Content Creation: Write for Humans first, Search Engines second

The most important thing to focus on is keeping your audience in mind. In the world of SEO, there are three major things you need to remember about your audience. The first is that they're human. Real people looking for helpful information on a subject will rely on social media and other sites to find it. Helping out those users by providing content that is interesting and relevant is the best way of attracting them to your site.

The second point to consider is that people want information quickly and easily. No one enjoys trying to find a needle in the haystack of the internet, whether it's for information or entertainment. People always look for something specific when using their computers, and if your website can provide what they want then they'll be more inclined to come back again. Lastly, they're impatient; no one wants to wait too long for an answer. If your website takes more than a couple of seconds to load, then you might lose that user's attention for good.

It is SEO best practice to write for humans first, search engines second. Copy must be accessible and enjoyable for users before considering search engine crawlers. The logic here is that if the content is not user-friendly and accessible, the content will be a failure in both regards. Any time spent trying to trick search engine algorithms is wasted effort, since even if you do get a better ranking, your site is filled with articles that nobody will want to read anyway. Besides, search engine bots are getting smarter. They will not favour “spammy” articles that have no real value or purpose, and are stuffed with keywords.

If you want to create content that people will share, it needs to be accessible. If someone has trouble understanding what you're talking about because of poor grammar or vocabulary, the chances are they won't bother reading it at all. In fact, many web users will not click through to a page with a low readability score. Your readers should be able to find what they are looking for quickly and easily, or they will leave your site in search of easier browsing elsewhere. It is also important that you provide the information that users are searching for, such as adding additional context to make things more clear or link to relevant pages.

Here are some tips that you can implement for writing accessible content that people will want to read and share:

• Write with personality. People like engaging with other human beings through their words, so don't be afraid to inject your own style into your articles.
• Use short, simple sentences to make it easier for people to read quickly and understand your points. Be sure to use clear grammar and correct spelling - no one wants to share something filled with typos.
• Focus on relevant information that is helpful to the reader, not just keywords appearing in search engines or social networks. People are more likely to share content that is highly relevant to their personal interests, than something that appears purely commercial.
• Also include information that will narrow down the search for relevant posts - people may not be looking for everything you've written, so don't just list every page on your site. Use section headings and subheadings to make it easier to browse.
• At the end of each post you should include a call to action that includes share buttons and links to relevant posts. This will encourage people to share your content and give your site more exposure. However, don't simply ask for shares - consider what you're offering in return and how this will benefit the reader of your article.
• Provide a quick overview at the top of your article, so that people can decide if it will be relevant to them. If this information is not available or easy to understand, then search engines and social networks may consider your content irrelevant and demote it in results.
• Use keywords that reflect your post topic, but don't overdo it. There's no point in including keywords if they don't make sense in context, and any excess will reflect poorly on your site in search engine results.
• Don't include links to irrelevant pages or articles that are not directly related to the topic of your post. This can cause problems when you try to get other sites to share your content; for example, if you've written about parenting and link to a post on healthy recipes it's unlikely that many visitors or commenters will find your article useful.
• Make sure your content is optimized for social sharing - you can test this by pasting something into Facebook directly and seeing how far down the page the first share appears. If it doesn't show up there, people aren't going to see it.

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