What Google’s authorship markup means for SEO
Back in June of 2011 Google announced their support for authorship markup.
The initial impact of this markup was that Google would modify the appearance of the search results to show a picture of the author, as shown in this example search result:
To make this work, you need to have a Google Plus profile, and then you need to properly tag the pages of your site to claim authorship of your articles. You can see a definitive guide to setting up rel author here, and the interview I did with with Google’s Sagar Kamdar on rel author here.
In today’s post, I am going to focus on one main point:
Why Authorship Will Become a Ranking Signal
I will give you 6 reasons, starting with 2 “socially” oriented reasons, followed by 4 more targeted reasons:
1. Because people relate to people
Interacting with corporate behemoths just does not have a very personal feel to it. People like relating to people. Once someone begins publishing content they begin to reveal bits and pieces of who they are, and other people can relate.
Tracking these interactions (more on this below) can provide a strong indication of how much authority a person has.
The search engines want to figure out what set of SERPs can provide the best result for users, and the existence of these interactive relationships is a strong leading indicator of a satisfactory result.
2. Because it is no accident that the word “author” is a subset of the word “authority”
People who write presumably know something. At least they think they do. If they don’t the web will clearly send signals that their stuff stinks. At the very least, the people who have something valuable to say are going to draw a lot of extra attention.
3. Because there is a ton of great data for measurement
Google has access to a lot of information on each author with a profile. Here are the most obvious ones:
- Comments on the posts
- Shares of the post
- Tweets the post receives
- +1s the post receives
- Likes the post gets
Google could measure the authority of the people taking these actions as well. Have your article shared by a bunch of known authorities in your space? Great stuff!
These are the simple signals. There are more sophisticated signals they can look at as well. We already know that Google is tracking how long people spend on your site and having that impact your authorship results is something I discuss in point 6 of my recent post at Search Engine Watch: SEO Revelations for 2013.
4. Because an author will show their stripes
You may have a small-ish blog that you are trying to build up. Think about the implications to Google if you manage to get yourself a guest posting gig on a major site, such as the New York Times or the Huffington Post. Think that might convey some authority to your blog?
On the other side of the coin, think about what happens if you write a few articles on very high quality sites, Google then shows your blog more highly in the results, you get lots of traffic, and no one interacts with it.
That would be an uh-oh.
The music world is filled with one hit wonders, and so it is with writers. The most authoritative writers keep delivering time after time. Not everything has to be a hit, no one does that, but repeat hits over time would be a great thing.
5. Because you can see Google investing heavily in it
As I showed above, basic markup showing your picture next to your articles is a great thing. A quick search on rel author CTR shows articles claiming an increase in the CTR (click through rate) on their articles ranging from 30% to 484%!
Part of Google’s investment in the concept has them looking to track authorship even if you don’t use rel=author tagging.
Here is an example of where they found my author name on a page and attributed an article to me.
The irony of this is that the post has rel=author markup on it, attributing it to Stephan Spencer. However, Google saw my name further down in the attribution for the article, and used that to decide that I wrote the post.
Google has since fixed this problem, so the article now shows the article properly tagged:
Even though they fixed it, the point is that they are looking to determine authorship of content with or without the markup.
6. Because Matt Cutts already hinted it will
Not with me on this yet? Let’s see what Matt Cutts said in October:
“…over time, as we start to learn more about who the high quality authors are, you could imagine that starting to affect rankings.”
Note the focus on rankings benefits for “high quality authors”. The main trick that Google will have to come up with is a way to adjust for the fact that many people who are high quality authors will not use the rel=author markup.
They also can’t give you a bonus simply because you use the markup. If you use it, and you write crap, I would bet that it will hurt you. And, as I noted above, I believe that they will continue to try and determine authorship with or without the markup in place.
3 take aways for SEO content marketers
I don’t think that authorship will become a dominant signal, but I do see it bringing significant benefits to those who have a strong trail of articles and posts that are well received on the web.
If you are considering content marketing as part of your promotional mix, make sure you do three things:
1. Strive for the highest possible quality content. Make sure you track and measure user interaction to help you see what works and what doesn’t, and adjust your content plan accordingly.
2. Post great stuff on your site, and find other very high quality sites for posting your articles as well.
3. Use proper rel=author markup to make it easier for Google to know where your content is showing up!
As a bonus, consider getting high authority authors to contribute content to your site too. That association with you would help as well!
Eric Enge is the CEO and founder of Stone Temple Consulting. Eric publishes regular columns at Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Land, and the Stone Temple blog. Eric is also co-author of “The Art of SEO” along with Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin, and Jessie Stricchiola.
You can follow Eric on Twitter and Google+.
photo thanks to 85photo
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5 copywriting blind spots that can cost you sales
January 31, 2013 • written by Heather Lloyd-Martin
Beware the copywriting blind spot!
Did you know that a typo could cause a prospect to go from, “Wow, I need to hire this person” to “Never mind…”
A copywriter I know just faced this situation. Her site is well written, she is incredibly experienced and has great testimonials. But there was one, highly unfortunate typo on her services page.
When I talked to the prospect he said, “If the copywriter can’t get her services page right, how can I trust her to write my sales pages?” Hiring the copywriter – heck, even talking to her – was a no-go.
Obviously, the typo was in the copywriter’s blind spot – and it cost her at least one customer.
