Entries from August 2010 ↓

I’m sure you’ve read enough blog posts to know that search engine optimisation is the thing to be doing these days if you have a website.

Good organic search results are the holy grail for many business and, in the long run, are much cheaper that using PPC (pay per click) advertising.

But understanding how to create great copy that will contribute to great rankings and be interesting to your reader is not easy. Therefore many company’s take the sensible option to invest in the services of a SEO Copywriter who knows what they are doing.

Your on page SEO cheatsheet

If you do your own web copy in house, I stumbled across this great post on Conversation Marketing which will prove invaluable to you. If you are responsible for uploading images, writing articles or tweaking your company’s website copy, this On Page SEO Cheatsheet will show you how to get the most from your onpage SEO elements:

To get your copy click here and download the PDF.

The way we read is being revolutionised.

With advances in technology it is now ‘cool’ to read our favourite books on a Kindle reader:

“A revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper”

No, I’m sorry but that’s just not right.

I don’t want to hold an inanimate object and read from a screen. For me reading is about connecting with something tangible. I like to hold a book, feel it’s pages, listen to the gentle sound as each page is turned, see the creases in the spine – I WANT TO TO TURN PAGES!!!

On holiday I’ll take several novels. Yes they take up space in my luggage but I don’t care. I can read them anywhere without fear of getting a flat battery.

There is something special about a book – whether it’s new or second hand – that can never be replaced by a screen.

If the text in my book is small, compact and endless, I don’t care. I’ll read it. But if writing on a screen is small, compact and endless I won’t read it.

It’s just like websites and blogs that you see which are crammed to the rafters with copy. They are so difficult to read. Writing copy for the web is very different from writing for printed media. Most people find reading from a screen difficult and if they are faced with a wall of text, they probably won’t even bother.

Make your writing look interesting

Content has to look attractive to make someone read it.

Creating space around your words is more likely to encourage someone to read them.

Rather than writing long paragraphs of text, break it up into chunks separated by white space. Insert sub headings to signal to your reader what each section is about.

Basically, if you want people to read the content on your website you have to make it look inviting. Your copy has to be interesting, relevant and search engine friendly. Getting the right amount of content on your page is vital – but good SEO Copywriting doesn’t necessarily mean writing thousands and thousands of words.

So what is the optimium amount of copy? Well the simple answer is it depends.

You’ll need enough to get your keywords in and enough to make sure you get your message across to your reader. At the end of the day it will depend on the competitiveness of the keywords you have chosen and what you actually want to say.

Getting your web content right is vital for your search engine optimisation so it pays to invest in the services of a good SEO Copywriter who understands how to write great content  that is appealing to your reader and the search engine spiders.

For me, no amount of electronic gizmos will ever replace a good old fashioned book. Reading from a screen is always going to be difficult so if you want people to read your material make sure you follow the advice in this blog post.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter

Search engine optimisation is huge these days.

If you have a website, having an SEO strategy is a must if you want to develop those all important organic listings. Yes, you could opt for PCC (pay per click) advertising, but why pay for short term gains when you can develop a long term winning strategy?

To make your SEO work you need three things:

• An SEO friendly website that is easy to navigate (for the reader and search engine spiders)
• Great content written by a professional SEO Copywriter
• Back links

To get the first two, it really pays to find an expert in  their field. Yes there are cheaper options out there, but if you cut corners you’ll end up with something that doesn’t work. This is especially true when it comes to the copywriting. There are a lot of people out there who will claim to understand SEO, but few copywriters do. It pays to shop around and ask to see examples of work they’ve done.

When it comes to backlinks, you need to think long term. You can buy them in, but that often causes more harm than good. So the best option is to build them yourself. But that takes time and is often too much for one person alone.

Therefore why not bring in your team to work on this for you?

The best way to make this work for you is for you to create a team of link builders within your company.

I stumbled across this post on Seomoz.org which gives an example of how this can work. Take a look at Rob Ouseby’s post “Create A Link Building Team Within Your Organisation” and see what tips you can pick up to make your whole organisation a continuous link building machine.

The good old fashioned press release is one of the best ways to get promotion for your business. But people frequently shy away from it because it can be difficult getting your announcement past the hawk-like gaze of the editor.

Yes, it can be difficult because an editor isn’t going to want to publish any old thing. But so long as you take time over your press release and ensure its contents are newsworthy rather than just a thinly veiled advert, you shouldn’t have a problem.

Historically, the press release has been seen as a off line form of marketing – it’s mainly aimed at newspapers, industry magazines or local business magazines. Well yes, it can be used that way, but increasingly businesses are turning to the online publishing world as an outlet for their press releases which has one significant advantage. Whereas with print media, your press release will appear one day and be someones chip wrappings the next, online press releases will be attracting a new audience for months or even years after its original release date.

Because of this, it is essential you write your release using your identified primary keywords so it will continue to attract the audience you want. Although it is important you still follow the usual rules of press release writing.

The usual rules apply

Regardless of whether you are writing for on or off line publication, your press release should still:

• Be regarded as newsworthy rather than a thinly veiled advert
• Be brief and too the point. Any waffle will get it rejected immediately
• Contain quotes from real people and referrenced back to them
• Ensure the first paragraph  summaries your story
• Make sure you send it to a targeted group of editors rather than going for blanket coverage

The on line press release

Keywords are as important to your online press releases as they are to your website copy. If you are unsure about how to go about it hire a freelance copywriter to help you. They will have the experience to make your story newsworthy whilst ensuring it is keyword rich (but still readable).

Utilising your keywords will make sure your press release is constantly picked up by your target audience for as long as it remains on the internet. The key things to remember are:

• Focus on your primary keyword for the headline, quotes and opening paragraph but taking care not to over stuff your content
• Make sure your summary also contains your keyword
• Still keep your press release brief and to the point
• Do your research and make sure you send it to journalists and bloggers who will be interested in your  subject

Following these simple tips will help your press release generate new readers and traffic for you for a long time to come. So, if you don’t already do it, start getting your press releases online and enjoy the benefits of longevity and constant traffic.

A big part of any search engine optimisation strategy is building quality links.

How do they help?

Well, think of it this way – every web page has page rank (0 – 10 depending on your web page’s value with 0 being the lowest) so when another site links to you (assuming it’s a follow link) part of that page rank filters through to you (what I like to call link juice). So, the more good quality websites you get linking to you, the higher your page rank will go. And the higher then page rank, the more authoritative your website is, so the higher it ranks.

By far the best way to link build is by doing it organically:

• Write great content that people will want to link to
• Submit your website to directories
• Blog linking back to your website
• Write and submit articles

Although this takes time it is very effective and you won’t fall foul of Google.

Is there a quicker way?

If you are the type of person who likes to take short cuts, yes, there is a quicker way.

You can always buy links but, as Julie Joyce on Search Engine Journal explains in her post “4 Huge Mistakes to Avoid When You Build Links“, if you do you’ll be going against Google’s guidelines and you’ll be risking your website.

So if you want your website to climb the rankings safely without upsetting Google, go organic – it’s the only way.