SEO Copywriting Checklist: Are your product descriptions costing you customers?
Welcome to another video in the SEO Copywriting Checklist series!
Today’s video is addressed to those of you in e-Commerce retail, and asks: are your product descriptions costing you customers?
Tune in as Heather shows what works, and what does not, in well-optimized product copy:
YAWN…There’s Nothing Here That Screams “Buy Me!”
Well-written product descriptions are a blind spot for a lot of e-retailers, as evidenced by this first screenshot: you have the picture, and then a very, very short description of the product.
As written, the text certainly does the job in terms of the product’s technical specifications, but it doesn’t have any descriptive copy that screams “buy me!”
There’s nothing here that is targeted towards the reader that will tempt them to take that next conversions step.
Compare this example to what you’ll find on the lululemon site…
Great, Descriptive SEO Copy
This second screenshot is actually just a snippet of the product page. There’s a big picture at the top and there are the technical specifications for the shorts down below, but there the similarities end.
The product description is definitely SEO copy – the keyphrases are in there – but the tone and feel of the content is very fun: it’s engaging, and it’s highly targeted towards their audience.
And the lululemon copy provides much more information about the benefits that people will realize when they buy these shorts, as opposed to the previous example.
So you can see how this content is much more compelling. Especially if you’re dealing with products with a higher price point, then the more compelling the content, and the more you can demonstrate that value and the benefits, the more items you’re going to sell!
Highly Descriptive Copy Sells – And Makes You More Money!
At the end of the day, highly descriptive product copy will help you make more money from your site. So if you’re selling products online:
- Think beyond super-short product descriptions.
I know in a lot of cases you may think it’s easier to just do it short and sweet, and let the picture do the selling, but in many cases people want to have more information. And because…
- People can’t touch the product online – so you need to create highly descriptive text.
Rich, descriptive copy helps potential customers visualize what it would be like if they owned that product, so it definitely helps them take that next conversions step.
And like the lululemon example, you can…
- Use tone and feel to differentiate your offer.
This is especially important if you are selling products that other retailers sell online as well – and it might be that you and your competitors have similar price points, as well.
So who are people going to buy from?
They’re going to buy from the site that they “click” with the most, so that tone and feel of writing towards the target audience can really help generate more sales!
Thanks for joining me for this latest installment of the SEO Copywriting Checklist series! As always, if you have any questions at all, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me at heather@seocopywriting.com, or find me on Twitter @heatherlloyd.
photo thanks to StormKatt
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The Veg-O-Matic approach to SEO copy development
March 28, 2013 • written by Heather Lloyd-Martin
Sure thing!
My slides were based on this 2011 blog post. When I originally wrote this, Google+ wasn’t even on the radar. Now, it’s yet another platform that marketers have to use and measure.
Feeling overwhelmed? Relax. Take a peek at my slides, and then read how the Veg-O-Matic approach to SEO copywriting can make your life easier than before. Really!
One of the areas where many site owners get “stuck” is content creation. There are more SEO copy opportunities than ever before, including:
(I’m sure you could add more to the list.)
The challenge with “content overload” is that nothing gets done. Planning an editorial calendar seems impossible. There’s too much to write in too little time.
That’s when you bring in the SEO content Veg-O-Matic to slice and dice your content into little bits.
For those not familiar with Ron Popeil’s Veg-O-Matic, it was a hand held appliance that made slicing and dicing vegetables easy. You could cut a carrot into small pieces. You could shred it. You could even create thin julienne slices. Cutting it up was effortless – and one carrot could take many different final forms.
You can do the same thing when you plan your SEO content. Rather than thinking, “Oh, man. I have a month’s worth of tweets to plan,” think of how you can “slice and dice” existing content many different ways. Here’s what I mean:
Say that your company creates one white paper a month. Once the white paper is complete, you could:
You see? You’re taking existing content and working backwards. You’re doing what you can with what you already have. Granted, you’ll still want to plan bigger projects (like another white paper or a product page revamp.) But, finding time for big projects is much easier when you’re not reinventing the content wheel every time.
Instead of looking at your editorial calendar and thinking, “It’s mid-March, what do I write/tweet/blog about for the next 30 days,”it shifts to, “We just completed a blog post/case study/video. In what ways can we slice and dice it into tasty content tidbits?”
