SEO Copywriting Snapshot – JivitaWellness, Part 2

December 11, 2008 • posted by Aimee

As promised I’m back with JivitaWellness. I haven’t been able to figure out the techie side of this site just yet, but I wanted to make sure I gave you what you came to see — and that’s some SEO copywriting feedback! So here we go…

Keywords…

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the foundation of any quality SEO campaign relies on keyphrase research. Choosing the right keyphrases for your pages can make or break your success in achieving top rankings. Jivita has included a keywords tag:

There are a few problems here. First, this tag is the same on every page throughout the site, so there is no clear keyphrase strategy. Second, some of the keyphrases are too vague, like “trainer” — this could mean dog training, training bras, or any kind of fitness regime. The same holds true for “health” or “emotional” or “fusion.” These keyphrases do not clearly represent what the user might type into the search box of an engine when they’re looking for personalized yoga classes.

How can they improve?

There are some free tools available to get them started in their keyphrase research.

1. Wordtracker, for instance, lets you use a limited version of their software on a trial basis.
2. Google Adwords keyword tool lets users dig deeper to find possible keyphrases for their pages.
3. Yahoo! and Google search assist: when you start typing a keyphrase into the search box, a list will drop down of potential keyphrases that have been recently searched.
4. Competition. Look to see which keyphrases the competition is using — but be careful. The competition may not have a savvy SEO strategy in place, so you don’t want to follow any bad habits. Still, it’s a good place to start your creative juices while brainstorming a keyphrase seed list.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of researching and selecting the right keyphrases for your site pages. Not only will those keyphrases go into the Meta keywords tag, but you should generally select 2-4 specific keyphrases for each page and use them in the Title tag, Meta description tag and throughout the content as well. 

Note: This is the editor in me coming out, but as we’re talking about a Toronto-based company, they should follow The Globe and Mail Style Book, which means the comma goes on the inside of the closing quotation mark.

Using keyphrases in the body copy

Once Jivita has researched and selected the appropriate keyphrases for each page, they’ll want to gently sprinkle them throughout the body copy. But where? And how? Here’s a screen shot of the home page.

Headlines. The first headline reads “About Us” in plain font. This is a great opportunity to write a short, catchy headline that includes a keyphrase. The keyphrase feeds the engines, and the “hook” pulls the reader in to learn more.

Emphasized text. On this page you see that they’ve emphasized Jivita, Jivita Wellness, and CAREN COOPER. But those are likely not the keyphrases people are searching to find their services. Instead, they might be searching for “yoga classes in Toronto” or “yoga at work.”

SEO Copywriting best practices. One point that jumped out at me is in the first two sentences. They start by explaining what “Jivita” means, and follow it with a benefit statement about what they do. Personally, I’d start the paragraph with the benefit statement, not only to quickly explain to the reader who they are and what they offer, but also to include a keyphrase or two at the beginning of the page copy.

Another suggestion for the home page might be to pull out the bio on Caren (and move it to a separate About Us page) and concentrate more on the solutions they’re offering to their clients. When people search online, they are looking for answers to their questions. For instance, this page mentions that they provide “customized health and fitness programs directly to your home or workplace.” This could be fleshed out more to explain what kind of fitness (yoga, Pilates, meditation), and what kind of programs (class sizes, frequency, any other extra benefits that come with the “program”). Not only will this give Jivita the opportunity to work some keyphrases into the copy (feeding the engines), but it will also give the reader the detailed information they’re seeking.

The good news is that JivitaWellness is nicely written, so these are quick and easy tweaks for them! Stay tuned for next week’s SEO Copywriting Snapshot … and until then have a fab weekend!

Cheers!

Aimee