The old saying, 'What goes around, comes around' still holds true, and that extends to every medium and every art form. Optimized writing, and 'keyword fodder' for the Search Engines, a.k.a., 'content' is no different. Keyword writing IS a method of marketing, and it has shifted in the last ten years to include writing and marketing specifically TO the Search Engines, not necessarily the end user, the consumer/visitor to a Web site.

About this time last year, January of 2006 and of course, the year before, 2005, everyone online saw a real deluge of content sites, filled with what is referred to as 'content articles' aimed at increasing rankings and therefore traffic. Some of this content was also in the form of snippets, brief content additions that were added just to enhance rankings.

With that deluge of content sites, came writing that was aiming to sell to those that wanted to establish a lot of quickie Web sites, with no real regard for imparting of knowledge to visitors. These used somewhat lower quality writing, with a focus on insertion and placement of keywords, rather than the quality of the information.

Of course, this is a legitimate way to increase traffic and rankings, but honestly, it did little to increase positive visitor experiences while on a site, and the owners of such 'content glutted' sites, found themselves on a continual search for more and more 'quickie content' to keep new visitors coming back to their sites. After all, how many return visits could actually occur on sites that are devoted to making money through Adsense ads, or by reselling offerings done by others?

The writing market now seems to be glutted with writers of this quickie content, leaving owners of higher end Web sites scrabbling to find great content; content not just written for the Search Engines but for actual visitors. Large, well-established sites, owned by mid-sized and larger businesses, that are online for years, have found themselves adrift in a mass of writers that have adjusted their standards and are getting used to providing lower end writing.

This 'merry-go-round of turn-around content' has hurt not just the writing markets, but the markets that availed themselves of the writing markets; owners of sites that strive to deliver quality products and services themselves, as well as purveyors of quality information.

Ads online have started to appear asking for 'real content writers' and there are even some ads that are requiring 'no keyword optimization writers' putting writers that offer keyword optimization in a lower class themselves. In addition, ads are appearing that ask for 'real writers only', sending a subliminal message that 'content ONLY keyword writers' are being equated with the poor content many times seen on the 'quickie sites.'

Time has proven that any quick approach to making money, online does come and go and only real 'content' with an eye towards a positive Web site visitor experience actually produces longevity of rankings, and of course, customers that keep coming back. Since a Web site is in essence an online store, return business is required for success. Real content also establishes a business owner as an expert and builds empathy, so higher end writing is necessary to do this.

This is simply a wake up call that quality never dies, either in writing or in any other medium or offering. It's also a wake up call that in the online world, things can change in a split second and what was 'hot' today is NOT 'hot' tomorrow!

Time-honored methods of writing and marketing sometimes take a backseat to the fads that pass through online, but as always the time-honored methods climb back into the driver's seat eventually. How quickly the online marketing and writing worm turns!