Daily SEO copywriting candy – Making more of that Internet money
I admit it. I’m a huge South Park fan. One of my favorite lines (compliments of the Canada on Strike episode) is “Give us some of that Internet money.” Internet money! I love it! I walk around saying, “I want some of that Internet money” all the time. I’m sure it annoys people.
Isn’t that what we’re all trying to do – make ourselves more of that Internet money? After all, good direct response SEO copywriting should increase conversion rates. And there are a host of other things you can do to land the sale more often – and start snagging your share of that Internet money. Here are some tasty points to ponder:
- Are your online campaigns flat? It’s easy to blame the economy, but sometimes – just sometimes – the problem is with your campaign (I’m just saying…) During times like these, it’s always good to revisit the conversion basics and see if you can do things a little differently. Check out Media Post’s article about increasing your online conversions for some very helpful tips.
- “Wait Heather,” you may say, “Why the hell are you including a post titled, Why SEO is a waste of money?” Because SEO copywriting – as this guy defines it – is a waste of money. I have long railed on companies who regurgitate keyword-stuffed and poorly written content soley for the purpose of search engine rankings. Good SEO copywriting is seamless, skillful and a highly valuable conversion asset. If your copy sounds like the “Doug” example in this post, you are definitely missing the Internet money boat.
- If your site isn’t converting and you don’t know why, maybe it’s because you need a little Fogg. No, not the weather hell that prevents my early morning flights from taking off. It’s the Fogg Behavior Model, created by Dr. R.J. Fogg, which states that three elements have to be in place before a behavior (like buying something or calling a 800#) will take place: motivation, ability and trigger. Read the original post and read the take from FutureNow.
Today’s homework: Ask yourself, “What’s one thing I could do to try to increase conversion rates.” Now do it. Now.
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Heather,
Thanks for referring to my post. What’s the difference between good copy writing and SEO copy writing? I’m enjoying your posts. Thanks again.
- drew
Comment by Andrew Davis — March 25, 2009 @ 3:58 am
Hey, Drew!
The huge misconception about SEO copywriting is that it’s markedly different than conventional copywriting. That is, it’s *all* about the engines and driving traffic – and things like conversion, tone and feel and connecting with the customer don’t count. I really don’t know how that perception got started, but it drives me nuts.
The reality is: SEO copywriting does *exactly* what conventional copywriting does – persuade the reader so convincingly that she wants to buy what you’re selling (or download what you’re offering.)
However, SEO copywriting has an added bit of complexity, in that we know that people are *searching for information using particular keyphrase search queries.* In order to control your search rankings as much as you can – and for people to easily find a page during a keyphrase search – those keyphrases need to be on the page.
For instance, I work with a lot of catalog marketers. They produce beautiful print catalogs that are wonderfully written – but horrible for search engine positioning. Why? The person writing the copy wasn’t thinking “search engines” when she wrote it (and why would she?) So, even if the intent of the copy was to sell “leather bracelets” – she may not have included the word “leather bracelet” in the copy. I know – it seems like a no brainer to include the term. But it’s an issue with about 95 percent of the clients I work with.
A SEO copywriter would make sure that the term “leather bracelet” *was* in the copy – but also make sure that it’s not in the copy *so* much that it sounds like the example you provided in your article. She would conduct keyphrase research and make sure that the keyphrase was specific to the product (“men’s braided leather bracelet.”) She may also discover that “leather bracelet reviews” was a popular keyphrase, and suggest to the client (if it was applicable) that they build out a page profiling “leather bracelet reviews.” In this case, SEO copywriting helps companies find what people are interested in (say, reviews), and serve content that satisfies their needs.
So, SEO copywriting helps catalog companies be more visible during product searches – and then the well-written content sells the product (rather than forcing them to another site, which was the example you sited). Major publishers use SEO copywriting principals to help their articles get found more often (which increases their ability to sell ad space for more money.) B2B companies use SEO copywriting principals to come up during a vendor search and “soft sell” their services so people fill out a RFP. It’s everywhere you look if you know how to look for it. Unfortunately, it’s the crap sites that get the SEO copywriting press. And that’s sad.
Thanks for your great question. I’m enjoying your posts as well!
Comment by Heather — March 25, 2009 @ 3:36 pm