Content 'needs human value'

10:07 9th June 2009

Firms considering upgrading their search engine optimisation (SEO) campaigns should try to ensure that their content has value for human users, it has been claimed.

According to Jill Kocher, manager of natural search consulting at search marketing firm Netconcepts, pages with lists of links serve a limited function.

In an article for MultiChannelMerchant.com, the expert said pages of this sort might provide a "crawlable path deeper into a site", but said very little value is gleaned from pages that have nothing other than links.

She explained that SEO is only valuable if it attracts human users because they are the end-targets.

Ms Kocher advised SEO experts to consider what they would do if they landed on a page with a list of links to a list of links.

"As such, one of the best rules of thumb for SEO is, 'what's good for the goose is good for the gander'. Especially if by goose you really mean humans and by gander you really mean SEO," she commented.

The expert said there was little point in trying to trick search engines into ranking a site higher.

She recommended using this time and energy to make a site more crawlable and to develop unique content and old-fashioned links that are earned.

This comes after Liam Bailey of Write About Property said SEO writers should concentrate of creating "natural" copy before concerning themselves with keywords.