This situation got me thinking about all the other “blind spots” that turn away prospective business. For instance:
- A stale, outdated blog that hasn’t been updated for months (or, in some cases, years.)
Is your sporadic blog publication schedule messing with your site traffic? According to a MarketingProfs post by Christian Gulliksen, ”If your publication schedule gets sloppy and [readers] don’t see new content when they expect it, they’ll simply stop visiting.” If part of your blog’s purpose is to soft-sell products and services, you’re missing out on some huge marketing opportunities.
How can you fix this? Either make blogging more manageable by cutting down on the number of weekly posts, or hire out the content creation. It’s true that some companies may not benefit from a blog (gasp!). Just be very sure your company fits into this description before you decide to stop blogging – and figure out another (sustainable) way to drive traffic and engagement.
- Poorly-written content.
If I see a page that’s obviously overoptimized – or it looks like a fifth grader wrote the content – I won’t work with the company. My reasoning? Why should I expect good service from a company that cares so little about their readers/prospects? You may say, “But Heather. Content is what you do. Aren’t you being a little harsh?” Nope, not at all. Think about it – when’s the last time you purchased from a spammy-looking site? Yeah. I thought so…
Is this your copywriting blind spot? Fix the content. Immediately. Yes, it will cost money – but you will make that money back (and more) in increased conversions. Do it. Do it now.
- A particularly bad content mullet.
There’s nothing that screams, “Hey, we’re not on the ball” than a site (or even just a page) with outdated information. I’m guilty of this one myself. I neglected to update a date for my next local SEO copywriting training. I got a message from a prospect calling me out on it – and then I never heard from them again. Oops. I blame my content mullet for the lost sale.
If you’re “too close” to your site, have someone comb through your pages and list any content mullets. This could be someone who works with you, or you could hire a consultant to help (typically a smarter move – a consultant can often bring up solutions you may not have considered.) Chances are, you’ll have quite a few mullets to fix.
- Posting your services rates online.
I know that some folks may disagree with me, but posting your service rates may be costing you sales. Why? Prospects are looking for reasons NOT to work with you. If they think you’re too expensive (or sometimes, too inexpensive,) they may not contact you – even if your prices are technically within their budget.
If people are hitting your “rates” page and never contacting you, consider trying a different method. Your price list could list a per-service range rather than a set price. You could add more (or different) testimonials to your rates page. Or, you could delete your rates and see what happens. You may find that it’s easier to land clients when you can explain your value via email or the phone.
- Auto responders that are outdated and/or full of boo boos.
When’s the last time you checked your auto responder content for format errors, typos or general weirdness? The scary thing is, those “set it and forget it” marketing pieces can go out to hundreds – even thousands – of qualified prospects. If they don’t look top-notch and have obvious errors, it will reflect poorly on your company.
Worried about your marketing materials? Have a team member sign up for your auto responders and check for errors. Alternatively, you could hire a copywriter to do the same thing – and she could punch up the content at the same time. This way, you’re guaranteed that everything is correct, professional and will convert like crazy.
And “converting like crazy” is definitely the name of the game.
Wondering if your site is sporting a content mullet? Wondering how to make your content better for Google and your readers? I can help – and for much less money than you’d expect. Check out my SEO Content Review for more information.
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SEO content marketing roundup, week ending January 30th
January 30, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
Content Marketing
Mauro D’Andrea posts “101 Experts Share Their Tips for Online Success,” segmented by marketing category, at Blog Growth.
Lee Odden lists 50 “Top UK Online Marketing Influencers & Bloggers in 2013” at Top Rank.
Isla McKetta posts “The Viral Video Manifesto: How to Make Content Shareable” at Portent.
Patricia Redsicker posts “Findable Content Marketing: 3 Google Keyword Tool Tips” at Content Marketing Institute.
Bob Geller posts “Social Media Moment of Zen: 4 Non-intuitive Ways to Boost Content Marketing Effectiveness and Results in 2013” at WindMill Networking.
Carolyn Goodman posts “If Content Is King, Grammar Is Queen” at Target Marketing Magazine.
Bryan Eisenberg talks marketing ROI with “Why You Won’t Crush It This Year!” at ClickZ.
Zach Bulygo posts “How to Keep Email Marketing Manageable” at KISSmetrics.
Citing a study by ExactTarget, Matt Kapko posts “Marketers, Consumers Favor Email Over Social Media [Report]” at Search Engine Watch.
Marketing Sherpa’s weekly research chart looks at the “Top mobile marketing challenges.”
Citing Marketing Sherpa’s Mobile Marketing Benchmark Report, Shelly Kramer posts “Mobile Marketing: 50 Percent of Marketers Have No Idea” at V3 Integrated Marketing.
Heidi Cohen posts “How Social Media and Mobile Change Pricing Strategies.”
Heather Lloyd-Martin tackles content creation, client relations, and pricing strategy with “Discount your copywriting rates? No way! Try this instead.” and via video with “Promises, promises: the copywriting client carrot & stick(y) situation” at SEO Copywriting.
Continuing the client relations theme, Sian Killingsworth posts “How to fire a writing client: it ain’t me, babe” at SEO Copywriting.
Events:
SEO & Search
Neil Patel posts “The Advanced Guide to SEO” at Quicksprout.
Alistair Dent posts “How to Use Google Analytics Advanced Segments” at Search Engine Watch.
Eric Ward plays SEO psychiatrist with “The Link Shrink Is In: 3 Crazy Linking Assumptions” at Search Engine Land.
