Entries Tagged 'copywriting tips' ↓

Adding comments to blogs is thought by some as a great way to gather back links to their own sites.

Well, I hate to burst your bubble but it doesn’t really work like that. You see blog commenting may drive traffic to your own site but only if you have something interesting to say.

Running two blogs I get my fair share of spam comments. Some are blatant spam full of links to other sites; others are seen as spam because of the content of the comments.

So how can you legitimately leave comments without being seen as a spammer?

4 tips to becoming a good blog commenter

1. Read it

If your comment is “Wow! Great post!” it will show the blog owner that you really haven’t read the post and may well be seen as a spammer.

If you’re going to take the time to read someone’s article and comment on it, at least make sure you’ve read it, understood it and leave a comment that’s relevant and intelligent.

2. Know who you are

When you leave a comment you are asked for your name – so use it.

Many people try to get a leg up by using their keyword as their name (so rather than leaving my name as the commenter, I would write freelance copywriter). If you do use your keywords you’ll probably be seen as a spammer and your comment won’t be published.

3. Forget link juice

Most people comment on blogs with high page rank (PR) because they think they’re going to get some link juice from their comment.

Think again. Most blog platforms will only give a nofollow link. You may get a bit of traffic (if you’ve left a well considered and intelligent comment) but you won’t be getting anything else.

4. Be relevant

Following on from number 3, those under the impression they’re going to get link juice only target high PR blogs, even if they have no relevancy to their own field.

Comment on blogs that are relevant to you. That way, assuming you’re leaving intelligent comments, you may get other people popping over to your website for a quick peak.

What it comes down to is this – blog commenting is not going to help your SEO. But, it will get your name in front of people who are either interested in your product or service or in the same industry as you. This kind of exposure could bring a bit of extra traffic your way.

Keyword research (as opposed to keyword guessing) is vital if you want your search engine optimisation activities to bear fruit.

The words or phrases you decide to target will have a big effect on your website and its contents which is why it should be done before you begin the design process.

How can a few keywords affect your site?

Well quite easily. After all it’s not until you know what you’ll be targeting that you can:

• Create your on page text (SEO copywriting)
• Decide on your link building anchor text
• Work out your internet linking structure
• Decide on your site navigation
• Produce your page titles (title tags)
• Decide on your URLs
• Write your META tags

So as you can see it’s quite important that your keyword research comes first.

How to decide on your keywords

That’s all well and good but how do you begin the process of deciding on which words and phrases to target?

Here are 3 steps you can take to ensure you get the best possible match between your keywords and your target audience.

1. Be open to new ideas

Don’t go into the research blinkered to the ideas of others. You must remember that you are trying to find the words that other people search for to find your products and services, not necessarily the terms you would use.

The main thing is that the words you decide on must be relevant to your product or service. There’s no point in using a keyword that generates lots of traffic if it’s not pertinent to what you do. You’ll just end up with a lot of frustrated people.

2. Create word groups

Your starting point will be to generate a list of words that relate to your product/service.

Then, expand that list to incorporate names used in your industry for what you do. Expand this again with words used within the media for your product/service. Then, if you work in a specific locality, add in relevant geographical modifiers.

Then it’s time to use keyword research tools such as Google’s to further refine and expand your list.

3. Check competition and relevancy

The final step is to work out which are the best terms to go for.

Although you want to target terms that generate a lot of search traffic, you don’t want to pick something so competitive you won’t stand a chance of ranking for it.

This table below will help you determine which the best terms to try are:

That’s why keyword research is so important. Make sure it’s the first think you do before starting your web design process.

You know you have got to get to grips with SEO if you want your website to get noticed.

You also know a big part of that strategy will be the building of back links which means one thing – blogging.

The regular production of blog posts relevant to your business is essential to:

• Boost your link building activities
• Drive traffic to your sales site
• Add value to your customers
• Position yourself as an expert in your field
• Increase your online exposure

Whether you are a writer, designer, plumber or manager you can utilise the power of blogging to drive targeted traffic to your website.

But there’s always one thing that holds people back from giving it a go…

What on earth do I write about?

A blank mind coupled with the idea that you don’t have time to blog usually means you don’t try.

But there’s so much you could write about.

If you’re a copywriter like me you can provide tips on sales writing, marketing and using social media. If you’re a web designer you can talk about new thinking in your industry, how to structure a website, or how to get the most out of your site.

But what if you’re a manager, or supplier? You can still blog about your core business. Give hints and tips – if you are an intermediary to source gardeners for people, for example, you can blog about garden related issues, what to look for in a gardener – perhaps you could even get some of your gardeners to guest blog for you.

As long as what you are blogging about is relevant to your business it will help drive traffic if you utilise your keywords as anchor text back links (in the way I’ve linked the word ‘copywriter’ above).

How to get your ideas

That all sounds fairly straight forward but even I will admit to getting writers’ block now and then.

So when your mind goes blank what do you do?

Well, here are 8 tips to help you banish the dreaded block for good:

1. Fresh air brain storming

Get out of the office and go for a long walk. The fresh air and change of scenery will do wonders for your blankness. Take a note pad or Dictaphone with you so you don’t forget your blinding flash of inspiration when it strikes.

2. Write what you like

The best way to get the creative juices flowing is to write about something that interests you. You will already have the knowledge so no research is necessary and your passion for your subject will shine through.

