A Study in Content SEO

Summary: According to a recent publication by Jakob Nielsen, it is better to not use many words in a web text: less is more. However, another study by the Poynter group reveals that web content (in online newspapers) is read way, way better!

How can we explain this difference? And: what should SEOs learn from it?

Ok, so now i’m confused.

Last week Jakob Nielsen wrote an article entitled: 'How little do users read?' In the article, he repeats an idea we all know: average web users don’t read a text as a whole, they scan it. He also states that about 20% of the words in texts can actually be read in the time people spend on a web page.

Another study however, (Poynter group Eyetracking study 2007) says something different. They say that 77% of a text that is being read, actually gets read, even if the text is very long.

What's up with that? I got frustrated and began reading to find out. Is one of them talking BS, or is there more to it?

My colleague Joost wrote an excellent piece about newspaper SEO last week. I absolutely digg it, but did feel the urge to write a follow-up. This article is about some of the challenges newspapers face when trying to optimize their website's content for search engines. It's not a negative piece, because I do have some ideas to fix the problems I mention ;)

So last week I started this website and wrote two lengthy articles. In them, I stated the topic of this website and said a thing or two about the things you can expect here.

Fortunately, I have some friends who also know *quite* a bit about SEO and blogging. They gave me great feedback about it: thanx guys!

Many people think that SEO copywriting is only about inserting keywords into texts. If only it were so easy!

Disclaimer: I've changed the way I name the subject of this website. First I called the subject of this website 'SEO copywriting' as I do in the article below, but that's too narrow. Now I talk about 'Content SEO'.

Most SEO websites are about Search Engine Marketing as a whole. The ones that restrict themselves to subtopics, mostly follow the news or are about technology, social media, or linkbuilding. I have no data to back up this statement, but it's my impression of the SEO blogosphere. Content SEO, and more specifically, SEO copywriting therefore is a part of SEO that deserves more attention. I also happen to know a thing or two about it.