Website owner or writer: which should optimize content?
In an ideal world, the answer is both. If a writer and a site editor can work together to make sure a piece of content is optimized for Google as well as readers, then you have double the chance that it will actually get done correctly.
Unfortunately, there are amazing editors and amazing writers who simply don’t have a grasp on SEO. Online optimization is something that you really have to study and read about in order to understand, and those just starting might not have that background knowledge.
This is where the blame game starts. If a great piece of content isn’t doing well, you have to ask yourself: was it my job to help optimize that for Google and readers?
Where the writer can help optimize content best
The truth is that there are different aspects of SEO that should be handled by different people who deal with a piece of content. In a few cases, this is the writer more so than the editor. A few of these methods include:
- Social Media Sharing. This is just one point that has to be put on both lists. Although a writer might not have the following that a company does, this doesn’t mean that a writer shouldn’t share content to readers. Any promotion helps, and the more a writer promotes his/her content the better for not only the company, but his/her personal brand.
- Keyphrase Strategy. Google only recommends you use a keyword where you are trying to rank in 1-2 percent of the article. Because writers are composing the article, it’s easier for them to be conscious of the keyword and make it sound natural. The keyword that I, the writer, am trying to focus on in this article is “optimize content.”
- Link Building/PageRank. Writers need to understand the importance of link building and include relevant links within the text of the article. Writers know the content better than website owners or editors, so it is the job of the writer to understand what links are important and beneficial for the content.
If you’re a writer and you really don’t know anything about SEO, don’t sweat it. The above is more-or-less all that you need to know! It helps to gain a background understanding of SEO to help, but until then your SEO responsibilities are some that you can, well, fake. Your number one job is to write great content, and your number two job is to do a couple of the things discussed above whether you understand them or not.
Where the website owner can help optimize content best
Website owners often don’t have as much trouble as writers because they can hire someone to help, but their responsibilities are usually more involved. If you can’t hire an SEO agency who really understands optimizing content, there are a few things that your website team needs to make sure it takes care of (and doesn’t put in the hands of a writer):
- Keyword Research. A company is the one who should complete keyword research and then hand over those keywords to the writer. Keyword research involves analyze a lot of data and understanding the industry and the different competition. A writer should focus more on the creative, and the web editor needs to focus on the analytical.
- Social Media Sharing. And here it is again. The website must promote all content (even guest posting content). With the increased importance of Google+, how often your content gets shared can make a difference in your Google ranking.
- SEO Plugin Information. When it comes time to actually upload an article, consider putting this in the hands of the content editor. Many websites allow writers to upload his/her own content, but not all writers completely understand the software. Whether you’re uploading the content or the writer is, it should be the job of the site owner or editor to review and double check that your SEO plugin is giving you a solid score.
It is a bit more important for a web editor to really understand optimization in case something doesn’t go as planned. You can always re-optimize a piece of content (optimize for a different keyword, improve aspects such as keyword placement, etc.), so it’s important to continually analyze click-through rates and rankings so you know what needs to be done.
Other people involved in optimizing content
As most could have suspected, there are more hands involved in optimizing content (or that could be involved) than simply just the writer and the editor. A few other positions include:
- Website owner/CEO of the company (whether he/she has a background in SEO or not).
- The entire website team can help share content and read for errors/confusion.
- Realize that bloggers sometimes differ from writers.
- PR professionals and agency workers.
Do you think there are any SEO considerations that should be put into one of the two categories? Is there another third-party that you have found helped you optimize content? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
About the Author ~ Amanda DiSilvestro
Amanda gives small business and entrepreneurs SEO advice ranging from content optimization to recovering from algorithm updates. She writes for HigherVisibility, a nationally recognized SEO firm that offers national and local SEO service to a wide range of companies across the country. You can find Amanda on LinkedIn, Google+, and Twitter @ADiSilvestro.
image thanks to SEOPlanter
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Write a (good) blog post in 1 hour – here’s how!
February 14, 2013 • written by Heather Lloyd-Martin
Sounds like it’s time for a quickie (blog post, that is!)
A quickie blog post is still high quality, informative and fun to read. The difference is, you’re writing your blog post fast and furious (and in one hour or less.).
Is it the ideal way to write? No. In a perfect world, you have hours to write, revise, and tweak. However, there are those times when carving out 60 minutes is the best you can do – and you need to write something engaging, intelligent and useful.
Here are some blog writing tips to consider:
- Write about something you enjoy. If you love your topic, it’s easier to write better blog posts – faster. I write motivational posts when time gets tight. They are fun to write, they come straight from the heart – and my fingers tend to fly over the computer keys.
- Narrow down your topic. This is not the time to write a highly-detailed 1,500 word post. Figure that you have between 300-500 words to work with – so choose your topic accordingly. Mini how-to articles or blog posts listing helpful tips are typically good for a blog post quickie.
- Gather everything you need in one place. Searching your desk for paperwork, surfing for source material and checking email wastes time you don’t have. Gather everything you’ll need to write your blog post before you start writing. This step alone will save you tons of time.
