Search Engine Optimization

Our goal is to make web pages more visible to search engines such as Google, and to improve the ranking of the page for each keyword or key phrase.

As in any direct response marketing effort, we need to determine the target audience, and write to that audience.

Typical strategy to optimize a page:

• Include 2 to 3 keywords or key phrases on each page. The key phrase is what the customer will type into the search box to find what they need.
• Find the best key phrases by checking Google Keywords Tool
• Other sources are WordTracker, or KeywordDiscovery. These are paid sites.
• Using the same keywords on additional pages that are linked to this page will improve rankings.
  
• Make sure everything is grammatically correct.
• Include each key phrase 3 to 4 times (or more) within the marketing copy.
• Include the key phrases in all headlines, titles, subheads and hyperlinks.
• Always include benefit statements, as many as practical. Why should someone buy from you rather than your competitors? Integrate these throughout the copy. Remember, longer copy pulls better.
• Use your hyperlinks for calls to action. Like "Buy Now" or "Add to Cart". Don't use phrases like "click here".
  
• Always include a call to action.
• Make your title and description compelling. The title is the stuff that appears in the blue bar above your browser tool bar. This is what appears in the search engine listing. The description appears below the listing to further describe what the page is all about.
• The title is your headline.
  
• Each page gets it's own unique title.
• Put key phrases toward the front of the title.
  
• Limit the title to 60 characters, but it can be up to 75.
  
• The title tells the site visitor what you do.
• The description is your sub head. It is the marketing statement that will appear after the title on your listing.
  
• Whenever possible, reinforce each benefit with a hyperlink to an additional page with more information about the benefit.
  

Charges for SEO copywriting range from $50 to edit a simple page to $2000 to write a full page from scratch.

Places that these skills can be applied are:

• Web pages
• Articles
• Press releases
• White papers
• FAQ pages
• Blog posts
  

How search engines work

Google is the most commonly used search engine. So most people would like their website listed high on Google searches.

The easiest way to get on the first page of web listings is to purchase a listing. Those are listed at the top of the page and along the right hand side. They can be very expensive. And a lot of people don't trust the paid listings because they don't want to be 'sold'. They just want to buy.

The main body of the listings page contains what are called 'organic' listings. They are free, but rely on the search engine for the order they come in.

Paid listings generally out perform organic listings by about 10%. Having both paid and organic listings can be very synergistic and leads to building trust.

Organic listings order is dictated by the relevance of the web site to the search performed. Google has a 'bot' (an electronic robot) that constantly scans hyperlinks to determine which websites are most relevant. They will not list a site until they are sure it is legitimate and has staying power. The more hyperlinks they find that refer to a particular site, the higher it might be listed.

Content is the most important element for determining the ranking of a site. The bot analyzes content to determine if the site is relevant to the search. Merely adding more of the words that someone might enter into the search engine doesn't work to elevate position. If the content is important enough to bring more traffic to the sight through referrals, as indicated by more hyperlinks, it will elevate the site.

The third element that affects rankings is keywords. Having the keywords that more people are searching for helps elevate the position of the site.

Google stores all the data they collect, including content analysis. As they determine that a website is legitimate, they begin to list it. This can take from 3 to 6 months. To find out if a site is listed, type in "site.xyzcompany.com" in the Google search box. That will show if it is on their list.

Search engines look first for good written content to determine relevance. Site architecture and hyperlinks are 2 other aspects they look for.

Graphics cannot be read by search engines, they only read text. Fancy graphics may be pleasing to the site visitor, but search engines will not lead them there unless there is good written content also. Graphics also tend to make it harder for the visitor to find the information they are looking for, and so may lower the ranking.

The web content writer's job is to balance the needs of the website owner, and the requirements of the search engines. It is a good idea to become familiar with webmaster guidelines.

The most important element of long term website search engine success is trust. Trying to trick the search engines or the customer only leads to failure. Google will only reduce the ranking or may even bar those that try to do so. It is bad to use invisible text to increase the number of keywords involved. When search engines find out about such tricks, they take action.

Findability and reputation are what create that trust. Those are built on content and links. A good website requires commitment to excellence, planning, good products or service, testing to find what works, and patience. The entire site must be easily used and contain the best keywords within good content to be successful.

It seems difficult, but in order for companies to successfully use this growing source of sales and revenue, they must take control of the process. No throwing the hands in the air and giving up. This media, when done right, is the easiest way to bring in increased sales.

Videos are growing in importance in search engine optimization. They must also have good content. A good structure, paying attention to good marketing principles, having a definite purpose, will all lead to a higher ranking and bring in more $.

SEO copywriting is not just about shoving the right words into advertising copy. It involves creating the impression in the visitor's mind that the owner of this website is an expert in the field. Traditional direct response skills are vital to the success of the effort. And these skills are vital to continued, long term success.

A good copywriter can easily put the right keywords into the text, while still being true to the architecture that leads to increased sales. Persuading a customer to buy still takes knowledge of the process. You must give the customer what they want. The customer is the most important element of the equation.

Search Engine Optimization--Keywords

Before you optimize your website or buy pay-per-click (PPC) traffic, you should make sure you are using the best keywords. Are users really searching for info about your product? What keywords are they searching for?

With the Internet, there is no need to guess whether you're using the right keywords. There are software tools that can tell you exactly how many searches were performed on them.

One keyword tool is spacky.com. It's free. And when you enter a keyword, it shows the monthly search volume for that term on Google, Overture/Yahoo, and Microsoft Network. Another keyword research and discovery tool is wordtracker.com.

Often, the keywords used most are not the ones you picked. In addition, small variations in keywords can make a big difference in results.

Let's say you want to optimize a website for people looking to buy costumes.

We can optimize the home page copy for the keyword "costumes".

And when I use spacky.com to check, sure enough there were 16.6 million searches on "costumes" on Google this month.

But there were 20.4 million searches on Google this month on "costume."

This tells me that I should optimize the home page copy for "costume" and not "costumes."

I would never have known that had I not checked.

In addition, spacky.com displays a long list of related terms and their search volumes, so you can choose the keywords that are searched most frequently.

There are three typical online marketing activities that can benefit from keyword research.

Each page on your website should be optimized for at least one keyword related to what you're selling.

Use it for pay-per-click advertising. Even a good PPC ad will generate mediocre results if you bid on the wrong keywords.

The third is determining the feasibility of new products.

Example: You decide to write and sell an e-book on how to make a costume. You think Halloween is very popular holiday, but you aren't sure.

But even if you were sure that Halloween is popular, that doesn't mean the book will sell. Remember, we are not selling in bookstores. We are selling on the Internet. And for a product to be successful online, potential buyers must be searching the Internet for information related to it.

A good rule of thumb is that the keyword must have at least 100,000 searches a month on Google to be successful online. "Costumes" with 16.6 million and "costume" with 20.4 million both pass with flying colors.

You can also check your competitors and see what keywords they're using to optimize their websites. Yeah, it's legal.

You can see what keywords your competitors are using by reading the source codes on their websites. "Source code" is the programming language used to build a website. And in optimized websites, the source codes for the pages include keyword lists called meta tags. The most important meta tags to check are the title tag, description tag, and keywords tag.

To find the keywords in a competitor's meta tags, go to his home page. Click "view" and then choose "source." A window will appear displaying the page's source code with the meta tags clearly labeled as title, description, and keywords. The keywords appear between symbols like these:

In minutes, you will know all the keywords your competitor has optimized his site for.

Knowing this can help you optimize your own website to out do the competitor, by knowing what keywords more people are searching.