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Continuity in SEO Copywriting Improves Rankings & Conversions

By Karon Thackston in Writing

It has become a fundamental principle of Internet marketing. When sending a prospect from some form of trigger (banner ad, pay-per-click ad, tweet, etc.) to the landing page, there must be continuity: the message must flow.

For example, when constructing pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, there has to be continuity between the ad and the landing page. The use of the same keyphrases, copy that flows seamlessly from ad to landing page and other factors, can make or break your campaign. If these elements aren’t in place the disconnect your visitors will suffer will confuse them and send them packing.

Why then do we rarely see any consistency in these areas when writing search engine optimized (SEO) copy?

Create Links in a Chain

On most web pages the tag sets are scattered. Take note the next time you’re surfing. You’ll see title tags that are unrelated to the description tag, both of which are distant from the headline of the copy on the actual page, etc., etc., etc. There is no flow. Nothing exists to usher the prospect from one step to the next.

It should work just like links in a chain. One is directly connected to the next and so forth. The basis of writing organic SEO copy is developing and following the same topic from your visitor’s first exposure to your site (the organic Google/Bing/Yahoo! listing title) to the call-to-action on the web page itself. It should – in essence – work exactly like the process when writing a paid ad/landing page combo.

Take it One Step at a Time

Create a plan before you write pages with optimized copy. Don’t view it with tunnel vision; strictly from the standpoint of what’s happening on the page. Take it one step at a time and walk the path your prospects will walk.

. Where will the site visitor come from? An organic search engine listing.
. What’s the first exposure to your site? The title tag of the organic listing.
. If the title tag captures their attention, where will they look for more information? The description tag underneath the title tag.
. When they click to your web page, how will they know they are in the right place? The message (copy) and keyphrases will be carried through from the search engine results page (SERP) to the web page.

See how it works? With each glance, with each click, the visitor takes a new step toward conversion. That’s because, just like with paid marketing campaigns, you’ve laid out a clear path for your prospects to follow rather than forcing them to navigate a rocky and confusing road.

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When you’re ready to write expert-level copy that boosts rankings & converts more visitors get Karon’s Step-by-Step Copywriting Course (5th edition) and learn to do it right. http://www.CopywritingCourse.com

Content Curation – How To Quickly Add Value As Information Marketers

By Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian in Writing

Content curation, a term that gained popularity in 2010, is the art of culling relevant, valuable and useful information from the vast ocean of data, and presenting it in a cohesive, interesting and comprehensive style that gives a ‘big picture’ view of a specific niche topic.

No longer can anyone claim that they can peruse and make sense of all the content that exists (and is being constantly added) on even a very narrow range of subjects. 47 million websites were added in 2009 and an estimated 550 billion documents exist online today.

The role of a content curator was first proposed around 2004, when the catchy term ‘Newsmastering’ was introduced by Robin Good of MasterNewMedia.com to describe a dedicated content analyst who would gather, collate and categorize content from various sources and compile it for consumption by those who are interested.

What makes content curation necessary?

Three factors drive the demand for content curation.

Too much information – Its volume is growing day by day, minute by minute, and in every possible direction.

Too little time – The things you need to get done seem to keep growing in inverse proportion to the time you have available for them.

Too uncertain – However diligent and dedicated you are in researching information, it’s still possible you missed something important.

Because many people need to remain up to date with developments and information in specific areas related to work, career or education, there is a growing need for professionals who are expert at finding and presenting this on a continuing basis.

What does a content curation process involve?

The first step is gathering news and information, preferably in real time as events unfold. This can be critical in certain areas. Aggregation of content from various resources has been possible for many years. But with the accelerating rate of information growth, mere aggregation alone is no longer enough.

That’s why a second level of analysis needs to be layered over it. Human curators, with specialized skills and an intense interest or passion for the subject, study the multiple news items and stories that have been aggregated, remove duplicates or shallow commentary pieces, and weave together the most relevant tid-bits that present an overall picture of the events that are unfolding.

An even higher level of content curation is when the curator, aided by vast experience in the field, includes expert opinion, feedback and insights that add even higher value than from just patching together a collection of informative news feeds.

Why would content curation work today?

