Should You Write Your Website’s Content for Humans or for Google?
Should You Write Your Website’s Content for Humans or for Google?
One of the most frequently asked questions that is often raised by online writers is whether or not they should try to angle their writing style and subject matter towards something that Google will be more likely to promote. After all, if an article is more likely to come up in a search, surely this will yield a greater number of readers? Unfortunately, it isn’t quite that straightforward. Google’s results are calculated in incredibly complex ways and the act of writing purely to accommodate a search engine rather than to provide something engaging for the human reader can often lead to negative results.
Attaining an average of 3.8 million searches every minute (Source: SEOTribunal ), Google is the world’s most successful search engine on the internet by far. This success is due, in part, to Google’s dedication to providing users with search results that are useful and appropriate to their wants and needs. While writing for your website, it is important to consider that it is in Google’s best interest to promote a wide range of high-quality content. Therefore, if it was possible to angle a piece of writing towards something that is more likely to be promoted on the site, then Google’s results would no longer be as efficient and precise as they currently are. To put it simply, if it was that easy, then everyone would be doing it.
According to Google, their complex algorithms seek to identify and understand a piece of writing’s purpose, expertise, trustworthiness, and stylistic quality (among many other specifications). As stated by Sam Hollingsworth (Source: Search Engine Journal ), ‘Google (or any other search engine) doesn’t need us to write content that is specifically designed for it. Google serves its users, and it wants content to serve them as well.’ This suggests that in order to be successful on the site, the best option is simply to write as concisely and effectively as possible. Google wants to promote outstanding content that is written for humans, as opposed to something that is trying to cheat the system by coming across as suitable to the search engine itself.
Aside from the fact that writing purely to gain traffic on Google may not even lead to more search results, there are also other downsides to working this way. Most of the time, content written like this can come across as robotic and unnaturally, as it is trying desperately to tick Google’s boxes and meanwhile, there is no effort being put into the subject matter itself. If by chance, a piece that is written like this did lead to a higher number of search results, it would most likely be dismissed immediately by the actual audience. A piece of well-written content will immediately form a stronger connection with the reader, which will ultimately lead to greater success, both on a personal level as well as on Google.
Ultimately, when writing content for your website the best course of action is to do your best to create something that is useful, entertaining, and enjoyable for your target audience. By writing for humans, rather than for Google, you are publishing something that the reader will be more likely to engage with. Therefore, your content will be more likely to feature in searches as a high-quality piece of work regardless. If in doubt, just remember the areas that Google’s search engine algorithms prioritise. These specifications tend to lead to well-written and appealing content that your website’s audience will appreciate and engage with, as well as having the added benefit that they are what Google considers to be excellent content.
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