SEO Copywriting > Tips by Industry

3 steps to ensure competitor-crushing SEO copywriting

June 11, 2012 • written by

Welcome back! In today’s SEO copywriting video, Heather discusses the three things that you should do before either hiring an SEO copywriter, or starting to write your own new website.

This how-to was inspired by an email Heather received, in which the woman said she had her domain purchased and business registered with the state, and was really excited to hire a copywriter, then asked “What else do I need to do before I hire the SEO copywriter?”

Heather’s lengthy reply spoke to all the other things that need to happen before the writing begins, which she has summarized in three steps. Tune in to learn how to ensure your website content will crush your competition!

Plan on a lot of legwork before the writing takes place

As a business owner, there is legwork you will want to do – ideally on your own – because it will help you with your marketing, and it will also help you with your overall business strategy. Plus, taking these steps will ensure that everything your copywriter does create is highly targeted to your market.

  • You’ll want to spend a lot of time researching and planning before you launch.
  • These steps are very important. Skipping them literally puts your new business at risk.
  • A good copywriter can do some of this legwork for you. Ideally, though, you should know this information before you start.

The thing here is that it’s really easy to skip these steps because you’re amped to get your new business site out there, and want to hire an SEO copywriter right away. But skipping these steps can literally prove fatal to your business.

Heather has talked to a lot of small business owners that have skipped these steps, and they’re not making that much money, and their marketing is scattered all over the place.

There may come a point where, in taking these steps, that you find yourself stuck, or you may want somebody else to look at what you’re finding and perhaps offer suggestions for other types of research. So while certainly a good copywriter might be able to do some of the legwork for you, you’ll want to be sure to work in tandem with him/her, because what you learn during this 3-step process will help you with your business plan, as well.

Step #1: Who is your target audience?

The first step to take is to define your target audience.

  • Hint: the answer is not “everyone” or “all business owners should have this product”

Heather has heard these answers from folks, and they are not necessarily true.

  • What niches will your serve? Why that niche?

Where you want to really dial it in is what niches you’ll serve: are there particular types of verticals where you know your product or service is going to have the most impact?

And you’ll want to ask yourself: why that niche? For example, if you worked in the construction industry for a long time and want to start providing marketing services, then it follows that marketing services for construction companies might be a really good niche for you, because you understand the market, the pain points, and it might be all that much easier for you to market your services to that audience.

  • Get specific. Not “home business owners” but “home business owners with X characteristics who have been in business for Y years.”

The key here is that you want to get really precise and focused in defining your target audience.

  • You should know your target audience like you know your best friend.

This is one of Heather’s favorite sayings. Ideally you should be able to walk into a Starbuck’s, look around at folks, select a handful, and say “okay, you guys are the ones that I serve in my business”: that is how intimately you want to know your target audience.

This is the purpose of creating a customer persona: to precisely define the people that you serve and their characteristics, so when you are sitting down to write – or have hired an SEO copywriter to do so – you have this highly specific information and are then able to tightly focus everything you write around that persona/target audience.

And you might have multiple target audiences – so if you find that you’re going to be serving three or four markets, that’s okay! A lot of site owners do that; it’s just a matter of different target audiences.

Step #2: Check out your competition

The second step is to check out your competition and find out what they’re doing.

  • What other companies are doing what you do?
  • Carefully check out their sites. What do they do well? What could you do better? How can you differentiate yourself?

Learn how they’re structuring their site, how they’re structuring the writing, and find out what they do really well: consider ways you can do it even better!

Part of this exercise is to figure out how to differentiate yourself from your competition, so when a prospect says, “I’ve looked at this company and I’ve looked at your stuff – why should I hire you over this other company?” then you have an answer, because you know exactly what your relative strengths are.

  • You don’t want to copy your competition – but you do want to learn from them!

The point here is that while it may be tempting to copy a worthy competitor that’s clearly making money with their site, your business is going to be different from theirs, so you want to create a brand and site that are unique.

So certainly, do learn from them, but don’t copy your competitors.

Step #3: What unique benefits do you bring to the table?

Finally, the third step is to have a clear handle on the unique benefits you offer.

  • What makes your company unique?
  • How does your product or service solve a problem?
  • Why should someone work with you instead of your competition?

Folks who are familiar with Heather’s YouTube webinars know that the guy pictured is her “What’s In It For Me” guy, shown here because that is what prospects want to know.

What is in it for your target audience?

And this is really important, because people think in terms of benefit statements.

When potential customers land on your site, they’ll immediately want to know how you can help them, and how you can do it better-faster-cheaper, than your competitors. Know what your unique benefits are! That will help you hone your copy, help you sell more products/services, and you’ll be able to do more with your online business faster.

Thanks for tuning in! If you have a question for Heather, email her [at] heather@seocopywriting.com, or tweet her @heatherlloyd. See you next Monday!

 

Of Panda’s and Penguin’s: learn how to write for Google and avoid a bamboo spanking! Just sign up for the free SEO Copywriting Buzz newsletter for lean, no-fluff industry news, either daily or weekly, and get Heather Lloyd’s “25-Point Checklist on How to Write for Google” free!

 

photo thanks to andjohan (Andreas Johannsen)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed under Small business,Tips and techniques,Tips by Industry

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How to write for Google’s over-optimization penalty

April 16, 2012 • written by

Greetings and welcome back! Today, Heather addresses a collective, anxious concern about writing SEO copy given Google’s latest Panda slap, the “over-optimization” penalty:  Help! Is my Web content over-optimized?

While it is true that Google has made a lot of changes and is cracking down on content, the upshot is: don’t freak out! It will be okay, if you follow the three basic guidelines laid out for you in today’s SEO copywriting video post.

It’s unfortunate that this latest Panda update has DIY Web writers afraid of the “Big G,” and wary of optimizing their Web content. Either you’re worried about what you may be doing wrong now, or that Google will tweak yet something else and what’s okay today may not be tomorrow, then your current ranking will plummet, etc., ad nauseum. So you freeze and do nothing, which is not helping your conversions.

