Everyone wants great search engine rankings, but most still don’t understand how to get there. (And there are those who think they know and don’t want to listen to anyone else…but that’s a whole other story.)
For the rest of us who always want to learn more, when it comes to natural or organic search engine rankings (as opposed to the kind you pay for, like pay per click), there are a number of issues to consider.
Back in the day, SEO (search engine optimization) copywriting wasn’t something most businesses even knew they were looking for. But all that has changed, and understandably so – these days, who isn’t trying to crack the Google code and catapult themselves and their business to the top of the search engine pages??
Most people do not (please don’t be offended) know how to write good, effective SEO copy – they just don’t. Good SEO copy needs to “speak” to two audiences – the target market who ultimately needs to make a buying decision AND the search engines. Both need to be spoken to within the same copy. And that same copy needs to do its job so well that both groups think that that copy is directed right at them.
A tall order, huh?
Learn more specifically what you need to know about good SEO writing for your website and other online marketing in my next blog entry.
A few months ago, I was speaking with a client who was telling me an all-too-common story of business blogging: he and his team had set up a brand-new, visually-pleasing blog site. It looked great. It matched their corporate website. It had a URL. It had a cool masthead. It had links to other websites and bloggers, and it was ready to go.
But there was one problem. A pretty big problem. The blog was empty. Actually, it wasn’t totally empty, it had a few random posts here and there but they were few and far between.
As he told me his tale of blogging woes, he even diagnosed the problem himself: Unattended Blog Syndrome or “UBS.” (I am not making this up, he really called it that.) Blogs are insatiable when it comes to having enough copy – there is no such thing as ever being “done” with your blog as you might be with another marketing vehicle, like a brochure or a web page.
Don’t let yourself or your company fall prey to UBS. Here are some basic but very important tips for keeping UBS away from you and your team:
Continue Reading “The Not-So-Hidden Dangers Of Unattended Blog Syndrome”
I often talk on the subject of website usability and the importance of designing your web pages with your user in mind.
In the blink of an eye, web surfers make their judgments…they instantly judge your website’s “visual appeal.” If your website is appealing they will look further, if it is appealing and easy to navigate and read…you will have the chance to build trust with your reader and only then can you influence them to take the action that you want …whether it is to click on your ad, call you for a consultation, or just simply come back.
Here are some tools that will help you evaluate and analyze how users use your site so you can improve your website’s design and usabilty.
ClickTale records your visitors’ every action as they browse your website and allows you to watch movies to understand visitor behavior and gain valuable insights and improve your website’s usability.
Price: You can track 100 page visits/week (~400 page visits/month) for free. If you need to track more pages, check out clicktale website for price plans.
ClickHeat is a visual heatmap of clicks of your website pages, showing you hot and cold click zones. The hot zones tell you the most clicked on areas on the page and the cold zones tell you which areas on the page are being ignored.
This is an open source software that equires Javascript on the client side to track clicks, PHP and GD library (image library that should be installed with your PHP) on the server to log clicks and generate the heatmap.
Price: FREE
Clickdensity is another great tool that offers different kinds of reports based on your user behavior on your website:
- Heat maps reports show the most clicked areas on the page
- Hover maps reports show you the statistics on your users hovering over the links but not clicking on them.
- A/B Tests allow you to change page elements to test usability and improve user experience.
Price: You can track one page for up to 5,000 clicks for free. If you need to track more pages, check out clickdensity website for price plans.
I am often asked by business owners, entrepreneurs, consultants, coaches and others for copywriting tips. Here are six of the most important in no particular order:
1. It is actually about them, not you.
Your marketing copy isn’t where you tell your life story or replicate your college thesis. It’s not about your style, your preferences or your own “voice.” It’s not even about what you personally think or want. It’s about the audience, the product/ service and, ultimately, about selling.
2. Go easy on the eyes.
Nothing tires the eyes and kills interest more than a big block of endless black text. So include bullets, sub-heads, questions, sidebars and headlines to break your copy into easy-to-scan chunks.
3. Back it up and be realistic.
Don’t over-promise or over-hype. Be honest in your copy, just as you would in a verbal conversation. Your target market will love you for it and will be all the more attracted to you and your products/services.
4. Tell them what to do next.
Don’t lead them to the end and then leave them hanging. Tell them what they need to do to become your customer. Whether it is by phone, e-mail, coming into the store or by Pony Express for that matter, tell them clearly and precisely. You’d be amazed by how many businesses forget to include a clear call to action in their copy.
5. Speak their language.
Know who you are writing and marketing to. Are there certain must-use words? Are there major no-no words? Use an acronym or jargon only if you’re certain everyone will know what you’re talking about. If the writing comes across as disconnected from its audience, this will be evident from the get-go.
6. Become a wealth of information.
So, you’re an expert? Show it! Pack your copy with expert advice, tips, resources and information. It’s more important to be seen as a trusted expert thank it is to “make the sale” each and every time.
Recently, I blogged about the article written by Wired Senior Editor, Chris Anderson, Why $0.00 is the Future of Business where he discusses the new business models for people who want to do business on the web…free has emerged as a full-fledged economy.
Today, I read an article that highlights two book authors that perfectly implemented Chris Anderson’s trend, by giving away books as podcasts as a way to promote sales.
Scott Sigler and Seth Harwood have spent the past few years writing novels, disseminating them over the Internet as serialized podcasts and amassing audiences so considerable that top-shelf agents and publishers are now eager to represent the authors.
Continue Reading “Making Money in the Free Economy”
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