SEO Copywriting Checklist: Is your content personality-challenged?
Hello and welcome back to another installment of the SEO Copywriting Checklist video series! Today Heather addresses the question of whether your content is personality-challenged.
And while you may not be quite sure what “personality-challenged” means, chances are you have come across sites that, well…bore you to tears. Elicit the yawn. Have the charisma of a rock. That kind of thing.
So tune in as Heather discusses how you can avoid the yawn response to your website, no matter how technical your profession:
Are you boring your reader?
- This can happen in any industry, but especially medical and legal.
- The text often sounds dry, boring and technical.
- Yawn.
I see personality-challenged sites most frequently in the medical and legal fields. Typically these sites have content that is very dry, very technical, contains lots of really big words, and doesn’t forge a connection with the reader.
People will write their content this way for a couple of reasons:
1. Because that’s how they’re used to writing.
For instance, if they are a physician or an attorney and they’re writing their own content, their day-to-day technical writing style transfers over to their website.
2. Because they think it makes them sound smart.
Some site owners think that the more technical their content is, the smarter they sound, and that will dazzle their readers into contacting them. Actually, the opposite may very well happen. If people hit a site that speaks over their heads and they can’t connect with the copy, they might just back out and find another site they do connect with.
You don’t want folks to have the yawn response when they visit your website! You want them to think “Wow! I can really connect with this person. I love what they have to say, and I want to learn more!”
Great example of a friendly, accessible tone and feel
Here’s an example of a site that’s done right.
You can find it at DrBaileySkinCare.com. Dr. Cynthia Bailey is a dermatologist based in California who has an office, but also sells products on her site and writes a blog. If you look at her content – and she’s written 99.9 percent of it herself – you’ll see how approachable it is.
Dr. Bailey’s site has a very friendly tone and feel.
Even her “About Us” page (shown in the screenshot) makes her sound very friendly and approachable. She talks about how patients describe her like a trusted sister – where people can come to her with their embarrassing skin problems and she can help fix them.
Her site does really well.
She writes tremendous blog posts that get great traffic, and she sounds like a human being – not like the scary doctor behind the scenes. She sounds like someone that you would actually want to call, and visit her office or buy her products, because you feel like you can trust her.
Takeaways:
- Friendly, approachable content works.
- You can still sound smart and experienced with a more casual tone and feel.
- Consider your readers’ needs carefully.
The example of Dr. Bailey’s site is something to consider with your own website if you’re working in the medical or legal profession: is there a way to shake up the tone and feel where you still sound smart, and you’re still outlining your expertise, but it’s not so technical?
Really think about your readers: What do they want to see? How do you connect with them in person, or on the phone or in an email? That’s the tone and feel you might want to capture in your web content to connect with your readers. It might work a lot better than copy that sounds dry, boring and technical!
Thanks for joining me! As always, if you have any questions at all or comments about today’s video post, I’d love to hear from you! You can reach me at heather@seocopywriting.com, or on Twitter @heatherlloyd.
photo thanks to johnc24
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SEO content marketing roundup, week ending April 3rd
April 3, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
Other highlights include: cracking the content code for search, big changes with Google, a widely-cited study of Google’s Universal Search 2012 SERP results, recaps of SMX West and SES NY, optimizing for social sharing, and video marketing.
Enjoy yet another robust edition of the weekly roundup! And remember – you get to pick and choose which yummy offerings to consume.
Content Marketing
Michele Linn posts a “best of CMI” compilation for its 6th birthday with “42 Hot Tips for Compelling Content Marketing” at Content Marketing Institute.
Heather Lloyd-Martin shares her SMX West presentation on “How to repurpose content across multiple platforms” at SlideShare (and with an updated post, “The Veg-o-matic approach to SEO copy development” at SEO Copywriting).
Eli Goodman pens “Multi-Platform Media Usage is Not a Zero Sum Game” at comScore.
Citing recent studies, Lee Odden speaks to content quality with “No April Fool’s – Raising the Bar on Content Marketing Should Be Your Imperative in 2013” at TopRank.
Lloyd Faulk shares the highly informative “4 Latest Trends in Content Marketing” at Vertical Measures.
Wicked funny yet with a serious message: Ian Lurie posts “The Client’s Guide to Internet Marketers” at Portent.
Danny Brown discusses “Using the Google Analytics Trackbacks Feature to Create a Content Strategy” at his blog.
Courtney Ramirez discusses relevance, authority, and fresh content creation with “Keeping it real: using news in your SEO content strategy” at SEO Copywriting.