In a “mozinar” supplemental Q & A post, Justin Taylor answers questions about SEO and web design with “Designing for SEO” at SEOmoz.
Nathan Safran discusses “Competitive Analysis: How to Become an SEO Hero in 4 Steps” at Search Engine Watch.
SkilledUp interviews Heather Lloyd-Martin about the art of SEO copywriting and more with “Direct from the Ultimate SEO Copywriter Herself (Part 1).”
Doc Sheldon discusses “Building Authority in 2013” at Level 343.
Lyena Solomon posts “How To Really Be Less Reliant On Google Search Traffic” at Search Engine People.
Like Solomon, Uri Bar-Joseph discusses diversification with “Google, I Think I Love You … So What Am I So Afraid Of?” at Search Engine Watch.
Rand Fishkin posts “How Unique Does Content Need to Be to Perform Well in Search Engines?” via SEOmoz’s Whiteboard Friday.
Events:
Social Media Marketing
“Twitter Mobile Video” headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.
More on Twitter’s Vine: Doug Antkowiak opines that “Twitter’s Vine App Looks Awesome” at Portent, and Nick Cicero reports “15 Brands already using Twitter’s New Vine App” at SocialFresh.
Andrew Lipsman reports “Facebook Vaults Ahead of Google Maps to Finish 2012 as #1 U.S. Mobile App” at comScore.
Citing a new report from Vizu, Matt McGee posts “64 Percent Of Digital Marketers Plan To Spend More On Social Ads In 2013” at Marketing Land.
Stephan Duggan looks at 2013 social media trends with “What’s Next? Better Engagement and a Marketplace Without Boundaries” at Social Media Today.
Jason Del Rey reports “YouTube Set to Introduce Paid Subscriptions This Spring” at AdAge | digital.
Jay Baer posts “Social Media Strategy in 8 Steps” at Convince & Convert.
Miranda Miller discusses content targeting with “Social Media Marketing Fatal Attraction: When Content Earns Your Brand the Wrong Type of Attention” at Top Rank.
Jordan Kasteler discusses “Why You Need To Treat Your Social Media Strategy Like Your Content Strategy” at Search Engine Land.
Ashley Zeckman posts “Make the Most of Your Social Media Interactions: 9 Tips” at Search Engine Watch.
Somini Sengupta discusses “How Facebook Taught Its Search Tool to Understand People” at the New York Times (NYTimes.com).
Sianessa Killingsworth posts “How To Be Found in Facebook’s Graph Search” at her small business marketing blog.
Events:
photo thanks to Milica Sekulic
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Promises, promises: the copywriting client carrot & stick(y) situation
January 28, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
(For those of you new to the series, you may want to check out her three preceding video posts: Niche copywriting for love & (more) money, Make your freelance copywriting pay – every time!, and How to handle writing revisions – without going insane!)
Today, Heather addresses a somewhat tricky situation that you will likely face many times throughout your freelance copywriting career, and that is: Should you provide a discount on your rates now, if the client promises “more work” later?
Tune in to learn how to handle this touchy scenario…
What the prospect says…
This situation can be really touchy, because you might have been talking to this person for awhile, you’re really excited about the gig, you work hard on your proposal, you turn it in, and you hear: “Yeah! We want to work with you, but…”
And those “buts” typically turn into statements like:
- We want to “try you out first” before giving you a lot of work.
- We need you to “work with us” this one time.
- We know we can push a lot of volume your way.
So here you’ve gotten all excited about the possibilities, and now you’re thinking “Aw geez, now what kind of discount am I supposed to give to get that future work?”
Then…
Suddenly, your brain starts working overtime
You focus on that “future work” statement and think:
“Wow, I could use a bunch of new work! This is exciting!”
And then the business side of your brain kicks in and you think:
“What if I don’t discount my rates? Will I be walking away from a super profitable freelance copywriting client?”
And then there’s always that little bit of:
“I wonder if this person is lying to me?”
(…and they’re just trying to get a discount this one time, and then I’m never going to hear from them again…?)
And sadly, that third scenario seems to be the one that happens more often than not.
So, here’s what I suggest you do in that situation…
Stay calm and carry on (with your normal copywriting rates.)
- Don’t get paid peanuts – hold to your rates.
- Unless the client is willing to commit to the additional work in writing - and you can offer them a volume discount – don’t do it.
Keep your copywriting rates as is – don’t get paid peanuts, and don’t discount your rates for a first-time client that you have absolutely NO history with whatsoever, and especially with no real guarantee of work!
Now what you can do to turn it around is suggest the client sign a monthly retainer agreement.
You can simply say: “Hey, if you expect that there’s going to be a lot of work later, then why don’t we sign a monthly retainer agreement, where I agree to create five pages or ten pages for you a month. Then I can provide a bulk discount, because I know that you’re going to be on a retainer and I know that you’re going to be pushing a lot of work my way.”
Now, if the client agrees to that, bonus! That might be something that you can work with. But if the client doesn’t feel right about signing a retainer contract with you, you might want to really consider if that “extra work later” is real – or just something that might happen.
For more discussion on this client payment conundrum, check out Heather’s latest post: “Discount your copywriting rates? No way! Try this instead.”