Once you’ve figured out how to leverage what you have, the content creation process seems much more effortless.
You can accomplish the same goal even if you don’t have one “big” content piece a month. For instance, say that your company blogs five times a week. You could probably pull a couple – maybe more – good tweets out of every post. You could track popular blog topics and develop a Webinar (which could even be an additional profit center.) Heck you could even produce a monthly “Twitter tips” list that you could offer as a downloadable .pdf. The possibilities are endless.
You don’t need to solely focus on existing Web content, either. Do you have an old how-to guide that you could dust off and transform into blog posts or tweets? Did you write an article years ago that you could repurpose? Have you written a book? As long as the content is updated and valid, looking to “old” content sources is a smart idea. Recycling is good for the environment, and it’s great for your content, too!
Consider taking a cue from Ron Pompeil and see how you can Veg-O-Matic your content. You may find that you’re releasing more quality content than ever before – and creating your monthly editorial calendar is easier than ever before.
Filed under Blog writing,Direct reponse copywriting,Freelance SEO copywriting,In-house Content Marketing,SEO Content marketing,Tips and techniques,Twitter,Working with clients
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Rock conversions with these proven & powerful copywriting strategies!
October 8, 2012 • written by Laura Crest
After all, at the end of the day it is how well your Web content converts that counts! Ever mindful of just that, Heather devoted a series of her YouTube SEO copywriting tutorials to those strategies that make your prospects say Yes!
Edify, enjoy, and prosper!
Heather takes it back to “old school” copywriting in this video, discussing how to boost your conversions with “power words.”
Back in the day – before SEO copywriting, even before Web writing – copywriters focused on adding “power words” to their content, such as their direct sales letters, to improve conversions. It’s a tried and true strategy that’s been used by copywriters for many, many years.
Tune in as Heather explains what power words are, how they work, and how you can use them to strengthen your copy with their conversions-driving mojo!
Here, Heather expands on her “power words” vlog (above) with a how-to on harnessing the power of that magical customer-centric word: “you.”
You. Such a seemingly simple word packs an incredible punch, as it centers your web copy around them. Coupled with customer-oriented web content, using “you” in your copy is a proven strategy for engaging the prospect and improving conversions!
Learn how to make your Web copy rock with the word “you” and customer-oriented messages.
With this last video of her power words video blog series, Heather addresses how to capture the power of the word “free.” (Bet your eyes just snapped on the word already!)
Like the word “you,” “free” is a very powerful power word – and yet it is one that many copywriters fail to use correctly.
So… how can you fail to correctly leverage that sexy power word, “free”? As easily as you fail to let your readers fail to understand the real value of it.
Tune in as Heather discusses how to use that mighty power word, “free,” so that it both conveys value to your readers and helps increase your conversion rates!
As a natural follow-up to the 3-part power words series, this post was inspired by neuromarketing expert Roger Dooley’s recent SEO Copywriting Certification presentation. Here, Heather gets into how to write sales copy that turns your readers on…meaning, your readers’ brains.
If you write sales copy or landing page content, or if you work with copywriters, then you’ll definitely want to tune in and learn how to write sales copy that turns on your prospects’ brains and sparks conversions, by using “…vivid, sensory, emotional adjectives to engage the brain.” (– Roger Dooley)
Thanks for stopping by! And remember, if you have a question or comment for Heather, you are most welcome to leave a comment below, or email her via heather@seocopywriting.com, or tweet her via @heatherlloyd. She’d love to hear from you!
Want to earn more money as a copywriter? Learn the art & strategy of conversions and SEO copywriting with SuccessWorks’ SEO Copywriting Certification training!
Filed under Direct reponse copywriting,Tips and techniques
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How to write sales copy that turns your readers on
September 17, 2012 • written by Laura Crest
Inspired by neuromarketing expert Roger Dooley’s SEO Copywriting Certification presentation of last week, today Heather gets into how to write sales copy that turns your readers on…meaning, your readers’ brains.
