The Truth about SEO Copywriting:
Make Sure Your Web Content Offers
Real Solutions For Real Readers
Over 60% of online buyers find new sellers by clicking on links
in Web articles. The conclusion is obvious: SEO copywriting is the
single most important tool for increasing your traffic and sales.
Google considers three main elements
to determine where your site appears on its search results: (1)
content analysis, (2) links, and (3) PageRank. Google recommends
this simple formula to increase your visibility on search results:
Focus your SEO strategy on the creation of useful, relevant content.
Everything you need to know about
SEO copywriting can be summed up in one thought: Concentrate
on providing real content for real readers and your ranking will
take care of itself.
Great Marketing Can't Save a Bad
Site
I did a Web search recently and clicked through to an article
whose title grabbed my attention. The information was helpful, so
I went to the author's site hoping to find more good content.
I read two more articles. They turned
out to be cut-and-paste variations on the first article. Vocabulary
and sentence structure had been altered just enough to ensure that
search engine bots wouldn't index the articles as duplicate content.
I felt manipulated: I'm a real person!
I abandoned the site immediately. Research shows that eight of every
ten visitors leave a new site because of a bad experience, and almost
50% of repeat visitors leave a site for the same reason.
There's a lesson to be learned here:
Great advertising will destroy a bad product in a hurry. It isn't
hard to carve out a niche, target keywords for that niche, and get
a top-10 ranking on a search engine. The problem is to stay there
over the long haul—and to convert traffic into revenue while
you're there.
How to Create Compelling Web Content
Bad SEO copywriting will kill your search engine ranking in
the long run. Try these strategies to put more power into your Web
content:
-
Focus on your readers: Whenever
you create content, be sure to offer readers a fresh view of
your topic. When readers find tips or insights that help them
solve a problem, they're likely to come back. Even if they don't
buy something today, you're on their radar screen. And satisfied
readers will want to tell their friends and co-workers about
you.
-
Use SEO copywriting to build
your brand: Don't turn a Web article into a direct sales
pitch. People search the Web looking for someone they can trust.
The best way to establish yourself as an expert is to provide
unique content. Choose a topic in your niche market and take
a stand. Anything you write on a hot topic is bound to be controversial,
and controversies create threads that bring your brand to the
attention of a larger audience.
-
Believe in yourself: Your
own experience is your best source of great Web content.
Let's say your niche is "used golf balls". Tell readers
about a great round of golf you played with used balls. Maybe
you celebrated your great round by buying yourself a present
with the money you saved by switching to used balls. Let the
story come to life. People expect to find a salesperson when
they surf the Web; when they find a friend instead, they'll
be more willing to trust you.
How SEO Copywriting Brings Customers
into the Sales Cycle
Most people approach SEO copywriting
as a task to get out of the way as quickly as possible. Don't make
the same mistake. You won't take your business to the next level
until you train yourself to approach every writing job as an opportunity
to become a better communicator.
Customer service and relationship
management start with the first link to your Web site that readers
find on a search page. Everything you publish on the Internet has
the potential to nudge prospects up the sales ladder or drive them
away forever.
Every successful online business is
built on a foundation of good SEO copywriting. Content creation
isn't something you have to spend time on in addition to selling.
Content creation is selling.
Take a tip from a champion. Tiger
Woods says that some of his best practice sessions last no longer
than 20 minutes. Becoming a better golfer depends on the quality
of a practice session, not the number of hours spent hitting balls
on a range. The key to success in SEO copywriting, as in golf, is
focus. You can write a compelling Web article in 20 to 30
minutes, if you focus on your topic as sharply as Tiger Woods focuses
on what he wants to achieve in a practice session.
Here's the only secret you'll ever
need to know about SEO copywriting: Focus on keyword optimization
for the search engines, and make sure your Web content offers real
solutions for real readers.
When you do these two things, you'll
soon see the results in your bottom line.
