I just did a crap job for a client. No excuses – I sucked.
Ok, maybe an excuse (but not really – the sucking part is 100% on me). The job was for a returning client who wanted three keyword-laden pages. The client gave me a list of something like 8-9 keyphrases, which all had to be in the first page. It was a homepage, with a few short paragraphs/etc. No long text. I’ve already written far more in this post than any area on that page.
I have to be honest – I should not have taken the job, because that’s not what I do. I don’t like to do it, and I don’t want to do it. And, in my opinion, it’s not how you rise in search engines anyway. I say this as someone who holds high rankings in major/competitive keyphrases nationwide.
I’m a storyteller. I drive engagement. I make readers feel good about your company and your services. I sell.
I don’t shoehorn multiple keyphrases. Keyword stuffing just isn’t my thing. It severely limits me. And I don’t like being limited.
I sent the client my work, and there were fairly substantial edits (along the lines of “I see four keyphrases – what about the others?”) I felt very uncomfortable with the edit, and really wasn’t happy with stuffing in more keyterms, but I did it anyway. And, in my frustration, let a terrible typo slip (I usually don’t sweat typos – every writer has them. But not on an edit for someone who is already somewhat unhappy.)
Anyway, the client did not like the edit. I found this out when I followed up. They just wanted my final invoice so they could move on and hire someone else. Of course, there was no final invoice. I could not in good conscience invoice them. It’s the right thing to do.
But my point here is that I’m done with lists of keywords. I’ve always felt uncomfortable with the practice, and I do not believe in it as a viable website strategy here in 2016. So I’m not doing it.
Don’t get me wrong – search terms and SEO are still important. Hence, here’s what I DO believe in: pages optimized for ONE keyphrase. That’s super-duper strong. I’ll insert it in a few key spots, but using only one keyphrase leaves plenty of freedom for me to sell it (and you). We’ll get along famously.
Want to engage? Hire me.
Want to sell? Hire Me.
Want to get something across clearly? Hire me.
Want multiple keywords…. bzzzt. No dice.
Sigh…. I hate this. I haven’t had an unhappy client in…. jeez, I can’t remember. 2010 maybe?
I’m sorry former client. My bad. I should have told you this wasn’t my thing – we’d still be friends.