Thanks for tuning in! If you have any questions about this video, or suggestions for a “how to” topic, you can reach Heather at her email addy: heather@seocopywriting.com, or on Twitter @heatherlloyd.
photo thanks to discoodoni (Carmelia Fernando)
Want to learn more about how to start – and run – a profitable freelance copywriting business? Learn from 12 of the world’s leading experts: register for the Copywriting Business Boot Camp before classes start on February 11th!
Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,Tips and techniques,Working with clients
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SEO content marketing roundup, week ending January 23rd
January 23, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
In other Web-writing news, content marketers discuss blogging and branded content, SEO and search pro’s talk about link-building and initiatives by the other search engines, while the social media community says goodbye to LinkedIn’s “Answers.” Enjoy this week’s picks!
Content Marketing
Shane Snow posts “In the World of Branded Content, Original Always Wins” at AdAge (digital).
Joe Pulizzi discusses some interesting research findings in “A Consumer Content Marketing Conundrum on Brand Content” at Content Marketing Institute.
Jason Burby posts “Marketing’s New Mandate: Invitation vs. Interruption” at ClickZ.
Doug Kessler discusses “Why Marketers Need to Rise Above the Deluge of Crappy Content” at HubSpot.
Jessica Lee posts “When Your Audience Hates Your Content Marketing Plan” at Bruce Clay, Inc..
Mark Burgess posts “Lessons for Small Businesses from the Top Marketing Professors” at (AT&T) Networking Exchange.
eMarketer reports that “Dramatic increases in mobile shoppers and buyers predicted” with “More Shoppers Reach for Mobile to Browse, Buy.”
Marketing Sherpa’s weekly research chart measures “Customers interacting with mobile email messages.”
Shelly Kramer posts “Email Marketing: 6 Best Practices to Implement Today” at V3 Integrated Marketing.
Heidi Cohen discusses “Blogging ROI: 15 Ways Blogs Make Money” at her site.
Melissa Fach discusses “Using SlideShare for Research and Blog Posts” at Small Business Trends.
Mack Collier discusses “Creating Advanced Content and the Role of Deeper Discussions on Blogs.”
Margaret Pincus shares “10 Secrets of Professional Writers Every Blogger Should Know” at Jeff Bullas’s blog.
Pratik Dholakiya posts “The Ultimate Guide to Advanced Guest Blogging” at SEOmoz.
Brianne Shelley posts “How to Make Sure Your Website Passes the Dreaded Blink Test” at HubSpot.
Jason Konopinski posts “Pitching Journalists In An Age of Pageview Journalism” at Blogging PRWeb.
Events:
SEO & Search
Neil Patel discusses “The State of SEO: What’s Working Now” at Quicksprout.
Krista LaRiviere posts “SEO Buying & Selling Tricks that Create Unachievable SEO Results & Expectations” at gShiftLabs.
Greg Sterling posts “Google Revenues: $14.4 Billion In Q4, Over $50 Billion In 2012” at Marketing Land.
Meanwhile, Barry Schwartz reports on “Google Panda Update Version #24; 1.2% Of Search Queries Impacted” at Search Engine Land.
Gabriella Sannino shares an infographic outlining “The Complete History of Google Algorithms: 2003 – 2012” at Search News Central.
Kara Swisher posts “Searching for Relevance: Yahoo Aims to Be the ‘Google of Content’” at All Things D.
Matt McGee posts “SEO For Facebook Graph Search? Facebook Has Some Tips” at Search Engine Land.
McGee also discusses “What Local Search Looks Like in Facebook’s New Graph Search” at Small Business Search Marketing.
Kate Kaye posts “Q&A: 360i’s Kevin Geraghty on Facebook Search and a Lethal-Sounding Data Structure” at Ad Age (digital).
Julie Joyce discusses “Social Media Link Building” at Search Engine Watch.
Danny Sullivan shares his first try-out of Bing’s new tag feature with “Bing Tag Expands, Makes Pages Linked To Your Profile” at Search Engine Land.
Nick Bernard shares a truly interesting “instructographic” on email outreach for link building with “How to Write an Effective Email” at Portent.
Kate Morris discusses guest blogging outreach and link building with “Apply the Golden Rule to Guest Posting” at SEOmoz.
Laura Crest posts “Our favorite SEO copywriting guest posts: 12 from 2012” at SEO Copywriting.
Matt McGee discusses “The #1 Problem with Local Blogging & Local Content” at Small Business Search Marketing.
Chuck Price posts “Unnatural Links Recovery: Emerging from a Manual Penalty” at Search Engine Watch.
Trond Lyngbo asks “Are You Getting These SEO Fundamentals Right?” at Search Engine Land.
Gabriella Sannino shares “Insight into an International SEO Audit: Before the Work Begins” at Level 343.
David Harry posts “SEO Reporting: How Much is Too Much?” at Search Engine Watch.
Ian Lurie posts “5 Whopping Lies That Keep SEO At Status Quo” at Search Engine Land.
Heather Lloyd-Martin discusses “What print copywriters need to know about SEO copywriting” at SEO Copywriting.
Sean McGinnis discusses “Online Reputation Management in 6 Easy Steps” at V3 Integrated Marketing.
Eric Covino interviews Pushfire’s Sean Dolan with “Knowledge, Profit & Love: Sean Dolan of Pushfire on SEO” at SEOBook.
Events:
Social Media Marketing
“Facebook Graph Search” headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.
Doug Antkowiak posts “Who Should Care About Facebook Graph Search? (Hint: Everyone)” at Portent.
