Archive for the ‘seo copywriting’ Category

Most business owners get them every day.  Unsolicited emails about the ‘one true SEO tactic’.  Tada!  Inbound link building.  Yes, you can buy links by the thousand … and yes, you can do that cheaply.  But is it a smart move?

All links are good links

Let’s just come straight out with it and say, not so.  All links are not created equal.

Search engines use inbound links to establish site credibility and influence.  That’s why page origin, context and anchor text are important.  But there’s more.  As much as authority site back-links help online performance, low quality in-links can cause harm.  That takes the form a site demotion.

Many purchased links are of the low value ‘no follow’ variety originating from poor authority sites.  That means search engines never arrive at the linked content.  Often, these low authority links are simply ignored anyway.

Will a few low quality links cause your site to be demoted?  Probably not.  But is it worth the risk?  Here’s an idea … concentrate on quality link creation from the outset.

Content is king

This old chestnut has been doing the rounds for ages.  It is true sites with lots of topical content do well.  That’s not because they create masses of web content.  It’s because they publish interesting, relevant material.

Authoring masses of web content is not the goal of any online business presence.  Engaging visitors and converting prospects is.  You do that by adopting web copywriting conventions and gaining attention with appealing web content.

Why?  Because content isn’t king.  Your customer is.

On site SEO doesn’t matter

Without on page SEO, search engines only get half the picture.  Just think about this logically:

• Why do search engines trawl websites?  To discover what they’re about.

• How do they determine that?  By crawling the web content.

• Why do they do it?  To decide site relevance to given search terms.

Information architecture, SEO copywriting and optimised code all contribute to helping search engines understand your website context.  Flying without on-the-page SEO isn’t a strategy, it’s shooting yourself in the foot.

Page titles and meta tags don’t matter

Yes they do.  But not just for the reason you might think.

OK, search engines place less emphasis on this data than they used to.  But they aren’t irrelevant.  That’s point number one.

More importantly, think about what shows up in a search engine results page.  Bells and whistles if you said the page title and meta description.  These two pieces of content need a deft copywriter’s hand.  Why?  Because they have the biggest influence on click through.  And that’s a fact.

There’s no such thing as too many keywords

Oh yes there is.  There are two reasons you really don’t want to go there.

• Firstly, intense keyword repetitions detract from the quality of the read.  That’s another way of saying appalling copywriting that visitors don’t read.  Of course, that means they don’t engage or buy either.

• Secondly, search engines actually don’t like this practice.  There’s even a name for it.  It’s called keyword stuffing.  It’s actually a good way to cause negative impact and get your site demoted.

High Google page rank is the goal

Winner!  Page one position one gets the most traffic.  But do they convert?  What if capturing a coveted high organic search rank doesn’t reflect in your bottom line?

If your SEO campaign is solely about driving traffic, you need a rethink.  Any effort your business puts into online marketing has one clear goal.  To make sales.

You do that with great copywriting and presenting compelling web content to visitors … once they arrive.

3 take away tips

1. Look out!  All inbound links are not created equal.
2. Web content isn’t king.  Your customers should be.
3. You’re not winning if high search position doesn’t drive sales.

Any SEO copywriter will tell you keywords are important.  And they are.  High performance web content depends on good keyword choices.  But your marketing message still needs to take the lead.  Sometimes this gets watered down (or lost completely) because writers let SEO keywords direct the web content flow.  That’s like letting the tail wag your dog.

Now, more than ever, businesses want effective online marketing.  So keep your keywords on a tight leash by selecting and planning well.  That way your copywriter will be able to create rich, engaging content to showcase key selling messages.

Pick your keywords well

In the keyword miniseries I talked about the ‘where to’ and ‘how to’ of keyword research.  There’s a whole process around identifying where SEO opportunities might lie.  But it’s also important to choose target terms that are a good fit.

Off message keywords or terms that don’t quite relate to your product or service will be:

• challenging to weave into your web content
• suffer from context overlap and attract the wrong traffic
• prone to interrupt the natural copy flow
• more likely to lead your web content off track

Example

In one recent project the client supplied a selection of keyword terms.  Their website promotes an executive rental property here in Melbourne.  Among the keyword choices were terms like fully furnished, family home and relocation Melbourne.  While these terms are descriptive, they’re clearly not ideal SEO content targets.  The context is broad and likely to lead the copywriting astray.

Create a logical SEO strategy

Inserting keywords subtly is the SEO copywriter’s craft.  But keywords can bite back too.  There’s nothing like clumsy content to turn readers off and send visitors packing.  If your SEO strategy sets unsound keyword targets, your copywriting may become awkward and illogical.

In every SEO campaign an online strategy should lead the way.  No matter which way you plan your keyword application, try not to gnaw at bones with no meat.  Make commonsense choices.  If your content page is about business cash flow, don’t make tax planning the goal.

Plan your web content ahead

Writing SEO web content isn’t quite the walk in the park many people think.  Top quality content takes time and effort.  A writing plan puts great results within your reach.  That’s because just going through the planning steps helps generate ideas and suggestions.  With these in mind, it’s much easier for copywriters to retain natural content flow while harnessing keyword selctions.

Planning your copywriting is also the best way to keep the web content on target and on message.