In an effort to calm your fears and help you relax, Heather brings some perspective to Google’s over-optimization penalty. Tune in as she discusses the three “over-optimization” questions to ask yourself if you’re concerned that you may have crossed the line…

Over-Optimization Question #1:  Have I used “too many” keyphrases?

There are three things to look at when considering this question:

  1. How does the copy sound when you read it out loud?
  2. Did you try to match a (mythical) keyphrase density?
  3. Did you write 1,000 words of content “for Google”?

First, how does the copy sound when you read it out loud? 

As Heather has discussed in previous posts, one of the easiest ways to figure out if you’ve used too many keyphrases in your Web content it to simply print off the page and read it aloud.

If you hear yourself tripping over a keyphrase every third word or so, then yeah – you’ve probably pushed that optimization envelope a little bit too far. Time to scale back your keyphrase use until it sounds easy and natural to the ear.

Second, did you try to match a (mythical) keyphrase density?

Again, as Heather has pointed out before (as well as Google’s spam-master, Matt Cutts) there is no such thing as “the (perfect or magical) keyphrase density for Google.” Period.

If you’ve been trying for such a mythical goal, then you most likely have pushed the optimization envelope too far with overuse of keyphrases in your Web content. Repeat the exercise, above.

Third, did you write 1,000 words of content “for Google”?

If you have a super-long Web page where you wrote on for 1,000 words – and you really didn’t need that many – be honest with yourself: did you extend your copy beyond its usefulness thinking that’s what Google wants in terms of word count or page length? Think again.

The simple solution? Dial it back.

Slicing the word count and tightening your message will not only serve your conversions better, but it will also save you from the Google Panda slap. Get in there and try to figure out if the copy you wrote is targeted to your readers: is it what they would want to know? Or have you added some keyphrase-laden fluff that detracts from the user experience?

Over-Optimization Question #2:  Is my bolding and linking out of control?

This occurs a lot on small business sites, where the DIY site owner thinks: “Okay, so if I bold all of my keyphrases and link to everything I can possibly think of, that will help me with Google.”

And it really doesn’t.

Here are three things to keep in mind when using bold font and links:

  1. Hyperlinking to related pages = good.
  2. Bolding headlines/subheadlines = good.
  3. Linking or bolding every third word = bad.

If your linking or bolding is really overdone – and your reader is confronted with links all over the place and all this copy bolded that really doesn’t need to be – it’s not helping her or your Google ranking.

  • Ask yourself: What makes sense to your reader?

Forget about Google for a minute…strictly from the reader perspective, is copy riddled with bold font and links inserted in every other sentence really going to help her convert?

No. Just like the previous example of having too many keyphrases stuffed in your Web content, you want to focus on what makes for a good reader experience.

  • If you keep your reader’s needs in mind, then the way you bold copy in your text and the way you hyperlink to other pages will be much more natural.

Over-Optimization Question #3:  Are my Titles written for readers? Or Google?

As we know, page Titles are those clickable links on the search engine results page. It follows that your page Title should be written like a compelling headline.

  1. Remember that the search engine results page is your first opportunity for conversion.
  2. Shoving every keyphrase you can think of in the Title tag won’t help you.

A solid, optimized page Title should have keyphrases, of course. But it should not read like a string of keyphrases separated by commas.

Outside of the fact that a page Title of “keyphrase, keyphrase, keyphrase” (or “keyphrase|keyphrase|keyphrase”) is pretty spammy, it is not going to help you with that first, crucial conversion. If someone encounters that listing on the search engine results page, chances are they’re going to click on another Title.

As with the previous two questions to consider when judging if you’ve over-optimized your Web content, if you focus your efforts on the reader – in this instance by asking yourself “what will make the reader click on my listing over the nine others?” – then you will be on the right track with both your readers and Google.

Thanks for joining us for this week’s SEO copywriting video how-to! Do you have an SEO copywriting question or topic suggestion for Heather? Love it! Send it on over to her [at] heather@seocopywriting.com or tweet her [at] @heatherlloyd. See you next Monday!

 

Perk alert! Sign up for either the daily or weekly SEO Copywriting Buzz newsletter and receive a free download of Heather Lloyd-Martin’s white paper, How to write for Google!

And psssst – a head’s up! If you’ve been thinking about becoming certified in SEO Copywriting best practices, you have until May 15th to register for Heather Lloyd-Martin’s SEO Copywriting Certification training at its original price! Sign up now and save $170!

 

photo thanks to me’nthedogs (Mark Robinson)

Filed under Small business,Tips and techniques,Tips by Industry

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Tap your customers’ psyche to create powerful content

March 19, 2012 • written by

Greetings! You’re in for an intriguing SEO copywriting video today, as we enter the realm of customer psychology – specifically, tapping your customers’ psyche to create truly engaging, powerful content!

Based on psychologist Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs,” Heather walks us through the emotional (and motivational) levels of the psyche and illustrates how to tie your copy into each one with specific website examples.

So tune in to learn how to make your copy resonate with your customers on their deepest psychological levels, from their most basic physiological needs to their lofty esteem needs and aspirations.

As you’ve most likely gathered from Heather’s webinars and/or some of her blog posts, she discusses the psychology of copywriting a lot. The reason?

  • People make their buy decisions based on psychology: they ultimately buy based on their emotion.

Granted, they do their research, talk to their friends, and do their due diligence, but at the end of the day, their buy decision is an emotional decision.

That’s why…

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

…is so important to copywriting.

  • If you can tie your ad or website copy to something that is part of your customers’ psychological hierarchy of needs, you can write more compelling and powerful copy – content that resonates with what your customers’ are thinking about, are worried about, and/or want to achieve.