- Turn off distractions. There is nothing that will will break your flow faster than an email notification, a text coming through, or the phone ringing. Turn everything off while you write. If you have to, close down email and any browser tabs you don’t need. (I forgot to close my browser tabs, and Facebook is now notifying me that I have two messages. It’s taking me every ounce of willpower I have not to check them!)
- Spend 25 minutes (or so) writing your first draft. Get everything you can out on paper (or on the screen.) Don’t worry about editing. Don’t worry about tweaking that one sentence that’s not quite right. Just write. You can edit later.
(As a side note, I’m a big fan of the Pomodoro Technique, and working in 25-minute chunks. It’s made me a more efficient writer, and it’s nice to know that I get a built-in break every half hour.)
- Get away from the computer. You wrote your blog post in less than 25 minutes? Awesome. Now put it down and take a break. You’ll be able to see your mistakes (and see writing opportunities) faster if you come back fresh.
- Edit your blog post multiple times. This is the time to quickly flesh out what didn’t quite “click” the first time and fix any typos. I will edit a document at least three times, with a break between each edit. When I think it’s almost there, I’ll print out the post one more time, make any final edits, and then schedule the post.
- Ask someone to proof the post before it goes live. Writing fast often means you’ll make some inadvertent boo-boos. A quick proof by another person can free your post from typos and save your bacon. That no-big-deal typo you didn’t see may be a big deal to your readers – and can possibly even lose you business.
What about you? What tips would you add to this list?
(And P.S. – Happy Valentine’s Day! Smooches!)
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SEO content marketing roundup, week ending February 13th
February 13, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
Content Marketing
Dave Snyder posts “2013 State of Content Marketing Study: Interactive White Paper” at CopyPressed (enter your email address to receive the study in your inbox).
Kyle Lacy posts “The State of Mobile Content Marketing (#Infographic)” at ExactTarget.
Pawan Deshpande posts “How Often Should You Feed Your Content Marketing Programs?” at MarketingProfs.
Joe Pulizzi posts “Content Marketing: The Fallacy that More Content is Better” at Content Marketing Institute.
Neil Patel discusses “Bare Minimum Content Marketing: 3 Things You Have to Do” at Quicksprout.
Marketing Sherpa’s weekly research chart concerns marketers’ use of analytics data when creating different types of messages.
Ashley Zeckman posts “The Warrior Way: How to Improve Email Marketing Engagement, Ninja Style” at TopRank.
Guillaume Bouchard posts “How to Make Video a Successful Part of Your Content Marketing Strategy” at Search Engine Watch.
Demian Farnworth pens “Why Hunter S. Thompson Would’ve Loved Author Rank (And Why You Should, Too)” at Copyblogger.
Heather Lloyd-Martin addresses the freelance content creator with “How to raise your freelance copywriting rates” and “Protect yourself! 3 copywriting contract essentials” at SEO Copywriting.
Amy C. Teeple posts “Avoiding the Rabbit Hole: Being Productive without Killing Creativity” at ACT Web Consulting.
UpCity posts “These 25 (Plus) Experts Can Teach You to Write Compelling Web Content.”
Events:
SEO & Search
Miranda Miller discusses the merger of social promotion with SEO content with “Wake up, you’re in the social SEO copywriting business!” at SEO Copywriting.
Jim Yu posts “How Search & Social Will Hit The Fast Forward Button In 2013” at Search Engine Land.
Dana Raam discusses “The Google Social Signals Map You Didn’t Know Existed” at Social Media Today.
Marty Weintraub posts “25 SRSLY Clutch Google AdWords Enhanced Campaign #PPC Blog Posts” at aimClear.
Adam Thompson posts “Schema 101: How To Implement Schema.org Markups To Improve SEO Results” at Search Engine Journal.
Debra Mastaler posts “Comparing Desktop vs. Mobile Usage” at SEO Book.
Cyrus Shepard presents “High-Value Tactics, Future-Proof Link Building” via the latest SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday.
Eric Enge discusses “10 Common Link Building Problems” that will get you a Penguin slap at Search Engine Watch.
Nick Stamoulis posts “B2B Link Building is Reputation Building” at Brick Marketing.
David Portney posts “International SEO Best Practices Checklist” at Portent.
Matt McGee shares ”7 Traits of a Great Business Blog” at Small Business Search Marketing.
Jay Taylor gives “5 Reasons SMBs Should Focus on Search, Not Social for Customer Acquisition” at Search Engine Watch.
Events:
Social Media Marketing
“Instagram Expands to Desktops” headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.
Reporting from AllThingsD’s Dive into Media conference, Danny Sullivan posts “For Facebook, ‘2013 Will Be The Year Of Music, Books, Fitness’” at Marketing Land.
Gini Dietrich posts “I Hate PR People: The Rules of Pitching Bloggers and Media” at Spin Sucks.
