Online Marketing for Local Business
Uncategorized
Google Adwords and You
13 years
by jhaynes
in Uncategorized
“I tried Adwords and paid a fortune for a few words. It did nothing to increase my business at all.” – Sound familiar?
Google AdWords is one step in a process. One link in a chain. And no matter how strong that link might be, any chain is broken by its weakest link.
Common areas of waste:
- Bidding on words like car, bicycle or computer. Generic terms that have lots of search traffic, but little relevance – these will burn a budget in no time and the clicks you pay for aren’t likely to turn in to sales.
- Bidding on a few keywords that generate lots of clicks. This is costly – better to have lots of low-cost keywords that generate a few clicks, or do both if your budget permits.
- Ads and landing pages don’t include the keywords that are being bid on. Google will charge you less if you address this.
- Poor ad copy; customers are only interested in their problem. Use copy that demonstrates that you can solve it.
- Visitors land on the home page for your site – you’re making the visitor search AGAIN for what they need. The keywords you bid on already told you what they are looking for, take them to the relevant page on your site.
- Not measuring results. If success or failure isn’t measured, money is wasted on the same mistakes rather than invested in the keywords and ads that make you the most money. In simple terms, if the 50% waste was spent on the 50% that worked, you’d double your profits.
Creating a Google AdWords campaign is just one piece of your marketing mix. You need a good marketing story, some good, relevant content on your landing page, clear calls to action and a very good understanding of your (potential) customer.
Web Content Writing Basics
013 years
by jhaynes
in Uncategorized
Though it may be easy to forget sometimes, a website is simply a technology to deliver human content with.
SEO is important, but cannot be the only goal of web content writing. The best modern web copywriters do two jobs at once: they use their talents to engage an audience and get them to take action, while feeding keywords to search engines at the same time.
The most effective writers usually have a broad range of general knowledge combined with a proven track record that they should be able to share with you. The needs of your organization or company should dictate what you should look for in an online copywriter or editor. If it is necessary to convey a significant amount of very detailed technical information, you may need an expert in your field. But if you need advertising copy or more general material, someone creative can generate attention for your marketing and communication efforts. The ideal combination is often found somewhere in between the two.
Not only should modern copywriters be able to write for both humans and search engines, but they also need to understand the way online readers think. Long attention spans are a thing of the past, and anything which isn’t conveyed in a few paragraphs is unlikely to be read. Effective online copywriting requires a disciplined use of language and an ability to prioritize information. Simple, clear copy is a valuable asset to any website.
One thing to keep in mind is the market is filled with amateur writers whose first language often isn’t English. They may produce a lot of keyword-stuffed copy for low rates, but that kind of writing is painfully obvious to spot, even for the search engines. Quality copy is a major part of the first impression your company or organization delivers. We recommend safeguarding your reputation by investing in professional writing services.
Jim Haynes is an experienced journalist, copywriter and editor, who brings a range of knowledge to his work and consistently delivers accurate, purposeful copy which is easy to read.Visit: SEO Copywriter, Web Content Editor, Journalist
How to Screw Up SEO
13 years
by jhaynes
in Uncategorized
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is not a game, folklore, or interesting entry in Wikipedia.
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Those who want a high ranking must choose the right keywords or keyword phrases to use for headings and text. These keywords or phrases help dictate where you show up on a search engine’s ranking. Why do rankings matter? Give a damn about rankings, because most websites are storefronts for individuals peddling services or companies acquiring clients. If an individual can’t find you online, they choose another company. Furthermore, a company low on the totem pole of rankings loses some of its validity. A high ranking helps validate your company.
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Wow, that’s simple! No. It’s not. You can screw it up by choosing the wrong keywords or keyword phrases. For example, you are a real estate agent and the first heading on your webpage reads, “Buying Advice”. The text underneath the headline pertains to the best neighborhoods to look for houses. A search engine “magically” reads your website and determines that this is a national real estate website. Now, you have to compete with everyone in the United States selling houses. You don’t sell houses in Florida. You’re located in Austin, Texas. You need a good keyword phrase. That’s a phrase that is used throughout headlines and text. Maybe you can use a keyword phrase like “Austin Real Estate” or “Buying Austin Houses”. When someone needs a house in Austin, they will type in “Austin real estate” into their Google or Yahoo and find you.
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Again, that sounds easy. No. It’s not. You may decide to use the phrase “Austin real estate” in every other sentence to make it real clear who you are to search engines. That’s called keyword stuffing. While this practice may seem like a great way to raise your website ranking, you’ll wake up one day to find your website was banned from a search engine like Google. Yikes.
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Another way to screw up the SEO on your website is to write content that doesn’t flow with your keywords. Website content must be engaging to the reader in order for them to hang out on your web page. Don’t throw in a keyword phrase whenever you think about it. Plan where it should go within the content, so the keyword phrase naturally works. How much of the text should consist of the keyword phrase? Roughly, 1% to 5% percent of all the text on a page should be your keyword phrase.
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Sounds easy. No. It’s not. It takes practice as a writer to create content that effectively uses keywords within engaging text. How do I learn? You don’t learn by crossing your fingers and hoping for the best when writing text. In fact, you waste time. Take a class, mentor under someone or at least read other articles about SEO. You’ll be able to find them by typing in keywords relating to SEO in a search engine.
Faith McGee
Contributing Writer for Hat Trick Associates