Web Content / SEO Writing

Janette Toral http://www.bloggingfromhome.com

http://www.e-commercephilippines.com

Internet Search emerges as the top online activity.

Activities showing significant increase at 95% confidence levels Base: Past month Internet users aged 10+ across National Urban Philippines Source: Yahoo!-Nielsen Net Index 2010

What people Search for on the Net

Base: Past month Internet users aged 10+ across National Urban Philippines who have used a search engine in the past month Source: Yahoo!-Nielsen Net Index 2010

Do you know what people say about you?

Social media is changing the rules of engagement

Base: Past month Internet users aged 10+ across National Urban Philippines Source: Yahoo!-Nielsen Net Index 2010

Search Marketing

•  Maximize number of searchers coming to your site.

•  Attracting visitors to your site from search sites.

Search engine optimization

•  How you get your site’s pages to be shown in organic search results.

Search engine marketing

•  Encompasses any kind of research results.

•  Everything you do to raise your site’s visibility in search engines to attract more visitors.

Search Engine Ranking

•  Relevance •  Keyword density

– Number of times mentioned in whole website. •  Keyword proximity

– How close are the words closer to each other. •  Keyword prominence

– Where does the words appear? •  Page title, initial paragraphs, headings,

emphasized text, body text, description.

Search Engine Ranking

•  Link popularity or analysis – Number and quality of pages linking to you.

Search Marketing Program

•  Web site goals – Sales

•  Online •  Offline

– Leads – Market awareness –  Information & entertainment – Persuasion

Search Marketing Program

•  Measure web site success – Count

•  Conversion •  Visitors •  Revenue

Search Marketing Program

•  Search Marketing Campaign – Target area of your site – Focus on keywords searchers use –  Identify landing pages

•  Is it index? •  What is its rank? •  Check competitor ranking

Inform search engines what your site is about

•  Familiar words •  Made-up words •  Known words. •  Brand names •  Generic terms. •  Avoid "politically correct" terminology.

Keyword research

•  Check keyword popularity –  Use http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/ –  Use http://www.google.com/insights/search

•  Identify popular keywords and enhance your list –  Do a search again on those keywords and find out

popular competing sites. –  http://www.spyfu.com for additional keyword

reference.

How users read

•  They don't read, they scan.

Why scan? •  Users tend to move and click on things. •  Content competition

Users tend to move and click on things.

Content COMPETITION

How users read

•  Finding a new article to read: 1 minute •  Short articles (600 words – 3 minutes) •  Long articles (1000 words – 5 minutes)

Users read fast •  The first two paragraphs must state the most

important information. •  Has information-carrying words

–  Subheads –  Paragraphs –  Bullet points

People prefer to read short articles

•  If you want many readers, focus on short and scannable content.

•  If you want people who really need a solution, focus on comprehensive coverage.

•  People who really need something are the highest-value users –  likely to turn into paying customers.

Meet half-way

•  Start with overviews and short, simplified pages.

•  Then link to long, in-depth coverage on other pages.

Scannable text

•  start with the conclusion

•  1 idea per paragraph •  highlighted keywords •  meaningful sub-headings •  bulleted lists •  half the word count (or less) than

conventional writing

Writing a headline

•  Write 30 to 50 headlines. •  Step back from the headline for a day to

gain new perspective.

Compelling headline •  Offers strong, compelling promise.

–  Learn search engine marketing techniques in 3 hours.

•  Highlight benefits to the reader. – Tap into proven online techniques to grow your

business online. •  Explaining exactly what the offer is.

– Become a certified Social Media Marketing Professional in 3 months.

•  Appealing to the emotions. –  Is the Internet killing your business?

Compelling headline •  Use specifics

–  How Jen makes US$6000/month during her after work office schedule doing SEO & Social Media Marketing.

•  Arousing curiosity –  Social media strategies that worked for more than 100

companies. •  Calling out to a specific target audience

–  Social media marketing techniques of a self-made online entrepreneur.

•  Make an announcement –  Philippines E-Commerce will reach 10 billion in 2010. How

Can You Become an E-Commerce Entrepreneur?

Compelling Headline

•  Asking a question – Does E-Commerce, SEO, & Social Media

Really Make Business Grow? •  Beginning with the words how to

– How to set-up an e-commerce website and social media presence in one day and get buyers right away?

Building blocks •  It should read like an editorial.

–  Not a sales pitch or press release. •  The obvious must be articulated in a way that it

conveys value. –  Discover how to become an SEO and Social Media

Marketing Consultant in one month. •  Hidden benefit can also be used.

–  Get the coolest gig in Social Media Marketing industry. •  Framed in quotation marks

–  “Assumes someone is being quoted” •  Use imperative voice when possible

–  Land on page 1 in Google.

Use Emotional / Conversational Words

•  Additionally vs. here’s more

•  Aid vs. help •  Allow vs. let •  Astute vs. smart •  Following is vs. here

is •  Completed vs.

finished •  Omit vs. leave out

•  Preserve vs. save •  Perhaps vs. maybe •  Perceive vs. see •  Pleased vs. happy •  Prevent vs. stop •  Receive vs. get •  Requested vs. ask for •  Strike vs. hit •  Sufficient vs. enough

Focus on user wants

•  Web content – Brief – Straight to the point – Actionable content – Support the user's personal story.

User behavior •  Ruthless in pursuing their interest and in

rejecting whatever the site is trying to push. –  Banner blindness is one manifestation.

•  Users cherry-pick the information and concentrate narrowly on what they want. –  Actionable content –  What user wants

Make users come back

•  Use – Newsletters – Social media

•  Twitter •  Facebook

– Rss subscription •  Be searchable

– be found on search engines

Credibility is important

•  Use – high-quality graphics, – good writing – use of outbound hypertext links

•  Users detest promotional writing style with boastful subjective claims ("hottest ever"). – Don’t exaggerate.

Amplify through Social Media •  Blogs •  Microblogs

–  Twitter –  Plurk

•  Social networks –  Facebook –  MySpace –  Friendster –  LinkedIn –  Plaxo –  Ning –  Yahoo

•  Media sharing –  YouTube –  Flickr

•  Social bookmarking / voting –  Digg –  Delicious –  StumbleUpon

•  Review •  Forums •  Virtual worlds

Exercise

•  Review a write-up •  Improve write-up using –  keyword research –  Compelling headline –  Emotional words

Reference

•  Jakob Nielsen – http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/

•  David Viney – Get to the Top on Google

•  http://books.google.com/books?id=ciaQHtrsd18C

•  Maria Veloso – Web Copy that Sells

•  http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=GHgWuuohd_0C

Thank you!

http://www.searchprofileindex.com http://www.blog4reviews.com