Technology

Many times when someone sits down to draft copy for or to rewrite a website, they start in the wrong place. They open a blank sitemap and start naming pages—Home, About, Services, Blog, Contact—because that’s what a website is supposed to include. Then they open each page and start writing about themselves: their story, their credentials, their process.

Here’s the detail that gets missed: your website isn’t really for you. Both your sitemap and your copy need to start with the ideal customer or client in mind.

If the phrase “search engine optimization” has ever made your eyes glaze over, you are not alone. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has a reputation for being technical, complicated, and expensive—and while it certainly can be all of those things at a deeper level, the foundational principles are far more actionable than most people realize.

To put it simply, SEO is the practice of helping search engines like Google understand what your website is about, so they can show it to the right people at the right time.