Sure, there are a lot of SEO tips and tricks these days. But one thing remains the same: content is king.  Let's take a closer look at what this means.

Write for Humans

True, search engine spiders are out there, and they play a huge role in where you rank on a search engine results page (SERP.) However, writing for search engines alone can result in content that is unappealing to human eyes . The goal is to create content that is equally compelling to both humans & search engine bots.  How? Well, for starters, remember that search engine algorithms are complex enough to account for things like grammar & readability.  That means that if you spend your efforts creating content that is genuinely readable and intriguing --  you can't go wrong.  

Remember that while the search engines are guiding humans to your site -- they aren't the ones you need to convince to take the next step (pick up the phone, contact you via email, purchase a product, etc...)  Your human audience is the most important -- it won't do you a lick of good to draw traffic to your site if you aren't doing a good job of communicating with them once they arrive.  Focus on the primary goal of the content in question: if it's a main page, chances are you have a specific mission to accomplish (e.g., "services" should clearly demonstrate what you offer & how it relates to the person viewing the page;) if it's content like a blog, then the goal is likely to be engaging & informative.  Write your content to acheive that goal -- and then consider actively attempting to attract search engines as a secondary objective.

Location, Location, Location. When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO,) location can be key! 

Does location matter for your company's SEO campaign? It does if you're trying to target a local audience vs. a global one.  If you're lucky enough to have a multi-national corporation, skip ahead to another article on Search Engine Optimization ; if you're a local company -- prepare to get down & dirty with the concept of location & SEO!

 Why Flash May Damage Your SEO

 Just the other day, I met with a client who loved flash. I mean,really loved flash. And why not? Flash can be attention-grabbing , attractive, and entertaining -- aren't those things we want it a website? Unfortunately, there are a few good reasons to not use flash on your site -- or, to use it sparingly.

Flash and SEO

 While there are workarounds to make flash files readable by search engines -- if you don't set this up properly , the search engine spiders will not be able to grab the readable text contained in the files.  In other words, if this is done incorrectly or not at all -- your search engine rankings will be damaged. 

What are people looking for when they are looking for you? Search engines have one job: connecting searchers with what they are looking for.  Optimizing your site for search engines means making it findable.