Citing a recent Matt Cutts’ Webmaster video about Google’s take on guest posting for links, Brian Jensen discusses “The Real Value from Content Marketing” at Virante.
Kieran Flanagan posts “The Marketer’s Go-To Guide for Creating Data-Based Content” at HubSpot.
Miranda Miller reports on Lee Odden’s SES NY presentation with “Creative Content Marketing at Scale…” at TopRank.
Newt Barrett posts the “Top Content Strategy Takeaways from Confab 2013 London – Day One” at Content Marketing Today.
Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose co-author “Build a Successful Content Marketing Strategy in 7 Steps” at Content Marketing Institute.
Michael Brito posts “Articulating Your Content Strategy Like A Child’s Story Book” at the HootSuite blog (HootSource).
Neil Patel discusses the root problems of an incoherent content strategy with “Are You Practicing Random Acts of Content?” at KISSmetrics.
Jason DeMers posts “How to Integrate Your Content Strategy & Social Media Campaigns” at Marketing Technology Blog.
In his final installment of a 3-part series, Tommy Walker posts “Top 10 Content Marketing Strategy Mistakes, and How to Correct Them…” at MarketingProfs.
Heather Lloyd-Martin discusses the costly content error of hiding the call to action with her (video) post, “Are you making this conversions-killing mistake?” at SEO Copywriting.
Jay Baer makes the case that “Google Reader’s Demise is Irrelevant for Blogs” at Convince and Convert.
Ekaterina Walter posts “How To Write Content For Your Company People Actually Want To Read” at Fast Company.
Miranda Miller shares what she learned at SES New York with “A to Z Tips for Improved B2B Digital Marketing ROI…” at TopRank.
Gwen Morrison posts “How to Create More B2B Content” at Endurance Marketing.
Seth Godin shares his vision, “Toward zero unemployment”, at his blog.
Gini Dietrich discusses “Website Content Every Organization Needs” at Spin Sucks.
Joe Pulizzi discusses “Your Epic Content Marketing Plan: 3 Steps for Driving Subscriptions” at Content Marketing Institute.
Chuck Martin lists “The Numbers Around Mobile Commerce” at Mobile Future Institute.
Robi Ganguly discusses “The 5 Biggest Mistakes in Mobile App Marketing” at KISSmetrics.
Demian Farnworth discusses the importance of knowing your customer with “How to Write Copy Like Google” at Copyblogger.
Doc Sheldon discusses “The Importance of Being in Tune with your Market’s Culture” at Level 343.
Andy Atkins-Krüger discusses “The Dangers Of Brainstorming Your International Content Marketing Strategy” at Search Engine Land.
Seth Godin discusses marketing “freebies” with “Is the new Kindle Zero the sign of things to come?” at his blog.
Events:
SEO & Search
Danny Goodwin posts a great roundup of live blogging and coverage of SESNY with “SES New York 2013 Coverage Recap…” at Search Engine Watch.
Arnie Kuenn shares his SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday presentation on discovering the content that search engines love with “We Cracked the Content Code…” at Vertical Measures.
Haris Bacic posts “Co-Citation and Co-Occurrence – The Next Big Thing in SEO” at Search Engine Journal.
Ken Lyons discusses “contextual relevancy” with “Link Building: Get Relevant or Die Trying” at Search Engine Watch.
Danny Sullivan posts “Author Rank, Authorship, Search Rankings & That Eric Schmidt Book Quote” at Search Engine Land.
In his ongoing series on Google patents around Author Rank, Bill Slawski updates his original post of six years’ prior with “Google’s Agent Rank/Author Rank Patent Filing” at SEO by the Sea.
Martin Shervington posts his in-depth video interview with Mark Traphagen, “Everything you need to know about ‘authorship’, ‘author rank’ and ‘social SEO’…”at his blog.
Kaila Strong shares “The Authoritative Resource List for the Semantic Web” at Vertical Measures.
Gini Dietrich posts “Lots of Changes at Google: What it Means for You” at Spin Sucks.
Gary Price posts “Need A Google Alerts Replacement? Meet Talkwalker” at Search Engine Land.
Adam Morgan reports that “Google Analytics Real Time Gets Event Reporting” at Search Engine Journal.
Citing some impressive Worldwide Mobile Applications Market stats, Bharati Ahuja posts “Mobile Apps Analytics By Google” at Level 343.
Brian Massey (“The Conversions Scientist”) opens his new Search & Analytics column with “5 Simple Ways To Debug Your Google Analytics Installation” at Search Engine Land.
