How does incorporating keywords increase your search engine traffic
Jun 26, 2009 Comments
When you use keywords just for the sake of generating traffic, it hardly works, and even if by some fluke it works, it still doesn’t work because that traffic never converts. Sure, using keywords in your content does increase your traffic because this is how you tell the search engines what topic you are talking about, but they should appear naturally, as a part of your overall copy. In fact their occurrence should be so critical that without using them your copy makes no sense.
How does using keywords increase your traffic?
Once you have made a list of your important keywords, you start preparing your content. You use those keywords to convey your message, and if somehow you don’t seem to be able to use them in your copy, then they’re probably not important to you. If your keywords are important to you, then there should be no dearth of material for them.
For instance I provide online copywriting and content writing services. I have more than 60 pages (I know, it isn’t sufficient, and I must have more) discussing various aspects of online copywriting and content writing. I’m constantly writing for my blog on the topics of online copywriting, content writing and SEO, and so I get plenty of reason to use keywords and expressions relevant to my business, and this is gradually increasing my traffic for various combinations.
It’s not always possible to rank well for your keywords due to massive competition; what do you do then? Try for longtail search expressions. Longtail search expressions constitute of longer strings of 5-6 words. It’s often not easy to make a list of longtail search expressions; they gradually begin to surface as you regularly generate interesting and valuable content for your website, using your important keywords.
Posted by Amrit | Tags: Copywriting and Content Writing Tips
Sometimes you don’t get paid for your online copywriting job, big deal!
Jun 25, 2009 Comments
Once in a while clients don’t pay the remaining amount once I’ve delivered all the content. While trying to find the folder of a repeat client on my PC I came across a few folders belonging to clients who simply vanished after getting their online copywriting job done. The only saving grace is that I rarely start work without taking an advance. As mentioned on this advance for copywriting work link, I charge 100% if the total estimate is less than or equal to $100, 50% if it is between $100 and $200, and 40% if it is more than $200.
So does it make me bitter when clients vanish without paying the remaining 50% or 60%? Of course I feel bad, but no, I don’t become bitter and consider other clients suspiciously. First of all, it rarely happens. Ever since 2004 (when I stopped designing and developing websites and started writing content for websites) I have served more than 300 clients (according to the number of folders I have on my laptop currently) and among these it must be just 15-20 clients who didn’t pay the money they owed. So it is hardly a worrying trend. I wasn’t worried even when I think my 3rd client used the content and never paid the remaining amount.
Second, it gives me a psychological level playing field. Some clients are suspicious: what if I take the advance and never deliver? Most of the clients are overseas and it will be very difficult to chase me (legally or physically) in case they pay the advance and then I vanish or stop responding. Very valid fear and I try to assuage it by encouraging them to go through my website, my various blogs, my social networking profiles and search for my name on Google. I couldn’t have survived by taking advances and not delivering content. About the level playing field thing – if they are still doubtful, I tell them that I too have the same fear. What if I deliver the content and they don’t pay? Just like them, even I cannot chase them, and like me, they don’t even have an extensive profile on the Internet. So I’m at a greater risk.
Why did I start writing this post? It’s because of the writers I work with. Almost all of them are so cautious about getting paid that it begins to sound cheap after a while. They don’t ask what sort of work I’m going to give them and what must be their level of writing skill. They ask, “When are you going to pay, how you are going to pay, are you actually going to pay?” Imagine if I start asking such questions from my clients. Will I get work from them? Fat chance.
The reason they give is that they have had a “bad” experience. Well, when you work on your own you do have bad experiences but it doesn’t mean you carry your frustration out on the person who is trying to give you work. I don’t work with such writers unless they are exceptionally good.
Posted by Amrit | Tags: Business Development, Content Writing, Copywriting Thoughts
Online Copywriting: difference between features and benefits
Jun 23, 2009 Comments
Recently I needed to prepare two documents for a client selling a software product: one describing features and the other, benefits. When I delivered him the documents he said I needed to get clear about the difference between the two, and I had basically written the same thing in both the documents. Ever ready to learn more I eagerly agreed to re-write the documents and do more study on the differences between features and benefits.
