Mount Royal SEO Copywriting Presentation

Mount Royal – E-‐marketing Certificate SEO Copywriting presentation When Doug asked me to talk to you today, he said a number of you expressed an interest in knowing more about SEO copywriting. I was very happy to hear that because all too often, SEO copywriting is an afterthought. People will spend thousands on a website and then think “oh no, we forgot the copy – quick -‐ somebody write something!” But in the world of search engine optimization, content is actually one of the most important considerations. Without it, your optimization efforts could well be an exercise in futility. So ….Two things must be in place for your site to prosper. You must have traffic – qualified traffic. And you must have copy that provides the solutions your visitors are looking for and causes them to take action. While search engines provide the first, they have absolutely nothing to do with the second. The second is up to you (or your seo copywriter). If you get too carried away with search engine optimization and stuffing your website with keyphrases you hope will bring your site to the top of Google, you could be losing the other half of the equation – your clients. And when was the last time Google made a purchase at a website? In order to create site copy that is appealing to the engines and your site visitors, you have to take the needs of both parties into consideration. You have to find that balance. That said, before we get into SEO copywriting, let’s start with talking about the principles of writing a website for your human visitors…..

Principles of solid web writing • Avoid the online brochure at all cost – (don’t upload your brochure copy to your website) People read differently on the web than they do in print. They are drawn to images in print, while on the web, it’s the headlines and copy that grab their attention first. • Talk to your visitors in a language they understand. Industry jargon isn’t always appreciated by your customers. (Listen to this -‐ We utilize the knowledge repository to develop a company’s blueprint for inducing optimal work efforts and achieving long-‐term sustainable growth.) You only have your visitors for a short time, and if they’re baffled by the lingo, they will move on. • Avoid starting your copy with “Welcome to Company X.” Your visitors have landed on your site because they were searching for something specific. They only want to know if you have it. Only after they’re satisfied that you do will they care what your company name is. • Don’t “we, we” all over the place. “We are a leader in….” “We use a customized solution to….” When visitors arrive at your site, they aren’t asking the question “What can you do?” They are asking, “What can you do for me?” • Benefits first, then features. Benefits are statements that solve problems. “Be pain-‐free fast” is a benefit. Features are the characteristics of your product or service. “Advil is available in 200mg strength” is a feature. • Engage them in conversation. Start the dialogue by asking a question of them or identifying a challenge they are having. This shows immediately that you understand your customer, and you know why they have landed on your site. • Avoid a sea of words. A lot of content on a website is a very good thing for search, but it can be deadly for your visitors if they’re confronted with reams of copy. Instead break up your story into manageable chunks of information using subheads and bullets. And make sure that every page has a specific purpose. For example, don’t have a product spec sheet on your About Us page.

• Speaking of About Us – show your visitors that you’re human. Listen to this example from a Corporate Overview page and see if you can guess the company: “Company X has remained faithful in its commitment to producing unparalleled entertainment experiences based on its rich legacy of quality creative content and exceptional storytelling. Today, Company X is divided into four major business segments…each segment consists of integrated, well-‐connected businesses that operate in concert to maximize exposure and growth worldwide.” Did you guess the company? The company is Disney. Not very warm and fuzzy is it? If site visitors go to your About Us page, it’s because they want to get to know you better. Don’t be afraid to show them your human side. • Earn the trust of your visitors. Let them know that you know what you’re doing through the use of testimonials, case studies, white papers, press releases, a rich portfolio. • Avoid the dead end page. Visitors don’t always get to the bottom of your page. They may have clicked on links in your copy or elsewhere on your page. But if they do get to the bottom of the page, don’t leave them hanging. Ask them to contact you, or learn more about you, or sign up for your free newsletter.

Principles of SEO writing Now that you know how to write solid web copy, let’s talk about the principles of solid SEO writing. • First and foremost, you need to do keyword research. There is little point optimizing site copy for keyphrases that nobody is searching for. • Focus on keyword “phrases” rather than a single word. (ELF example – “bilingual” “curriculum” “French”) o Single keywords are too general and won’t bring you the highly targeted traffic and sales. o It’s next to impossible to get top rankings for a single keyword – unless you’re Pepsi or Toyota. o Try to make your phrases more specific, thus narrowing the number of potential searches for it. For example: instead of “hotel,” you might say “four star hotel in Calgary” • By the way, don’t forget to optimize with local keyphrases. If your product or service is relevant to your local market area, be sure to consider geographical keyphrases such as “Calgary obituaries,” or “insurance broker in Ardrie.” Local keyphrases are very powerful for attracting your local audience and they make it much easier for you to rank. • SIT AT COMPUTER – ask for examples from class