Searchmetrics posts its extensive study of “Universal Search Results in the Google SERPs – USA 2012”, noting three significant trends with shopping, video and news integrations.
The Searchmetrics Universal Search Results study (above, available as a white paper download) and “cool infographic” spawned a number of posts, including:
Amy Gesenhues’ report, “Google Shopping Visibility Plunges In ‘Universal Search’ Results; Video Stays Dominant” at Search Engine Land; and
Adam Morgan’s “Learning From The 2012 SERPs [Infographic Included]” at Search Engine Journal.
Dr. Peter Meyers (Dr. Pete) posts “Is There Life Beyond Rankings?” at Marketing Pilgrim.
Norris A. A. Rowley Jr. posts “Search Behavior: The Warm Up – A Study with SurveyMonkey” at iAcquire Blog.
Citing the Google News blog, Danny Sullivan posts “As News Publications Experiment With Sponsored Content, Google Says Keep It Out Of Google News” at Search Engine Land.
Terri Thornton posts an in-depth piece, “Native Advertising Shows Great Potential, But Blurs Editorial Lines” at PBS MediaShift.
Josh McCoy shares “3 Steps to Competitive Content Gap Analysis” at Search Engine Watch.
Benjamin Spiegel posts “Optimizing Videos for Search: A Complete Guide” at ClickZ.
AJ Kohn shares an in-depth guide for “Tracking Image Search in Google Analytics” at Blind Five Year Old.
Brian Harnish posts “SMX West 2013 – A Few Takeaways,” at Search Engine Journal.
Stoney deGeyter posts “The Complete Guide to Mastering Your Title Tags” at Search Engine Guide.
Elliot Miller posts “How to Tell Google Not to Index a Page in Search Results” at HubSpot.
Tom Anthony reviews “Linkgex: Tool to Get Links to Specific Subsets of Pages” at distilled.
Ginny Marvin reviews a “New Tool: BigWebStats Aggregates Website Statistics and SEO Data” at Search Engine Land.
Qasar Younis posts “Improving the look and feel of Google Places for Business” at the Google and Your Business blog.
Michelle Rebecca posts “Is Your Local SEO Traffic Leaving Town?” at Search News Central.
Citing an SES NY session by the same name, Andrew Delamarter discusses cross-media challenges with “Next Generation Site Architecture” at Search Engine Watch.
David Portney likens the Stones’ band members with facets of SEO with “5 Ways SEO is Like the Rolling Stones” at Portent.
Even search giants have a sense of humor: Danny Goodwin captures Google’s long list of jokes with “Google April Fools’ Pranks 2013: YouTube Closing, Google Nose, Gmail Blue & More!” at Search Engine Watch.
Events:
Social Media Marketing
Dana Lookadoo shares her presentation for SuccessWorks’ SEO Copywriting Certification students and grads with “Optimizing for Social – Why & How: Presentation” at Yo!Yo! SEO.
Mark Traphagen posts “Google Plus SEO: Everybody Talks About It – How Do You DO It?”at WindmillNetworking.
Ann Smarty posts “Where Google+ Failed and Where It Succeeded” at SEO Chat.
Jon Burg discusses “What the New Facebook News Feed Means for Marketers” at MarketingProfs.
“Facebook Threaded Comments” headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.
Cotton Delo posts “Has Facebook Lost Faith in Social Ads?” at Ad Age | Digital.
Lauren Vacarello outlines the different Facebook ad types and discusses how to get started with “5 Steps to Facebook Advertising – Whiteboard Friday” at SEOmoz.
Dan Virgillito posts “The Definitive Guide to Online Reputation Management” at KISSmetrics.
Avi Dan discusses the challenge of trying to monitor consumers with “When It Comes To Social Media, Consumers Tell Brands To Speak Only When Spoken To” at Forbes.
Phil Nottingham discusses “The Marketing Value of YouTube” at SEOmoz.
Carla Young posts “The Best Marketing is Disguised as Entertainment: A Study of Viral Videos” at MOMeoMagazine.
Matt McGee reports “Vine Adds Video Embedding, Expands Social Sharing” at MarketingLand.
Leslie Meredith discusses the impact of Vine and Instagram on journalism with “4 Ways Smartphones Change How You’ll See the News” at TechNewsDaily.
Reporting from SES NY, Miranda Miller shares “The Secrets to Driving Social Commerce: Google & Mel Carson on Social ROI…” at TopRank.
Matt McGee discusses “The Value of Showing Up on Social Media” at Small Business Search Marketing.
Jessica Rogers shares “The Secret to a Successful Social Media Marketing Strategy” at WindMill Networking.