If you write sales copy or landing page content, or if you work with copywriters, then you’ll definitely want to tune in and learn how to write sales copy that turns on your prospects’ brains and sparks conversions…
I’m talking about BRAINS…
For last week’s SEO Copywriting Certification training call, we were honored to have guest speaker Roger Dooley, author of Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing.
If you haven’t yet read this book, I highly recommend that you do – especially if you’re a copywriter, or work with copywriters, and/or you simply want to make your web copy better!
One of the things Roger talked about during his presentation is how you can use adjectives, and specifically how to…
“Use vivid, sensory, emotional adjectives to engage the brain.”
-Roger Dooley
This is something that of a lot of copywriters forget – we get in a habit of writing copy in a certain way, and we forget the power of adjectives.
Words related to texture activate the brain
Now the cool thing about using those sensory adjectives is that they can actually activate your readers’ brains.
The brain can actually picture – as evidenced by brain scans – what silky would feel like, or smooth or rough: the brain actually “lights up” as if imagining those particular textures.
So when you use these sensory-laden words in your writing, you are actually engaging more of your reader: you’re really turning them on. And now you’re thinking not only about what your copy reads like, but also what it sounds like!
- Silky
- Smooth
- Rough
- Bright
- Jagged
- Slimy
Source: Roger Dooley, NeuroscienceMarketing – “Persuade with Silky Smooth Copy – Substitute sensory metaphors to engage your reader’s brain”
[http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/metaphor-marketing.htm]
The list above indicates some adjectives that are possible sensory substitutes, like “jagged” and “slimy” and “bright.” For more information on this, check out Roger’s article – I highly recommend it!
So let’s see how this might work when you’re writing content…
For example…
In his article (referenced above) Roger uses the example of:
“Having a bad day vs. Having a rough day”
While they mean the same thing, that texture of “rough” does something a little bit different: it engages the brain a little bit more. More examples are:
“She touched the rock vs. She touched the jagged rock”
“Made the fresh eggs vs. Made the freshly-cracked eggs”
“Your skin will feel soft vs. Your skin will feel silky to the touch”
and, my favorite example: “My cat is soft vs. My cat is fuzzy”
If this is something you don’t do automatically when writing copy, let it sit for awhile and then go back and see how you can add these textural adjectives to your content.
Energizing your copy with textural adjectives can actually improve conversion rates – something that Roger Dooley’s article also discusses. So definitely try it out and see how it works for your own web copy!
Thanks for tuning in to this week’s SEO copywriting video! And remember, for no-B.S., real information that you can actually use on your website and in your web writing, sign up for my free newsletter (daily or weekly) – and as a thank you, you’ll receive my complimentary “How to write for Google” whitepaper!
And as always, if you have any questions at all, or if you want to learn more about my SEO Copywriting Certification training (where you can learn from great guest speakers like Roger Dooley), please let me know! You can find me on Twitter via @heatherlloyd, or you can zip me an email: heather@seocopywriting.com.
photo thanks to Sarah G…
Get in on the FLASH SALE of the SuccessWorks Copywriting Business Bootcamp! Save 70% – a value of $700 – in exchange for feedback on the course. Email Heather Lloyd for details via heather@seocopywriting.com. Hurry – there are limited spots available!
Filed under Direct reponse copywriting,Tips and techniques
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More ways that spam can teach you about copywriting
August 2, 2012 • written by Heather Lloyd-Martin
See, the tricky thing about spam is that it works. Sure, maybe not on a more educated buyer…but not all buyers are that educated. Instead, they’re going on pure emotion – and it’s that emotion that gets them to respond.
And that’s exactly what these companies want.
See, good spam emails get results because they follow the copywriting basics to the letter. The email is written with a certain customer persona in mind (in this case, a site owner/manager who isn’t very SEO savvy.) It includes copywriting power words like “no obligation.” It outlines typical pain points – and expertly shows how the company has the perfect solution.
Again, we may not like spam – but we know people who fall for it all the time. Here’s a couple more specific takeaways from last week’s email example…and what we can learn from them
“Requesting this report does not obligate you to buy SEO services.”
Why this works:
Ever hear something that sounds fantastic…and then your first thought is, “How much is this going to cost me.”
Yeah. me too.