While working on an online copywriting project my main focus is understanding features, and then communicating the most compelling benefits. Below I’m trying to lay down the basic difference between features and benefits
Features
Let’s suppose you are selling a desktop blog editing software. It’s features would be:
- Ability to add multiple blog accounts.
- Inbuilt word processor, thesaurus and spell-check.
- FTP functionality to upload images.
- Support for offline and online editing.
- Support for CSS formatting.
These are the features, things that the software lets you do. But how do you benefit from these features?
Benefits
- Post blog posts extremely fast and conveniently.
- Work in a familiar, world-processor like environment.
- Reduce spelling and grammatical errors.
- Upload images easily.
- Format your blog posts to your heart’s content.
All in all, become a better, prolific blogger.
Not all features are equally beneficial to all, but we use products and services for their benefits and not for their features. This is why it is very important to highlight the benefits when you are preparing the copy to sell a product or a service.
Posted by Amrit | Tags: Copywriting Thoughts
Want to be a better copywriter? Know your customers/readers
Jun 19, 2009 Comments
Effective copywriting and content writing is always preceded by a thorough understanding of your target market – your customers, your readers. Want to be a better copywriter? Think from the perspective of your customers. And in order to be a better online copywriter you also need to understand how the search engines interpret what you have written.
Of course we all have different definitions of being better. By being a better copywriter I mean you can improve your conversion rate and by being a better online copywriter along with improving the conversion rate you also improve your search engine rankings. In the end what matters is what the results are and how consistently your copy can perform.
When you understand the needs and desires of your target readers you can provide them exactly what they are looking for. An average surfer on the Internet is looking for solutions. Even when people are looking for brands they are actually looking for solutions. For instance if I am looking for an iPhone, although I am looking for a particular brand I am actually looking for two things: my desire to own a trendy gadget and the things that I can do with all the functions the phone carries. You have to cater to both the aspects if you want people to buy iPhones from your online store.
So when you are working on a copy understand what your customer is looking for and highlight that thing. If you are promoting yourself as an online copywriter, along with highlighting the sort of service you are providing, also highlight the greatest benefit your clients are looking for in case they want to hire you.
- Do they want a more professional voice on their website or blog?
- Are they looking for a particular style of writing?
- Are they looking for a particular expertise (technical writer, medical writer, film critic, instructional writer, blogger, SEO writer, etc.)?
- Do they want to improve their conversion rate?
These kinds of things immediately convey to your prospective customer or client you have what they are looking for. If you simply go on and on about what a great writer you are and how many clients you have worked for it is not going to make much impact.
This goes for any kind of product or service. Whenever you are starting to write think about what your customer or client would like to read. If it helps make a list of all the things your customer can gain if he or she purchases your product. Feel enthusiastic about all the benefits your product can offer. Why must your customer feel excited about your product or service? This should be the starting point.
Posted by Amrit | Tags: Copywriting and Content Writing Tips
Engaging your readers with interactive content
Jun 11, 2009 Comments
Interactive content doesn’t always have to be animation or video; even your text content can be interactive.
On the Internet, especially these days, we are always in conversations, whether on Twitter, or FaceBook, or on different blogs. Content on social media websites is engaging. We read, we provide feedback, we react, we respond, we present a counter-argument; we like it when people talk to us instead of talking at us. We no longer live on solitary islands of the World Wide Web. We want to feel a part of whatever is going on. Even when we’re simply lurking, we immediately feel like responding when someone talks to us or talks about something we feel passionate about.
Unconsciously, we are looking for an identical experience of interactivity wherever we go. We like it when we are expected to react, and that’s why blogs became such a hit. They became a network of conversations. Reacting to an opinion or a news became as easy as firing up your favorite blogging software and publishing your thoughts, and if not, at least leaving your comments on the blog or the news page.