Everything boils down to trust. Or rather, a lack of trust in conventional media channels to present all the latest news in the form of unbiased information, complete stories, different perspectives, or multiple facets of the same event. Also, every consumer is aware that there is an underlying agenda, political or otherwise, that governs and influences the kind of coverage traditional media provides.

Content curation done by a trusted expert has the potential to bypass this lack of trust by presenting information along with direct links to the original sources, and commentary that can easily be validated and confirmed by facts and data presented in those sources.

By respecting a consumer’s intelligence and presenting concise summaries along with pointers to the source data for further study and verification, content curation can easily engender trust, overcome doubt and speed up the knowledge acquisition process.

So is content curation only about collecting news stories?

Absolutely not. Content curation is a quantum jump from content aggregation. Good content curation adds value to the individual news stories, helping a reader or viewer make sense of the broader picture that’s unfolding, staying abreast of recent developments, and digging into diverse sources for the latest data.

Content curators pore over RSS feeds and blog posts, breaking news stories and archived articles, books and journals, interviews and conferences, even social networks that break news fast – and then figure out the best way to present only relevant information from this deluge of data in a way that makes sense, and will cover all future developments as well.

Viewed in that sense, content curation is “story-telling in real time”, with a focus on specific niche interests.

Is content curation profitable?

Considering the rush in the recent past to project content curation as the next wave in information marketing, it is natural that profit models exist – or soon will.

One area that is already making money for early adopters is the provision of curation services and tools. Priced to suit a range of budgets, these services offer a variety of aids to content curation for different purposes. Some allow management of a complete modern news room, while others help niche marketers find extra content snippets to share with their core audience.

As yet untapped, but with great future potential, is the concept of sponsoring channels created through content curation. Specialized niche information and news which is presented in a way that helps target audiences stay ahead of the curve in their chosen areas of interest will easily attract advertisers and sponsors. Some curated channels may even become paid subscription products themselves.

Even more exciting is the potential of building communities where people willingly pay to get more and better in-depth information on a well-defined set of topics they are deeply interested in keeping up with. And surely there will be many more ways innovative pioneers of content curation will monetize their rare, in-demand skills.

In summary, those seeking to explore content curation as an infopreneur success model for the future must view their role as being similar to curators in museums who pick and select the choicest masterpieces to showcase in their gallery, and create exhibitions that delight discerning audiences enough to keep them coming back for more.

Content curation is a specialty whose time has come. Will you master it quickly enough to add value to your audience as an infopreneur?

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Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian is an experienced Internet infopreneur and the author of “Think, Write & Retire!” On his blog “Information Marketing Made Easy” at http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com/blog/ he teaches thousands of entrepreneurs how to build a profitable online information business.

How to Create an Outline For Your Article

By Shailesh in Writing

We’ve done it through junior high, it expanded through high school, then in college it became chapters. No matter how many times a person has done it, writing articles has proven to be a task many have continuously avoided. Now at a time when writing articles could help your job or work, facing the job at hand can be still faced difficulty.

While there are a great number of people who do not have the same attitude in article writing as others, there are still those who would rather walk in piping hot coals than do some article writing. What sets other people apart from others towards article writing is that they are prepared and have some methods and procedures in writing articles.

One of the methods you can use to prepare yourself when tasked to write an article is creating an outline first. Creating an outline for all your articles will make you better prepared. You have an idea of what to do first and make a plan for your succeeding steps. Being prepared makes the job easier and faster. Being organized will allow for disorientation to be shunned away.

An outline can act as the design or blueprint for your article. This will guide you in creating the introduction, body, and conclusion of your article. Here in point, you can write down some of the ideas and sentences that you feel will look good in your article. This could be some of the focal point that could help make your article creative, interesting, and appealing to a reader.

A carefully planned and fully prepared project would guarantee and ensure a problem and worry free procedure that can virtually go without any hassles. Creating an outline for all your articles will get you ready and breeze through writing an article in no time at all. Here I will provide you with some tips and guidelines in how to create an outline.

Do a couple of brainstorming sessions and jot down your brilliant ideas, first. Think of some ways to attract the interest of your reader. Designate a time frame where you can write down all the ideas that you can use for your articles. By this time you should have done your research and information searching. Review and reread your ideas and notes, gain mastery and sufficient familiarity with your topic so that writing later own would be easy for you.