The person who penned this email know that, too. That’s why the writer made it clear that the report is “no obligation” (otherwise known as “free.”) The spammy SEO company is counting on the prospect to say, “Well, it couldn’t hurt to contact them and get the report. I may learn something. Besides, I don’t have to buy anything that I don’t want to.”
See how easily the “no obligation” blurb overcomes the objection and makes it easy for the prospect to say yes? If you don’t overcome objections in your copy, your prospects may still have that niggling bit of doubt – and that small amount of doubt could cause them to say no. The goal of your copy is to make it easy for your prospects to always say, “yes” – and take the action that you want them to take.
(As a side note…the phrase “no obligation” is used because the word “free” would have tripped spam filters. However, if you’re writing a sales page, know that “free” is a very powerful word.)
“We guarantee that from the first month of our work you will see an improvement in ranking, link popularity and traffic, which would result in higher Organic rankings, more Leads and Orders for better ROI (Return on Investment).”
Why this works:
Do you offer a guarantee on your products or services? If not, you may want to reconsider. The word “guarantee” is a a very powerful word in copywriting. When there’s a guarantee, the transaction seems risk-free. The next step seems easy. And it helps the prospect keep saying, “yes” to your offer.
If the copywriter wanted to really add some marketing punch to the note, the phrase “money-back guarantee” is even better. That signals the prospect that there is no risk - and they have nothing to lose.
Listing the benefits help to reinforce this “no risk” scenario. With this line, you can almost see the prospect’s mind starts churning with the thought, “Wow, I’d love better search positions and more sales. Maybe these guys can actually help me.” After all, what marketer wouldn’t want more leads and higher positions? :) When you’re writing your copy, remember that it’s benefits – not features – that close the deal. People need to immediately know what’s in it for them – or they aren’t interested.
A better way that they could have approached this? They could have included third-party success story testimonials. It’s one thing to read that you’ll see an “increase in ROI.” It’s another when you read how a companies service has helped drive over $10,000 of sales in the first month.
Finally, always remember that time-specific results a great selling tool. If you can (ethically) tell the prospect what they can expect – and when to expect it – you’ve calmed their fears and overcome their objections.
Yes, spam may drive us nuts – especially SEO company spam. But rather than instantly deleting it, take the time to read it over.
You may be surprised by what you’ll learn.
Filed under Direct reponse copywriting,Freelance SEO copywriting,SEO Content marketing,Tips and techniques
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The conversion dilemma: AIDA in the internet age
May 24, 2012 • written by Laura Crest
The conversion drives everything we do. Social standing, likability, awareness, fairness, law, order, kittens*, etc . –we care about these things because they potentially impact SALES. Dollars. Greenbacks. Dead Presidents. Moolah.
And while the AIDA (Attention-Interest-Decision-Action) model is about as new as spats and talkies, the cyber-sales era presents unique issues.
Never before have more sensory cues battled for attention, more products and services vied for interest and more factors affected the decisions of consumers.
And never before has the call to action suffered from more inaction – a national stasis rooted in Internet-capable plasma TVs, Snuggies and Cool Ranch Doritos.
The links of AIDA are rusty at best, snapped at worst; it is a web marketer’s challenge to repair them.
Tactics We’ve Outgrown
Times they are a changin’; we must change with them. No longer can we count on:
The only people approaching doors these days are Jehovah’s Witnesses and kids selling auto-renewing Allure subscriptions. Today, we must communicate personality and likability virtually.
With a glut of competition accessible in a .27 second Google search, being physically proximate to your consumers is (generally) not good enough.
Savvy consumers are accustomed to advertising – this post-modern audience demands interesting and dynamic rationale for purchase.
Multi-tasking killed the radio star. Billboards, cellphones, email, IM, TV, streaming, THIS. Stimuli, stimuli, stimuli… When’s the last time you focused on one thing?
How to Rebuild the AIDA Model
But enough gloom and doom. Guiding a prospective consumer through the steps of AIDA in this climate is difficult, but not impossible. Magic wand time. Do I have your Attention? Good. Let’s proceed.
Attention à Interest
I know you’re there; I just don’t care.
Imagine I walk up and punch you in the face. Do I have your attention? Yes? Would you like to buy this lovely purse filled with diamonds, fat free Cinnabons and peace?