This first graphic is a little reminder of what Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are, which you may recall from high school or college: at the base of the pyramid are the basic physiological needs for survival, then progressing (evolving) upwards through safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and finally, self-actualization.

This psychological “needs” pyramid represents what Maslow thought we all experience, as we move beyond our instinctual physiological needs of food, water, etc., to the need to become self-actualized human beings.

So what follows is how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can inform and improve your copywriting, illustrated with specific examples from the Web.

Physiological Needs

The Help-4-Homes (Save Your Home Today!) website is a great example of content that is targeted to basic, physical needs: it is geared towards people who are almost in foreclosure and face losing their house.

This is very freaky situation for folks to deal with – they’re confused, they’re scared, and they’re looking for options. The web copy reflects the readers’ feelings with a checklist of concerns: has your mortgage rate been reset (and you can’t afford it)? Have you suffered a financial hardship?

Then at the end of the copy is a really powerful testimonial from a client who affirms that she was going through this problem and contacted the company, and the company was able to help her.

  • The copy ties into those elemental physiological needs and hits those high points with a checklist of concerns, followed by reassurance via a strong testimonial.

If you’re in an industry where physiological needs are the motivating factor, you can look to this example as a template for writing copy that is far more detailed and compelling than just “We can help you save your house” or “We can help you beat foreclosure.”

Safety Needs

An example of a website that addresses the psyche’s need for safety is ADT: they “specialize in home security.”

If you’re in the mindset where you want to buy a home security system, ADT’s benefit statements are most reassuring: it is the gold standard in home security; they offer a personal emergency response system; there is video surveillance plus intrusion detection.

  • These benefit statements are crucial because they help the reader feel safe. They let the reader know that he’s at the right place, he’s working with a company that can help him, and that understands his needs.

So if you’re working with a company that deals with safety, ADT’s web content is a fantastic example of a different way to approach the copy. And again, it is far more powerful than just “We’ll help keep you safe”, as it details specific benefits to help the reader feel at ease.

Social Needs

Here is another core psychological need that we all have, and one that can be tapped in creating copy (and images).

In this example of Pottery Barn’s website, you’ll notice that it really doesn’t say all that much. The company’s writers could do a lot more to flesh it out and make it seem more social, certainly.

But what grabs you is the picture: this cozy table setting with four glasses of wine. It tells a story. Somebody has been there, hanging out with friends, and enjoying the view of the water (presumably Chesapeake Bay). It conveys a very comfortable, social type of environment.

  • So not only can you use words to tie into one of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, but you can also use images. Remember that you’ll want to make sure that your images are helping to reinforce what you’re saying in the copy.

Esteem Needs

Finally, we’re going to end our discussion with the psyche’s esteem needs: these are the people that want to impress, and that want the best of the best.

The website example here is Dream Homes Magazine.com, where you can browse these spectacular homes and luxury rentals located all over the United States and Mexico.

It is definitely about “living the dream.”

So if you’re working with luxury goods and things that are more exclusive, you could tie your copy into Maslow’s “esteem needs” in his hierarchy: that will help people connect better, because that is precisely what they’re looking for.

  • Folks with esteem-based psychological needs are seeking that exclusivity, that rarity and privilege of an experience that not everyone can have – one that they know they’ll be able to talk about and remember all their lives.

A Concluding Thought

If you’re a copywriter and want to learn how to write better, especially for conversions, then you’ll want to do a lot of reading around psychology. The more you understand about what makes people “tick” and the underlying psychology of their motivation, the better your content will be!

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s SEO copywriting video how-to! Do you have a question about SEO or Web writing for Heather, or a suggestion for a topic, please let her know via email, at heather@seocopywriting.com, or Twitter, @heatherlloyd. See you next Monday!

 

Don’t miss a post: we’re now offering our readers the option of a daily email alert so you can be notified of our blog posts as soon as they’re published! Sign up at dailySEOCopy@aweber.com to receive your reminder that your dose of SEO Copywriting’s tips, expert interviews, or weekly industry news awaits you. No post that day, no email for you.

 

photo thanks to BetterWorks, Inc.

 

 

 

Filed under Catalog/retailer,Tips by Industry

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What Dr. Seuss can teach you about copywriting

March 8, 2012 • written by

Confession time: I love Dr. Seuss.

The words to One Fish, Two Fish are stuck in my brain. I have a Dr. Seuss watch. I have Dr. Seuss books on my iPad. I watch “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” ever year. I even have a limited edition print hanging in my bedroom.

Why? The words that Theodor Geisel (otherwise known as Dr. Seuss) wrote had an impact on me. Yes, his books taught me how to read (and they always bring back fond memories of my mother reading them to me.) But it’s more than that.

His books taught me that reading (and writing) is fun. And engaging. And interesting.

(I’m guessing that many readers feel the exact same way.)

What makes Dr. Seuss so great? Back in the day of Dick and Jane, he rejected the “normal” children’s book style and blazed his very own path. Heck, Geisel even made up words that are part of our every day vocabulary. Ever wonder where the word “nerd” comes from? The first reported usage is in the 1950 story “If I Ran The Zoo.” 

What’s more, his writing is spot on – 50+ years later. And that’s pretty cool.

Here are five things that his books can teach you about copywriting.

Good writing celebrates the written word. Feeling bogged-down by corporate-speak? Why not have fun with your writing instead?  I love the 37 signals site because the writing is lighthearted and personal. They don’t stuff their keywords. They don’t use buzzwords. It’s good writing that actually makes project management sound fun.

Good writing “speaks” to the reader. Geisel was challenged by William Ellsworth Spaulding, the director of the education division at Houghton Mifflin to write a book that first graders couldn’t put down. The result? The Cat in the Hat. Prior to that, kids were reading about Dick, Jane and Spot… which was not as fun (nor as creative) as a talking cat with a striped hat. The lesson? Think out of the box and try a different “voice” (and yes, that applies even if you’re a B2B company.) You may not be able to work Thing One and Thing Two into your copy – but you usually do something creative that grabs your readers’ attention.