But how do you make your content engaging when you’re writing a company’s corporate page? Given the preferred turgid style followed by various corporate copywriters and content writers, I know it’s not easy to convince people, but this is something you have to do. Even when you’re writing for a company website, talk to your readers. Write as if you are addressing to them, as if you know what bothers them. Present them with a solution rather than a product or service.
Posted by Amrit | Tags: Content Writing, Web Content
SEO copywriting – what it really means
Jun 10, 2009 Comments
I was just going through this interesting blog post titled SEO Copywriting is dead! Here’s Proof…. I often come across articles and blog posts bashing up terminologies and work-related phrases. For instance recently I came across a report that tried to prove that outsourcing could be disastrous for your work, despite the fact that more and more work is being outsourced to save time and money. Anyway, since I provide SEO copywriting services I thought I should write a quick post on what SEO copywriting actually means and what are its benefits.
So what exactly is SEO copywriting?
It is definitely not repeating keywords and key phrases umpteen times, as many clients mistakenly understand. As I’ve previous explained in a blog post titled SEO tips you should know as an online copywriter, every well-written copy that properly handles the topic can qualify as an SEO copy.
Keywords? Yes, they are important, and if you totally ignore them in your copy, then definitely the search engines are going to find it difficult to rank it well for those keywords. For example, if I want to optimize this blog post for SEO copywriting, but I write about SEO content writing and SEO writing, then definitely the search engines will not show this blog post when people search for SEO copywriting. That is why it is very important that when you’re writing about a subject on a particular page or blog post, stick to it. If I want to get traffic for SEO copywriting, then I should better focus on this particular phrase, rather than trying to be esoteric and cryptic.
SEO copywriting involves writing the copy in such a manner that it judiciously talks about the subject, while taking care that the keyword or the key phrase appears sufficient number of times, at appropriate places, without sounding silly or repetitive. There is no point getting the first position on Google by creating content that means nothing to your visitors.
Does SEO copywriting improve your search engine rankings?
It definitely should. Even if you don’t immediately improve your search engine rankings (it depends on lots of factors, not just the copy), it is a step in the right direction. It’s like, if you require n steps to reach B from A, then a well-written page by an experienced SEO copywriter definitely makes the number of needed steps n-1.
Does SEO copywriting improve your conversion rate?
The underlying rationale behind every copywriting exercise, ultimately, is to improve your conversion rate. Your search engine rankings shouldn’t be improved at the cost of your conversion rate. In fact this is why good SEO copywriters are in such a great demand: they are copywriters in the conventional sense, and they also create you copy that improves your search engine rankings.
SEO copywriting may not bring you instant results, but it is indisputably the focal point of your SEO effort. Nothing precedes it. No amount of tweaking and hacking is going to give you lasting results. Once you obtain decent rankings through proper, legitimate SEO copywriting, no amount of search engine algorithmic changes are going to be able to take that away from you.
Posted by Amrit | Tags: Copywriting Thoughts, Personal Growth
I understand your needs and I can meet them
Jun 02, 2009 Comments
This statement should be the core strength of your website copy when you are trying to promote a product or a service. You need to empathize with the visitor and provide the solution in the most convincing, truthful manner.
To be frank, your visitor doesn’t give a damn what a great product or service you’ve got, because he or she has probably, already visited scores of websites offering the same thing with little difference. How do you stand out, even if you have nothing unique to offer? You need to strum the emotional chords of your visitor. Let him or her know that you totally understand what he or she needs. Make it your sole purpose to solve a particular problem people have, and then convince them that you can solve it. More than products and services, people are looking for solutions and gratifications. But does it mean people never search for products and services?
They definitely do. Let’s suppose I want to improve my search engine rankings and for that I’m searching for a good SEO company. Even if I’m looking for an SEO company, I’m basically looking for a solution: improve my search engine rankings. I may have budget constraints and I may not. I may have a tight schedule and I may not. I may be eager to work with an inexperienced company or I want a highly experienced company with lots of client testimonials. These are my needs. When I visit a website, even if I’m not consciously looking for these traits, they will be a deciding factor.
That’s why it is very important to be clear about whom you want to target through your website copy. Targeting helps you define the needs and the solutions to those needs.