The next step is to discover your sub topic and sub titles. As you would provide a first sentence for your article, one that would immediately grab the attention of your reader, you would need some additional ones as well for your sub topics. To be concise, you would need to get all the facts that will support and go against your point.

These are the frames or skeleton of your article, now its time to add the flesh and the meat of your article. You will need to connect all your paragraphs and sub topics. This will form the body of your article. While the introduction will usher in the ideas of your paragraph, you will need a conclusion. The conclusion will wrap up your points and drive in what you are saying in your article.

The outline for your article would also require you to write a draft first. This may take more than one attempt, but remember that it is called a draft for a reason. Your outline shall be perfected as each draft is written and this draft is meant for your eyes only so there’s no reason to get frustrated. As you go on, you will clearly see the bigger picture and write an article that will perfectly suit what is demanded of it.

Reread and reread what you have written down. Always refer to your outline so that you won’t drift away from what you had first written down. Its not hard to be caught in the moment and get lost in your writing frenzy. Your outline will help you keep on track. All those hours spent in outlining your article will not go to waste. This will serve as your guide in writing articles. Trust and rely on your outline because this will prove to be a very helpful tool when writing articles.

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Shailesh enjoys providing useful information for people.Free Web Directory

How To Write Effective Articles

By Anthony Harris in Writing

A website is only as good as its content. If people don’t want to read what is on your site, then they will not use your services, either because they don’t trust you or don’t have the patience to sort through the content to find out what your service is. It is important to have well-written, direct articles on your site to keep user interest and generate revenue.

A simple way to get excellent articles is to hire a professional writer to develop them, but that can get expensive, especially if your site is just starting out.

For many people, it is far more economical to write your own articles. But before you tackle this task, make sure that you’re up to it, because the quality of your articles can make or break your website or online business. Here are some tips to get you started.

FORMAT THE ARTICLES FOR THE INTERNET

Online, less is more. When you’re laying articles out on your site, try to put as much negative space in as you can. Break paragraphs up and try to keep it so the user needs to scroll as little as possible to read the entire article.

Also, if you can, include pictures with the articles. The goal is to make your articles appear as short and text-light as possible, so users won’t be intimidated and not bother reading them.

KEEP THE ARTICLES SHORT AND SIMPLE

A way to make the formatting easier is to keep your articles short. Again, the object should be to require as little scrolling as possible. The Internet is called the Information Super-Highway, not the Information Back Road.

People are looking for as much from articles in as small an amount of time as possible, so help them out. Keep your sentences simple and easy to understand, without any unnecessarily long or academic words. Just be careful not to fall into the trap of writing like a child. You have to walk a fine line when writing for the Internet.

BREAK YOUR ARTICLES INTO SECTIONS

Try to organize your articles so that the paragraphs can be broken up very easily into sections under descriptive headings. This will make the reading experience much smoother and faster for the user by allowing them to pick and choose what they want to read, as well as helping them find a specific piece of information when they come back to your inspirational and enlightening articles. Do your best to make these headings catchy and fun, not boring chapter headings. They should draw the readers into the articles, not keep them away in fear of boredom.

USE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION IN YOUR ARTICLES

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a mandatory skill when writing any articles for the Internet. Basically, SEO is using the same keywords over and over again in articles so that they are picked up by search engines, giving your website a higher search engine ranking. Search engines dominate the Internet, and you won’t bring much traffic to your site if you don’t use SEO. There are a number of articles and sites online that can help you write with effective search engine optimization technique. One thing to be careful of is not to use to many keywords in any of your articles. 2.5-4% is usually a good ratio. Any more and the reader will get turned off by the repetition, which defeats the purpose of SEO.

DRAFT, DRAFT, DRAFT YOUR ARTICLES

Never accept a first draft. No matter who you are, it won’t be up to your potential. After you write an article, put it aside for a day and don’t think about it. Then come back to it with a fresh set of eyes. You’d be amazed at what you’ll pick up, both grammatically and content-wise.

Ideally, it won’t be uncommon for you to write three or four different drafts of an article before you find the one that you really like. Never be content with your first attempt.