Probably not so much.
While gaining attention is step one – and a necessary step at that – it doesn’t necessarily translate into interest. If you annoy, aggravate and otherwise antagonize your target, attention can have the opposite reaction. Hitler got Poland’s attention, but they certainly weren’t buying what he was selling.
The link between attention and interest is broken when:
The attention is negative –OR–The target becomes interested in the campaign, but not the product it’s promoting.
Unless you are SOLELY interested in awareness, avoid campaigns that are entirely reliant on entertainment value. There are simply too many things competing for eyeballs today (YouTube / Tivo / Cats that look like Hitler).
Tether the advertising campaign to your product with social media, optimized copy and a brand personality consistent with the wants and needs of your target market. Internet marketers must establish a direct connection between campaign and product that delivers consumer value.
Interest à Decision
I’m interested in what you’re selling… but not interested enough to decide to buy.
These folks are perhaps best described as fence sitters – consumers that need the cattle prod. Absent using an actual cattle prod (which would be both impractical and illegal), internet marketers need to take the concept virtual.
INCENTIVIZE. This is where “deals” and other drivers – flash sales, discounts on shipping, coupons for “liking” the Facebook page, sales aimed at specific groups – can tip the scale. The internet is particularly good at creating a sense of immediacy; use it. Emphasize that NOW is the time to buy and try.
Decision à Action
I’ve decided to buy this product, but…
You’re on the one yard line, but for some reason, you’re not scoring. Your mission: ID that blocker and take him out.
Use Google Analytics to identify bounce / exit pages and gather stats on cart abandonment. Isolate and remove major barriers to purchase, such as:
Annoyance
While follow-up is part of any successful sales strategy, MODERATE. Asking too much of your customers (questions, password creation and the like) is a sure-fire way to provoke a hasty exit. It is often difficult to recognize when assertive jumps track into annoying, so monitor interactions. Just because you can’t SEE your target doesn’t mean the feedback loop doesn’t exist.
Expectations
Manage expectations early. If there’s a big pill to swallow (for example, shipping is a zillion dollars), don’t sock customers with it at the very end. If you find shipping fees prove to be a constant transactional impediment, build that cost into the item’s core price. Also, keep in mind the “H” of S&H is regarded as highly suspect by many consumers.
Method of Payment
Make buying online as easy as possible. Don’t expect consumers to hunt down credit cards – offer them options like (Godsend!) Paypal.
Sales and Delivery Models
Evaluate potential stumbling blocks to initial and repeat business. Is auto-renewal scaring off sales? Do deliveries require an in-person signature? Is a slow website inducing customer comas? All of these factors can affect an income statement. A-B tests can answer some of these questions.Thank you for wading through my webmarketacular. Feel free to disagree (or even agree!) with me in the comments.
In the meantime, please enjoy Alec Baldwin’s fine work on the classic AIDA model in “Glengarry Glen Ross” with my compliments…hpittp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCf46yHIzS
*I care about kittens. Fundamentally. Practically exclusively.
Katie Fetting-Schlerf is a copywriter and all around marketing whiz-kid at Portent, an internet marketing company. She would like to impress her employers, so feel free to ‘like’ the crap out of this post. You can find Katie on Twitter @KatieLFetting.
Filed under Direct reponse copywriting,Tips and techniques
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So how well does your copywriting convert?
May 14, 2012 • written by Laura Crest
Specifically, Heather demonstrates how informercials can inform your writing with structure, clear calls to action, and benefit statements that scream value to the prospect.
Heather admits that she’s actually addicted to informercials because of what they show you about the process of building excitement and getting people really pumped about buying a product, and showing that product’s value so well.
In fact, she’s willing to bet that if you’ve ever watched an infomercial, at least once in your life you’ve thought, “Huh! I want to buy that!” And that’s how powerful informercials can be! Tune in to learn how watching infomercials can improve your writing…
Infomercials can teach you a lot about how to structure your copy
The reason why informercials are so powerful is that the scripts are carefully written and designed to build excitement and convert. The folks involved in informercials know what they’re doing.
And they know that because they measure EVERYTHING: they have a track record of what works, what doesn’t, and so everything they do is designed with conversions in mind.