Larry Weintraub posts “Facebook SEO Comes to Life as Graph Search Launches” at Social Media Today.
Josh Wolford posts “Facebook Graph Search, Your Privacy, and What You Can Do” at WebProNews.
Ekaterina Walter posts “Facebook: Can It Keep Growing?” at Brian Solis’s blog.
Todd Wasserman posts “RIP LinkedIn Answers” at Mashable.
Kent Lewis shares “Six Alternatives to LinkedIn Questions & Answers” at Business 2 Community.
Jasmine Sandler discusses “What the 200 Million Milestone Means to LinkedIn Users” at Search Engine Watch.
Juliette Kopecky discusses relative B2B social networking mojo with “LinkedIn: Pages Vs. Groups” at Marketing Land.
Lee Odden posts “Scaling Social Media Selling – 7 Steps to Building Trust & Credibility” at Top Rank.
Mitch Joel discusses “Three New(ish) Trends in Digital Media” at Six Pixels of Separation’s TwistImage blog.
Jay Baer posts “The New Skill Every Social Media Marketer Must Possess” at Convince and Convert.
Gini Dietrich poses the question, “Is Social Business a Buzzword or is There More to it?” at Spin Sucks.
Brian Solis posts “Social media is not your saving grace: Experiences should first be defined and supported.”
Kristi Hines posts “Getting Started With the New Myspace: What Businesses Need to Know” at Social Media Examiner.
Dion Hinchcliffe posts “2013 predictions for enterprise social media” at ZDNet.
Events:
photo thanks to sherifer22
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Our favorite SEO copywriting guest posts: 12 from 2012
January 22, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
Some names you will recognize immediately, while others are newer talents in the SEO content marketing blogosphere. We are grateful for all of the guest bloggers who graced our pages last year, and would have loved to showcase everyone – but alas, that just wasn’t practical.
So here they are, again in no particular order: our readers’ 12 fave’s of 2012!
Nick Stamoulis advises you look at the big picture when gauging the success of your SEO strategy with “How can you tell if your SEO campaign is working?”
Our thanks to all of you talented folks for so generously sharing your insights with us, and a big thank you to our readers for making 2012 a most rewarding and memorable year!
photo thanks to Mrs Logic
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How to handle writing revisions – without going insane!
January 21, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
Writing revisions are an inevitable part of freelance copywriting – it’s something ALL of us face, from “newbies” to veterans with decades of experience. Typically, you can count on at least one revision of everything you write.
The key is to minimize those writing revisions and to make them as minor as possible so you don’t feel like you’re stuck with re-writing the entire page!
Tune in to learn how to do this, beginning with what a revision is versus what is “out of scope” of the original agreement with your client.
Revisions versus “out of scope.”
- A revision entails making minor edits to the content. The main structure of the page stays the same.
Revisions are quick tweaks to the content, as when the client asks that you change a word or switch up a sentence. They’re changes you’d make to the content that aren’t all that time-consuming.
- “Out of scope” is when the client changes his/her mind about the topic, tone or feel, or what should be included in the content.
Sometimes, however, a client will change her mind and ask that you change the topic, or the tone and feel of the content, and/or what should be included in the topic.
Those kinds of substantive changes are considered “out of scope”: you had an agreement with the client before you started writing and then the client essentially changed the agreement.
That is not a revision. That would be considered re-writing a page, at an additional page cost.
So this distinction is important to clarify with your client at the outset, before you start writing. The client needs to know that little tweaks are cool, and part of the process, but major overhauls will entail an additional charge.
What’s the best way to minimize revisions?
- Talk to the client before you start work and ask them a lot of questions.
Where a lot of revisions come into play is when the writer isn’t really clear about what the client wants, having failed to nail down the client for specifics. So when the client reads it and thinks “this isn’t right…” the writer is faced with a lot of extra work.
- It helps to send a follow-up email outlining the conversation, the article structure and main points to hit.
After that initial conversation with the client, it helps to send a follow-up email to reiterate: “This is what we talked about, this is the tone and feel, these are the sites that you like that you wanted to use as examples, these are the main points that we wanted in the content…is this correct? Please email me back and let me know.”
That way you have a paper trail showing what everyone agreed on and what you were going to write.
Having that paper trail can definitely help later if the client changes her mind and you have to gently remind her “…this is what we agreed on when we talked on the phone.”
Revision tips:
When you do have those writing revisions come back from a client – as virtually all of us do – here are some tips for dealing with them:
- Ask the client to provide specific feedback in writing.
The phone is helpful if you have any questions, but again, writing provides that paper trail.
Specific feedback means just that: if you get vague feedback like “we don’t like this,” that doesn’t help you improve the sentence or the paragraph or the page. You’ll want to dig in with the client to ask specifically WHY they don’t like something.
- If you get revisions from multiple people, ask your client for help.
Sometimes a page you’ve written will be reviewed by multiple people, each with their own idea of what needs to be changed. So when you get the page back from the client it’s all marked up, and you can’t tell what’s priority, what to change, what to keep…
In this scenario, you’ll want to go back to your point of contact and say, “I’m really not sure how to proceed with this. Can you go through the revisions and make sure they’re all applicable, this is something you want, and give me an updated document so I know how to move forward.”
That is definitely something to put back on the client.
Also, in your contract you’re going to want to:
- Limit the amount of revisions you’ll do at no cost.