Anyone can write effective articles for their site without hiring a costly professional writer. All it takes is practice and research. Read everything you can online to see what the writing style is. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, so find a writer or group of writers online whose work you admire and copy their basic techniques. Eventually, you’ll find your own rhythm for your articles. Having your voice on your site will add a personalized touch to your site that users will appreciate, because no one knows how to say what you mean better than you. The key is to just keep writing.

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Anthony Harris is an expert online marketer, trainer, and teacher. Head here to http://www.maverickmoneyclub.com to discover how to get up to 19 checks per month, earn upwards of $519.17 per day, make more than a full time income in your online home business in 60 days or less.

Proven SEO Article Writing Tips

By Anne Moratis in Writing

Article marketing is a proven way to promote a website or a blog and drive traffic to it. Everyday, hundreds of thousands of articles are published on the web and the trend is just going to grow even more. However, when it comes down to driving traffic to their articles, most article marketers get confused. There are different ways to drive traffic to your articles, but one article marketing strategy that has proven to work great to generate exposure is doing some simple yet solid SEO.

All the major search engines love content and they love article directories and blogs. And they index a lot of articles from both types of websites every day. This of course makes it easier for you to get an article indexed fast and get a good ranking. But still, the majority of internet marketers think that article marketing is dead because they can’t seem to get their articles to rank. And they fail to get the most out of their article marketing campaigns in terms of traffic.

To start off, make sure you’re writing quality articles.

Getting your article to rank in the search engines will give you visitors, but if the same visitors think the quality of your article is poor and there is nothing in it for them, you’ll have wasted all your efforts. This seems obvious, however when you look at the vast majority of the content out there it seems that many people are still not getting it.

Then, make sure you do your keyword research. This is crucial if you want to have success with this marketing method. Too many people pick keywords at random or fail to pick keywords that get searched for, and they end up ranking high but did the work all for naught, because no one will ever read their articles. This is why the keyword research step is really essential.

When you want to get your articles ranked in the search engines, you need to target long-tail keywords. It is a requirement, not an option. Choose relevant keywords in your niche that have 4 or more words, that get searched for, and that are not very competitive. When you want to determine how many searches per month a keyword gets, make sure you use Google keyword tool with exact matches, not broad matches. Exact matches will give you the number of searches per month when people type exactly a keyword and nothing else with it. This is a very accurate estimation of how many visitors you could get to one article provided you rank on the top of the page.

The next step once you’ve picked the keyword of your article is to write a keyword rich article that will give you SEO benefits. Here are the main guidelines you need to follow. Put your keyword in the title of your article. Don’t just put the keyword though, make sure the title is attention-grabbing and will attract readers. Then, put your keyword once in the first paragraph and a couple of times in your article body. This is actually no rocket science at all, and many people tend to over-complicate things. Just keep it simple.

The following step is to publish your article on a good article directory. One is enough, so make sure you pick a top one. The content published on EzineArticles tends to rank very well, but there are other good directories that approve articles faster and that also rank extremely well.

After publishing your article, you need to promote it. Most people do not bother to do this, but the truth is that if you do not promote your articles they will not rank very high, especially in a niche that has a little competition.

To promote your article, you need to write another article and include a backlink to the first one. There are actually many ways to do this and you can easily build many different kinds of backlinks without too much effort if you know how to do it right.

Once you have applied these article writing tips and you have your article published on a good article directory and you’ve built backlinks to it, you can consider you’ve done a good job with the SEO of your article. And you should soon see some great rankings.

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And for more in-depth article marketing tips, visit www.EfficientArticleMarketing.com now.

Make More Sales Using Creative Saleswriting

By Stephen Monday in Writing

Good Web copywriting can easily get visitors to take a specific action such as: buy, opt in, “tweet,” email to a friend, or “like,” the message. Copywriters who utilize creative style writing such as vivid storytelling, or draft high-impact, punchy, word-picture style writing can expect their response rates to such copy go way up.

People do not like to get the perception that they are being “sold.” However, tell them a compelling story in which drama, humor, or other emotional feelings are aroused – and do so in a fashion that is personable, engaging, informative, and interesting – you will receive a whole new level of their interest. They become captivated.