Good writing is tight – not fluffy. Did you know that Green Eggs and Ham contains just 50 different words? The Cat in the Hat has 225 words – and that’s a much shorter word count than the average blog post or sales page. Think about how this relates to your own writing. If you find yourself adding extra words for some stupid “we think Google wants 500 word blog posts,” reason – stop it. Be like Dr. Seuss and write tight. Fluffy is only good for, well, green eggs.

Good writing is compelling.  Geisel was a master of getting a message across in a very low-key and powerful way. The Sneetches is a fun book – but it also talks about respecting folks who are “different” than you. The Lorax is thought to be Geisel’s take on environmentalism. Think about your audience, and consider how you can approach your topic just a little bit differently. Compelling writing is what gets shared, liked and cited. Boring stuff that you’ll find on every other site is just…boring.

Good writing is memorable.  How many of us can still remember Dr. Seuss’ Hinkle Horn Honking Club? Or can finish the sentence, “Look what I found in the dark…in the park…?” Good writing burrows into our brain and takes root. Think about the best book that you’ve ever read. Sure, the story was compelling. But it’s the writing that really brings it home. If your website copy sounds like Dick and Jane (that is, boring) why not try rewriting some pages? You may be surprised at how much people will want to read your content (and yes, even buy from you, too!)

I’ll leave you from a quote from The Lorax that perfectly applies to copywriting (especially SEO copywriting.)

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

If you write crappy content, your readers won’t care, Google won’t care and your conversions won’t get better.

It’s time to care a whole awful lot.

 

Filed under B2B SEO copywriting,Catalog/retailer,Small business,Tips and techniques

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6 steps to a smart (sane) Google+ strategy

February 28, 2012 • written by

Another social network? What’s a brand to do!

There’s no denying it – Google+ is going to be an important part of social media and search from now on. Its enormous growth in the past seven months has gotten the attention of the search industry, competing social networks and marketers alike. Google+ has more than 90 million users – nearly as much as LinkedIn, but not even close to Facebook’s 800 million.

Even though the Google+ numbers pale in comparison to Facebook (for now), its “Search Plus Your World” (SPYW) integration in Google search results opens up Google+ content to the billions of worldwide Google users.

With the introduction of SPYW, Google+ social content is becoming part of Google search engine results. If you’re logged into Google while doing a search, you’ll see Google+ pages from related users and brands. You’ll see pages that people in your circles have given a “+1” and you’ll also see images under individual search results of users who have shared that particular page. In addition, sites that have been “+1’ed” are pushed higher in search engine results.

Even if you aren’t logged into Google while doing a search, your search results are still being affected by Google+. A search for the term “SEO” displays two user profiles related to the term:

Imagine your brand or personal profile getting this kind of exposure in regular search results! Clearly, Google+ deserves more of your time.

With the popularity of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – how does your company find time to embrace Google+? With so many social networks on your plate, adding another can seem like a major challenge.

Here are six steps that you can use to embrace Google+ and get all of its benefits without losing your mind.

1. Claim Your Page and Manage Your Circles

If you don’t have a Google+ brand page, it’s time to get started. You can create a Google+ business page from a personal Google+ account, which in turn requires a Gmail account.

If you’re a larger organization, you’ll need to decide which person in your company will create and manage the page. (This is one feature that has sparked some criticism of Google – if that employee or manager leaves, what becomes of the company’s Google+ page?)

There are dozens of guides out there that detail how to circle other users and optimize your profile. I’m not going to delve into that here, but keep in mind these two points:

  • You can promote your Google+ business page on your personal profile in order to encourage more users to migrate to your business page.
  • You can also circle users via your business profile in order to get them to circle you back.

Focus on developing circles for specific purposes. You’ll get a lot more leverage from your sharing if it is targeted to user groups.

For instance, you can create circles for current customers and prospects, and then additional circles for competitors so you can see what they are up to on the social network.

2. Focus on Becoming a Topic Expert 

With its strong SEO capabilities, it’s possible to make a big splash in your niche industry with Google+. Since the platform is relatively new, there’s still ample time to stake your claim as a top provider of small business financial advice, cloud-based communications apps, or gourmet chocolate gift baskets.

Optimize your business profile for your niche keyword terms and then make a habit of sharing related news. Pretty soon, your company will be well known for your topic specialty.

Remember to select a topic that is related to your product and/or service and supports what your ideal customers are interested in. Users are more likely to take interest in “Tips for Great Road Trips” then “Come See How Awesome Our Tires Are.”

3. Share Content Regularly

There’s nothing worse than sharing content on social media and then disappearing for an indefinite amount of time. No matter what your marketing schedule looks like, pick a frequency and commit to it for at least 8 weeks.

After that time, you can look back at your results and decide whether less or more sharing would be best for you.

As well as sharing your own posts and content from other sources, you can also make use of Google+’s longer post length. You can post entire articles on the platform rather than having to direct users to a different location.

In addition to sharing regularly, be sure to participate in the community. The same rules for Twitter and Facebook apply here – respond to comments, comment on other shared content, and engage with your audience.

4. Use Photos More Often

Google+ is a beautiful platform for photos and they really stand out in the stream. Unlike Facebook,  where users can upload photos in albums, Google+ images are loaded as individual posts. This feature gives your photos much more prominence.

Make it a point to use photos as part of your regular updates. You can add images from your company, charts and slides from presentations, infographics, and more to enhance your presence on the platform.

5. Share Your Posts Directly With Your Circles

With just an extra step you can “push” special posts and updates directly to your circle members. While you shouldn’t use this feature all of the time, it’s helpful for promoting your most important blog posts or company announcements.

When you post an update, you can hover over the name of a circle with your mouse. A box will pop up listing a few of the members of the circle and asking if you want to notify the users of the post.

Your circle members will then get an email about the post (if they’ve opted to receive notifications from Google+).