Beware of saying that you’ll provide unlimited revisions – sometimes that can mean that the project is literally never done as you find yourself stuck in an endless loop of client revisions!
What a lot of freelance copywriters will do is stipulate “three revisions and then the page is considered final” or “two revisions and the page is done.” So go with whatever works best for your business model – but it is something you will want to be sure to include in your client contract.
You’ll also want to be sure to give your clients a head’s up that there is a limitation to your free revisions. That way, when they’re looking at a page, they know they only have a couple of times to change it before they’ll have to pay for revisions.
Thanks for tuning in – and please check back again next Monday for part 4 of the “how to start an SEO copywriting business” series, when Heather will discuss (more of) what you should include in your copywriting contract!
And as always, if you have a comment or question for Heather, or a suggestion for a topic you’d like to know more about, you can zip her an email via heather@seocopywriting.com, or reach her on Twitter via @heatherlloyd.
photo thanks to Suus Wansink
Coming February 11th: the Copywriting Business Boot Camp for freelance writers who want to learn how to build their business and make more money (without working so darn hard)!
Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,Tips and techniques
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SEO content marketing roundup, week ending January 16th
January 16, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
Among these web gems: SEO and search marketers discuss link-building and analytics in 2013, social media marketers get animated about Facebook’s new graph search, while content marketers talk mobile marketing and imminent industry changes. Enjoy this week’s picks!
Content Marketing
Lauren Litwinka shares her most notable expert interviews of the previous year with “Inside The Minds Of 16 Online Marketing Masters: Best Interviews of 2012” at aimClear.
Joe Pulizzi discusses “3 Critical Content Marketing Trends that Signal Big Industry Changes Ahead” at Content Marketing Institute.
Lee Odden posts “6 Essential Questions & Answers About Content Marketing for 2013” at Top Rank.
Joe Chernov posts “How to Avoid ‘False Choices’ in Content Marketing” at MarketingProfs.
Seth Godin posts “Understanding idea adoption (you’re not a slot, you choose a slot).”
Heather Lloyd-Martin posts “Ignore the experts and be a copywriting rebel” at SEO Copywriting.
Paul Jun shares “Three Basic Elements of Content that Spreads” at Copyblogger.
Carson Ward discusses “Why Content Goes Viral: the Theory and Proof” at SEOmoz.
Lee Odden shares “War of Words: Myth-Busting Social Media, SEO & Content Marketing” (from his NMX presentation) via Top Rank on Slideshare.
Steven Van Belleghem posts “How to Write a ‘Content Conversion’ Plan?” at Business 2 Community.
Nicholas Dureault shares an extensive article on essential internet marketing techniques with “Content Marketing for SEO –Very Awesome Content Marketing Cheat Sheet” at Social Media Today.
Eric Enge shares his interview with the Mobile Sales Director at comScore, “Mobile Integration with comScore’s Diran Hafiz” at Stone Temple Consulting.
Marketing Sherpa’s weekly research chart depicts the “Engagement rate of local mobile marketing tactics.”
Aaron Strout posts “What’s Ahead For Mobile Marketing In 2013” at Marketing Land.
Marty Weintraub posts “Inbound PR: Pulling Media Mind Share With Content & Big Data” at aimClear.
With his trademark humor, Ian Lurie posts “Stupiphanis: Lessons for leaders” at Portent.
For the copywriter, Heather Lloyd-Martin discusses how to “Make your freelance copywriting pay – every time!” at SEO Copywriting.
Events:
SEO & Search
Google Analytics’ Director of Engineering, Paul Muret, posts “Insights for 2013: Understanding Your Customers & The Full Value of Digital.”
Laura Crest posts “2012’s top 10 SEO expert interviews” at SEO Copywriting.
Eric Enge shares his “SEO Revelations for 2013” at Search Engine Watch.
Nominations for “Top SEO Women of the Year Award – 2013” are being accepted at Level 343.
Michael Loban posts “10 Google Analytics Resolutions for 2013” at the Google Analytics blog.
Marcela De Vivo posts “5 Ways to Fulfill Your Traffic Goals in 2013 Using Data from Google Analytics” at Search Engine Journal.
Dave Rohrer shares “53 Alternatives to Google Analytics” at 312 digital.
Chris Crum ponders “What Will Be Google’s Panda/Penguin For 2013?” at WebProNews.
Eric Ward discusses “Where Link Building is Heading in 2013” at Search Engine Watch.
Don’t fear the Penguin needlessly: Danny Sullivan explains “Why Asking StumbleUpon To Remove Your Links Is Dumb” at Search Engine Land.
Simon Penson posts “Semantic Web and Link Building without Links > The Future for SEO?” at SEOmoz.
Bharati Ahuja posts “If Content Is King Then Context Is Queen And The Trust Factor Is The Royal Crown” at WebPro Technologies.
What is a post-Penguin SEO professional? Nathan Safran discusses “The New SEO Professional: Master Of Both Left & Right Brain” at Search Engine Land.
Jayson DeMers shares his video interview (and transcript) with Neil Patel, “SEO Link Building for 2013…” at Search Engine Watch.
Miranda Miller reports on Raven Internet Marketing Tools’ Alison Groves’ NMX presentation with “Link Building for Beginners in 3 Simple Steps” at Top Rank.
Nick Stamoulis posts “When Is (a) Link Worth More Than a Link?” at Search Engine Guide.
Greg Habermann posts “Secrets to Writing Engaging Titles & Content for SEO” at Search Engine Watch.