With their amazing set of skills, informercial copywriters make companies a LOT of money. Here are three things they do very, very well:
1. But Wait! There’s more…
We’ve all seen and heard the “But wait! There’s more!” and this is fun, because what they’re doing here is to sell you on the product and then some.
So when you’re watching the informercial you can get excited about the product, but then after you know the price, you find that they’ve added all this extra stuff and that helps pump up the value: so if your were already set to buy the product at $9.95, when you see all this other stuff that you can get for $9.95 then you’re more than ready to buy.
Really think about how you are promoting the value of your product or service!
(Yep, that’s Heather’s WIIFM guy in the screenshot.) Are you really showing the customer what’s in it for him? Those benefit statements are crucial. If you watch informericals, you’ll notice that they may talk a little bit about the product/service features, but everything ties back into the benefit statements.
So it’s not just building a little bit of a need – it’s showing that urgency and intensity so prospects are actually excited to contact you!
2. Call now! Operators are standing by!
The second thing that informercials do is the “Call now! Operators are standing by!” They have calls to action everywhere, throughout the informercial.
The typical format of the informercial is sharing a little bit of information about the product, and then interjecting “how to order.” Then it goes back to sharing a little bit more information about the product, and then again, cutting in with “how to order” with that phone number.
So when you’re looking at your Web copy, you want to check to see that your call to action is clear.
It’s amazing how many pages, both on the product side and the services side, make it hard to understand what that next action step would be, and how to take it.
You want to make sure that not only do you have a call to action (e.g., “buy now!” “contact us today!”) but that it’s easy to take action by providing hyperlinks and buttons, and that everything is very clear to the interested buyer.
If you’re selling a product, like a lot of folks you might have that little “add to cart” button, and that’s great – but consider that you can also include calls to action with the copy as well.
Amazon does this very well, with its checkout message of “Customers like you also purchased…” That is another call to action for another conversion.
Maybe you want people to download a white paper, so if people don’t buy from you initially, at least they’ve downloaded something from you and/or they’re on your mailing list.
Make sure that Call to Action is in the content.
3. Hurry, this offer is only available for the next few minutes…!
The third thing about informercials that Heather really loves is that “Hurry…” message.
Well, we all know that that “next few minutes” offer is most likely available whenever you call and you ask for it. But that ticking clock – where it shows that there’s a countdown – provides that sense of urgency that people really respond to.
It’s funny, how you can run a sale and tell folks that the sale ends on Tuesday – and people may not buy anything until Monday night, because they know the sale is ending soon, and so they suddenly they have that sense of urgency,
So if you’re running a sale, make sure that you mention the end date: make it really, really clear because there are going to be those folks who procrastinate to the very last minute, and you want to let them know when the sale ends.
If you’ve been playing with sales and not mentioning an end date, try stating the end date and see how that boosts your conversions.
If you’re running an email campaign and it’s a really cool, exclusive sale, you might want to consider sending another email to remind folks that it’s a limited-time offer.
So for instance, send a brief email of “Just 24 hours left for you to purchase your X at this incredible price.” And see if you get another bump in conversion rates.
Thank you for joining us for this week’s SEO copywriting how-to! As always, if you have a question or topic suggestion for Heather, zip her an email [at] heather@seocopywriting.com, or tweet her [at] @heatherlloyd.
Have a great week, and we’ll see you next Monday!
Would you like to learn how to write for Google? Just sign up for the free SEO Copywriting Buzz newsletter for lean, no-fluff industry news, either daily or weekly, and get Heather Lloyd’s “25-Point Checklist on How to Write for Google” free!
photo thanks to S.wplunkett
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How to write killer sales copy: a video guide
April 2, 2012 • written by Laura Crest
Writing sales copy can be difficult! The art of persuasive writing does not always come naturally or easily to copywriters, especially if they are not trained in direct response theory and best practices. Good sales copy does not need to be heavy handed – the key is to have it flow naturally, while providing a clear call to action to inspire conversions.
Tune in as Heather guides us through how to write powerful, conversions-driving sales copy – as well as what to avoid…
In this reader favorite, Heather discusses how to check your sales copy to avoid common and costly mistakes. If you are a DIY small business or new to sales copywriting, there are several ways you can inadvertently go wrong. Learn how to detect these deadly sales copy killers.