It’s a good way to highlight important content and make sure it’s being read by your relevant audience – just don’t abuse this feature and alienate your target readers.

6. Analyze Your Results and Plan Accordingly 

Like other forms of marketing, analysis and planning are going to be the key to success with Google+.

However, with Google+ the process is a little different.

Unfortunately, due to Google’s encryption, it’s impossible to analyze the visits you’re receiving from the Google+ platform in any meaningful way.

So, the best way to monitor your Google+ results is to take note of how many responses you’re getting, which topics are being reshared and whether or not your profile (or business profile) is showing up in the search engines.

Once you’ve gathered your results, look at how you can improve your performance:

  • Do you need to actively circle more users?
  • Do you find that your photo updates are getting more comments and shares than other updates?
  • How are you doing in the search engine rankings: Do you need to optimize your profile and updates to include important niche related keywords?

With these steps, you can make sense of Google+ and leverage it for your business. I’d love to hear how you’ve adopted Google+ and how it’s working. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

For further reading:

  • SEOmoz: Why Every Marketer Now Needs a Google+ Strategy
  • iMedia Connection: 6 Reasons Why Adding Google+ to Your Web Presence & SEO Strategy is a Good Idea
  • Marketing Land: Seeing Long-Form Post Success On Google+, Facebook Raises Character Limit By 1100%
  • SEO Copywriting: Google Circles and the future of SEO Copywriting

 

About the Author – Courtney Ramirez

Courtney Ramirez is a proud graduate of the SuccessWorks’ SEO Copywriting Certification training program, and CEO of Six Degrees Content. She is passionate about helping small businesses compete with the big boys with skilled SEO copywriting and content marketing. You can connect with Courtney at her brand’s Google Plus page, Facebook, LinkedIn, and on Twitter @CourtneyRamirez.

 

Want to dramatically increase your income as a freelance copywriter? Consider getting your certification in SEO Copywriting, taught by the widely-recognized pioneer of the SEO industry, Heather Lloyd-Martin. Her training is the only online SEO Copywriting Training Program independently endorsed by SEOPros.org. Check into it and make 2012 the year you turn your biz around!

 

photo thanks to Bruce Clay, Inc. 

Filed under Small business,Tips by Industry

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How to tell if your sales copy sucks

January 30, 2012 • written by

Greetings! In today’s Web-writing video, Heather discusses how to check your sales copy to detect common and costly mistakes – those she has witnessed time and again in her long SEO copywriting career.

It’s true, writing sales copy is really difficult if you’ve never done it before. There are several ways you can inadvertently go wrong, and many DIY folks don’t know how to go about checking their sales copy to see if they’ve done it right.

So without your knowledge, much less your intention, your sales copy might suck!

Don’t despair. Tune in as Heather addresses the most common sales copywriting mistakes, and how to check your sales copy to ensure you’re not making them…

Your writing focuses on the product/service – not the reader.

  • How many times did you include your company name and the words “we” and “our”?
  • Readers want to know what’s in it for them.

http://www.futurenowinc.com/wewe.htm

When you’re brand new to sales writing – or even when you’re experienced, but things just aren’t clicking when you sit down to write – it’s all too easy to focus your copy on your company, and/or your product or service. You’ll use the words “we” and “our” a lot, and mention your company name over and over.

  • What you want to do is change the focus of the sales content from features to benefits, telling your readers how your product/service helps them.

One of the things you can do when double-checking the focus of your sales copy is to go through and count how many times you’ve used the words “we” and “our,” as well as your company name.

  • Or, you can try this cute little tool called the “wewe” monitor. Simply put your sales page URL into the “wewe” tool and it will give you a score that reflects how many times you have focused on the company rather than on the reader. It’s a fun tool worth checking out!

You’re repeating yourself. Repeatedly.

  • Repeating yourself = sloppy writing.
  • Tighten up the copy and delete any repetitive content.

Repetitive copy is not a mistake reserved for brand new sales writers – it can mar the content of experienced writers who just haven’t quite got the flow of a new writing project yet.

With repetitive copy, the writer might mention a concept or a benefit statement in one paragraph, and then again in the next paragraph – maybe in a slightly different way – and yet again further down the page…

  • That is sloppy writing, because it stretches the sales page out longer than it needs to be. Also, repeating a benefit statement may preempt the inclusion of another – possibly even more powerful – benefit statement while cluttering your copy.

So check your sales copy for repetition, tightening it up and deleting any repetitive content.

  • If you’re having difficulty seeing where that repetitive content is, then it might be a good idea to give your sales page to an editor, or a trusted someone who can check your work and give you honest feedback.

Your copy is TDL (too damn long)

  • Long-form sales letters/Web pages work – if you know what you’re doing.
  • Don’t make your readers scroll through useless information.
  • Try splitting your information up on multiple pages instead.

Often, a sales page will run too long if the person is new to sales writing, or if they’re experienced but haven’t quite gotten into the flow of the project.

In either case, the writer is throwing everything s/he can think of into the sales page to see what sticks. Besides ending up with a really long sales page, chances are the copy has repetitive content.

  • You want your sales page to be as long as it needs to be to convey the information you want it to convey.

While there’s no hard and fast rule for sales page length, the “sweet spot” is usually around 250 to 500 words…BUT that depends completely on your target audience!

You want to avoid writing a long-form sales letter unless you really know what you’re doing. People who know how to write lengthy sales copy online have tested a lot of approaches – it’s what they do, they’re experts. Anybody else who tries it is not likely to see the same results.

What most likely will happen is you’ll end up with 10 pages of copy that your readers will have to scroll through to find out how to take action. You don’t want to do that.

  • If you find that your page is getting TDL, but you have so much that you want to say and it’s important information that you what on your site somewhere, try splitting the content up on multiple pages. That way, your readers won’t be overwhelmed with this long, 15,000-word essay!

