Anyone do this method for SEO

[GamTrak]

I decided to do things differently this time and do my SEO after the fact based on what content I have on the site and it seemed much easier then it was for me last time.

Checking my stats today I noticed that I had a couple pages jump to the first page of SE results and in one case top 3 positions in two days for terms that I never though of before.

I know that this is not the norm, but I don't see how it can hurt?

[Guard Dog]

And I thought I was the only one!

Yes, I do this on most of my sites actually I tend to write content as I would want to read it. After the fact, I go back and try to target keywords. I typically wait to see what the content will drive all by itself... If it does well, I don't touch it. If it does nothing, I'll change up the focus of the page (SE focus, not content focus).

[GamTrak]

That is good to know Andy!

[dominique]

Always done it that way....

[guruslash]

Yeah, I think its a good approach. These days factors such as on-page keyword density and such carry so much less weight so it makes sense to just optimize content afterwards.

[slotplayer]

Always done it that way....

same here

I generally save a back up of the old page, just in case I mess up

[bonustreak]

Yep do that all the time

[Lou]

I do it exactly the same. I usually just worry about having a good page of content along with adding in the meta (description, title, & keyword) tags. I throw a few keywords into the content after the fact. I always try to keep the page up-to-date with fresh content to keep the spiders busy on my sites.

[AussieDave]

Me too...

I always have a general niche idea to what my site is about but by the time the development is completed I've added 5 or more pages.

Although adding keywords and phrases are important, I hold a strong belief that content written in natural way is of more value that trying to throw keywords into ever sentence. Besides after a while this format has led to me going bonkers!

Dreaming of keyword phrases is not a pretty picture I can assure you

Some may say that most visitors don't read the content, which I agree, they don't. But the content isn't really for those visitors, it's largely for the SE's.

I think that any webmaster that chooses a topic that they are passionate about or hold knowledge to, will produce excellent content. Which in turn will return good SERPS as well as the longevity of Long Tail SE terms too.


Cheers



Dave

[Mark]

I think if you combine doing SEO before and doing it after, it's the best of both worlds. Many times I've seen terms that get some traffic from an article I didn't think those terms were very popular. After checking the analytics, I adjust the article and tweak it for those terms. Seems to work well.

Mark