Readers or Search Engines? Who Should You Write For?

Content is at the core of having a successful website.

But should you write for the search engines or for people? Many site owners believe it’s a question of either/or.

As a consequence, many overly optimize their content and stuff as many keywords in there as they can. As a result they lose traffic either because they get penalized by the very search engines they are trying to please or because their visitors find their stuff unbearable to read.

The truth lies somewhere in between.

Nick Schäferhoff, in his post, Write for Readers or Search Engines? Here’s How to Do Both, says we should

Think of people first

1. Think before you write
2. Write naturally
3. Use paragraphs
4. Use headings
5. Write longer posts
6. Deliver lots of value
7. Write great headlines
8. Edit and proofread

Optimize for search engines secondly

1. Install an SEO plugin
2. Determine your focus keyword
3. Add the keyword in appropriate places
4. Use headings

The bottom line is to put people first and search engines second. And then write frequently so the search engines know you’re alive and link to other posts (internally) which shows you are an authority and keeps Google happy.