Ann Smarty shares “5 Tools to Research the Demographics of Your Twitter Followers” at Small Business Trends.
HubSpot shares its own Twitter tool via a post by Dan Zarrella, “HubSpot Launches Free Tool to Analyze the Shareability of Your Tweets.”
Stephanie Frasco posts “Twitter Chats and Hashtags: 5 Strategic Ways To Increase Twitter Engagement” at Social Media Today.
Jeff Bullas posts “6 Things That You Didn’t Know About Twitter” at his blog.
Mitt Ray discusses “How to Use the New Pinterest: What Marketers Need to Know” at Social Media Examiner.
Jay Baer posts “How to Know if You’re Spread Too Thin in Social Media” at Convince & Convert.
In her trademark style, Erika Napoletano posts “LinkedIn Endorsements and How to Turn That Shit Off” at The RedHeadWriting Blog.
Rachel Sprung shares “4 Ways to Maximize the Social Media Presence at Your Next Event” at Social Media Examiner.
Events:
photo thanks to cliff1066™ (cliff)
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SEO copywriting checklist: Are you making this conversions-killing mistake?
April 1, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
Using her recent experience with the Feedly website, Heather addresses the conversions-killing error of making your call to action hard to find. She then discusses how to optimize the placement of your call to action to maximize conversions.
Tune in as Heather describes her “where’s Waldo?” website (mis)adventure and the lessons it holds for SEO copywriters:
How do I sign up?
I was inspired to discuss the mistake Web writers make of burying their call to action by my hide-and-go-seek experience with trying to sign up for Feedly. Like a lot of people using Google Reader, I knew I needed to migrate to a different service, and I’d heard great things about Feedly.
This screenshot is of Feedly’s home page above the fold.
I’m looking at the copy and thinking “huh…I’m not quite sure where to sign up…” Then I spot that little hyperlink there at the bottom of the paragraph and decide that has to be it, as it’s a hyperlink and prominently positioned above the fold.
So I click on that link and…
Oops! Not here!
…Bam! I’m taken to a blog post that talks about keeping the site up, listening and adding new features.
So by this time I’m highly confused about how I would actually be able to use Feedly!
I back out of the blog post and go back to the home page, then…
There it is!
…I discover that if I scroll down below the fold, that’s where the CTA is! Buried beneath the fold.
I went back to the blog post and noticed that had I scrolled down past it, I would’ve seen “Note 2.” And although it is not necessarily a very strong call to action, technically it is a call to action.
But again it was buried beneath the fold, hiding under the blog post, so I didn’t see it immediately.
Takeaways
There are some lessons to be learned here:
Don’t hide your call to action and stick it below the fold.
If you want people to do something – especially if it’s an instant type of thing like “get Feedly” – you want that front and center. So…
Consider the main action you want people to take, and make that action easy to take.
Don’t make your prospects play “where’s Waldo?” with your call to action – because it’s also very easy for them to think “nevermind”, back out of your site, and go to a competitor’s.
When you make that call to action easy to find, then you’re definitely going to increase your conversion rates!
Thanks for stopping by! As always, if you have any questions at all, please let Heather know. You can email her at heather@seocopywriting.com, or find her on Twitter @heatherlloyd.
See you next week with another installment of the SEO Copywriting Checklist series!
photo thanks to denverkid
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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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Clearing your own path to freelance copywriting profits
March 26, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
As a highly successful freelance SEO copywriter focusing on the pet industry, Pam has long been a proponent of niche copywriting, and teaches one of the Boot Camp training modules on niche market specialization.
In this interview, Pam discusses her experience with niche copywriting, as well as why she made the move from her remarkable freelance pet copywriting business to her present in-house position.
Why do you tell freelance copywriters they should absolutely market themselves in a niche industry?
In my experience, being in a niche market brings three main benefits to your copywriting business:
1) You know exactly who you’re marketing yourself to. It’s much easier to create a prospects list, join a trade association where you can offer your services, network in LinkedIn Groups, and so on.
2) You set yourself apart from other writers and you get FOUND more often. For instance, if you’re the only SEO copywriter at a trade association conference, you can just bet you’ll get inquiries from all kinds of marketers attending the show. Plus when your website is optimized for THAT industry, you’re likely to be the only one (or among just a few) who show up on page 1 in Google search results. This means more prospects will find you!
3) Clients are so happy and relieved to find a copywriter who understands their business. You get their audience and their world, and this is worth gold to a marketer because they don’t have to waste time training you on their industry. Therefore, you can charge more for this value.
Is there enough opportunity for work if you focus on one niche market?
