---
title: Stop Overthinking SEO
author: Tris
date: 2021-03-03
url: https://www.trishussey.com/stop-overthinking-seo/
---


This is how I’ve approached SEO for over a decade. No matter what Google does with its algorithms, the content I write ranks. 



I follow [Matt Cutts’ advice from WordCamp 2009](https://wordpress.tv/2009/05/30/matt-cutts-google-sf09/) (when he still worked at Google):



Write descriptive headlinesUse headings to separate sections and highlight big pointsUse descriptive link text (ie never/rarely click here)And most importantly...



Write like a human. 



When Matt gave his talk spam results and keyword stuffing were big problems at Google. Matt’s job was to get spam results out of results. 



He succeeded, but I think people still over-complicate SEO.



Keyword research is good to understand what people are looking for and what terms related to the topic you might think about. I get post ideas and insight from other posts. But most of all I start with a simple question:



“What would I like to know if I asked this question?”



I use that to guide everything else. Tone, style, wording, links. Everything comes back to being in the head of the reader. Don’t make SEO a chore. Write good content on the topics relevant to you and your product/solution/business.



And follow Matt’s rules. 



You’ll be fine.



I [originally posted this on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/trishussey_copywriting-seo-contentmarketing-activity-6772901592011280384-ufRw) inspired by another post hitting the similar points: