Why delete “doorway pages” from your SEO copywriting vocabulary
Wow, people still talk about doorway pages? Turns out, that answer is “yes,” and Google has changed how they define them (which doesn’t make sense to me – I always thought of doorway pages as copy that’s been optimized for one keyterm for the sole purpose of driving traffic.)
I suppose, like leg warmers, neon and parachute pants, doorway pages have to come back in vogue. People discuss them in forums as a new, easy way to generate content. Sure, the new brand of doorway pages may seem sexier, have a different name or enjoy a cutting edge reputation (better design – yeah!). But they still won’t help you convert. Nor will the search engines respect them as “real content.” Spam has been…and will always be…spam.
Side note with doorway pages: Where I see folks inadvertently do this is around local content pages. Say your bank has 10 branches scattered around Washington State. Some banks create the same sales copy for all locations, and simply swap out the city name. Easy strategy, bad planning. Instead, create custom pages for all locations. Besides, including references to local attractions shows that you’re involved in your community – and this can be a major selling point for folks who prefer to “buy local.”
What’s the “best” word count for SEO copywriting?
May 30, 2008 • posted by Heather
The email from a SEO copywriter read, “My colleague’s SEO company is insisting that I write at least 500 words per page. But you said that the best word count is 250 words. What should I do?”
Stuff like this drives me nuts. I call it the Easy Bake Oven approach to SEO copywriting. That is, write 250 words, focus on your keyphrases X times each and pop it into HTML. Voila! You’ll have a top-positioning document.
It’s just not that simple.
The “how long should a Web page be” debate has been flaring fast and furious for years. Long ago, I wrote that a good rule of thumb for SEO content pages was 250 words because:
- It’s easier to gain keyphrase relevancy with a longer word count
- The tone, feel and conversion flow could still be maintained
- I was seeing success (as well as other copywriters) with a 250ish word count
I still preach this rule of thumb. However, it’s just a rule of thumb. It’s true that short copy (think catalog copy) doesn’t seem to position as optimally as copy that’s more fleshed out. And the more content you have, the more opportunities you have to position for a wide variety of keyphrases (especially long tail keyphrases.) But that doesn’t mean that there’s a magical word count for search engine positioning.
Unfortunately, many SEO copywriters think that they have to write exactly 250 words (or more) on every page. This is fine when the writer has a lot to say – articles, FAQ pages and some product descriptions can easily maintain a 250 word count without sounding fluffy. Fluffy, bloated copy can kill a conversion flow just as fast as too-little copy.
However, there are some pages where squeezing 250 words out of the content is impossible. There’s just simply not enough to say. Conversely, some pages actually benefit from a longer word count. It’s not the search engines that should dictate your per-page word count. It’s your customers. What works for them? What word count conveys your information in the best way for your target audience?
Think about this when you’re writing the copy: Have I said everything I could? Have I overcome all objections? Have I showcased the product or service? Is the keyphrase usage seamless? Does the copy encourage the next conversion step? Have I placed my keyphrases in the search engine power positions?
If your answer is “yes,” you’ve done your job. It’s really as simple as that.
Filed under Commentary, Copywriting, Direct reponse copywriting, SEO
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The secret way to get exactly what you want
May 13, 2008 • posted by Heather
Imagine this: You’ve been hinting around to that hot guy (or gal) in the office that you really, really want to go out. You’re friendly and scintillating within a 1 mile radius of his voice. You’ve highlighted your hair within an inch of its life. You’re putting out some major vibes…
…But why won’t he pick up what you’re putting down and ask you out, already?
We’ve all met these folks and there’s always one constant: If you don’t come right out and tell the clueless object of your affection, “I want to date you,” the date won’t happen. In marketing terms, you won’t convert.
And you know whose fault that would be? Yours.
My father used to say that you have to ask for what you want (he called this theory “Get it and growl.”) No hidden agenda. No, “Well, I just assumed they knew how I felt.” No passive/aggressive “Well, if you REALLY understood me, you’d get it.” If you want it (whatever it is), pipe right up and ask.
And that includes asking for the sale on your Website.
Fast forward to yesterday. My dear friend and owner of the soon-to-be-uploaded FI-Strategies.com forwarded over his Web copy. Some background: This man is a consummate salesman. Professionally, he’s at the top of his sales-training game. Yet, he didn’t ask for the sale in his copy because, in his words, “I made the incorrect assumption that most people would hit the “contact us” button if they wanted more info.”
That’s like assuming that the hot girl will go out with you. Someday. If you don’t ask, you may not get.
“Wait,” you may say. “Isn’t it obvious that my site is trying to sell something?” Yes, that’s true. People wouldn’t be on your site (assuming you sell a product or service) if they didn’t want to buy something. However, think about when you bought your last new car. You were obviously on the lot to purchase a car. Yet, the salesman probably still said something like, “Let’s draw up the paperwork so you can drive this baby home today.” He probably also handed you a pen so you could sign the contract. That’s about asking for the sale, baby. That salesman wanted to sell the car, and he asked you to buy it. Guess what – you did.
Another real-life example are infomercials. The cutaways that discuss the products features, benefits, price and how-to buy occur at least four times in a 30-minute spot. “Call now – special pricing for the first 100 customers” and “Call right now and lose 10 pounds by next Saturday” are all about asking for the sale. And just think – how many times have you watched an infomercial and actually – gasp – bought something. That’s the power of the call-to-action.
Asking for the sale (and creating calls-to-action) is easy. Simply tell people what you want them to do and give them a reason to take action. Here’s how to find opportunities on your site and to leverage those opportunities for SEO purposes.
Sprinkle some calls-to-action through a Web page and see what happens. Chances are, you’ll find that people are happily willing to take your desired conversion step. And all you had to do was ask.
Filed under Copywriting, Direct reponse copywriting, SEO
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When to hire an intermediate-level SEO copywriter
May 8, 2008 • posted by Heather
In our last post, we discussed newbie SEO copywriters – when they’re fantastic hiring choices, when they aren’t and what you need to know before you hire them. But what if you need someone with a little more SEO copywriting street-savvy? Enter the intermediate-level SEO copywriter – the perfect choice for many clients.
Profile of intermediate-level SEO copywriters:
This category describes the vast majority of SEO copywriters. Competent, smart and experienced, intermediate-level copywriters are the perfect choice for a good chunk of clients. These folks have risen up through the newbie trenches, learned from their mistakes and have a decent portfolio under their belt. From a direct-response writing perspective, they’ll serve up a solid and skilled (yet usually not stellar) Web page. From the SEO side, the skill-set depends on the person. In most cases, that’s OK. The intermediate-level copywriter typically works under a SEO supervisor, so they don’t need to worry about being SEO experts.
These folks are fantastic for most content jobs. Need monthly articles on a certain topic? Do you have 50 Web pages screaming for a makeover? Intermediate-level copywriters provide the perfect go-to guy (or gal) solution. Yes, you will still have to look over their shoulder some, and no, don’t expect them to come up with create anything that’s unbelievably awesome or think out of the box. But that’s just fine.
Unlike the newbie SEO copywriter, intermediate-level copywriters can set some content strategy in conjunction with the SEO firm. That would mean working with the SEO to establish a keyphrase list, strategizing the per-page keyphrases and developing a content template. Although some intermediate-level SEO copywriters could easily set a small-business content strategy, they are more effective as collaborative partners with agencies and SEO firms.
Additionally, intermediate-level folks usually have clear strengths in either direct-response copywriting or SEO – but typically not both. That doesn’t mean that they are great writers and are clueless about the engines (or techs who can barely type a legible sentence.) Both types of folks can write a good Web page and understand how the engines work. It’s just something to watch for and notice. By the type a writer reaches an expert SEO status, they enjoy equal (and superior) SEO and writing skills.
Intermediate-level SEO copywriters are good for:
Sometimes, a more experienced intermediate-level SEO copywriter can:
Somewhat like the newbie SEO, the intermediate-level SEO copywriter doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. However, unlike the newbie copywriter, that shouldn’t make a whole lot of difference – unless you need strategy or training. If you are a big-brand company – or a company with highly complex technical, marketing or tone and feel needs – hiring an expert copywriter would be your best bet.
Because the skill-sets can be so variable, make sure to ask for clips before letting your intermediate-level SEO copywriter loose. Some folks will pen a really good page, while others are somewhat so-so. Although great writers can write anything for any vertical, intermediate-level folks are typically really good at writing certain types of copy. If their clips don’t turn you on, check out another copywriting choice.
Wondering if you should hire the cream of the SEO copywriting crop? Stay tuned for more information about expert SEO copywriters!
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When should you hire a newbie SEO copywriter?
April 10, 2008 • posted by Heather
In the last post, we discussed how there are different “types” of SEO copywriters – newbie, intermediate and expert. Today, we’ll talk about the newbie SEO copywriter – when she’s a smart hiring choice, what work she’s qualified to do, and the kind of time that you’ll have to spend to keep her on track.
Profile of newbie SEO copywriters:
All SEO copywriters were here once upon a time. Newbie SEO copywriters are eager to learn, excited about their new career choice and ready to tackle most any client (although they’re only ready for a chosen few.) Some newbie SEO copywriters have a sales writing background and they’re simply expanding their skill set. Others are brand-new to the writing life. Both types of SEO copywriters can perform small-scale writing tasks for a more competitive (read: cheaper) price.
These folks may not know HTML – and anything code-related may be scary. They may outgrow this phase, but some newbies will never get past this level. As such, most can be relied on for only the most basic of tasks. That’s OK.
No, newbie SEO copywriters should not perform keyphrase research, choose keyphrases, write crucial sales pages or put their nose in your strategy business. They simply don’t have the experience to do it well. Big brands would typically not benefit from a newbie hire. However, because they are less expensive than their more experienced brethren, newbie SEO copywriters are often a great alternative for small businesses.
Newbie SEO copywriters are good for:
Sometimes, a more experienced newbie SEO copywriter can:
The issue with newbie SEO copywriters is that they don’t know what they don’t know. You’ll pay a lower cost, sure – but you’ll be spending your valuable time training your writer and looking over her shoulder. If you don’t have that kind of time (or if you have limited SEO knowledge) an intermediate-level SEO copywriter would be your best bet.
There is one other important upside. Sometimes, you can find the perfect newbie who learns fast, invests herself in your business and turns around accurate work, quickly. If you can find that “diamond-in-the-rough” SEO copywriter, hang on to her. My incredibly talented Director of Search Strategy, Aimee Beck, who also owns WordAssociates.ca, was my diamond-in-the-rough. Now, she’s been with me for almost six years. Leslie Carruthers, owner of The Search Guru, was another. Both women are absolutely fantastic at what they do and have helped me tremendously. I’m lucky to work with them.
Need a writer with more experience? We’ll be talking about Intermediate-level SEO copywriters in the next post. Stay tuned!
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Should SEO copywriters choose keyphrases?
April 8, 2008 • posted by Heather
I’ve heard a couple people say that they’d never allow SEO copywriters to choose campaign keyphrases.
My first question was, “Why not?”
And then I got to thinking.
It’s true that not all SEO copywriters are considered equal. Some SEO copywriters are brand-new to the field and don’t, as my father used to say, “Know their butt from third base” (actually, he used a different word than “butt” – but you get the idea.) Green, inexperienced and don’t know what they don’t know, these SEO copywriters do serve a purpose. And that purpose does not include keyphrase or content development strategy.
Other SEO copywriters are highly-skilled SEOs themselves. These copywriters “get” SEO’s marketing, technical and direct response requirements. You’ll see these savvy SEO copywriters successfully research (and choose) keyphrases, fry them up in a SEO copywriting pan, and never, ever let you forget your conversion plan. Yes, I would trust these copywriters to set my keyphrase research strategy. In fact, depending on who I was working with, I may trust the copywriter more than the SEO of record.
SEO copywriters offer more than pretty words and high-positioning text. Beginner SEO copywriters are great for easy projects: blog posts, some article writing, some product descriptions. Expert copywriters often partner with businesses long-term, helping them set SEO and content strategies. And “middle-of-the-road” copywriters are great for some projects – and not for others.
So, how do you choose what skill level fits your needs?
During the next few blog posts, we’ll be deconstructing the SEO copywriter’s job and discussing the best skill set for your next project. You’ll learn when “cheap and dirty” SEO copywriting will fit your needs – and when paying top dollar is well worth it.
Stay tuned for more!
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Terminal 5 trauma – British Airways and missed reputation management opportunities
April 3, 2008 • posted by Heather
My luggage did not.
If you’ve been tracking the Terminal 5-blues news, you’d know that it’s been estimated that 20,000 bags were stuck in Heathrow. Volunteer British Airways staff are manually hand-sorting them as I type. Reputation-management wise, British Airways is in deep doo-doo, with calls for the CEO’s resignation. And customer-wise, travelers are booking with other airlines, trying to avoid Terminal 5’s chaotic reputation.
Unfortunately, every business is vulnerable to a public relations nightmare (although British Airway’s is exceedingly bad.) The key is how you deal with it. British Airways can be remembered as “the airline that will lose your luggage,” or “the airline that had a glitch, but overcame it with great customer service.”
From a customer perspective, I’m frustrated. Here it is, seven days later, and I still don’t have my bag. The BA.com luggage tracking system is down frequently, and customer service doesn’t have any new information. I understand that this is an extraordinary situation – but here’s what would make me feel happier from a customer service perspective:
Setting up a Terminal 5 dedicated blog and creating content for it wouldn’t take much time. A smart SEO or reputation management expert could take care of it in half a day. And then, British Airways could point to the site and say, “See, we’re trying. We do care. And we’re doing everything we can to make this right.”
The one saving grace during this time? I have to say that British Airways customer service is excellent. Most of the reps I’ve talked with have been friendly and helpful – even though they are on the “where’s my luggage” firing lines. My only hope is that these excellent folks get some sort of hazard pay. They certainly deserve it.
Just called the airline to ask about my luggage. Apparently, 5,000 bags are being put on flights today. They can’t tell me if my bag was one of them. And so it continues…
Filed under Commentary, Reputation management, SEO, Social Media
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Who’s stealing your Web content?
March 18, 2008 • posted by Heather
I was pissed.
What’s worse is that the aforementioned scammy SEO argued that they owned the copyright! It wasn’t until that I showed them that the article originally appeared in a SearchDay issue did they take it down. So not cool. And did the SEO apologize? No. They said they took it down “because there was some confusion about who owned the copyright.”
It wasn’t confusing to me. That article was mine.
Unfortunately, the mad push to create value-added content makes good folks do really stupid things. Copy-stealers usually fall into one of three categories:
The “everything is free” copy-stealer. This person honestly has no idea that using your article would be harmful, bad or unethical. They just liked the article and wanted to put it on their site.
The unethical writer. This person “borrows” large sections of text in order to fulfill a current writing assignment. Although they may not copy the article completely, they will copy entire paragraphs and pass them off as theirs. What’s worse, they’ll sell their dupe article to a client. As discussed below, the client is then liable for the copyright violation.
The evil copyright violator. This person knows exactly what they are doing, don’t care and wait to get caught. I would lump the unethical SEO in this category.
Has this happened to you? If you’re wondering, copy a random snippet of text from one of your articles, paste it in the Google search box, put quotes around it and see what comes up. If pages are returned – be warned. Someone else may be using your content without your permission. Additionally, many site owners and writers use Copyscape (basic searching is free, premium is .05 a search with other goodies included) to catch the copyright violation.
So, what to do?
Most violators that I’ve dealt with have fallen in the first category – they didn’t mean to do anything wrong, and they are mortified when they learned what they’ve done. I’ve had great luck emailing people and saying, “Hey, take that article down. It’s mine.”
With other folks, it may be more of a battle.
Bob Ellis, partner in Conkle, Ellis, Fergus and MacDowell, LLP and whip-smart Internet attorney had this to say about the topic:
Whether your material is copied verbatim or whether it’s “adapted,” it’s still copyright infringement. Everything you create that is your original work (text, art, scribbles, scripts, etc.) is automatically copyrighted when you create it — no need to say “copyright (c) 2002″, no need to say “all rights reserved”. But having a copyright and being able to enforce it are two different things.
The best way to be able to enforce your copyright rights is to file a copyright registration for every piece of work you want to protect. Registration is easy – no attorney necessary – and fairly cheap: only $35 if you file online. The Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov will walk you through it.
What are the advantages of registration? Once you have registered your work, you have a legal right to sue infringers in federal court, to get an injunction ordering the infringement to stop, and to receive rather hefty “statutory damages” – that is, damages you don’t have to prove – as well as attorney fees. If you haven’t registered, all you can get is an injunction and actual damages, the ones you have to prove.
Any person or company that posts your work on their site is liable; not just the web developer who may have been the true culprit. If the only infringer is an individual without much money you could end up spending a lot of money for an injunction, and there would be no money for damages or attorney fees. If a major corporation infringes your copyright, a credible threat will probably produce a quick, favorable settlement for you, but if they are determined they could spend unlimited amounts on lawyers to grind you down and string things out.
An online service provider on whose servers the infringing copies happen to reside is NOT considered an infringer, but you can even send the service provider a demand that the infringing material be removed, and they are required by law to respond.
Copyright violation can be fairly common in today’s “the Internet is free” environment. The key is catching it – fast. After all, you’ve put time, money and effort in your content. Why let someone else use it for free and without attribution?
Filed under Commentary, Copyright, Copywriting, SEO
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Internet, Online or Web — the great marketing debate.
March 14, 2008 • posted by Aimee
Lee Odden sparked an interesting debate on his blog about the terminology used to describe our industry. Check it out to share your opinion on whether to call it Internet Marketing, Online Marketing or Web Marketing.
Filed under Commentary, International SEO copywriting, Media, SEO, Social Media
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Ten common SEO copywriting myths
March 6, 2008 • posted by Heather
During every conference, someone comes up to me and says, “I’ve heard that you can…” – and proceeds to tell me about a spammy technique that they “just learned” or a brilliant idea that their IT department “just thought of.”
There are a lot of SEO copywriting myths out there. It’s scary, actually.
During SMX West, Jill Whalen discussed some common SEO copywriting myths – which was a brilliant idea. I’ve included some of Jill’s myths and added my own. Feel free to add your own in the comments section!
Filed under Commentary, Copywriting, Direct reponse copywriting, SEO
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