If you choose a niche that’s hot and thriving, such as software, senior care, gaming, sports, healthcare and many others – you’ll find clients that serve consumers, other businesses, possibly the government, and other markets within the niche. Plus most industries have a wide variety of retailers, suppliers, service companies, franchises, etc. Hot markets are FULL of opportunity!
And think about it. How many clients can you manage at any one time, or even in a year? Maybe a dozen? You don’t need hundreds of clients to run a successful and satisfying business. You just need a few.
Doesn’t it get boring to work in just one industry?
In my experience, no way.
Each client has his or her own products, services, market, mission, position and value within their industry. Plus each client has different needs/requests for you. One client could ask you to write blog posts twice a month, discussing the latest technology advances in their field. Another could have you optimizing their retail/e-commerce pages. Yet another client might need a series of emails and landing pages… or a whole new website. It’s never dull!
What’s been the most powerful way to attract new clients in your niche?
I have three ways that have worked fairly evenly.
The first is my own site. Using the Certified SEO Copywriting skills I developed through Successworks, I was able to optimize my niche-focused website, which includes about a dozen pages that talk about the services I offer my niche market.
Second, I’ve been blogging for three years, providing tips for marketers in my niche market. These blog posts have helped prospects find me in search engines.
And third, I’ve worked hard to connect with lots of industry professionals on LinkedIn and via trade associations. Those connections have paid off through referrals and work.
What’s the most surprising outcome of your niche focus?
Getting hired by one of my clients for a new full-time position they just created! (This just happened in January.)
I had been working with them as a freelancer for about three years, and last summer they told me they have enough content-marketing/writing work for someone to manage full-time. They were looking for a writer to join their staff.
When they mentioned this to me, I said, “I’m interested!” This surprised them and made them happy because I know their business inside and out. So we talked about it for a couple months and then it all worked out. I started in January this year and I’m thrilled!
Most copywriters dream about making the transition from their in-house position to working for themselves full-time. What motivated you to move from a successful freelance copywriting business to an in-house gig?
After about six years of being a freelancer, I was feeling too isolated. Even though I really appreciate writing in a quiet home office, I was yearning to be part of a team again. Ultimately I do enjoy collaborative problem solving and building something together… and while I was able to find that collaborative satisfaction with my clients, I was a bit envious of people who are part of a true working family.
So, when the opportunity came up recently to consider joining one of my pet-industry clients in a permanent content-management role, I jumped at it. Now I get to telecommute from my home office and do my best work, but I’m also part of an incredible team — we’re all working together to grow and thrive.
Finally, I’m keeping some of my freelance clients and doing that work on the side, with my employer’s permission. It’s the best of both worlds for me!
What has been the most challenging aspect of moving from freelance to in-house SEO copywriting?
My new job has plopped me knee-deep into LOCAL SEO and the SOCIAL aspects of search – two things I hadn’t been as concerned with before. So now I’m jumping in to learn these things as well.
Thanks to Heather’s ongoing certification calls and other resources, I’ve been able to get up to speed fairly quickly. It’s a blast to learn new aspects of online copywriting. We never stop learning, which is OK with me!
More about Pam Foster
Pam Foster is the Managing Editor of Content & Communications at LifeLearn, Inc. She is the author of The Web Copywriter’s Clear Path to Profits, and one of the first freelance copywriters to become certified in SEO through SuccessWorks’ SEO Copywriting Certification training program. As a Certified SEO Copywriter and Sr. Content Marketing Consultant, Pam operated via ContentClear Marketing and still runs PetCopywriter.com. You are welcome to network with Pam via LinkedIn.
photo thanks to Mosman Council
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Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,Tips and techniques
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SEO copywriting checklist: Making your Titles click!
March 25, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
You may not be sure what it is you need to change or tweak – you just know that you need to do something! If this sounds like you, then you’ll definitely want to follow this series.
Heather kicks things off with a discussion of web page Titles, and specifically, how to create yours so they “click” with Google and get the click from readers! Her presentation ends with an action step for you to take.
Titles are often a missed opportunity
- The search engine results page is your first opportunity for conversion.
- Think of Titles like headlines – write them to get the click.
- Include your main page keyphrases.
- Keep the character count to around 59 characters (with spaces).
A lot of people look at page Titles as “the place that we stick our keyphrases so Google knows what the page is about.” But Titles are much more than that – they are actually your first conversions opportunity off the search engine results page.
So it’s essential to create a clickable Title – one that people will read and think “That site has exactly what I need” and will select your listing over the others.