Thanks for joining us for this week’s SEO copywriting how-to video! If you have a question for Heather, you can tweet it to her @heatherlloyd or email  heather@seocopywriting.com. And be sure to check back next Monday for another hot Web-writing tip – it may well answer your question. See you then!

Want to learn more about sales writing and SEO? Check out SuccessWorks’  SEO copywriting training options to see what program suits you best!

photo credit to josef.stuefer

 

Filed under Direct reponse copywriting,Small business,Tips and techniques

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A 9-step guide to creating & marketing your own video content – for free!

January 24, 2012 • written by

Guest Author, Andy Havard

All too often, bloggers and small businesses miss out on great content marketing opportunities due to budgetary constraints. Does that resonate with you?

Did you know that online video couldn’t be a more cost-effective and convenient marketing approach for any product, brand or service?

And you must know that online video is the hot and growing – and most likely indefinite – trend for content marketing?

Here, I’m going to tell you exactly how you can master this medium with 9 steps to creating and marketing your own videos from home, for free!

1. Location Is Everything (Yet Nothing at All!)

A common misconception about creating video content to market on the web is that you need to hire out lavish studios or rent out a space in which to film. In fact, all you really need is a room in your apartment or house that has a wall or a space you can stand in front of comfortably. (You could even use a bit of garage space for that matter).

Once you’ve found a space, you need to make your background as tailored to your niche and style as possible.

For instance, if your brand is quite personable and informal you might find the natural look of your room suits your video perfectly.  Or if you’re looking for that Apple-esque, Google-ish white sheen, there are a few simple ways to create that effect:. use a white wall, white papered walls, or a white sheet to cover the wall to form your sleek white background.

You can boost the brightness and overall look of this background with your lighting and post-production editing.

2. Set Up Your Camera

More than likely, you already have a variety of cameras in your possession – for instance your mobile phone, tablet, computer, and obviously your camcorder or digital camera. If you don’t have access to any such equipment, then alas! You’ll need to purchase or borrow a means of recording video.

You’ll want to steady and stabilize your camera to make your footage as good (i.e., professional and non-wobbly) as possible. This can easily be accomplished using a desk, chair, or even a bookshelf – anything that serves to keep your camera level and still during filming.

You’d be surprised at what household furniture you can use to do the same job as a $100 tripod!

3. Set Up Your Lights

Understandably, hanging a sheet on your living room wall might not fill you with a lot of confidence or optimism. The slick , professional background look you (may) want to achieve starts to take shape when you add your lighting.

Your choice of lighting can range from industry-standard fluorescent lights to three strong standing lamps.

You’ll need to position two of these lights on either side of your backdrop (one to the left, the other to the right of your subject). Then place a third light near your camera at a 30-degree, downward angle to your on-screen subject. This set-up will help to illuminate your backdrop and make it look crisp and bright.

As with your makeshift tripod, you can use household lamps to do the job of studio-grade lighting. To maximize your light level, try to shoot in an area that is naturally light, but not over-exposed to sunlight. You can then use household lamps to smooth out the lighting in your shot. Try to make sure that no shadows are being cast on your subject or background.

4. Record Your Sound

You’ll probably find your digital camera has a built-in microphone that provides a good sound quality for your video. Failing that, your computer or phone more than likely will, which you can sync up later on.

If for some reason there’s no microphone present in any of your devices, you will have to invest in an inexpensive external microphone to capture your audio.

When you’re recording your sound, try to keep audio levels consistent as changes in volume could cause the sound to distort. Try to allow time for a sound recording test before you record your final audio.

5. Edit Your Video

If you’re feeling a little discouraged or cynical about the bedsheet stuck to your wall, your computer camera, living room lamps and make-shift tripod, take heart: your editing process is where the magic happens. You really can make your online video the exciting, engaging piece of online content that you envisioned!

You can get download free, easy-to-use editing software for a PC (Windows) or Mac, such as Windows Movie Maker or iMovie, both of which are more than sufficient for your video editing needs.

By altering your contrast/brightness you will be able to boost your backdrop and improve the lighting of your shot, creating that studio-quality background. You’ll also be able to use your software to edit your video into a short, sharp, essential piece of online content.

6. Upload Your Video To The Web

There is a wide array of free video-sharing sites to which you can upload your video content, such as Vimeo, Viddler, Dailymotion, Flickr, Tumblr, and of course, YouTube.

Considering that YouTube  is the worlds’ #2 search engine and the most popular video-sharing platform, it’s the obvious choice as an upload point for any web video. But if you have the time, it’s worth uploading your video to as many platforms as possible.

After you’ve uploaded your masterpiece, you can then link from the video-sharing platform to an embed on your own website or blog, giving you some link-love while ensuring you reach your target market.

7. Optimize Your Video For Search Engines

When you upload your content to free hosting sites be sure you’ve optimized it for the search engines. You may have guessed that Google’s YouTube content is especially visible in Google’s search engine results - if properly optimized.  And as a platform, YouTube offers a considerable array of video SEO tools.

By using titles, descriptions, tags, and closed captions that feature the keywords and phrases relevant to your brand and video content, you can be sure that your video is ticking all of the SEO boxes.

8. Market Your Online Video with Social Sharing

The video-hosting sites (in Step 6) offer some fantastic marketing avenues. The majority of them readily integrate with Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn, allowing you to post your content in Pages, Groups, Discussions, Wall Posts and Statuses.

You can also explore features such as YouTube’s Video Response, where you can use your online video content to comment on other users’content. By making use of the tools free hosting sites offer, you can market your content easily and cost-effectively to a staggeringly wide audience.

9. Track Your Online Video with Analytics

Tracking the analytics of your video is the most effective way to ensure it is achieving the goals you’ve set out to accomplish.

Google Analytics, YouTube Analytics and Facebook Insight are all great free tools for measuring conversion rates, social media growth and viewership. By tracking your video through these three tools you can measure the success of your video on every level.

