Entries from July 2010 ↓

Even though the World Cup seems to have taken over life as we know it, I’m sure the fact that Wimbeldon is happening hasn’t past you by. And how could it after that epic of tennis matches between Mahut and Isner.  Those incredible guys played for a mind blowing 11 hours and 5 minutes in total with Isner eventually winning 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 70-68! Imagine that – being on court and not being able to break your opponents serve. Hour after hour you serve and return to the best of your ability and yet still nothing. The number of games played grows to an astronomical number – the sheer will power these guys must have had is astounding.

And by now I guess you’re wondering what on earth a mammoth game of tennis has to do with SEO copywriting. Well, as being as you’re still reading, I’ll tell you. Just like Isner, if you want to win with your SEO strategy you have to be in it for the long haul.

Looking back through this blog you’ll find various posts addressing SEO and yet many people out there still think that once you’ve identified your keywords, got a SEO savvy web designer to build you a stonking site and got the best SEO Copywriter out there to create powerful, meaningful, interesting and relevant copy, you’ll hit the front page of Google just like that.

Oh if only it were that easy.

There is a simple equation that will show you what it takes to succceed with your website’s SEO:

SEO friendly website + great SEO copy + back links + determination = great rankings

If you want to achieve great organic rankings you must:

• do great keyword research
• get a professional to write your copy for you
• constantly build back links to your website (via blogs,articles etc.)
• review your analytics regularly to see your site’s performance
• regularly review your keywords

Basically it is an ongoing process that never stops – that might seem like a lot of work, but when you consider how much money you’ll save it won’t seem so bad. Great search engine results will reduce the need for other paid advertising. So what would you rather do? Spend a bit of time getting clients for nothing, or spend a shed load of cash on ineffective advertising?

The decision is yours. But I know which I would prefer.

The internet is taking over – hardly breaking news, but it is if you are a business owner. More and more people are searching for local companies through the search engines so it’s never been more important to ensure you have a strong local SEO presence on the web.

Many company websites concentrate on their products and services and omit their geographical details that will help them get found by consumers. With the advent of increased and improved mobile search, it is vital you stand out in your local area. And the best way to do that is by utilising the power of local search.

Location, location, location

If your company covers a specific geographical location, make sure those details are added to your HTML through page titles. You should also try and use these details within your copy and headings. But ensure you are sensible about it. Remember you are first and foremost writing for your reader – if you over do it, the page will look clumsy. Other areas for location information are within the footer along with your address and also within your internal hypertext linking structure. Instead of linking freelance copywriter, use a geographical reference such as Suffolk freelance copywriter.

YouTube

As well as optimising your website for local search terms, you can boost your presence by using video marketing. Upload your video to YouTube and then use very localised tags – without being spammy. The chances are (depending on the competitiveness of your keywords) you’ll be able to get these ranked and the more entries you can get on a front page local search results, the fewer your competitors can have.

Wider areas

Many buisnesses will serve multiple geographical areas. If this is the case, you should consider creating specific landing pages for each area. They should have unique content (you don’t want to fall foul of the duplicate content trap) and should be optimised for each specific area. Hypertext links within these pages can then drive your visitors to your main website.

Boost your profile

Social networking sites make it easy to spread your name and your business name to a wide audience. Set up social media profiles, again relating to your geographical region. But, as with the landing page content, make sure each description is different. You should also utilise Google Places, Yahoo local, and Bing Local to boost your local profile.

So the name of the game is local search – when creating your website always keep in mind your main business location and use it to its full potential.

Many companies are now beginning to find their feet with social media. They’re getting their heads around tweeting, Facebook. Google Wave and all the other weird and wonderful platforms out there. They are discovering which social media platform to use, they just don’t know how.

But for many, finding customers is still a big issue. Until they can qualify their time spent tweeting etc., with an increase in business they remain sceptical about its uses in the business world.

The key thing to remember is that just because you are using social media doesn’t mean customers will come flooding to your door. It doesn’t work like that. As a business you have to follow customers across the social web.

I came across a blog post the other day that will help you achieve this. Convince and Convert’s “4 Detective tricks to find your customer in social media” will help you understand how to use social media as part of your business.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter