Words make websites work
“What are words for when no one listens any more?” – Missing Persons
“Words don’t come easy to me. How can I find a way to make you see I love you?” – F.R. David
The year was 1982. I had earrings in both ears, had failed in my first futile attempt at a moustache and was tossing about the idea of a mullet hairstyle. It was also the year a couple of new-age bands, Missing Persons and F.R. David, were riding high in the charts with songs called Words.
Missing Persons’ song revolved around the lament “what are words for, when no-one listens?” and F.R. David’s love song moaned that “words don’t come easy to me”.
Jump forward 35 years and scars on my earlobes are the only trace of the gold hoops, my too-prolific facial hair is a tapestry of greys and I don’t have enough hair on my head to even grow a comb-over, let alone a mullet.
As for words, it’s not musicians worried about them, it’s website clients.
“Why does my website have to have words?”
“I don’t want words on my website, just images.”
“I like this website, it doesn’t have any words. Make mine just like that!”
Let’s get straight to the point. A website without words is like a supermodel without a runway. It might look good but it actually doesn’t do anything, at least nothing worthwhile.
Websites need words to tell Google what the website is about – what it’s selling. Without words Google can’t know what the website promotes and what it should be found for in Google searches.
For example, if, like GOOP Digital, you’re an SEO website developer in Geelong, your website needs original text with the words “websites” and “Geelong” in prominent positions to have any chance of showing up in Google searches for “websites in Geelong”.
Once upon a time you might have got away with simply repeating the words “websites Geelong” numerous times on a webpage and Google would have made the site prominent for searches of “websites Geelong”.
Not any more. Google’s algorithm is much, much cleverer these days and wants those words “websites” and “Geelong” to appear in informative and well-written original content.
Plenty of website experts say each page and blog on a website should have at least 1000 words of original content to gain Google prominence. At GOOP Digital we’re not quite that extreme but won’t come at anything less than 300 words per page or blog for a website that’s going to have a chance of ranking organically.
Think about how you learn and absorb information. Usually it’s from reading, and Google’s the same. The more a website can inform Google, the more information Google has to respond to searchers’ queries and the more likely it is to put forward that information in response to search queries.
There are two main types of search engine prominence – organic and paid. Organic is the long-lasting enduring prominence that comes from a well-written and well-built website. It strengthens and grows over time. Paid search is paying for search prominence and stops as soon as you stop paying.
For a website to have long-lasting organic prominence in Google it must have words. That mightn’t always be the case but it certainly is at the moment and until Google decides otherwise, websites requiring organic prominence in online searches need words. Sacrifice words and you sacrifice organic search engine optimisation. Did you get that? No words, no organic prominence!
So, almost four decades later we’ve answered Missing Persons’ question: What are words for? Words are for websites that require organic search engine optimisation and prominence in Google.
And if you’re in F.R. David’s camp and find that words don’t come easy to you, don’t worry. At GOOP Digital we have a team of professional copywriters with journalism and marketing backgrounds. For them, words do come easy.
If you want a website with organic search engine optimisation you’ll need a website with words. And if you want a website with words, then you need GOOP Digital. Contact our Geelong SEO website and online marketing team today and we’ll help you make the right decision about websites and words.
And just so you know what all the fuss was about back in the 1980s, below are Missing Persons and F.R. David with their songs, Words.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcIQlC3SqI