Of course, the whole goal of the search engines' ranking

schemes is precisely to deliver good, relevant content to

users. The mechanism for how search engines select and reward

good, relevant content is essentially just a technical issue,

though admittedly an extremely important technical issue.

But even in purely technical, mechanistic, terms, web content

affects search engine rankings three ways:

1. inbound links

2. website mass

3. keyword optimization

4. Web Content and Inbound Links

Inbound links are the number-one factor in getting search

engine rankings. They also yield plenty of traffic on their

own. The importance of links is what has led many people to say

that content is no longer important. But those people forget

that content really does play a big role in getting links in

the first place:

• At the very least, good content will make potential link

partners more comfortable with linking to your site. No one

wants to link to a link farm, splog, junk site, or even just an

unprofessional-looking site.

• Lots of good content gives other webmasters (and particularly

bloggers) a reason to link to your site spontaneously without

being asked.

• You can allow other websites to post your content in exchange

for a link back to your site.

2. Web Content Mass

More web pages of content = more search engine traffic

Here’s why:

1. Adding pages to your site is like putting out extra nets to

catch surfers.

2. Search engines see bigger websites as more prestigious and

reliable.

3. The more content you have, the more reasons you give other

webmasters, particularly bloggers, to link to your site

spontaneously, without being asked.

3. Web Content Keyword Optimization

Keyword optimization used to be the most important step in SEO.

Now it matters little in ranking for highly competitive

keywords.

Still, keyword optimization can really help you get traffic

from searches not on competitive keywords. While you may never

rank number 1 for "finance," you may still show up tops for a

search on "household finance rent federal tax deductions" if

you have that phrase somewhere in your content. Such

non-competitive searches make up a very large proportion of

total web searches.

Web Content Keyword Optimization Checklist:

There are four legs to keyword optimization:

• Research/selection

• Density

• Prominence

• Stemming/Variation

Keyword Research and Selection

You need to identify keywords searched on by your target

audience. Use tools such as those offered by WordTracker and

Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture).

There are two big pitfalls to avoid:

• "Negative keywords" that look relevant but are not really

searched on by your target market. For instance, "website copy"

is a synonym for "website content," but most people searching on

"website copy" are looking for software that copies an entire

website to the hard drive for offline browsing.

• Impossibly competitive keywords that you have no realistic

chance of ranking high for them. How do you know if a keyword

is impossibly competitive? One rough measure is to look at the

PageRank of the webpages currently ranking in the top three for

that keyword. If the PageRank of those pages is much higher than

the PageRank your site will likely have in the future, you will

probably never outrank those pages.

A pay-per-click campaign with Google Adwords of Yahoo! Search

Marketing will help you to find which keywords really are

searched on by your target audience.

Keyword Density

Keywords appear in the content the right number of times for

search engines to recognize the page as relevant, but not so

often that it looks like keyword stuffing. The longer the

content, the more times the keyword should appear.

Keyword Prominence

Keywords appear in just the right positions within your web

pages for search engines to recognize them as relevant. The

page title, headings, and first lines of the page are often

considered the most prominent positions.

Keyword Stemming/Keyword Variation

• Using variations of the keyword will help ensure web pages

appear relevant to the next generation of more sophisticated

search engine algorithms.

• In the meantime, variations of popular keywords helps your

site appear for the "non-standard" searches on variations of

the keyword.

There are three main types of keyword variations:

• Word-stem variations. A stem of a word is its base. For

instance, "optimize" is the stem of "optimized." Other stem

variations of "optimize" include "optimizing," "optimizer," and

"optimization." You can also shuffle the component words of

multiple-word keywords. Variations of “website content” would

be “web site content,” “web content,” “content for websites,”

and “site content”).

• Synonyms (such as “web page content,” “internet content,” or

“writing for the web” for “website content”).

• Related terms (such as “internet,” “SEO” or “web page”).

For many people, the SEO side of content feels like a moot

point. You need content for your visitors even if no search

engine spider ever notices. But every website budget, both of

money and time, is finite. If you're ever choosing whether to

invest in another link to please search engines or another page

of content to please your visitors, don't forget: search engines

still like content, too.