Then, when you have stirred great interest show them how a specific problem arises during the story. Then introduce the solution – this would be your product or service. When they are shown, the obvious benefit the solution provides (in story context) they then “see” how it is exactly what they need. This manner of marketing causes the buyer to “sell” themselves.

History has proven, time and time again – this fashion of getting sales is unsurpassed, it is now, has been, and shall remain to be the preferred method of selling for both buyer and seller alike. It outperforms all other methods of marketing by a vast 10 to 1 ratio.

This style of power-writing is highly effective for online promotions, print ads, as well as commercial television – it works in every sales arena. If you are not using this type of promotional material for whatever product or service you are trying to sell – you are flat missing the boat!

People always love great stories, and this has been a well-documented fact for centuries. There is absolutely no greater “hook” to arouse public interest than a well-crafted story. Whether it be fiction, or non-fiction, story based copy will make the sale.

Most Professional Copywriters understand this and employ creative writing in their promotions. It demonstrates to the reader how the said product or service – is exactly what they need to solve a specific problem they are dealing with.

Better still it strikes a nerve in their “buyer’s resistance,” and easily clears the hurdle to the sale. They have not been “pitched” they have “sold” themselves. They are not only glad they have found the product or service – they are happy to buy it.

You can use good creative copywriting to sell anything under the sun. All it takes is a great storyline, and a compelling writer to bring the words to life. Think about this for a moment sometimes buying can actually be enjoyable if the one doing the buying is properly motivated to make the purchase.

Today’s successful promotions are polished and savvy. Good writers avoid hype and flash presentations because they turn off the average consumer. Creative Copywriters know exactly how to present their messages in a manner that actually appeals to viewers.

The days of selling online using exaggerated over-the-moon promises – have gone the way of the T-Rex. Most people simply will not read it. (Let alone buy it.) It actually undermines site credibility. Take a serious look at your own online promotions.

If they are not making sales and the copy is failing to do the job of earning you money – fire the copy! Chances are the product or services you are offering are of good quality but if the sales message does not employ some of the selling tactics outlined in this article you are not only hurting your business – you are leaving money on the table which another savvy marketer will suck up like a vacuum cleaner.

Billions and billions of dollars of goods are sold every year on the Web, and this figure is destined to rise to over $312 billion by the year 2012. Are you getting your piece of this action? Let a creative Copywriter write your sales page and see what a huge difference this approach makes in your response.

Why do less than ten percent of sales pages make money online while the other ninety percent of sales Websites fail to make a dime? It is simple – look at their copy.

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Get your FREE Sales Page evaluation at URL: www.AAAWebcopyservices.com Stephen E. Monday is a Professional Creative Web Copywriter, Creative Writer, and Web Content Manager.

Storytelling For Business – Build Your Reputation and Help People Remember You

By Connie Ragen Green in Writing

Storytelling is an important part of relationship marketing. When you tell a story you engage the listener into what you are discussing. Much like a movie that they just cannot turn off your story has them hooked. I used to believe that my stories would not be of interest to anyone, and that they might even detract from my credibility as an online entrepreneur. It turns out that stories are something we can all relate to. Now people ask me to tell some of my stories again so they can learn from my experiences.

Write down some of the stories that are a part of your life experience. See how you can relate them to what you are doing in your business. You might be surprised how many lessons you can teach from the things you have been through in your own life. When we think of some of the greatest people in history, it is their stories that make us care about them. (i.e. when you think of George Washington…you think of the cherry tree) You can do the same thing to bring your online business to life.

Choose stories that make a point or that others can learn from. These can be funny things that you have gone through, or more serious experiences you have had. There are business blogs that have done this successfully, and we look forward to learning something we can put into use right away. Share an experience you had that shows people who you are and what is important to you. Relate this to your business and you may be surprised at the result.

Practice your storytelling on people you know well. Ask them which of your stories has the most impact, and which would be best not shared with the world. Have two versions of each story you tell; the long version that includes all of the details, and the shortened one that just covers a few interesting points. When you are interviewed you can always tell the shortened version of your story so that people will remember you. This is a great way to get your message out in a way that people will remember you and what you had to say. When your message is in the form of a story people are much more likely to remember it and put it into use in their life.

