Entries Tagged 'website copywriting' ↓

I have been a copywriter for a while now and many of the projects I am commission to carry out involve search engine optimisation.

That’s hardly surprising considering the importance of online marketing to today’s businesses.

People’s attitudes to online search are changing. Companies are now recognising that if they want to open up their businesses to new markets they have got to get to grips with SEO and keyword identification.

Keyword research

Most people ‘get’ keyword research these days.

They understand that the words they have to target are the ones their customers are searching for. That list might include the particular product that they sell or their geographical location etc.

Usually the list of keywords I am given are pretty relevant – they cover the products/services and will drive targeted traffic to their website.

But the problems start when it comes to allotting keywords to the copy – how many should each web page target?

Common misconceptions

When investing in SEO most people want to maximise their ROI and use SEO to get found for every keyword or phrase they can think of.

For a start, initially, that’s not practical. Over time as they build links and relevant content, they will see rankings for most of their keywords (the level of their ranking will depend on the competitiveness of the term they are targeting). But from the outset, SEO takes time and the early results will be found with the least competitive words.

The second problem is that many people view their website as their Home Page. By that I mean they want to load their Home Page with all their keywords.

So, for example, if they sell silver jewellery, their keyword list may look something like:

• Silver jewellery
• Silver jewellery suppliers Suffolk
• Silver jewellery gifts
• Gifts in silver
• Silver necklace
• Silver bracelet

You get the idea.

Now, to try and include all of those words on one page is complete madness because the resultant text won’t encourage anyone to buy.

Using keywords the right way

For starters you must remember there is more than one page to your website. Plus, Google and the other search engines also recognise this as each page is indexed individually. Therefore you should be targeting different keywords on different pages. The keywords should also be reflected in your navigation and page titles.

With regards to the number of keywords per page, you should only look to target 2 (3 max) primary keywords. You can of course incorporate long tail keywords (i.e. your primary keywords plus modifiers) but trying to target more than 2 can create unwieldy text.

The main point of your website copy is that it should be relevant, interesting and compelling. The traffic your keywords attract must be drawn in by your text and encouraged to buy – otherwise what’s the point?

By researching your keywords, using them to structure your website and then target each page for different keywords will maximise your chances of SEO success.

Many businesses think their website copy has to be stiff and corporate.

They want to come across as professional so they must use language that impresses.

As they write their copy they thumb through the pages of their much loved thesaurus to find the most impressive words possible.

Oh boy.

How many times have I seen that? And you know what? They are the websites that under perform because no one wants to read them because they are boring. The language is stale – it’s not interesting, it’s not inspiring and it certainly won’t make the reader think “wow, I really want to do business with these people.”

Be a friend

The best way to get your readers on your side is by chatting with them.

Conversational copywriting will make your website more accessible. It gives your company a distinctive voice – something your readers can relate to.

It’s like slipping on your favourite slippers. They’ll stay longer and they’ll read more because you are talking to them and not at them.

So how can you achieve chatty copy?

• Find out who your target market are and use  their vocabulary
• Use short, clear sentences to get your message across
• Don’t use big words – throw away the thesaurus and use language everyone understands
• Read your copy out loud to check it makes sense, has rhythm and doesn’t contain any errors
• Use real language, not a literary version of it

Basically write as you would talk – go over the conversation you would have with the customer if you were stood in front of them and write it down.

In the world of marketing you’ll soon discover that very few people like being sold to.

We want to be sure our decisions are our own and not influenced by someone else.

That’s why very few people will land on a website, think “Wow! I must buy that now” and eagerly get out their credit card.

Before any of us buy (yes, you included) we have doubts – is it really what I need? Can I really justify the cost?

The art of a good copywriter is to overcome those objections within their copy which means getting out their crystal ball.

Why?

Because you have to counter their objections before your reader has had the opportunity to work out what they are.

Copywriting that convinces

Whenever you are faced with a buying decision all manner of objections are going to pop into your head. The copywriter has to pre-empt these because copy isn’t about getting the consumer to say ‘yes’, it’s about preventing them from saying ‘no’.

Here are some common objections:

1. I don’t need it

Let’s face it there aren’t that many things we buy that we actually need. Needing something is about not being able to function with out it. To get round this one you have to change that ‘need’ into a want.

I don’t need the small mountain of shoes I have in the bottom of my wardrobe, but I want to look coordinated, stylish and modern hence I want lots of different pairs to go with my different outfits.

2. I can’t afford it

With the current economic climate there’s not a lot left we can afford.

But again if you can convince them they want it they’ll find the money from somewhere. Give them a good enough offer and they’ll just have to buy.

3. Perhaps tomorrow?

If you let them browse and then walk away, they are very unlikely to come back again.