How to use your keyphrases to capture the attention of the engines: A) Title tag – What are they? www.comfycouch.ca www.canadasguidetodogs.com/grooming.htm Two reasons not to ignore the title tag 1. The title tag is the most important location for keyphrases. It’s where the search engines look first to find your highly targeted keyphrase – and it sets the tone for your entire page. 2. The title tag is usually the blue underlined heading for each listing on the search engine results pages. It carries considerable weight in convincing searchers to click on your listing. The title tag might say, “About Us – Company X.” Or it might say, “family doctor in Winnipeg – Dr. John Horton.” Which one is more descriptive of the content on that page? Keep these things in mind: • The title tag should contain1 -‐2 keyphrase(s) that indicates the content of the page – with the most important keyphrase at the beginning of the title tag • It isn’t necessary to put your company name in the title tag. Chances are your company name is unique or has very little competition. It will show up naturally in your body copy. So save the prime space for those keyphrases you’re targeting. • The keyphrase in the title tag must also appear in the on-‐page content • Each page should have a unique title tag • The ideal length of a title tag is 65 to 70 characters

It’s also a good idea to use an action word at the beginning of a title tag such as “Find a family doctor in Winnipeg – Dr. John Horton” to further encourage a click-‐ through. B) META TAGS (I understand that you’ve covered meta tags in this class already?) What are they? While meta tags may be bordering on the geek side of things, they are important components of every successful website. The meta tag includes the meta description, meta keywords and the title tag. To “see” a website’s meta tags, you have to look in the source code. Next to the title tag, the most important meta tag is the meta description. Here’s why: • The meta description is often – but not always -‐ the copy that appears under the blue heading for each listing on the search engine results pages. • It generally describes what the visitor will find on that page should she click through. • Like the title tag, it can carry considerable weight in the customer’s decision-‐ making process. Keep these things in mind: • The meta description should contain 1 -‐2 keyphrase(s) that indicates the content of the page • Each page should have a unique meta description • The ideal length of a meta description is 175 characters or less You also want to make the description engaging to the reader to encourage them to click through. Treat it like a mini ad or an elevator pitch.

C) Meta keywords tag – This tag is not used by the major search engines any longer – but there are still secondary search engines that use it. For this reason, don’t overlook it. You can add your keyphrases in here. This is also a perfect spot to add misspellings of keywords. Why are misspelled words important? • There are many common misspelled words that people will use to search. For example: menapause instead of menopause. • Most of the time, these misspellings are overlooked by your competitors, which means that it’s easier for you to rank for them. • Obviously, you don’t want to use misspelled words in your on-‐page copy so the meta keywords tag is the perfect spot to use them to snag some extra traffic. Now let’s look at the placement of keyphrases in on-‐page copy: o H1 and H2 tags – these are your headlines and subheads. o Bulleted lists, italics and bold o Hyper-‐links – the links in your website that take your visitor from page to page. Instead of saying “click here” – try “see prices on digital cameras” o The navigation bar – instead of saying “Products” for example, try “anti-‐aging products” o Testimonials – I always make a point of asking new clients for a testimonial. Sometimes they ask me to write it myself and run it by them. This is a perfect opportunity for me to tie in keyphrases that I’m targeting for my site. If testimonials are provided without your input, see if there are spots where you can add keyphrases, and then run the changes by your client. I promise, more often than not, they won’t mind at all. o If you have images on your website, you can place keyphrases in the Alt Tag. The Alt Tag is the little description that appears when you

point your mouse at a photo or graphic on a web page. Think of it as a caption. So if you had a photo of a dog wagging his tail, the alt tag might say “dog grooming services in Calgary.” o This also leads into the next point about using keywords – has anyone heard of the long tail keyphrase? It’s a tactic to turn your keyphrase into a longer secondary keyphrase to capture more traffic. With the phrase “dog grooming services in Calgary” – we actually have three keyphrases: dog grooming, dog grooming services, and dog grooming services, Calgary. • Keyword density – there’s a lot of talk about keyword density – what is the magic formula? Ideally you want a 3 – 5% ration, which is using a keyphrase 3 – 5 times every 100 words. And that includes every instance of keyword placement where the engines would search – alt tags, title tags etc. But, only if this doesn’t sound forced or disruptive to your copy. • What not to do – As custom silver jewelry makers, we design and manufacture custom silver jewelry to your specifications. This includes custom silver jewelry rings, custom silver jewelry bracelets and any other type of custom silver jewelry you can think of…you get the picture. • In other words, don’t sacrifice natural sounding copy for the sake of keyword density. Not only is this an unpleasant experience for your visitors, it can get you penalized by the Search Engines too – and you want to go there.

Now let’s take a look at a few other websites/this website. Control F – highlight keyphrases tool I hope that you’ve learned a few things, and will go home with some tactics that you can implement right away to improve your site’s content. We don’t have time for questions, but you can send me your questions in a email, and I will try to answer them. Also if you send me an email, I will send you a special report with 10 free SEO tools and instructions on how use them.

Mount Royal SEO Copywriting Presentation

by Doug Lacombe on Aug 09, 2010

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Mount Royal SEO Copywriting Presentation — Document Transcript

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