The reason why people come to
our SEO Mastery Workshops, is
to gain visibility and build genuine SEO skills in the
shortest time possible as opposed to studying out of a courses
or out of a book. People want the skills in as quick of time as possible and so that's what we've managed
to deliver with our one on one, hands-on training.
But one of the things
people always want to know about is how to build useful content that
their buying audience is really searching for. How do you know
what type of content is really going to attract the right
searchers? In this article I wanted to cover a few quick tips
to keep in mind when building high performance strategies.
1. Write customer
focused content that appeals to your audience.
Remember that your Web
site should be focused on your audience first and appeal
specifically to a niche interest. When writing your Web copy,
you need to dialogue in an appropriate tone and format for the
right audience. Some of the most interesting content will have
more appeal if it speaks to your audience in terms like: you
can, you might, you will, yours, your and you’re INSTEAD of
we, ours, we’re, we will, we can, etc. This is extremely
important when working on sales related copy.
--------------------------------------------------------
Bad Example: ( 8 self focused words in red)
Please read our mission
statement. Our team as prepared
8 benefits which all our
customers enjoy. We are proud
to have served over 15,000 companies and stand behind our
iron clad guarantee. We have
the key to financial freedom and our
customers are important to us.
Try reading the
copy above.... OUT LOUD. Then try reading the copy below
OUT LOUD. You can see the impact of simple changes to how your
copy reads with a focus on the reader instead of a focus on
yourself.
Better Example: (Compare
to how it reads with a "Customer focus" copy in blue)
You
can possess the key to your own
financial freedom and enjoy all 8 benefits, which are built
into a solid future guarantee. You’ll
enjoy quick response and have all your
questions answered promptly. Your
concerns are most important to us.
One exceptionally
skilled writer of Web copy is Michael Campbell who recently
stated the following in his weekly newsletter:
---------- Quote from
Michael Campbell's Internet
Marketing Secrets ---------------------
"There
are no such things as B to B (business to business), or B to C
(business to consumer), there are only P to P (person to
person) transactions."
"Even if you think it's one faceless corporation dealing
with another, it's really one person, the decision maker with
purchasing power, having a personal relationship with another
person who is a supplier capable of expediting the goods. In
other words, two people that like dealing with each
other."
-------------- End of
Quote
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael's weekly publication is loaded with tips and expert
advice on creating effective Web content.
He never fails to put logic into simple words and Michael is
one of the only people I know who actually has a feel for what
a sales letter's success ratio will be, as he writes it.
If you are not
currently reading Michael Campbell's, you can read the full
editions here at Internet
Marketing Secrets.
Also, here is an example of
a well-crafted sales letter for you to study:
http://www.tnt-guide.com
--------------------------------------------------------
2. If performing
SEO - Focus on writing
for the human reader first and search engines second.
While search engine
optimization is important to your visibility, try writing your
content first.
Most people don’t write their best content when trying to
optimize AND create content at the same time.
Yet we continually see people trying to do this. We teach our
students in class, to spend time wisely creating useful
content that will be a genuine benefit to your visitors. Then,
once you have written something of genuine value that stands
on it’s own merit, you can go back over the article as a
second step and apply some mild optimization. This is much
easier than trying to optimize while creating your content at
the same time. Following this simple rule of taking it in 2
phases will help you enormously.
3. Find out what
your target audience’s are really searching for.
One of the most
powerful skills you can build is based on behavioral research.
In other words you want to study the marketplace first to see
what your ideal target buying audience is interested in, before
creating content. Have you tried using Wordtracker
in this fashion?
In this fashion yet?
Most people focus on researching keywords rather than
researching behaviors. There is a wealth of information laying
about Wordtracker’s
member data and it don’t take very long to tap into it
with a little practice. The idea is to offer up Information
based on what your audience really wants, instead of what you
"think" they want. Why guess at it when you can
know.
Visit www.wordtracker-magic.com
for an e-book or else listen to a series of free audio tips
which
Explain step by step
how it’s done!
http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/articles/audiomagic.html
4. Tips for
triggering idea generation
If you get tired or
feel like you are running out of ideas searching in Wordtracker for your audience’s interest then
you must not be thinking laterally enough. I never get tired
of exploring Wordtracker. I don’t just think about
“keywords” but think laterally about behavior.
