Content is king without doubt. Well-written, interesting and topical copy will act as a powerful search engine signpost, winning both high search engine placements and traffic. SEO (search engine optimisation) copywriting makes a huge difference to online success.

But what if your site isn’t particularly copy based? Not all websites are bursting with copy. Many sites employ extensive graphics and images to represent their core messages and some website owners simply don’t want to compromise the aesthetic with acres of copy. It’s a fact of web life that some sites will produce better results by using more graphics than words, for example, sites for graphic designers or photographers, illustrators or companies that deal in stock images.

The problem for such sites is that it is text that the engines crave. It’s text that determines relevance and can deliver your competitive advantage through high rankings and better search positioning. It’s also text that will convert your visitors. What can you do if your site is heavily image based? How can you best SEO your site to give it a chance?

Here are some tips that might help you achieve healthy search engine positioning even if your site is graphic heavy.

• Always apply keyword descriptions to images. Informative AND optimised descriptions contribute very effectively to positioning.

• ALT Tags – Use them and assign short keyword phrases that accurately describe each graphic.

• Divide copy into small sections or paragraphs. Break it up using headers. This will offer the spiders all the necessary keyword information they need to return your page against a search whilst not overwhelming your human visitors with too much written information.

• Use bullet points or numbered lists. Quick-hit keyword-rich copy that can deliver a great deal of information and SEO weight in just few words. Lists are a great way of delivering:

- Powerful SEO.
- Fast information access.
- Effective keywords deployment.

• Use every opportunity to make your copy count. Side bars, about us pages, copy ‘below the fold’ (copy not instantly visible to human visitors) and contact pages all offer useful opportunities for you to deliver your strategic keywords.

Use as much off site SEO as possible through articles, social media and press releases to drive inbound links to your graphic-dominated pages.

Make sure you talk to your SEO or online marketing partner to achieve maximum web profile.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 4:40 pm and is filed under SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), SEO Copywriting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.