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Remember that the reason to start an Internet business is to give you the time and money to live the life you choose. Download a free teleseminar on building your online business by visiting OnlineWritingSuccess.com Getting Started Online to learn how to use storytelling, write articles, blog, become involved in social networking and learn the technology needed to build a profitable online business.

SEO Article Writing for Beginners! 5 Tips For Writing Helpful Articles That Readers Love

By Steve Shaw in Writing

Some people do SEO article writing. Others write articles that readers really love. The trick is to combine the two and write articles that are keyword focused but that still make sense and appeal to human readers.

I’m sure you’ve seen SEO articles that were anything but appealing. They were loaded with a certain phrase that was repeated very conspicuously throughout the article. The sentence phrasing was awkward and hard to understand. The article looked as if it had been written by a machine and not a real human being!

These are not the type of SEO articles that you wan to produce. You can do so much better than that!

Just use these 5 very simple SEO article writing tips that any beginner can execute, and you’ll be writing articles that your readers (and Google!) will love.

Step #1: Research one keyword phrase to target in your article.

This will be a long-tail keyword phrase. A long-tail phrase is usually 3 to 8 words long. There is not a lot of competition for this phrase, so it will be relatively easy for your article to rank highly in the search engine rankings.

Step #2: Create an interesting title that uses this phrase.

Any time you use keywords in a title or article, they must be placed in appropriate context and sound natural. So, your title should sound natural and be grammatically correct. It should also be appealing to human readers.

Try to think of phrasing that a person might type into Google and craft your title after that.

For example, many people type ‘how to do xyz’ in the search box, so you could turn your title into a “how to”. Also, many times people type a question into Google, so you might try forming your title into a question.

Keep in mind that your title must be interesting to a human reader, be grammatically correct, and make sense.

Step #3: Write an article that is useful to your readers.

Keep your eyes on the prize for now–your goal is to write valuable content that your readers will love. Forget about your keywords just now–just write an educational article.

The ultimate thing that makes your article valuable in Google’s eye and your reader’s eyes is the helpfulness of the content. Keywords do not mean anything if the article does not contain information that readers can use.

The article content must deliver on what the title promised. For example, if your title is “How to Teach Your Baby to Read in 5 Steps”, then the article must present 5 steps that can be used in teaching a baby to read.

Step #4: Focus on creating timeless content.

Write an article that has relevance beyond this month and this year. If your article topic is evergreen, then people will be searching for information on that topic for years to come.

Step #5: Develop a list of phrases that are variations of your original keyword phrase.

For example, if the phrase you are targeting is “buying a puppy”, semantically related variations of that phrase would be:

*buy a puppy

*buying puppies

*where to buy puppies

*where to buy a puppy

*how to buy a puppy

You get the idea! Google recognizes related variations of phrases, so it is not necessary or desirable to repeat the same phrase throughout your article.

Take your list of semantically related phrase variations and choose a few to put in your article in a natural sounding way. You don’t want to force a phrase in the article–it should fit naturally in the context of your content and be grammatically correct.

Writing articles for SEO takes planning, strategy, creativity, and self-control. You are playing to both sides–you need to see your article from a human being’s standpoint and also create content that would appeal to a search engine.

When writing SEO articles, your goal is always to create content that is helpful and interesting to human readers. It takes time, but if you do your SEO article writing correctly, the piece of content that you create can draw search engine traffic to your website for many years.

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For more info on how you can use article marketing to reach thousands of potential prospects for your website, go now to www.submityourarticle.com/report. Steve Shaw is an article marketing expert and founder of the popular article directory at SubmitYOURArticle.com/articles visited by thousands daily.

What are the Best Ways to Write Good Copy

By John Beaumont in Writing

Tip one: Reveal any drawbacks to your product.

Let us start with a negative. Eh? A negative?? Sure. If a part of your product/service could be conceived as having a minor flaw then bring this out. Why? No product or service is 100% perfect and by admitting this you will gain credibility and minimize any doubts in your readers mind.

An example might be that whilst your product might make some money by using it the reader is unlikely to make mega bucks from it. This will appeal to someone who just wants to make a little extra cash without building a huge business.