Given that your page Title is competing for the first conversion – that first click – off the search engine results page, you want to write it as you would a headline. You want to make it compelling and yes, you’ll want to include your main keyphrases for that page in the Title.
You also want to keep the page Title to around 59 characters, with spaces. After crafting such a masterful Title, you certainly don’t want any yummy parts of it to be truncated out (with “…”) to where people can’t read it!
As an example of missed opportunities in page Title creation, here are screenshots of two Titles. The first example is representative of what you see a lot of today, where the Title has a keyphrase, pipe, keyphrase, pipe… Is it incorrect? No, it’s okay – but not as persuasive as the second page Title shown below it.
Action step: Review your Titles
For your action step, take a peek at your own site and see if its page Titles present an opportunity for you to improve click-through.
To review your Titles, type this command into the Google search box: site: your domain. Google will return a list of all the pages it has indexed, and you can readily review your Titles.
If you see any Titles like the one pictured, you may have an opportunity to not only write a more persuasive, clickable Title, but also to go back to the page content and see if there are other things you can do to tweak the Title and make it better for readers.
Thanks for tuning in! As always, your questions and feedback are welcome. You can zip Heather an email at heather@seocopywriting.com, or find her on Twitter @heatherlloyd. And be sure to check back next Monday for the second video in Heather’s SEO Copywriting Checklist series! See you then.
photo thanks to Andy Hay
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What’s the dirtiest word in the language for freelance copywriters?
March 21, 2013 • written by Heather Lloyd-Martin
When’s the last time you broke free from your comfort level and forced yourself to grow?
When I originally wrote this post in 2008, I was thinking about how people tend to settle into their copywriting careers and get (too) comfortable. They stay in a job they don’t really like, but they enjoy the pay and the hours. They work with clients that aren’t quite right – yet they’re scared to death to branch off into a new, more profitable niche.
Last year, I had an experience that made me think, “Well, I got the blog post half right.”
I spent 16 days in May 2012 rafting the Grand Canyon. To say that the trip was “out of my comfort level” was putting it mildly. I hadn’t been camping in over 23 years – and even that was easy camping for just one night. I had never been on a raft. I had never been on a self-supporting trip with no easy access to medical care.
My biggest issue? I had never spent more than 48 hours away from my business. Taking a full month off tweaked every comfort level hot button I had. A colleague literally had to talk me into going – I was that worried.
Was it worth it? Yes. Did it transform me? Yes – in many amazing ways.
So as you read this post, don’t just think about breaking out of your career comfort level. Consider ways you can shake up your personal life as well. Ask yourself, “What would be incredibly scary for me to do?” Then make plans to do it. Don’t just say, “Yeah, this could be fun…but.” Actually do it.
You may be amazed at how an initially scary experience can be potentially life-changing…
Enjoy the post!
Probably the dirtiest word in the language to me is “comfortable.” It’s so bad that I call it the “C-word” (really!). Where some people take comfort in stability, status quo and knowing what’s around every corner, I like to shake it up a bit. It’s how I roll.
Freelance copywriters – even good, highly-paid, experienced copywriters – get into their own comfort zone. They stop growing. They stop learning. Instead, they burrow into a complacency bubble and insist that they know it all and there’s nothing more to learn.
Guess what? No matter how good you are – no matter how many years you’ve honed your craft – you can do better. Write better. Describe better. You are not all that and a bag of chips all the time. And you owe it to your clients (and to yourself) to keep learning.
We, as copywriters, are required to stretch ourselves if we want to be great – No more settling for just being good, competent, or – heaven help you – “comfortable.” The only way to true excellence is through initial incompetence. True greatness is fighting that feeling of being totally and completely stupid while we try new things. It’s getting over our fear of “not knowing something” and seeing what we can really do.
As we start gaining mastery, we stretch. We grow – and our writing bursts out of its hibernation and buds with newfound brilliance.
You want to know why “old style” print copywriters complain about what used to be called New Media? It’s because they were comfortable with print. They knew the nuances. They knew how to make it work without having to work hard.
Suddenly, online writers became a dominant force. Us new-fangled writers took old-school writing concepts and made them work for a new medium. We weren’t better writers. Heck, back in the day, we were typically green and inexperienced.
The difference is – we weren’t complacent. We weren’t comfortable. We took what we knew and broke out of our comfort zone. And we launched a new industry.
Challenge yourself this month. If you’ve worked primarily with B2B, write a fiction short story (just for yourself) that forces you to create characters and have fun with your writing. Time yourself and see how many words of good copy you can write in a speedy 15 minutes. Consider launching a new product or service.
