Commercial: Witty keywords

One of the banes of the life of a copywriter who writes for online as well as off are keywords.

Well, not so much them per se, but more the limitations that they and their metadata bretheren place upon us. I've lost count of the times that I've read these phrases in briefs or received them in feedback on copy:

- Keywords for search optimisation need to be more prominent
- Keywords for search optimisation need to be more frequent in copy
- Why aren't page titles and navigation the same?
- Why aren't there more of your metadata terms in your copy?
- Why is there so much copy?

Oh, ok, that last one isn't strictly keyword related, but the wider point still stands. We've reached a stage where the gods of usability and searchability are trumping creative possibilities and good writing more generally in too many commercially focussed sites.

Of course, if you think hard enough, you can achieve all the keyword optimisation you want. And have a bit of fun at the same time. The above example can be found at online t-shirt shop Sackwear, and it's brilliant because it achieves the functional aim while being human and funny.

So please, IAs, producers, usability gurus and SEO specialists - give us some leeway, and we can create Google-friendly magic for you.

(Sackwear hat tip: Copybot)