Tip two: The Length of Copy

Surprisingly there is a maxim that long copy sells, short copy doesn’t. However that doesn’t mean that the copy should be too long. Probably between 10 to 20 pages is best. However don’t worry about the length when first writing your draft as this may inhibit your thoughts.

Tip three: Write only short sentences

Try to keep within 15 to 20 words but concentrate on maintaining a friendly and personal style. By all means make each sentence as “punchy” as you can. You are “talking” to a friend don’t forget.

Tip four: Paragraphs should be kept short

As with the sentences you should also try to keep your paragraphs short and to the point. Ideally each paragraph will be only up to six lines. Also ensure that you do NOT use double spacing as this can cause confusions to your reader. This is because the dividing line between each paragraph becomes blurred causing your copy to lose impact.
Not always possible. See below!!

Tip five: Get to the point and use specifics

Keep on track and avoid generalities. If you are promoting a weight loss program then do not say that you lost over 30 lbs. This type of statement is nowhere near as effective as saying that you lost 30.5 lbs. So be specific.

Tip six: Be honest

Under tip five I said that you should be specific and gave the example of losing 30.5 lbs. However do not make this statement if not correct. If you haven’t done something yourself or you can’t prove it then don’t say it!! This is dishonest and unethical and you do not want the bad reputation that goes with it. However if you are sure that someone else has achieved this goal with your product then you can claim that. Please bear in mind that you may be called upon to prove the statement though.

Tip seven: End each page in the middle of a sentence if you can

The reason for this is that it will cause the reader to continue because the brain naturally wants to complete something. I trust that the above tips help you when you start to write copy.

The most important thing to stress is that your copy should be conversational and friendly so don’t worry too much about appearing too formal.

You are in business but you are also their friend.

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The Copywriter’s Dilemma: Google or the Public? A SPN Exclusive Article

By Nikki Cripps in Writing

Recently a potential client contacted me to write content for his site for a new product.

The brief was as follows:

“The text is for Google not the public. The language needs to be “normal verbiage” in original copy but does not have to be technical. I want a key word density of 8%.”

At that level of density the keyword would have appeared at least every second line, and this was for a piece of work of 1500 words.

I declined.

I don’t write for Google, I write for humans. Keywords are important – essential – for search engines. But it is people who read the online content, who pick up the phone and who place an order. Who has the patience to read 1500 words with the keyword stuffed in so monotonously that the content becomes unreadable?

But the bigger question is: How did a website owner become so convinced that this was how content must be written? His commitment to the keyword density was unwavering and he even sent me examples of how easy it was to do. It would have been a challenge to make it work but a waste of time for me and the client. I’m not sure if someone out there took up the project – I’ll keep monitoring the site to see if it appears.

Keyword obsession is a dangerous game. The roulette spinner, aka Google, dominates the market for keyword promotion, ably assisted by SEO marketers and companies who have become enslaved to the idea that keywords equal profits and they are the one true path to success. Ten years ago the term “keywords” was not part of everyday lexicon. A search in Google (sigh) returns 301,000,000 results for “keywords.” All of this has undoubtedly contributed to the belief that filling content with keywords so it’s fatter than Santa’s sack is what matters in online content.

While the jury is still out on the appropriate density of keyword frequency (and I’ve seen some SEO companies recommend 10 to 12 percent) a creative approach to including keywords in content can overcome unreadability and obvious stuffing. Well written content, that is engaging, interesting, covers the keywords, answers customers questions, creates trust, and makes the customer want to do business with you is a more successful model than content written with an overblown emphasis on keywords.

As a professional copywriter I ask my clients to send me a list of their top ten keywords, in priority order, along with all the other information necessary to compile the content for their sites. Copy is prepared with the keywords included, but written with the ideal customer in mind. Good copywriters will always have “Think like a customer” as their primary focus. “How will this copy rank in search engines?” should always be second.

Writing for people is far more enjoyable than writing for a search engine, and I’m sure readers respond accordingly. Overuse of keywords alienates readers who feel they are being talked at, rather than communicated with. Why risk your credibility with customers unnecessarily?

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Nikki Cripps is a Sydney based copywriter who writes exclusively for small business websites. She’s been a journalist, public relations consultant and writer for almost 20 years. She is the owner and operator of www.wordsforwebsites.com.

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