You have to force them into a decision there and then:

• Create a time limited offer
• Tell them there is a limited supply
• Tell them they only have until midnight to place their order or miss out on the offer of a lifetime.

4. Why should I buy from you?

You know you are honest and trustworthy but the consumer doesn’t.

They have just stumbled across your website and don’t know you from Adam. Through your copy you have to convince them of your trustworthiness through:

• Testimonials
• Background information on your company
• Details of your longevity

Your copy must entice, convince and sell if you are to draw in the punters. Remember you have to dispel their objections before they have the opportunity to raise them.

Congratulations, you’ve taken the bull by the horns, spent a shed load of cash on search engine optimisation, you’re website is finally in the top 10 for your chosen keywords so you’ve made it, right?

Wong.

Yes, you’re ranking well but there’s something missing…you’ve got no traffic.

Is that possible? Can you have a top ranking website that doesn’t get traffic?

The simple answer is yes and it’s probably caused by one of these three reasons:

1. You’re Not Really Ranking
2. Your Keywords Don’t Deliver
3. Your Results Don’t Get Clicked

Confused?

This post on seomoz.org explains all. Entitled I’m ranking, so where’s my traffic it explains why, despite your bank balance’s best efforts, you’re not getting traffic to your website.

It could be anything from distortion from Google’s personalised search results, badly chosen keywords or the fact that you’re not attracting those all important clicks when you do appear in the search results.

If you’re website isn’t performing as you think it should, it’s well worth taking a few minutes out of your day to read this article – it could help turn your under-performing website around.

As an internet marketer you’ve probably heard people talking about traffic and conversion rates.

So what’s your conversion like?

Do you know?

Do you even care?

Well, if you want your online marketing to be effective you need to know and care what it is. But before you charge headlong into panic because your conversion isn’t as good as your neighbour’s, you need to consider what your conversion goal is.

Your conversion goal may well be different to your neighbour’s so don’t get hung up on who’s got the biggest just yet.  First you have to work out what yours is. It could be:

• Newsletter sign-ups
• Order form completions
• Brochure downloads
• Signing up for a free trial
• Payments

Once you know what it is you’re measuring you can start to quantify the effectiveness of your website through Google Analytics.

But before you can achieve conversion you must have traffic. The information you obtain about your website through analytics will show you the number of visitors your website is receiving every day, week or month (that’s your traffic), how long they remain on your site, which keywords bring in the most traffic, which pages they visit etc.

You may think you’re doing brilliantly with your marketing because you are getting thousands of visitors to your website every month.

Great – but is that reflected in your sales or sign ups? If your traffic has suddenly jumped, has your turnover made the same leap? If not, something’s wrong because you’re not converting.

5 reasons why you’re not converting

1. Quantity not quality

You may be getting loads of visitors but if no one is buying something is seriously wrong. The first thing to check is your keywords.

Each page of your website should be targeting a different keyword. So if you are getting traffic but there are no conversions (and your bounce rate is very high), check your keywords as they may not be attracting the right readers.

2. Your promise isn’t delivering

Again this one goes back to your keywords.

In this instance you may be using a keyword that doesn’t actually reflect what’s on your webpage. Therefore visitors are arriving at your site expecting to see blue butterfly brooches but when they arrive all they find are blue brooches.

Therefore you have a mismatch between what you’re offering your visitors and the traffic your SEO efforts is targeting.

3. Now what?

One of the most common aspects of a web copy that is missed is the call to action.

If a visitor lands on your website, finds your content relevant and interesting you must make sure you tell them what to do next.

A well positioned, commanding call to action above the fold of your web page (so it’s in their eye line) will make sure your reader knows exactly what they must do next – whether it’s to buy, order, sign-up etc.

4. Boring…

If you’ve gone to the expense and trouble of developing a good SEO strategy you need a great website to wow your visitors when they find you.

If your web site is poorly structured with bad navigation, slow-loading pages and full of annoying pop-ups your visitors will flee.

This will reduce your conversion rates and boost your bounce rate – and that’s not good.

People want to see websites that are well designed, easy to navigate and a joy to use. These features will encourage them to stay and make them more likely to buy from you, sign-up to your newsletter or complete your survey.

5. What about you products?

Of course, your poor conversion rate may have nothing to do with the design of your website or the keywords you’re using. It could simply be because your products aren’t what your customers need.

You see web design and great copywriting will get you only so far – if you’ve poorly researched your market and are trying to sell something people don’t want, they won’t buy it. If you’ve checked everything else on this list and it all looks OK, maybe it’s time to consider whether your products and services satisfy the needs of your market.

As we’ve seen, your conversion rate (or lack of it) can be affected by a number of different factors. Your keywords, web copy, web design and products and services will all have their part to play. If you want targeted traffic and a great conversion rate they all have to be firing on all cylinders.