3. What if…

Reading around your subject is a great way to spark ideas. Take a look at other blogs in your industry and see what other people are saying. If you find their writing interesting think about the subject from a different angle – that’s where the what if comes it.

4. Outline

It’s not very often someone can sit down and write an article straight off. If you have ideas buzzing round your head but can’t quite form them into an article list them as bullet points. This visualisation of ideas can often help you flesh them out into an interesting blog post.

5. Put it away

If you have managed to get a few ideas down but somehow it still doesn’t seem to gel, put it away for a day or two. Fresh eyes can often help craft it into an interesting and thought provoking post.

6. Magazine time

As with number 3, reading any sort of material can help the creative process – they don’t even have to be from your industry. An article in a magazine or newspaper can trigger an idea especially if a topical event can be seen to affect your industry.

7. Fancy a coffee?

Relaxing your mind will refresh it. Meet up with some friends for a coffee and a chat. Again you never quite know what will come out of your conversations; they could stimulate a great article idea. But if not, at least you’ve had time to recharge your batteries before returning to your desk and trying again.

8. Swipe file

No, I’m not talking about plagiarism! Your swipe file can be electronic or paper and should contain items you find of interest. As a writer, if I come across an effective sales letter I’ll save it, if I receive a brochure that’s particularly eye catching, I’ll save it. If I read a great article, I’ll save it. All of this is great information that can be used for inspiration when I need it.

Blogging is a great business tool and one that shouldn’t be ignored. Everyone can blog regardless of their industry or skill set. So give it a go – once you get the hang of it you’ll find that you really enjoy it.

More companies are beginning to utilise the power of online content marketing. It enables them to educate, communicate and, influence readers generating a stream of new customers.

However too many understand it is what needs to be done in today’s online world but jump in without thinking.

Their lack of strategy, experience, understanding and their unrealistic expectations lead to the onset of apathy and bewilderment resulting in the misguided belief that online content marketing doesn’t work.

But as a copywriter, I have been using online content marketing to promote my business for the past 4 years and it really does work. You just have to know what you’re doing.

Get an online marketing plan

The number one mistake made by companies that launch headlong into content marketing is their lack of empathy with their readers.

They write about what they want to know about rather than what their readers want. It’s this disparity that leads to a big fat nothing in the effectiveness of their marketing.

So before you even consider blogging, tweeting or Facebooking you must find:

• What they’re looking for
• How they want it presented (their content preference)
• When they need the information

How do you find that out?

There are a number of ways you can research the information you need to know –

Ask them – the good old fashioned survey either through email, blogging or just asking them face to face. Do they need ‘how to’ guides? If so, what format (eBooks, video, podcast etc)?

Analytics – look at your website analytics and see what they’re looking at. If your website has a video on it and it’s not getting any hits, perhaps your visitors are trying to tell you something.

Social media – if you‘re using social media, listen to what your customers are saying, that can give you some great clues about what their needs are.

Keywords – going back to your analytics, the data on your keywords can tell you a lot about what people are looking for, the words they use to find you etc.

If you want your content marketing to be successful you must listen to your customers and provide them with what they want, when they want it and in a format they like.

Of course not everyone will want the same things so your strategy will have to flexible. But listen, understand and then react.

The art of a great article – other than interesting content people want to read – is a striking headline that makes it stand out.

Articles are a great way of building back links to your website and so give a boost to your SEO. Whether you write them yourself or you hire in a copywriter, a steady stream of submissions will give your online visibility and reputation a boost.

Every article website out there contains thousands and thousands of articles on just about every subject you can imagine, so if you want yours to be read and shared it has to stand out and be visible.

There are numerous posts around the internet on how to write great headlines but below are 7 simple tips that will help you create something that will make people stop and loiter at your article.

1. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate the use of exclamation marks. I will generally go out of my way to avoid using them.

If your point is really vital use language and tone to convey its importance not an exclamation mark. To me it’s a very lazy way of making a point. Plus it gives the impression you’re shouting at your reader and that’s not a nice thing to do.

2. Be honest

You might think a great way of dragging readers into your article is by offering them the world. But if your headline offers something other than what’s in your article you’ll lose their trust and they’re unlikely to read anything else you read.

3. Don’t over-egg it

This is similar to number 2. But this time rather than using the headline to make a statement that is obviously untrue, over-egging it means giving an over exaggerated claim. For example giving a headline saying “Discover the top 3 tips that’ll make you a millionaire over night” – yeah, like that’s going to happen.

4. Overstatement is bad

Rather than exaggerating and making false claims to grab your readers’ attention, why not get creative. Have fun with language and use it in a way that’s eye-catching. Use words that will intrigue; use puns and play with the meaning of words to create something memorable.

5. Shhhh

If at all possible resist the urge to use the word ‘secret’ in your heading. There are very few things you are likely to write about which are truly secret. And if you did the chances are you’d be hauled off to a Government covert installation somewhere, never to be seen again.

6. Humour

If you are able to write humorously to grab attention then do so. But be warned. Very few people can pull this one off. Just because it makes you laugh doesn’t mean it will make everyone laugh.

I’m sure at some time you’ve sent an email with an ‘ironic tone’ only to find you’ve offended the recipient. You see, what sounds ironic or funny in your mind as you write may not be conveyed that way when it’s read so extreme caution should be used when trying to be funny in writing.

This 6 simple tips will help you create headlines that work. By pointing out what not to do, you should be able to create something honest, eye catching and intriguing that will draw your readers to you time and again.