Search Engine Optimisation - Content is King

Search engines build their indices and rank sites based on keywords and, more specifically, keyphrases. People are getting more sophisticated about using search engines and have learned to be clever about the search terms they use. These days, search terms tend to be very focused and consist of phrases rather than words. So, how often these phrases and the words within them appear in relation to other words and where they are placed on a web page will have an effect - there's no denying that. We have established that taking SEO to an extreme where it destroys the English language is not the way to write good website copy. But SEO is important and cannot be forgotten when writing for the web. So, here are the pointers to what you can do to make your website copy SEO copy.
Include your keyphrases in the title tag of the html header of the page.
Include keywords and keyphrases in the headers and sub headers wherever possible, preferably within html header tags, and where it does not interfere with the flow of the writing. Headings, used properly, summarise what is to follow. Sometimes they are all a visitor will read so they need to count. It is far more important that your headers fulfil this role than that they have keyphrases "shoehorned" in.
Wherever possible, include keyphrases in bulleted lists, in specially formatted text (bold or italic for example) and in hyperlinks and image titles or alt tags. But only where it looks and reads right. If it doesn't, don't do it.
Include keyphrases in the body of the text frequently enough so that the phrases are given a level of importance over other phrases that appear less often - but don't go overboard! Provided the prose flows, include keyphrases maybe once or twice in each paragraph. Don't bother counting words or use programs to check keyword density ratio - just check by eye. If it reads well and the keyphrase you are pushing is obviously important without being overpowering, you've probably got it about right.
Focus on writing naturally in the style that you think best suits the target audience and have the keyphrases in mind right from the beginning. Don't try to add keyphrases into copy you have already written - it almost never works. If the copy sounds at all stilted or forced with the keyphrases included, scrap it and start again. Read your copy out loud. If it sounds wrong to you, it will sound wrong to your visitor. Never, ever put search engines before well written text. No matter how many visitors the search engines bring you, if they click away because the copy is so terrible, you won't benefit from them. What you want at the end of all this is visitors who turn into customers and that means winning them over, not Google!
You will note that we have not mentioned the meta keywords and meta description. That's because, as far as SEO is concerned, they won't make any difference. But neither will they spoil your "visible" copy. So include your keyphrases, including common misspellings in the meta keywords tag. The meta description tag should contain a short description of what your page is all about, not because it will affect your listing but because it may be what is shown on the search results pages and can affect a searchers decision to click on your link or not.