Matt Cutts Reveals Google’s Updated SEO Copywriting Strategy
By Karon Thackston © 2012, All Rights Reserved

I’ve been suspicious for years now. Just from paying attention
to the sites that come up in the search engine results pages
(SERPs), I’ve seen differences. What I was finding was that the
top sites didn’t always have the exact keyphrase multiple times
in their copy. It appeared that (with all Google’s updates over
time) we’ve moved away from strictly using the keyphrase as-is
and more toward using the individual words within the keyphrases
as we write.

I suspected that the changes I was seeing spanned Google’s
databases. When it was confirmed during an email conversation
with Google’s Matt Cutts it didn’t take me by surprise. As a
matter of fact, this is what I’ve been teaching for at least 10
years now because it makes sense. Google has always preached
“natural” and “relevant.” Once they started incorporating
synonyms many years ago, changing the way they recognized
keywords seemed like a logical course for them to follow as far
as copywriting goes.

If you’ve learned SEO copywriting from me through my Step-by-Step
Copywriting Course, you should be good to go. If not, you’d
better keep reading. You’ll want to start changing your strategy
pretty quick like.

As-Is vs. Individual Keywords

In the beginning (as the saying goes) were keywords that grew
into keyPHRASES. And from early on, those who were paying
attention found that Google (and other engines) ranked pages that
mention the keyphrases multiple times throughout a page.

The headlines, subheads, ALT tags, copy and other pieces of text
were all prime candidates for keyword insertion. That’s because
Google was only able to do exact or partial matches.

Fast forward several years and Google has gotten more synonym
savvy. There’s no longer a need to cram keyphrases everywhere
you possibly can. In fact, you may be surprised at what Matt
Cutts has to say about this point.

So, instead of always using “blue suede shoes” as-is (the entire,
original keyphrase together), you can also use just “blue” and
just “suede” and just “shoes” within the copy. This is precisely
the SEO copywriting technique I’ve included in many of my books
and seminar sessions for years.

I’m going to paste the conversation between Matt and me below so
you can read exactly what was said.

SEO Copywriting in Google’s Own Words

KARON: I’ve been noticing a trend over the last couple of years
(maybe longer) as far as SEO copywriting goes. It seems the
pages that are ranking well are not always using the keyphrases
as-is, but are using the individual words within the keyphrase
separately. For instance, instead of always using “blue suede
shoes” the page will also use “blue” and “suede” and “shoes”
individually.

Can you confirm and/or comment on whether keyphrases always need
to be used in their original form and if it helps/hurts to also
use the individual words within the phrase?

MATT: Keyphrases don’t have to be in their original form. We do a
lot of synonyms work so that we can find good pages that don’t
happen to use the same words as the user typed.

In general though, if the words are on the webpage (not in a
spammy way of course), that makes our job easier since we don’t
have to rely on synonym matches to find good documents.

KARON: Has proximity of the keywords on the page also gone by
the wayside? And, while we’re on the topic, is it still best
practice to include keywords in certain locations on the page.
For instance:

. headline
. subheads
. ALT tags
. anchor text link
. etc.

MATT: People can overdo it to the point that we consider it
keyword stuffing and it hurts. I would just make sure you do it
in natural ways where regular people aren’t going to find it
stiff/artificial. That tends to be what works best.

KARON: So, then, you’re saying perhaps put the original
keyphrase on the page once or twice (to help Google out) then
just use the individual words within the phrase throughout the
rest of the copy? If so, that’s what I’ve been suggesting for
years.

In light of all the recent changes with Google, would using the
keyphrase numerous times (which is what everybody has gotten used
to doing over time) hurt the page’s ability to rank? I’m not
talking about the infamous keyword density. For years most
people have been taught that you do keyword research to find what
people are searching for then you use those phrases (provided
they are relevant) within your copy, within anchor text links,
etc., etc. Still true or…?

MATT: Correct, as long as it’s done naturally, not artificially
or in a spammy way.

As I’ve always said, “Never sacrifice the quality of your copy
for the sake of the search engines.” It’s just not necessary.
The next time you write a new page of copy test this approach to
writing for the engines and see if you get as good (or better)
results than before. I’m betting you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Stop struggling with copy that’s not ranking or converting like
you want. Get some help at http://www.CopywritingCourse.com and
watch how quickly your results improve.