It’s always advisable to check your video data frequently in order to keep an eye on its progress. If it’s failing to achieve your goals, you can alter your current strategy to better optimize your content and improve the numbers.

This is the year of content marketing with video, and it is a “trend” that’s here to stay. Don’t be left in the dust – follow these steps and take full advantage of this truly awesome opportunity to grow your business and readership with video content!

About The Author: Andy Havard

Andy Havard is a Marketing Executive at Skeleton Productions, a UK based Internet video production company. You can connect with Andy via his company’s Facebook page, or directly via LinkedIn and Twitter.

Would you like to upgrade your copywriting skills and income? Learn the latest SEO copywriting content marketing skills and techniques through SuccessWorks’ SEO Copywriting Certification training and make 2012 your best year ever!

 

 

Filed under Small business,Tips by Industry

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5 keys to easy small business content marketing

December 6, 2011 • written by

Guest Author, Courtney Ramirez

Publishing quality content can help your small business get new leads, develop a bigger presence online and convert more prospects into clients. But the process of planning, creating and distributing content can be a tall order for many small businesses who have limited resources.

An outstanding content marketing plan doesn’t have to be out of your reach! By following these keys you can put content marketing to work for your small business.

1. Get clear on your content budget.

There are literally dozens of different content pieces that you can use to market your business online – and that doesn’t count all of the distribution methods you can use to get your content out there. It’s a bit like going shopping at Costco. Before you know it, you’ve turned a short trip for ice, bulk candy bars and a new Magnum flashlight set into a $200 excursion.

Setting a clear budget for content will help you spend your marketing budget wisely and narrow in on the techniques that will be most effective for your business.

How much should you spend on content marketing? According to a recent survey from the Content Marketing Institute, 27% percent of businesses spent 15 to 30% of their marketing budget on content development. Small business marketing budgets are typically 8% of revenue. So for a small business with yearly revenue of $250,000, a monthly content marketing budget would be around $550.

Of course you may need to invest more initially for new content marketing plans and development. But having a clear figure in mind before you start developing content in house or looking to outside providers can help you stay focused and spend wisely.

2. Know your customer.

Your content marketing has to be customer-centered to be effective. Content marketing isn’t a promotional brochure. It’s a way to connect with your audience and help them solve problems with information. You can’t create content that is all about you and you alone.

Your job with content is to provide the information that your customers are looking for in a way that is attractive to them. For example, your customer does a search for “fax machines” and you have a high ranking article titled “5 Things to Look For in New Fax Machines.” They read your article and are impressed with your small office supply store’s insight into buying a fax machine. They explore the rest of your site and sign up for your weekly newsletter with more informative articles and regular deals. Then they become a customer.

Apply the same strategy to your own business. Figure out what your customers need to know and create content that responds to those needs.

3. Repurpose wherever you can.

One of the biggest challenges that small businesses face in content development is time. They don’t have enough time to actively create multiple content pieces each month. An effective content marketing strategy requires consistency – but repurposing can help you bridge the gap between what you should be publishing and what you can spend on content development.

Repurposing isn’t about copying someone else or repeating yourself endlessly. With repurposing, you can take one piece of content and make it stretch. Just like you’d make spaghetti sauce and then use it with several different meals, you can create an ebook and then draw several blog posts out of the content. You can then turn those blog posts into fodder for your email newsletter and use tips from the blog posts for your social media updates.  It’s less work for you and you’ll get more content to keep your marketing machine going.

4. Don’t be afraid to curate!

Although it’s important to create your own content for your small business, you can also supplement your marketing with strategic curation. Curation is sharing helpful content created by other people.

Curation can be as simple as highlighting blog posts from other companies on social media or as complex as creating a blog post or white paper that reviews content from others. Not only does curation help round out your content schedule but it helps “spread the love” around. If you’re sharing content from related companies, they’ll be more likely to share your content with their fans and followers.

There are several different tools and platforms that can help you become a content curator. Google Alerts is a good way to start. Once you’ve started to see what is out there, you can use more sophisticated tools like Paper.li, Scoop.It or Storify to easily capture and share relevant content.

5. Support content with social media.

If a great article is published online and nobody read it, is it really that great? Content marketing and social media go hand in hand. You need to support your content marketing plan with regular social media usage.

Develop a following on Twitter and Facebook, at a minimum (LinkedIn if it’s appropriate) and then update your fans and followers when you post new content. Look for opportunities to post your content on additional sites or guest post with related businesses.

Small business content marketing doesn’t have to be overwhelming if you follow these five keys. Take time to map out your content budget, get clear on what your customer wants to know and then use repurposing, curation and sharing to make content marketing work for you.

Courtney Ramirez is a certified SEO copywriter and content marketing consultant. As a student of search engine marketing, web usability and social media, she’s been able to craft a writing style that is both inviting to readers and ranking factors. After dabbling in print journalism, she’s written exclusively online since 2005 and manages a small team of excellent writers at Six Degrees Content.

Ramp up your SEO copywriting career! Sign up for the SuccessWorks’ Content Into Cash Business Bootcamp to learn everything you need to know to run a profitable copywriting business.

Filed under Small business,Tips by Industry

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Are you reaching your target B2B audience?

November 21, 2011 • written by

Greetings! Today’s SEO Copywriting video post is in response to a question put to Heather during her recent Inbound Writer webinar (7 Steps to SEO Copywriting Success):  “How do you address competing keywords where the keyword attracts multiple audiences?”

This is a very good question, and one that poses a particular challenge for business-to-business (B2B) copywriters.  Tune in to learn the common mistakes made by B2B writers in their keyphrase research – and hence, site optimization – and how to avoid (and correct) them:

Challenge #1: Using too broad a keyphrase

A big challenge is when a B2B company employs copywriters who may not be that savvy in SEO and keyphrase research: they may make the easy mistake of optimizing a webpage or entire site for too broad a keyphrase.