Remember the idea is
not just to create content based on your own objectives (to
sell a product or a service) but to write content based on
your audience’s interests. There are plenty of ways to
attract that perfect audience to a page if you can get your
mind set free from focusing on only your own objectives.
What is your audience
looking for? People are using the Internet everyday for
the purpose of research. They’re looking
for articles, interviews, product reviews instructional
tutorials, statistical data, internet based tools, software
reviews, movie reviews, stock quote
information, medical articles, photos and graphics not
to mention online price comparisons and shopping interests for
retail and wholesale type services.
If you get tired
exploring some of these niches (still only scratching the
surface) Why not try creating your
own original content pages and write from a perspective
which allows you to be creative based on
your own experiences.
For example:
A)
If you have a favorite hobby, which you are
knowledgeable about,
you can be sure there are others will be interested in the
same hobby.
B)
Why not buy a product and write your own reviews of
that product?
C)
Could you create a travel related site by writing about
your own travels?
D)
Do you go to movies? Could you write movie reviews?
E)
Could you take your information related sites and join
a program like
www.cj.com which would enable
you to build affiliate links into your
quality information sites?
Think about the world of behaviors and
interests that occur everyday.
Remember that you can use Wordtracker
Magic research techniques to explore a whole world of
behaviors.
Explore peoples hobbies by name
Explore emotionally related topics
Explore people's "health" related interests
Explore people's security related interests
Explore people's "common challenges" as opposed to thinking only of keywords that relate to the solution.
Explore people's "opinions"
Explore people's "political views"
Explore people's "religious beliefs"
Explore things historical interests
Explore people's interest in specific statistics
Explore people's favorite "tools"
This is still only scratching the surface
but it should be enough to set your creativity in motion.
Wordtracker used properly is a tool that opens a window on the
"world of activities" that are happening right in
the now.
5. Creating content
that speaks to a specific audience
Write your dialogue for
your specific audience. In other words, how your content reads
to a grandmother (if that’s your target audience) may be
quite different than how your content reads on a page written
to be of interest to firefighters, for example. It’s
important to relate to your specific readers in a way so they
can relate to you. You might
want to talk about a common challenge that your entire
audience will be able to relate to and feel for, before you
start introducing your solution. It's very important to create
content that speaks to a specific audience.
6. Remember to
include strong
calls to action
What do you want the
reader to do once they finish reading your content. You need
to clearly build these options into each page and leave
nothing to guess work. Describe what
action you would like them to take and never assume that
they will just know, because they won’t act unless you spell
it out.
Example:
Why don’t you fill in the form below right now to get a free quote from
us instantly delivered by e-mail. Once you fill in your name
and press submit – your quote will arrive in 90 seconds.
It’s FREE!
7. Search engine
optimization the stress free approach
If you need to get
your search engine placement skills up to speed quickly, there is no faster way than to attend a live SEO hands-on
Workshop where you will get direct,
personalized, step-by-step instruction from SEO industry leaders Robin Nobles and John
Alexander. You can attend a live workshop and take your search
engine placement skills to whole new
level in just a matter of a few hours of direct hands-on
study.
These personalized
workshops show you a step-by-step process for building truly
relevant content in a stress free manner.
Grab your laptop and come join Robin Nobles and John Alexander
in person, for a live, hands-on workshop for 2-Days, 3-Days or
5-Days PLUS you get a free 6-month mentoring program.
You'll come away with genuine SEO skills
that will gain you top rankings that can stand
the test of time.
Remember that our workshops are NOT
conferences or seminars. They are hands-on workshops where you
learn "by actually doing". We don't teach you tricks
or cheats, but we will teach you solid skills that won't leave
you reliant on others.
Details:
http://www.searchengineworkshops.com
Here are a few recent
student's comments.
We hope to see you at one of our next workshops real soon.
Highest
Regards,
John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com
About John Alexander
John Alexander is Co-director of Training at Search
Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with partner
Robin Nobles as well as online search engine marketing courses
through Online Web
Training. John is author of an
e-book called Wordtracker
Magic and co-author of
the Totally Non-Technical
Guide for A Successful Web Site.
John is also an official member of the customer support team
at Wordtracker.com.
