffic is going to come from and then optimize for that source. Sometimes, it’s to your advantage to write for humans, and sometimes, it’s to your advantage to write for machines. It depends on the niche.