With the emphasis on keywords, long tail and results page rank, many people in the search engine optimization industry forget that the people who will actually be reading their content are humans, not robots.

That’s the view of Kevin Gibbons writing for Econsultancy who says that the view that the purpose of search engine optimization (SEO) is to get to the top of a SERP is "like saying the purpose of cooking is to heat meat, rather than eat it."

Although keywords are important for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, Gibbons says they shouldn’t be crowbarred into a piece and should fit naturally when possible.

But it’s important to remember that the content is not for search engines, it’s for actual living, breathing humans.

Gibbons says this means that the content on websites has to be engaging and interesting to the people who are going to end up reading it, and perhaps more importantly, something they will link to.

"This means good copywriting can result in good SEO," he writes. "Rubbish and repetitive content may be cheaper or easier but it will not provide the long-term benefits you need."

SEO expert Bruce Clay seems to agree with these statements. At the SMXWest Conference this year Clay told OBSNews.com that original content can boost traffic to websites and that getting original content into Google News is "worth its weight in gold."

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.