It May be Hard to Believe, but Keywords Can Hurt You

There’s lots of talk about when, where, why and how to include search engine keywords and key phrases in your blog posts. You’ve read post after post on this exact topic; they’re all over the Interwebs. Including keywords into blog posts is done, as we know, primarily in an effort to get search engines to rank the non-branded content of your website higher than that of someone (if not everyone) else’s website.

But when does the obsession with keywords reach the point of diminishing returns? There is one.

Use Your Words Wisely

Those of us with backgrounds in journalism, public relations, advertising and digital marketing completely understand the value and power of the written (or…in this case…typed) word. However, it’s likely that each of these professions will have a completely different take on the subject of words and how they are and/or should be used whenever and wherever they are used. It’s kind of like the English language; there are always plenty of exceptions to all of the rules.

Be Aware of Keywords

Words have and always will be a critical factor that affects everything that we do as an agency. And to ensure proper SEO and increase inbound links to your site, yes, every blogger should be aware of the need to, every now and then, include just that right sequence of these powerful little things when stringing together blog posts. However, you should never become obsessed with keywords over quality. The incessant desire to embed every possible search engine targeting phrase into your posts is going to hurt you in the end. Once you let this giant “Keyword Monster” control the flavor of your writing, you’ve lost the battle, David. Yes, that was a biblical reference for effect.

Only You Have the Power to Retain Readers

When it comes down to it, people reading your blog want informative, insightful and useful content. It’s the power of your knowledge, expertise, and honesty, combined with your ability to collect all these things together into a cohesive story that attracts readers to your blog, keeps them interested and keeps them coming back. The overall success of your blog posts are going to be based more on the quality of your writing and what you have to say. Once you start down the road of endlessly massaging your words merely to insert search engine friendly keywords so the robots find your site, your information is bound to suffer.

Keyword Obsession

Making a long story short, or perhaps even slightly longer…

Are keywords important to your blog posts? Yes.

Should you ruin the value of the information you offer on your blog with the obsessive editing of your thoughts merely to include a string of keywords so Google will rank you higher? No.

Editorial Quality Over Keyword Fanaticism

Make sure that you retain the quality of your information over the fanatical desire to include that just-right set of keywords. It’s the genuine quality of your posts that’s going to ensure you retain readers and gain the new ones you’re looking for.

Just write. Let the (key)words come naturally, and you’ll be better off.

We’re on a Mission to Paint the Town RED

For Fall 2011, Grey Matter is proud to be working with the Chicago chapter of the American Red Cross, assisting with marketing the organization’s Mission: Red Experience Auction. Please forgive this pitch of a blog post. But it’s a pitch to ask for your assistance in helping an organization that does so much to help the residents of Chicago and our surrounding communities.

Bid on Some Seriously Unique Items

As an agency, we’re very involved in our community and strongly embrace the concept of “giving back.” As a benefactor, the Chicago Chapter of the Red Cross couldn’t be a more deserving group. Mission: Red for 2011 is an experiential event where attendees will have the chance to bid on a serious collection of unique experience packages that truly offer and experience that money can’t normally buy. And, that’s no verbal cliche. Or editorial understatement.

While we can’t reveal the details about this year’s unique auction packages, rest-assured that attendees of the 2011 event, and auction winners, won’t leave disappointed. There are experience packages on the list that we guarantee will not be found anywhere else but at Mission: Red.

Tickets are Still Available

To make sure you have a chance to bid on the package list, make sure you’re on the guest list. Purchase tickets today for this event. Mission: Red for 2011 will be held Friday, September 16th at the Hard Rock Hotel, 230 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago. Tickets are available now and can be purchased up until the day of the event. Don’t miss this chance at an experience of a lifetime.

Helping Chicago and Surrounding Communities

Proceeds from Mission: Red are used by the Red Cross to help Chicagoans live better, healthier and safer lives. More than 9.6 million people throughout northeastern Illinois and northwest Indiana are served by the Chicago chapter. And during these times, the Red Cross and the communities it serves need your help more than ever.

Check out Mission: Red on Facebook, or at the Chicago Red Cross. Buy tickets here.

Everyone at Grey Matter thanks you in advance for your support.

Are We Crazy, or What?

Recently, the subject of whether or not to offer prospective client’s a no-cost social media audit was posed by our new business team. There was heated debate on both sides of the fence. The prevailing concern was why would we offer something so valuable to prospective clients when they weren’t even an actual client?

As you might imagine, this generated a variety of other questions. But when everything was hashed out, we decided that offering such a service would be an interesting way to illustrate our commitment to social media while also providing a much needed service that clearly exhibits our approach to marketing. So, we are doing just that.

Create a Wishlist

We first began with a Wishlist. Every member of our staff identified a group of organizations — some large, some small — that we would like to work with. While not an entirely new approach, we added the offer to conduct a full-blown Social Media audit of current campaigns for these Wishlist clients. The response was overwhelming.

Overwhelming Response

To date, we’ve conducted valuable Social Media audits for 66% of the clients to which the program was offered. And we’ve found some interesting things. Primarily, that most small to medium businesses that we’ve contacted are not effectively using the social media tools available to them, resulting in less than effective campaigns.

Social Media is Here to Stay

If your organization is confused by social media, doesn’t know how to use it, or just wants it to go away, think again. Give us a call and we’ll walk you through a process that works for you. Whether that be the development of an overall plan for your internal resources to implement, or our complete monitoring and management of your social media communities.

If you would like to add your group to our Wishlist and have us conduct a no-cost Social Media Audit of your activities, leave a comment and we’ll be in touch.