Why not bust out of your copywriting comfort zone at least once this month? You’ll be amazed at how “breaking loose” can actually improve your writing…your opportunities…your life…
Try it.
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SEO content strategies you may have overlooked
March 18, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
From defining your unique selling proposition (U.S.P.) and a customer persona to creating clickable web page titles and resonant tone and feel, discover all that goes into a successful website launch…before the launch!
So you’ve a sexy web design and beautifully written content – you’re good to go, right? Wrong. Find out what’s missing from this picture – three critical elements, in fact – that will make all the difference between whether your site launch succeeds or flops. (Besides what the other videos listed here address).
So what defines you? Creating an irresistible U.S.P.
What distinguishes you from your competition? What makes you unique? Learn what makes for an effective unique selling proposition (U.S.P.) that will appeal to prospective customers and set you apart from the rest.
Just as you need to define who you are by means of a U.S.P., you need to define who your target customer is by creating a customer persona. Listen in as Heather gives examples of customer personas, and discusses how to fine-tune yours so your web content attracts, keeps, and converts!
How to resonate with your readers through web page “tone and feel”
Now you’ve created a customer persona, you need to “speak” to him or her through your web pages’ “voice” – meaning, your site’s tone and feel. Does your web writing resonate with your target audience? Or is it generic – or worse, discordant? Learn how to tweak your web content for reader connection and conversion.
How to write SEO Titles that get the click: 3 tips
The search engine results page is your first conversions opportunity. In answering a reader question about the use of “pipes” in webpage Titles, Heather first explains what “pipes” are, then goes on to discuss preferable, smarter SEO and conversion strategies for creating Titles that will lure the “click” on the search engine results page.
image thanks to Eric__I_E (Eric)
Could your web content use help with quality, optimization, or conversions? Check into my SEO Content Review services for a low-cost, high return Rx!
Filed under SEO Content marketing,Tips and techniques
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What baseball & poultry can teach you about handling SEO clients
March 12, 2013 • written by Siân Killingsworth
Perhaps you’re developing new content or maybe you’re just taking direction and making straightforward tweaks to existing copy, but at some point, your client asks you to do something you know is a bad idea.
Sometimes it’s because your client thinks she is an expert in not only her own business, but yours as well. Sometimes it’s because she’s trying to help but is simply misinformed or has information that’s out of date.
Either way, you know your ideas are going to be the more effective, but you don’t want to risk offending or angering your client by being rude about it.
Here are some tips on championing your own, superior ideas while making your client feel respected, comfortable, and enthusiastic:
If the idea’s a turkey
When the client’s idea is something that clearly won’t work but she is pushing you hard to do it anyway, vent to a disinterested third party before you address it with a client. This way you get to say all the snarky, insulting things you want, and get them out of your system so you can collect yourself before you ruin an otherwise perfectly good client relationship.
One funny example I can share with you is when a former client of mine really, really wanted to publish almost a dozen pages on his website that would feature “articles” brimming with relevant keywords.
He had no intention of publishing content that was well-written, useful, or necessarily relevant to his audience, and he didn’t even have plans to promote the content. He merely wanted to have the keywords all over the website so that, theoretically, the site’s Google ranking would rise.
Of course, anyone who’s read a little bit about Google’s Panda update knows that publishing low-quality content is pretty much worthless. It took me a few deep breaths not to yell about this particularly “fowl” idea.
Don’t be a lame duck
You may be just the hired help, but permitting a client to steamroll you even one time is dangerous because that will set a precedent for the client to do so all the time.
If you believe that the client’s idea will be detrimental to her business, steel yourself to say something. She hired you because she respects your expertise, so now is the time to show it off. Furthermore, you might be held responsible when things backfire down the road, so protect yourself by putting your reservations in writing.
Don’t be chicken either
You should be working on content that you’ll be proud to put in your portfolio, so don’t be afraid to stand up for it.
Your reputation as an effective copywriter could take a beating if you put out material that’s weak, not in keeping with best practices, or otherwise low quality. Don’t let a fear of upsetting your client deter you from raising the issue.
Show off your slugging percentage
Let’s say your client insists you use absolutely perfect schoolmarm grammar despite the fact that her target audience is unpretentious, regular people with average educations. You know that type of language will alienate prospects, so hit the books yourself.
Do your due diligence and provide your client with evidence from your own work with other clients showing how colloquial wording is more effective than flawless grammar.
Three strikes & you’re out
My rule of thumb for persuading a client to drop their bad ideas in favor of my superior ones is borrowed from baseball. You can argue – politely! – no more than three times for your ideas, but if you’re shot down all three times, you have to let it go. Either the client is too stubborn or you need to improve your persuasion tactics!
