Search engine optimization (SEO) is incredibly important: after all, what good is your website if people can’t find it? But as gaming the search engine algorithms becomes more and more common, people are forgetting that there’s one other crucial audience to write for: people.

Yes, believe it or not, some people will read your website or your blog. Maybe they won’t luxuriate lovingly over every carefully chosen word on your “About Us” page, but they’ll skim through your page. And if your copy is a bunch of key-word stuffed garbage designed, people will notice. And you’ll look stupid.

Same thing goes for blogs. If you’re going to take the time (or spend the money) to churn out a few blog posts a week to boost your SEO, please, please make them at least moderately intelligible or interesting to human beings. And not just about promoting your company, either–about things that your customers might actually care about. Always bring it back around to the human angle, and how you can provide value to your customers.

Feed the machines, but love people, and you’ll find SEO and conversion success.