I'm sitting in the airport in Las Vegas, reflecting on reBlogWorld and BlogWorld Expo and thought I'd share one of the thoughts that occurred to me during a session yesterday.
Dave Taylor gave a presentation entitled "10 Things You Need To Know About Search Engines And Findability." I didn't learn anything during the presentation that I didn't already know, but I still enjoyed it immensely. And it reminded me how lazy I can sometimes be with the basics. Dave presented the 10 tips in a way that is easy to understand and implement. I used Qik.com to stream the entire 52 minute presentation and you can watch it below. I'll be sending it to anyone who asks me about the basics from this moment forward.
During the presentation, he gave some advice on key word density and it reminded me of "What Rufus Xavier Sarsparilla Can Teach You About SEO and YEO", a post I wrote during last year's Project Blogger competition.
Here was the main thought behind that post.
I can find "Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla", but I can't find "he, him, or his."
It hit me as I was actively singing along to my kid's Schoolhouse Rock CD, that I unconsciously use pronouns for exactly the reasons that my favorite Schoolhouse Rock song describes. My favorite is called "Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla." I loved it when I was a kid and I love it now. My kids get a kick out of me belting it out at the top of my lungs.
Here's the best part of the song:
Now I could tell you Rafaella Gabriela and Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla
and Albert Andreas Armadillo found an aardvark, a kangaroo, and a rhinoceros.
And now that aardvark and that kangaroo and that rhinoceros belong respectively to
Rafaella Gabriela Sarsaparilla and Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla and Albert Andreas Armadillo!
Whew! Because of pronouns I can say, in this way:
"WE found THEM and THEY found US and now THEY are OURS
and WE're so happy."
Thank you, pronouns!
You see a pronoun was made to take the place of a noun,
'Cause saying all those nouns over and over
Can really wear you down.
Yes, it can really wear you down. That's why we use pronouns. But if I say that's why "WE" use pronouns, then I miss out on an opportunity.
Here's the problem. Type he, him, or his into a google search and see what you find. Search results for he, him, his. The results are all over the board. Here's what you get when you search on Rufus Xavier Sarsparilla: Search results. There are 816 results and even if you go the last page of the results, they all point to Schoolhouse Rock references.
Make Jeff Turner's point, Jeff Turner! (Jeff Turner is now going to show ActiveRain members Jeff Turner's point by over exaggerating Jeff Turner's point. Because Jeff Turner really does have a point.)
If ActiveRain bloggers want to get the biggest bang from the Active Rain bloggers' ActiveRain blog posts, ActiveRain bloggers need to look the ActiveRain Bloggers' posts over carefully. When ActiveRain bloggers can replace a pronoun with a noun and not sound as ridiculous as this paragraph sounds, ActiveRain bloggers have increased the chances that the posts ActiveRain bloggers write will show up in search results.
That's obviously ridiculous. Here's how we would all normally write that paragraph:
If you want to get the biggest bang from your blog posts, you need to look your posts over carefully. When you can replace a pronoun with a noun and not sound as ridiculous as that paragraph sounds, you have increased the chances that the posts you write will show up in search results. This is subtle, but effective, and won't take much time.
Write to engage. Read to improve.
Don't even think about nouns or pronouns when you're writing. Just write. Write to engage the reader. Then save it as a draft and go get a cup of coffee, or take a nap, or kiss your loved ones, or mail me a dollar. When you're done, come back and read it to improve it's search engine attractiveness.
Jeff Turner aka respres
Jeff,
Thanks for the post. Always the smallest and simplest things that can make all of the difference. Thanks again.
Jeff, Thank you that is great information, I am always trying to improve and figure out how to move up. Now it seems clear.
Missy Caulk thanks Jeff Turner for sharing Jeff Turners wisdom and gadgets with Activerain. I think I get it.....LOL, now to get that cup of coffee.
I noticed the other day that Google picks up my comments on AgentGenuis, so does Jeff Turner know why that is, and it doesn't happen here?
This speaks somewhat to the long tail searches, the more "specific" we are in our content, the more likely we may be found for something that isn't a key word but something we still know a lot about.
Justin Williams likes, Justin Williams will take note and thank Jeff Turner!
Jeff, it's too bad the speaker didn't use the mic so I could hear him. I'm sure that what he had to say was very helpful.
Once again thank you for taking the time out of your business and posting such an amazing and useful blog filled with information. So many good ideas to implement, yet so little time
Thanks Jeff -
I love your common sense advice to write to engage, take a break, then come back to improve the SEO. I won't mail you a dollar, but I would be happy to buy you a drink next time you are in Orange County!
Jeff,
We should all look our posts over for pronouns and spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. It's obvious when we don't.
Jeff Turner - your comments on Search Engines and Findabililty (surely it can't hurt to repeat the subject in the comments) are well taken. You certainly do help real estate agents grow.
We should think of using keywords as anchor text for links, instead of Click Here. Same search result, no doubt.
Jeff - Very well written example of what not to do!
thanks - pippa
Jeff, That post of yours was one of my favorites. And I actually do still think of it often when reading and editing my posts & making them right for people and the engines. Sounds like you had a great trip. I'll make one of those conference eventually.
Jeff - Great reminder. When editing I try my best not to sound like the paragraph "active rain bloggers". BTW I love your active rain customizer! ~Rita
Jeff Turner is the best blogger/techie Jeff Turner that one can know. Jeff Turner's advice and expertise is superior for Jeff Turner.
Did that help? :)
Great info, Jeff. Thanks!
Oh. Wait let me say that again...............OH! I need to look through my posts. of course! That makes perfect sense. Thanks Jeff. Another brilliant blog. :)
Rock on! I don't remember that particular School House Rock ditty but it was a perfect illustration of your point. As a blogging Newbie, many thanks!