Whether you or your SEO copywriter creates the writing plan, each page of your website should:

• relay its own lead marketing message
• contain a key idea within each paragraph
• include a rewarding call to action

Don’t let the tail wag your dog.  Keywords are critical to SEO content.  But a clear marketing message should be the hero.

3 take away tips

1. Keep your SEO copywriting on message with the right keyword choices.
2. Make logical keyword applications across online marketing and SEO strategy.
3. Plan each page of web copywriting to generate ideas and retain natural flow.

SEO copywriters are charged with a delicate task.  Keyword targets must be woven in throughout the web copy.  At the same time, the online content needs to remain engaging and interesting to readers.

Poor quality SEO copywriting is easy to spot.  Keywords are often placed awkwardly and with high repetition throughout the text.  This disrupts the natural content flow and makes the copy uninviting.

So how should an SEO copywriter approach the task of keyword inclusion?

Create a network of relevance

The objective in any SEO campaign is to become a good match for keyword targets.  Properly researched search terms are known to be part of your audience behaviour.  Keywords are also an indication of how searchers understand your product or service.  This can be helpful two ways:

• Readers tend to skim web content.  Finding familiar terms suggests the page is a match for their search query.
• Improved search performance.  Raising your level of relevance to target keywords helps search engines define what your site is about.

To create a network of relevance, your SEO copywriter will need to discreetly apply keywords across the web content.  This is best done as per your SEO strategy, where the application of search terms to site content is mapped out.

SEO strategies can (and should) be expanded to include all online communication.  This extends the reach of your network of relevance to include web content such as:

• Social media
• Blog entries
• Discussion Forums
• Online Articles
• Product profiles

Keyword matching

Essentially, there are three different types of keyword match:

• Broad
• Phrase
• Exact

Both deliberate phrase and exact matching are effective ways pre-qualify website visitors.  When preparing SEO content, it is important to realise keywords will achieve a match in various situations.

Example:

In this case, our target keyword phrase is property investors.  While the best search performance is always achieved with the exact phrase, your SEO content is relevant using:

• Identical match
  Sydney’s real estate growth has been a boon for property investors.

• Altered context match
  Of the available alternatives, my preference is property.  Investors are finding …

• Reverse match
  For investors, property has proved over the years to be a solid and consistent performer.

• Long phrase match
  Property is the preferred option for many investors.

Writing with keyword combinations

Once target terms are identified and selected through a keyword research program, even stronger more relevant phrases can be built using keyword combinations.

By applying keyword terms in various forms and contexts, it is possible to keep a natural text flow.  This offers the advantage of keeping your SEO web content engaging for readers.  And that is the whole objective of SEO copywriting.

3 take away tips

1. Poor SEO copywriting is easy to spot by clumsy keyword application.
2. Build a network of relevance to keywords across all web copywriting.
3. There are 3 types of keyword matching: Broad, Phrase & Exact.

OK, so you’ve figured your business website needs a nudge.  Perhaps it’s just the copywriting, or maybe all your web content needs attention.  Whether you want to track website performance, upgrade your online marketing or build an SEO campaign from the ground up, there’s plenty of resources online.  And many of them are free.

• Web confs
  If you aren’t too familiar with SEO, try the 15 minute check at WebConfs.  This steps you through the best (and worst) SEO tactics, complete with a value rating.  There’s also a ton of learning resources and a big variety of handy online tools.

• SEO book
  Has a terrific keyword density checker.  Using this you can quickly and easily find the most popular SEO keywords targeted in competitor web content.  You’ll also find a huge library of SEO articles and other useful site inspectors.

• Google keyword suggestion tool
  Of course, no SEO copywriting or indeed web content is complete without keywords.  While this should never be your first and last port of call, the Google keyword suggestion tool is a valuable resource.  But be aware search data is not precise.

• Textalyser
  Once your web copywriter is done, it is possible to test that web content before publishing.  Cut and paste your new web copy into the panel to analyse text.  Don’t forget there’s more to propelling prospects than keywords though!

• Site Map generator
  Submitting an XML sitemap is an important step in helping search engines understand the makeup of your website.  Create one in minutes for your website or blog using this free XML sitemap generator.

• Page Rank checker
  As your SEO campaign progresses, you’ll clearly want to know how Google its value.  Beyond just reviewing site traffic and keyword click throughs.  Enter your URL here to check Google page rank for your website, and maybe some competition sites too.

• Submitterbot
  Link building is one of the most arduous and time consuming aspects of any search marketing.  Submitterbot is a semi-automated service that allows you to create inbound links through directory listings, bookmarking and article submission.

Like your website itself, SEO is constantly evolving.  There are some techniques that deliver short term gains.  Generally, these fall into the Black Hat or Grey Hat baskets.  In the long run, being tempted in those directions means spending time, money and effort on results that won’t last.  Better to put your white hat on and push it down firmly.

Remember the most important part of any SEO campaign is your web content.  And web copywriting plays a critical role.  It’s not just about padding your pages out with heaps of keywords.  To create an online presence your prospects (and search engines) respect, you need to publish engaging and interesting content.  Unfortunately, there no free online tool you can use for that.

3 take away tips

1. The internet is alive with free online tools you can use at every SEO stage.
2. White Hat methods are superior and longer lasting techniques to employ.
3. Web content, starting with copywriting, is the key element of on page SEO.