Here, Heather builds on the original video above, with three more tell-tale signs of bad sales copy. Learn how to refine your website’s tone and feel, create specific benefit statements, and use keyphrases deftly to turn your sucky sales copy into conversions-driving gold!
Finally, Heather shows us how to drawn on customer testimonials to write better sales copy. The benefits conveyed by your happy clients in their testimonials are a fantastic resource to tap for writing your sales pages, providing you with specific benefit statements in a natural voice that can improve both the actual content and tone of your writing. How cool is that?
Thanks for tuning in! If you have a question or suggestion for Heather about an SEO copywriting, Web writing, or content marketing topic, please zip it on over to her [at] heather@seocopywriting.com, or tweet her [at] @heatherlloyd.
In the meantime, would you like to learn more about writing killer sales copy? Check into the SuccessWorks’ SEO Copywriting Certification training to learn not only how to be the best in SEO copywriting, but also how to excel in the lucrative field of direct response/sales copywriting! The combination of these skills will make all the difference in your copywriting career.
photo thanks to Vectorportal
Filed under Direct reponse copywriting,Freelance SEO copywriting,In-house Content Marketing,Tips and techniques
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How to write high-ranking copy for your one-page site
March 26, 2012 • written by Laura Crest
You may be wondering why you would even want a one-page site, thinking “wouldn’t I just want to build out more content to the site?” And in most cases, yes, you would. But some companies decide on a one-page site for various, specific reasons, which Heather explains.
Of course, the biggest challenge of having a one-page site in the post-Panda SEO world is being found and ranked well in the search engines. So tune in as Heather discusses how you can optimize your single-page site with four specific strategies…
Many companies have one-page sites
You probably have seen a one-page site that is essentially a very long direct sales letter. The purpose of that page is to get you to buy something or to sign up for something – and the site itself is just that one page.
You may also have encountered a one-page site if you’ve searched for something like car or home insurance. These are often lead generation pages that have their own separate domain name/URL, and where the sole purpose of the site is to collect your contact information.
This third scenario is one in which the site technically isn’t just one page. There may be hundreds or even thousands of additional pages on the site, but all the yummy, meaty content is behind a firewall.
With this type of site – where all the “goodies” are reserved for paying members – the only page visible to “non-members” and the search engines is the home page.
In this scenario, the only page the site owner has to work with for optimization is the home page.
So if you have a one-page site that suits your purposes, that’s cool…
But here’s the challenge…
Resource sites are larger (than one page) sites that go in-depth about a particular topic, and one-page sites don’t fit that description. They are not considered a resource – no matter what.
For example, if you have a one-page site about “internet marketing” and you pit that site against all the thousands of other sites out there that have multiple pages dedicated to internet marketing, your site is not going to position – no matter what you do, and no matter how many times you tweak the content.
In order to position that one-page site, you will have to do more to it…
So what can you do?
What a lot of companies do when faced with this SEO dilemma is rather than having that one-page site as a separate domain, they incorporate that landing page into their main site.
This is a really easy workaround. This way, you’re not marketing two separate domains, and you’re not worried about two domains: everything is happening on your one main site.
Now if you’d rather not go with option #1 (above) because you have an awesome domain name for your one-page site and you want to do more with it, you can just go the traditional route of building out more content.
That way, you’ll build relevancy for your single-page site, and you will see not only a search engine ranking boost, but also more people sharing your content – because there’s more content to share!
The flip side is that it’s going to take some investment of time as you’ll be writing a lot of content as you build out the site.
If you have a membership-exclusive site, or a similar situation where the majority of the content is password-protected, then the best-case scenario is if you can pull some of that content out to your home page so it is accessible both to non-members and the search engines.
Granted, you’d still have the “meat” of the content behind a firewall, but you’ll have more content that the public can look at and the search engines can work with.
This is actually a great way to work with conversions off of membership site: non-members can get a little taste of what they’d get in the way of content if they were to sign up for member status, and that can encourage them to convert a bit faster.
Finally, if none of the above strategies appeal to you, and you want to keep that one-page site as it is, then consider other ways to drive traffic to it.