Thanks again for your insight. It is wonderful to have people on AR who are willing to help others. I appreciate your posts.
Finally someone who spells it out. I was starting to scream at the various members on active rain that use the same word in every sentence 40 times. Just write normal. Using the same word 100 times will just devalue your ranking.
Just dropped your dollar in the mail (not). But seriously, I already do a lot of this. I've found that if I write something and post it right away, when I come back later, I find a ton of typos, and a lack of key words. So I totally get the part about walking away for a while.
Jeff - thank you. I got your point .... I think (lol) I appreciate the time and effort you took to provide this valuable information.
Jeff, thanks much - I appreciate you sharing this with us.
Jeff- When you start getting momentum flowing and things start jelling, the biggest mistake we all make, if letting go of what brought us to that point in the first place. Never forget the basics.
Jeff -- nice, simple and easy to understand. You are very kind to continue to share these important tips with the AR members. Thank you.
Thanks Jeff Turner - While I write my ActiveRain Blogs to be informative and a contribution to the ActiveRain community, I blog for search engine presence to grow my Royal Oak Real Estate business. From now on, I will be looking over all my posts to see where I can insert a few more descriptive valuable words. Thanks for the great Jeff Turner perspective.
Thanks Jeff I am putting some of this to use now. Great advise and of course you should know. Hope your having a little fun out there as well. Can't wait to see more of what have in store from Vegas.
This ties into good writing in general. When people write term papers they often use the words he she or it. The problem is you dont know who she he or it is referring to. Sometimes it makes logical sense if its right after you mentioned a single person over and over but when you are talking about a variety of people and ideas who she he it refers to is often unclear. Thats why we are taught to replace these and constantly reinforcing who you are talking about. I guess when you are used to writing like this it is easy but I think its good to mention for sure.
Thanks for sharing what you learned. I love your advice and I will try to keep this in mind. I find it crazy that the posts I fret over the least get the most comments, but I know I need to think about the composition more.
I used to love all the School House Rock commercials...but I don't remember ever hearing that one! And yes, point made...and a good point at that. Thanks for sharing the video.
So how many dollars do you have by now? :) Thanks for posting Dave Taylor's presentation and reminding us that keywords incorporated cleverly in our writing does indeed improve SEO.
Jeff, thanks for the info and posting the video. There's some great information that I will certainly be passing on to my ActiveRain pupils.
Jeff thank you for the information in this post. As a new member this information is extremely helpful.
I love School House Rock and was singing it right along with you. Thank you for waking me up to my potential overuse of pronouns.
Jeff - those are great tips amnd so easy to ignore. Folks sometime get so hung up on SEO that they forget to write conversationally. Try reading the artilce out loud - you pick up the grammr stuff that way too.
Appreicate your sharing Dave Taylor's talke - I missed that one (but did not miss yours, which was terrific, as I expected). High energy, good information and practical - just what we needed at 5 in the afternoon.
Jeff
Hey, Jeff! Thanks for the great advice! It can be hard at times to replace pronouns but Leesa Finley will certainly give it a shot! Thanks again!
I hit the submit button on this post just seconds before I jumped on a plane to Burbank, CA yesterday. I'm glad it's resonated with you all. I think keyword density is an art, but as Jeff Dowler says above, if you read your post out loud, you'll be able to hear when the number of keywords becomes too much. Writing normally, then coming back to check pronoun use is a simple way to insure you're going far enough, without going too far.
Jeff it is a good reminder to engage the reader and not sound too over bearing.
Jeff: I am so glad you captured this session. It was perhaps the best one in the entire event. These are tips we tend to overlook or forget. Thanks for putting this up for the troops to benefit from!....
Rich... AND it was so great to be able to spend a bit of time with you this weekend!
this was great stuff Jeff, I would have never thought about the tip of replacing a pronoun with a noun but it makes sense after looking at it from the google juice perspective,
thanks a bunch
Great post Jeff, I'm going to check out the session. Never really thought about it this way, but it makes sense. Ok, now, Ana Connell is off to do her homework! Lol!
A great reminder... because it's just so easy to forget!
Jeff - thanks for the tips ! Is a lot to learn - I try to soak some new information into my mind daily : )
I wish the audio was better. Lots better! I couldn't hear a word. Can you send along the tips?
Joan, a couple people have complained about the audio, but I don't have trouble hearing it. Unfortunately, I didn't take any notes... because I was taking the video. :)
Joan: I took copious notes and will be posting my own version shortly. It's a tag-team effort!
Thanks Jeff and thanks Rich!!!
Jeff ... great post. Thanks for encouragement to Just write to engage the reader. I will use this advice. Best wishes. Harrison
Jeff,
Great post ... thank you! This was very helpful to me. Also, thanks for pointing out Qik.com.
Best regards,
Mike Hughes
BYW: I love your company - realestateshows.com - great service!
Georgie Hunter thinks Jeff Turner is pretty smart with Jeff Turner's Active Rain blog and Georgie Hunter will be sure to keep this tip in mind for Georgie Hunter's Active Rain blog, and will take the time to watch the video - thanks!
Rich Jacobson has posted his notes from the session here: The SEO Of Blogging.
Jeff, always a good reminder to just write with our own "voice." That is what typically engages the reader - Teri Ellis personality, Teri's charm, gift of gab - oh, and Teri's knowledge about real estate! ;-)
Your dollar's in the mail! ;-)
Okay Hubba...
You can have my dollar but only because a little rain bird told me you're worth it :)
TLW...ROAR!
Jeff Turner once again provides fantastic advice for anyone willing to listen and do some work. Thank you Jeff Turner.
Great post on what not to do...thanks for sharing!