One last piece of advice: Always allow your clients to explain why they want you to implement their ideas because often the reasons they have can help you lead them to an understanding of why their ideas won’t work and which ones will.
When you know what their reasons are, you can come up with solutions to the problem rather than appear to be arguing for the sake of argument.
About the Author ~ Siân Killingsworth
Siân Killingsworth is a freelance copywriter, content curator, and social media manager. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she blogs about marketing for small business at www.sianessa.com and spends a lot of time studying various social media channels to guide her clients with best, freshest marketing practices. When Siân isn’t writing, she enjoys discovering elegant wine bars, traveling, and working on her lifelong quest for the perfect prawn burrito. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, or email her at siankillingsworth@gmail.com.
photo thanks to allygirl520 (allison)
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Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,Tips and techniques,Working with clients
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Should you dive or wade into a freelance copywriting business?
March 11, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
Last week, Heather discussed some questions you need to ask yourself if you think that you want to launch a freelance copywriting business. Today, she addresses how to make the leap!
Typically, freelance copywriters start up their businesses in one of two ways – by just taking the plunge, or by slowing easing into their new enterprise.
Here, Heather addresses the pros and cons of each approach. Tune in to learn which way makes the most sense for you!
The first way: Take the plunge
The first way that people will approach starting up their business is to just take the plunge: they quit their job one day then start their freelance copywriting business the next.
This is the big fantasy about making your new freelance copywriting lifestyle happen. I did this with my business. I was working for a company and I quit with $100 in my pocket.
I started my freelance SEO copywriting business a couple weeks later. For me, taking the plunge was successful – but I was also younger, had fewer responsibilities, and there was a lot more going on at the time to where it stacked the odds in my favor.
For you, it may be a completely different scenario.
So first let’s consider the pros and cons of diving right in…
Pros:
- You can focus 100% on building your business.
You don’t need to worry about having one foot in working at a “real job” and one foot in your business. You can focus.
Cons:
(And these are pretty heavy duty cons…)
- You probably won’t have a stable income for awhile.
Although you will read ads that claim you’ll start making $20,000 in your first month, this is not a typical experience.
In a lot of cases, people are losing money for a few month before they make a profit, because on top of losing your steady paycheck…
- You will have expenses.
You may need to buy a new computer, you will need a website, you’ll need to contact an attorney, get business cards – all of those things that cost money that were covered in the last video.
- It will take time to build your brand (unless you are already established.)
Just because you’re new on the market doesn’t mean that everyone will be thinking “Oooo! I must work with him or her!” It takes some time…and…
This can be highly risky if you don’t have a financial safety net.
If you went through the questions to ask yourself last week (on planning for a successful launch), and thought “Okay, I’ve got money in the bank and I can ride on this for awhile” – cool!
But if you’re already feeling pretty tight, taking the plunge may not be the best way to start off. Instead, you might want to…
The second way: Have a “real job” and freelance in your free time
As with diving right in, here are some pros and cons of wading into launching your business.
Pros:
- You have a stable income while you build your business.
And that is wonderful! So even if your freelancing income goes up and down, you know that you’re getting a paycheck every couple of weeks.
- You can build your business gradually and with less stress.
One of the hardest ways to build your business is when you are scared to death that you’re going to be living under the bridge in a couple of months because you don’t have money to live.
So keeping your “real job” eliminates the stress of financial uncertainty and makes it easier for you because it is…
- Much less risky.
Now, a look at the cons…
Cons:
- You will work long hours.
You’ll be working at your “real job” during the day, only to come home and handle client projects at night.
- It may be hard to communicate with clients.
There may be some clients that you won’t be able to work with because they’ll need to meet with you during your “real job” work hours.
And finally…
- Some employers will not let you freelance.
This is something you’ll definitely want to ascertain, especially if you’re already writing content for your employer.
Although it may be tempting to be sneaky and freelance on the side, figuring no one will find out, and it’s in violation of company policy…well, you could be fired and that’ not a scenario you want!
Ultimately, the option you choose is up to you.
You need to evaluate how much risk you can take, how much money you have in the bank, and how long it’s realistically going to take you to get up and running before you actually start generating the income you need.
Thanks for joining me! As always, if you have a question or comment about this video post – or if you just want to reach out and say hi – I’d love to hear from you! You can email me at heather@seocopywriting.com, or find me on Twitter @heatherlloyd.
image thanks to cliff1066™ (Cliff)
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Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,Tips and techniques
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