AJ Kohn discusses “New Ways To Track Keyword Rank” at Blind Five Year Old.
Jennifer Horowitz posts “Site Structure: Don’t Neglect It” at Level 343.
Randy Krum posts his “Interview with Eric Enge about Infographics in an SEO Strategy” at InfoNewt.
Carrie Hill speaks geek with “Analytics Matched Search Queries Vs. AdWords Keyword Details Reports” at Search Engine Land.
Lisa Buyer posts “Hot #Instagram Analytic Tools to Optimize Brand PR Power” at Search Engine Watch.
Neil Patel shares his entrepreneurial story with “How I Built a 7 Figure SEO Agency” at Quicksprout.
Events:
Social Media Marketing
After much anticipation…Corey Eridon reports “Facebook Announces New Social Search Called ‘Graph Search’” at HubSpot.
Mashable has several posts about Facebook’s new search feature, including Lance Ulanoff’s “Facebook Graph Search Could Be Its Greatest Innovation,” and Alex Fitzpatrick’s “What Facebook’s New Graph Search Means for Your Privacy.”
Citing the LinkedIn Blog, Lauren Granger posts “LinkedIn’s growth continues: it’s hit the 200 million member mark” at Memeburn.
Lindsay Schleisman posts “LinkedIn Groups: Marketer’s Secret For Targeting Media Roles” at aimClear.
Stacey Acevero posts “Social Media in the New Year – Key Trends to Embrace and Ignore” at Blogging PR Web.
Courtney Hunt discusses the outlook for social media tech in 2013 with “Social and Digital Tech Trends: 9 Take-Aways for YOU” at Social Media Today.
Human social media analysis: the SitePro News’ staff writers report “Human Element Keeps Twitter Relevant 24-7.”
Matt McGee reports that “Digg Says It’s Growing, Starting To Monetize” at Marketing Land.
“Top 10 Social Media Blog Finalists” headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.
Brian Solis posts “From the Big Screen to the Little Screen: The evolving relationship between TV and search.”
Noting increasingly shorter attention spans, Jeff Bullas posts “5 Types of Snack Size Content for Social Media Marketing Worth Considering” at his blog.
Sharon Hurley Hall posts “3 Dashboard Tools That Measure Social Media Engagement” at Crazy Egg.
Brian Honigman discusses “How Location-Based Social Networks Are Changing the Game for Businesses” at Entrepreneur.
Mack Collier posts “How to Think Like Zuck: a Q&A With Ekaterina Walter,” discussing her newly-released book.
Ekatrerina Walter posts “4 Businesses Leveraging Storytelling With Images” at Social Media Examiner.
The psychology of social sharing: Bas Van Den Beld posts “Sharing Makes us Feel Good, a Monkey Brain Shows Us” at State of Search.
Timothy Carter discusses “Why You Suck At Social Media Networking” at Search Engine Journal.
Events:
photo thanks to Dan Zen
Is your site’s content not pulling traffic? Are your conversions suffering? Contact me for an SEO Content Review – a low-cost way to diagnose your SEO copy problems!
Filed under SEO Content marketing,Tips and techniques
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Ignore the experts and be a copywriting rebel
January 10, 2013 • written by Heather Lloyd-Martin
Want to be a copywriting rebel?
Always include a keyphrase in the headline.
Always include bullet points.
“How-to” or “list” posts are sexy and always get read.
Feeling like your copywriting career is dictated by too many rules?
Well, this is your permission to break them. Assuming you’re experienced enough to know how.
Most copywriters start their careers by closely following the copywriting rules. They devour the books by Bob Bly, read sources like Copyblogger – maybe even read this blog – and pattern their writing style accordingly.
Heck, I did the same thing. My two biggest writing influences are Stephen King and Tom Robbins. For years, you could see those influences peeking out in my Web copy (which made for some strange – yet effective – sales pages.) I dotted every “i” and crossed every “t.” I was a good girl copywriter – and good girls follow the rules.
And then I became a rebel.
I started doing things you weren’t “supposed” to do (like starting a sentence with “and.”) I experimented with styles, flow and voice. My writing style became less King/Robbins and more Heather.
You know what? It worked. My writing flowed effortlessly. The results were solid. The conversions were clicking. I was even happier with my writing – it felt fresher, more original, and more interesting.
I went from being a rules-following good girl into a copywriting rebel.
You can do the same thing.
How to find your voice and change your copywriting career
First, you have to know the rules to break the rules. That means hours of study, and even more hours dedicated to writing, testing, and working “in the trenches.” You can’t get around this. No, you won’t get to this point in a few months – this will take years. It’s OK. It’s part of your copywriting career growth.
Then, you have to understand your art enough to know the difference between what you can break, and what rules you should always uphold.
For instance, keyphrase-stuffing will never be an interesting way to grab the reader’s attention – or get in Google’s good graces. It’s just bad. Writing a long-form Web page without paragraph breaks, subheadlines or white space isn’t “trendy” – it will make your readers’ eyes bleed.
Yes, you’ll want to experiment and test. Sometimes, your new way of doing things will kick ass. Sometimes, you will fail. This is normal. Embrace the process. If you want your writing to stand out from the crowd, that means that you’ll be shedding a little blood along the way.
Eventually, something magical happens. You will find your voice – not the voice of your mentor, your high school English teacher or your favorite author. It will be YOUR voice. And that’s a wonderful thing.