For example, let’s look at the screenshot of a chemical blender company and the search results shown on the right side of the page. Now, within that company folks might routinely refer to their chemical blenders simply as “blenders.” So it may be that the copywriter who is unfamiliar with SEO would optimize the product page for the word “blenders.”

  • The challenge is, in Google’s world, when you type the word “blenders” into the search query box, what you come back with are consumer results – not B2B industry results. The consumer results aren’t focused on mixing chemicals, they’re instead talking about how to mix smoothies.

So copywriters who do not understand SEO – the search engines’ way of seeing things – end up optimizing their webpage or site for too broad a keyphrase (or a single keyword) that fails to reach their intended audience and drive that targeted, quality traffic.

Challenge #2: Not understanding SEO keyphrase research results

A second B2B challenge (and common mistake) comes from not understanding keyphrase research results.

  • The inexperienced copywriter might be using keyphrase research tools, but upon seeing that “chemical blenders” isn’t returning that much traffic they may make the mistake of going with the more generic keyword, “blenders,” because hey! Look at all that traffic!

Again, the problem is that while “blenders” may be far more heavily trafficked, those folks searching the term “blenders” aren’t looking for “chemical blenders” – they’re looking for consumer blenders. So again, the copywriter ends up optimizing the webpage or site for the wrong term, and the business doesn’t get the target traffic and sales they need to see.

Tip: Quick keyphrase research reality check using Google search

For a quick reality check of your research results, one of the things you can do is to feed your keywords/phrases into Google’s search query box and see what kind of results come up.

For example, using the word “blade”: in the I.T. world, that word can mean “blade server,” but in Google’s world, it can mean it’s an online paper, or it’s a local hair studio, or it’s a film…

  • So if you see those kinds of mixed results, then you’ve a huge opportunity. By looking at your keyphrase research through a search engine’s literal eyes, you can start targeting those folks who are actually looking for your products or services.

Think “specific” when choosing keyphrases

In the “blade” example, you can see how changing from “blade” to “blade server” dramatically alters the search results.

  • If you’re in B2B copywriting, think “specific.” Go into Google and double check your keyphrases and be sure the results returned are relevant to the webpage you’re optimizing for and don’t have a lot of consumer results mixed in.

Is your B2B company in need of skilled SEO copywriting? Check out our SEO copywriting services! You can also train your copywriting staff through one of our SEO copywriting training programs. You’ll soon have a pro on board!

Thanks for tuning in! If you have a question, tweet it to Heather @heatherlloyd or email her at heather@seocopywriting.com. Be sure to check back next Monday for another hot SEO copywriting video tip – it may well answer your question. See you then!

photo credit to: cliff1066™

 

Filed under B2B SEO copywriting,Tips by Industry

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4 content optimization tips for e-commerce websites

November 8, 2011 • written by

Guest Author, Nick Stamoulis

E-commerce sites often struggle with their SEO. Boring, bland product descriptions make up the bulk of the content, the URL structures are often a mess and because they rely so heavily on graphics the site speed is very slow and most of the site looks blank to the search spiders. However, that doesn’t mean that there is no hope for e-commerce sites when it comes to optimizing their content! SEO best practice guidelines still apply, but an e-commerce site might have to approach it differently than another site.

Here are 4 content optimization tips for e-commerce websites:

1. Make the product descriptions unique.

One of the most common problems plaguing e-commerce websites is that they all use the same product description sent over from the manufacturer. How are you going to make your website stand out when your content is duplicated across a dozen other e-commerce sites? Why should a potential customer choose your site over the competition? Rewrite the generic product descriptions so they include your unique selling point! Don’t be afraid to beef up the product description if you need to; the more content you have the more information there is for the search spiders to read and index. It is also easier to incorporate keywords naturally when you have more content to optimize.

2. Add customer reviews to product pages.

Customer reviews can help from both an SEO and user-experience standpoint. Online buying has become a very social activity. Consumers want to read peer reviews BEFORE they make a purchasing decision so they know it’s the right decision for them. Why let your potential customers venture off site to read a peer review when you can build it right into your website? This helps build consumer trust in your e-commerce site and might be the last push a visitor needs to become a customer. Consumer reviews also gives your site more unique content for the search spiders to read and index.

3. Create Meta data templates

If your e-commerce site is relatively small, writing unique Meta tags, Meta descriptions, title tags and H1 tags (elements of on-site SEO) might not take that long; if your site has 3,000 pages it’s another story. One way to help speed up the content optimization process of an e-commerce site is to create a dozen or so Meta data templates that you can use at random throughout your site. For instance, a Meta description template for a furniture e-commerce site might look something like this:

Shop online with [COMPANY NAME] to find unique [ROOM] furniture sets in a variety of wood types and stains. Click here to order your new [ROOM] furniture.

They could use that Meta description (and slight variations) for the dining room, bedroom, living room or kitchen furniture pages of their site. Over a large enough site, it won’t read like duplicate content. By changing up the targeted keywords depending on the page you can optimize them accordingly.

4. Try different call-to-actions

At the end of the day, an e-commerce site’s job is to sell your company’s products. One way to help your conversion rate is by changing up the call-to-actions throughout your site. For instance, with the holidays rapidly approaching you could incorporate call-to-actions such as “Buy now and guaranteed delivery by Christmas” or “Spend $50 or more and receive free holiday shipping!” There is no “perfect” call-to-action or incentive that is going to make all of the visitors to your site buy right then and there; so change it up! Find the right call-to-action that seems to resonate best with your target audience. Remember, each site is different so what works for your competition might not always work for you.

About the Author – Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis is the President and Founder of Brick Marketing a Boston based full service SEO firm. One of the top SEO solutions, Brick Marketing has over 12 years of B2C and B2B SEO experience. You can contact Nick Stamoulis at nick@brickmarketing.com

Filed under Catalog/retailer,Tips and techniques

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