Miranda Miller discusses “Digital PR Pitching Etiquette: 3 Critical Rules for Online Public Relations Outreach” at TopRank.
Dave Llorens posts “The Future Of Google Plus, And Its Path To Social-Media Domination” at Fast Company.
Laurie Sullivan reports “Google+ Gaining Ground With Brand Marketers” at MediaPost.
eMarketer posts “Will Vine for Twitter Make Brands Rethink Video Creation?”
Krista Neher asks “Are You Prepared for Visual Social Media Marketing?” at ClickZ.
Joshua Hardwick posts an infographic in honor of YouTube’s 8th “birthday,” “A Brief History Of YouTube,” at Shorty Media.
Jeff Bullas posts “The Facts and Figures on YouTube in 2013 – Infographic” at his blog.
Katie Notopoulos reports on LinkedIn’s email shenanigans with “20 Million People LinkedIn Just Tricked Into Tweeting About LinkedIn” at BuzzFeed.
Cindy King posts “21 Social Media Marketing Tips From the Pros” at Social Media Examiner.
Citing data from Pew Research Center, Lenna Garibian posts “Find Me Maybe: 61% Have Taken a Break From Facebook at Some Point” at MarketingProfs.
Heidi Cohen posts “Social Media Influencers: What Marketers Must Know.”
Events:
image thanks to Cea.
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Wake up, you’re in the social SEO copywriting business!
February 12, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
It was a dark time in SEO, when we could rank for just about anything simply by inserting our keywords of choice in the title, description and a few times throughout the copy.
The more you could squish in there, the better! Keyword counters were everywhere online; all you had to do was drop in your text to see whether you hit that magical 5 to 7% goal your client had requested.
I still see people ask for a specific keyword density but now, it makes my brain hurt.
Tactics like keyword density just don’t work anymore, but that’s old news. Optimizing content for search engines requires more finesse and now, optimizing for human readers is critical. There are literally hundreds of factors affecting your content’s search ranking, not the least of which are trust, authority, and engagement.
Social media is hands down the best content promotion tool out there. Though many will argue social activity won’t directly affect the way search engines rank content, getting eyes on your content (and enticing them to stay there) means page views, social shares, lower bounce rates and hopefully conversions.
Audiences have matured and we’ve had to take another step back and learn to factor social sharing in earlier in the game. It’s not enough to say what you want to say and hope for the best; a holistic online marketing strategy requires that social promotion is baked into your content right from the planning phase.
Plan for Social Promotion
Ideally, you’re no longer planning content based on what it is you want people to hear about your company. When the purpose of your blog posts, press releases, website copy or other content is to attract people to your business and convert them to customers, your content needs to offer them some value, by way of informing, convincing, or entertaining.
Using the data available to you, choose topics and angles based on what it is your readers are looking for, even if they haven’t expressly told you.
A few great sources of information you already have at your disposal include:
Optimize Content for Social Discovery & Sharing
Top UK Online Marketing Influencers & Bloggers in 2013
Now that you have your editorial calendar populated with content ideas, get creative and plan for the maximum promotion of each piece before you begin writing.
Here are a few ways to increase the chances your final product will be socially shareable:
Promote the Right Content to the Right Social Audience
I find it amazing (and not in a good way) when I stumble across really great, high quality, interesting content that hasn’t been promoted in a meaningful way. Once you’ve done the legwork to produce an item that you’ve optimized for social sharing, get out there and start sharing!
Planning content with social promotion in mind allows you to maximize the return on your investment of time in each piece… and your time is valuable. Know what it is you want to communicate and how you plan on enticing others to share before you begin writing, to make social promotion an integral part of your content creation process.
I was going to sum this up with a question, but I think to stay true to the column, I’ll just say this: If you found this helpful, share with your writer friends!
About the Author ~ Miranda Miller
Miranda has been writing for the web since long before it was cool or profitable. Over the past several years, she’s completed over 350 client contracts, ghostwritten 60 e-books and one financial guide, and published thousands of articles for herself and clients. She’s also worked in transliteracy, adult education and advertising in her hometown of Owen Sound, Ontario. Miranda was the lead writer at Search Engine Watch until recently joining the team at TopRank Online Marketing as Content Marketing Manager.
photo thanks to Raphaellove (Raphael Love)
Are your site’s conversions sluggish? Are you not ranking as well as you’d like? Contact me for an SEO content review– it can pay big dividends and costs much less than you might think!
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What Google’s authorship markup means for SEO
February 5, 2013 • written by Eric Enge
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:
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!
About the Author ~ Eric Enge
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
Learn how to build a business that will not only survive, but thrive! Register for the Copywriting Business Boot Camp and learn how to start a successful SEO copywriting business. Hurry! There’s limited space & classes start February 11th!
Filed under SEO Content marketing,Tips and techniques
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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
Make 2013 your year! Boost your income and advance your writing career with SEO Copywriting Certification – taught by the widely recognized pioneer of SEO Copywriting, Heather Lloyd-Martin.
Filed under SEO Content marketing,Tips and techniques
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