So, learn from the copywriting experts – and then blaze your own career path. Listen to their advice, evaluate it (is this necessary, or just a suggestion) and put your own stamp on the process.
Or in the words of Alastaire Allday ”Forget everything you’ve heard. No, seriously. You’ll learn a lot more by doing than by listening. Make your own mistakes. Learn from them.”
What great advice.
Thanks to Alastaire’s post for today’s blogging inspiration.
Ready to learn the SEO copywriting rules and advance your career? Check out the SEO Copywriting Certification training for freelance and in-house copywriters.
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SEO content marketing roundup, week ending January 9th
January 9, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
These and other provocative discussions buzz up the Web in the content and social media marketing, SEO and search blogospheres. And, of course, internet marketing highlights from 2012 and forecasts for 2013 continue to stream in. All told, this roundup is chock full of notable news and yummy links – enjoy!
Content Marketing
Hugo Guzman posts the astute “Predicting the digital marketing landscape in 2013 and beyond” at his site.
Lee Odden of TopRank and New Media Expo (NMX) folks post a 48-slide visual eBook, “The New Media Rat Pack: 52 Tips on Content & Community From the Top New Media Experts,” on Slideshare.
Heather Lloyd-Martin begins her video blog series on how to start a freelance copywriting business with “Niche copywriting for love and (more) money” at SEO Copywriting.
Tim Ash discusses “6 Web Design Trends That (I Hope) Will Disappear in 2013” at ClickZ.
Heidi Cohen posts “7 Content Formats Every Marketer Needs in 2013” at her blog.
Kristi Hines compiles “The Top 50 KISSmetrics Posts of 2012” at the Kiss Metrics blog.
Clare McDermott posts “Inside An Explosive Content Marketing White Paper Strategy” at Content Marketing Institute.
Angela Stringfellow posts “[How To] Build a Successful Editorial Calendar for Your Blog” at Unbounce.
Gabriella Sannino posts “How To Get Great Blogging Ideas From Social Media” at Level 343.
Jessica Lee discusses “3 Ways to Align Your Blog Content with Your Target Audience” at Bruce Clay, Inc.
Gab Goldenberg discusses “Blog Design for ROI Rule #6: KISS Headers, Navigation, and Sidebars” at ProBlogger.
Bryan Eisenberg posts “Google Plus Needs to Become Content Marketing Friendly” at his site.
Stacey Acevero discusses the benefits of direct mail with “The Lost Art of Direct Mailing” at Blogging PRWeb.
Marketing Sherpa posts an archived 2012 Email Summit video featuring 5 industry experts brainstorming what email marketing will look this year with “In the Year 2013: Email marketing technologies and tactics of the near future.”
Debbie Mahler posts the contrary “Ready For A Mobile Website In 2013? You Might Want To Wait” at SavvyMarketers.
Events:
SEO & Search
Danny Sullivan discusses “Why People Hate SEO” at Marketing Land.
Erin Griffith talks search & SERPs with “How Google Author Rank could change content marketing…and journalism” at PandoDaily.
Ken Lyons posts “How to Craft Phenomenal SEO Landing Pages That Rank & Convert” at Search Engine Watch.
Greg Sterling posts “Google, Mobile Search And The Paradox Of Competition” at Search Engine Land.
Rand Fishkin shares his “10 Predictions for Inbound Marketing in 2013” at SEOmoz.
Jill Whalen shares her best content of the previous year with “My 7 Most Popular 2012 SEO Articles” at High Rankings Advisor.
ShortyMedia’s Joshua Hardwick discusses small business video content SEO with “Got video #SEO? 4 easy optimization tips” at SEO Copywriting.
Jaelithe Guillette posts a how-to on making inbound marketing videos without a camera of elaborate software with “Be a Freaking Video Hero, Sans Camera” at Portent.
Nick Stamoulis discusses “How to Improve Your SERP Presence” at SEO Aware.
Aaron Wall takes aim – and fires – at Google with “Google: ‘As We Say, NOT As We Do” at SEOBook.
Events:
Social Media Marketing
Nielsen has released its “Social Media Report 2012” at its blog site.
John Koetsier posts “Christmas 2012 shopping: paper catalogs whipped Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, and Amazon is the new Google”at VentureBeat.
Morgan J. Arnold posts “The Best Brands on Facebook in 2012” at Social Media Today.
Miranda Miller reports from the New Media Expo in Vegas with “Social Influence and Why Brands Need to Care #NMX” at TopRank.
Brian Solis discusses “How Social Media is Sparking Organizational Transformation” at his blog.
Rebecca Murtagh posts “5 Steps to Calculate Social Media ROI Using Google Analytics” at Search Engine Watch.
Mack Collier discusses “The Biggest Mistake Companies Make When Engaging Their Fans Via Social Media” at his blog.
David Llorens posts “Plus-One This: Proof That Google Plus Will Prevail” at Fast Company.
Amir Efrati declares “There’s No Avoiding Google+” at The Wall Street Journal (Online)
Mark Traphagen discusses “6 Ways Brands Can Leverage Google Plus Communities” at Social Fresh.
The Level 343 Team posts “Google Plus Communities: More Uses Than You Might Imagine.”
Shelly Kramer posts “Who Owns Social: Everyone. Period.” at V3 Integrated Marketing.
Events:
photo thanks to Colin_K (Colin Kinner)
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