It should be clear that traditional SEO via organic search is not going to work for you – but certainly there are other ways you can drive traffic and get the targeted visitors you want landing on your site. Explore social media, and all the other options available to you!
Thanks for checking in to this week’s SEO copywriting how-to video! Do you have a burning question about SEO, Web writing, or content marketing? Fantastic! Zip an email on over to Heather via heather@seocopywriting.com, or tweet her @heatherlloyd. And be sure to tune in next week – we’ll see you then!
Do you have questions about SEO Copywriting Certification training? Writing services? Customized SEO copywriting training? Heather’s always available to help you out! Feel free to email her at heather@seocopywriting.com or tweet her @heatherlloyd.
photo thanks to Danard Vincente
Filed under Direct reponse copywriting,Freelance SEO copywriting,In-house Content Marketing,Tips and techniques
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3 ways to transform your sucky sales copy into conversions-driving gold
February 6, 2012 • written by Laura Crest
Realizing there are several more ways to tell that your sales copy sucks, here Heather addresses three more characteristics that mark bad sales copy – and then shares on how to go about fixing them so that your sales content pops off the page.
Tune in to learn how refining your website’s tone and feel, sharing specific benefits with your readers, and using keyphrases deftly can transform your sales copy from sucky into conversions-driving, reader-focused gold!
1. The tone and feel is off base
While this is an issue that mostly affects B2B sites, any website can suffer from this malady.
There’s something about sitting down and writing something – especially Web copy – that flashes some folks back to high school English class.
They then create this very formal-sounding document that would stand up really well in an English class, but when it comes to communicating and connecting online it falls short.
In another scenario, there are some companies that believe that a formal tone and feel makes them sound smarter, and automatically conveys that they are an “expert” in their field.
So instead of flashing back to that high school or college English class, or thinking that a formal tone and feel is what you need (which, in some cases it could be, depending on your audience and subject matter), again try to think about how you would communicate with folks if they called you directly.
Then, try to translate that to what you are writing online so that some warmth and personality shine through.
Ask them: “Does this sound like me?” and “When I talk to folks online, is it the way I usually sound, or am I making myself sound different somehow?”
A trusted colleague or editor can give you some valuable feedback about how you can loosen up and warm up your copy with personalized content, but still manage to convey a solid and credible business tone and feel.
2. You don’t provide any real information because “you want people to call you.”
Sharing just a hint of your helpful information that doesn’t give away too much may seem savvy. Wrong!
Yes, it may sound edgy, it may sound interesting, but at the end of the day it doesn’t convey the benefits your company can provide prospects.
If you’re going down this path as a marketing strategy, the very real possibility is that folks probably won’t bother to call you. After all, your competition is only a back-click away.
It’s so easy for folks to realize that “Given company X isn’t providing me with any helpful information, let’s check out what company Y has to offer.”
So be sure to track what your competitors are doing (and not doing) and make sure that you provide substantive information that addresses what your audience cares about.
Giving your readers solid information is a fantastic way to showcase your expertise and value, as well as inform them about exactly what you can do for them.
3. You add a bunch of keyphrases “just in case.”
It’s somewhat (darkly) funny that Google Analytics demi-god Matt Cutts has come out with a video discussing the myth of keyphrase density, and the myths surrounding the myth – only to hear folks say “Well, I know what he said, but I still have this feeling that if I add a few more keyphrases to my content that’s going to make all the difference – I’m going to make all sorts of money and my life is going to be grand!”
Ah, if only it were so. But it’s not real or realistic, so please: Don’t do this.
Instead, focus on your readers and do those things that will best help them.
Remember: focus on your reader, not SEO for SEO’s sake
Thanks for joining us for this week’s SEO copywriting how-to video! If you have a question for Heather, you can tweet it to her @heatherlloyd or email her via heather@seocopywriting.com. And be sure to check back next Monday for another hot Web-writing tip – it may well answer your question. See you then!
Learn the latest SEO copywriting and direct response skills while realizing your full freelancing career’s income potential: check out the only industry-recognized and highly proclaimed SEO Copywriting Certification training program today!
photo credit to trindade.joao
Filed under Direct reponse copywriting,Tips and techniques
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