What to write about

Now that you know how to write and optimize the text on the page, what do you write about? If there is only one thing you take away from this chapter, it should be the following.

Write for your audience, not the search engines

For the long-term benefit of your site, you should create content that users will enjoy. Over time, this will give you the most SEO benefit. Beyond that, here are some guidelines:

• Use words that your audience understands. If you're writing for techies, use techie terms and don't apologize for them. If you're a techie company trying to attract non-techie customers, explain everything. Acronyms are the secret language of the clique. Only use them if you don't care if someone doesn't understand. However, you stand a good chance of alienating your audience if you do.

• Use words that will attract the right people to your site. Different words mean different things to people. Try to think like your target audience. If they're calling it a Thingy and you keep...