SEO Copywriting Needs to Follow the Rules
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Fri, Dec 04, 2009
The rules of good writing, that is. In fact, I might venture to say that all writing needs to follow the rules of good writing. There is simply no point in writing badly. Bad writing is bad, useless and annoying under all circumstances. In the early days of SEO writing, people were less interested in writing well than in making sure their keywords were stuffed mercilessly into their copy.
Yes, early SEO copy (and quite a lot of it today, actually) tends to remind one of a bunch of bloated carcasses, beached and starting to smell. And humans weren't the only ones starting to notice. Once search engines got a whiff of it, well, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out what that did to the algorithms.
So, the point is, SEO copywriting needs to stop trying so hard to sell. Yes, it's true. You might really, really want people to come to your site and buy something, but you must not make it sound like you do. Don't sound desperate. It's a turn-off.
Instead, be subtle. Use the proven art of combining useful information with excellent writing to persuade your readers to buy. Think of it as a courtship (I love that word- whatever happened to it?). It's a process that involves developing a relationship that may eventually turn into something big. It needs nurturing. It needs maintenance. You need to invest in it and care about it.
How to get your potential customers to enter into this relationship with you? One of the best ways to hook readers is with awesome copy. SEO copywriting has many technical aspects (primarily to satisfy the search engines- you want them to find you, right?) However, the most important thing about it is its appeal to the people reading it. Well-written copy that is a joy to read is irresistible, all the more so because it is hard to come by in the world of marketing.
A site that consistently uses this kind of high-quality, engaging content will 
automatically rise above the others, simply by virtue of being superior. It will become a magnet that draws customers into a relationship with you.
Be concise. Make sure your sentences flow. Use good grammar. Share your experiences. Tell stories. Let your personality show through. SEO copywriting can and should be good writing. Write well and they will come.