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Frank Kern's blog posts that sell

by Katy Perry
7 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I am starting a new blog dealing with certain aspects of social anxiety, and I am taking Frank Kern's advice on making my readers "devour" my content by implementing short paragraphs and subheadings to make my content more readable. However, I have a question.

What exactly should the impact on SEO be if I take this approach? I realize that there are many other factors involved, but purely from a thin-content perspective. .should this affect my on-page SEO very much? I cut my original 750+ word article into a 300+ word article and used much shorter sentences in the condensed version. This means that there are fewer opportunities for me to include some keyword rich sentences in my condensed article.

From an SEO perspective, is Frank Kern's technique practical? Can anyone give me any writing tips on how to implement this approach in my writing?
#blog #frank kern #posts #sell
  • Profile picture of the author Sid Hale
    Katy,

    I haven't read Frank Kern's advice on this, but this...

    Originally Posted by Katy Perry View Post

    ...implementing short paragraphs and subheadings to make my content more readable.
    doesn't mean this...

    Originally Posted by Katy Perry View Post

    I realize that there are many other factors involved, but purely from a thin-content perspective (???). .should this affect my on-page SEO very much? I cut my original 750+ word article into a 300+ word article and used much shorter sentences in the condensed (???) version.
    ________________________________________________

    How to Organize Your Article Content

    Start by organizing your article such that the reader is exposed very early to an explanation of the article's purpose. What is the reader expected to learn from your article? What specific knowledge will be exposed?

    Use Short Sentences and Paragraphs

    Many authors make the mistake of trying too hard. They add superfluous adjectives and create "run on" sentences.

    When you edit your articles, look for long sentences and split them into multiple sentences when appropriate. The resulting sentences will be much more readable, and your reader will retain more of what you have written.

    Also make it a point to limit the number of sentences in each paragraph. This creates "white space" within the body of the article and makes it much less difficult for the reader to follow your article.

    Use Subheadings to Break UP Your Article

    By breaking up the article into smaller "chunks" and by providing a subheading at the beginning of each "chunk" you achieve 2 things.

    First, the reader can get the general gist of the article simply from reading the headings/subheadings without reading the full content of the article.

    Secondly, every subheading is one more opportunity for you to draw the reader back in to the actual article content.

    ________________________________________________

    Originally Posted by Katy Perry View Post

    This means that there are fewer opportunities for me to include some keyword rich sentences in my condensed article.
    Again... the article should NOT have been condensed. I was surprised at your reduction in word count, because condensing the article is not the goal. You still want to get across the same message and by breaking up complex sentences into smaller, more direct statements you should have actually increased the word count.
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    Sid Hale
    Coming Soon... Rapid Action Profits (Pro)

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    • Profile picture of the author Katy Perry
      Hello Sid,

      Thanks for your response. I think the point of confusion for me was the meaning of a short paragraph. Was Kern talking about using short paragraphs in terms of layout alone? For example, should a nine sentence paragraph be broken down into TWO 4-5 sentence paragraphs, or should a nine sentence paragraph be reduced to a single five sentence paragraph? I tend to write very long paragraphs.

      After reading Kern's article, I found that I could still get my point across using five sentences while eliminating three or four unnecessary sentences from the paragraph. I also made my sentences more direct by using fewer words per sentence to communicate the same idea. That is why my word count was halved. The writing is much more readable now.
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      • Profile picture of the author Sid Hale
        Originally Posted by Katy Perry View Post

        Hello Sid,

        Thanks for your response. I think the point of confusion for me was the meaning of a short paragraph. Was Kern talking about using short paragraphs in terms of layout alone? For example, should a nine sentence paragraph be broken down into TWO 4-5 sentence paragraphs, or should a nine sentence paragraph be reduced to a single five sentence paragraph?
        ...or 3 three-sentence paragraphs. Maybe even the occasional 1 sentence paragraph.

        I tried to present my original reply as an example. There is nothing there that extends more than two lines, resulting in a lot of "white space" between paragraphs.

        Originally Posted by Katy Perry View Post

        After reading Kern's article, I found that I could still get my point across using five sentences while eliminating three or four unnecessary sentences from the paragraph. I also made my sentences more direct by using fewer words per sentence to communicate the same idea. That is why my word count was halved. The writing is much more readable now.
        Not having seen your original article, I have no way of knowing whether that was necessary.

        Your resulting article needs to be not only readable, but also engaging. It's hard to imagine "engaging" in only 3-400 words, and you may have negatively impacted SEO by shortening the content.

        Reducing the word count can definitely have a negative SEO impact because it reduces the potential for inclusion of long-tail keyword phrases.
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        Sid Hale
        Coming Soon... Rapid Action Profits (Pro)

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  • Profile picture of the author Steve L
    Originally Posted by Katy Perry View Post

    I am starting a new blog dealing with certain aspects of social anxiety, and I am taking Frank Kern's advice on making my readers "devour" my content by implementing short paragraphs and subheadings to make my content more readable. However, I have a question.

    What exactly should the impact on SEO be if I take this approach? I realize that there are many other factors involved, but purely from a thin-content perspective. .should this affect my on-page SEO very much? I cut my original 750+ word article into a 300+ word article and used much shorter sentences in the condensed version. This means that there are fewer opportunities for me to include some keyword rich sentences in my condensed article.

    From an SEO perspective, is Frank Kern's technique practical? Can anyone give me any writing tips on how to implement this approach in my writing?
    Personally I'd just focus on what my audience wanted and just do simple SEO best practices, nothing crazy. Any organic SEO traffic I'd get would just be a bonus, the cherry on top, but not the cake itself.
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    How To Design A Website That Converts!
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  • Profile picture of the author discrat
    As Sid said and exhibited. Also, I would not get too caught up in writing for SEs. Tends to be the downfall of many when they start to do this.

    Always rely on 'natural' writing, imo


    - Robert Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    Less search focus Katy, more user focus. I vibe with the general advice here; keep it scanneble, go with Frank's advice, H2's, short and punchy sentences and you will create a more readable and helpful site.
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    Ryan Biddulph helps you to be a successful blogger with his courses, manuals and blog at Blogging From Paradise
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  • Profile picture of the author Kes Writes
    Using short paragraphs and sentences doesn't mean not writing in detail about your subject or topic. Write long and detailed article or blog post but use short paragraphs and sentences for easy comprehension by your readers. Also put your keywords and key phrases as you deem fit but don't over optimize.
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