Title:

What SEO Copywriting Is… and Isn't

Word Count:

479

Summary:

It seems people just don't get it. There's lots of talk about SEO copywriting these days, but hardly any of it is on target. Everyone seems to be forgetting the fact that SEO copywriting is primarily about copywriting, not the search engines.

Keywords:

seo copywriting, search engine copywriting, copywriting, search engine optimization

Article Body:

I've been frustrated lately. It seems people just don't get it. There's lots of talk about SEO copywriting these days, but hardly any of it is on target. The majority of the conversations, posts and articles I've seen deal with topics like keyword density, allowable limits, over optimization and such. These people are making search engine copywriting all about the search engines. They are forgetting the fact that SEO copywriting is still copywriting.

What that means - generally speaking - is you are still writing promotional copy designed to cause a *person* to take a specific action. Your target audience (your site visitors) should come first. The elements designed to help the copy rank well absolutely come last.

What good is all the traffic in the world if your site copy doesn't convert visitors into buyers? Not much. That's why - when writing SEO copy - the human visitor comes first.

Unfortunately, SEO copywriting is getting a bad name because so much of what is being cranked out is repetitious babble. Most of these pages would never have made it on to a site, except for the fact that the site owner wanted to rank highly for certain key terms.

So, in the interest of salvaging the good name of search engine copywriting, before it's too late, let me offer some guidelines.

SEO Copy Is:

· first and foremost - written for the visitor.

· unique and purposeful.

· natural-sounding - it flows.

SEO Copy Is Not:

· written exclusively with the engines in mind.

· mirrored, adjusted or altered to create new pages by simply changing keyphrases.

· stiff, forced or overly repetitive.

The Dos of SEO Copywriting

When writing SEO copy, you'll want to:

· understand who you are writing to.

· choose what the focus of the page will be.

· create a plan outlining the message you want to convey.

· decide how best to communicate that message to your particular target customers.

· choose which keyphrases will be incorporated into the copy.

· make sure those keyphrases work well with the page and the planned copy.

· incorporate keyphrases as you write (not after you write), so they flow naturally with the planned message.

The Don'ts of SEO Copywriting

When writing SEO copy, you should never:

· create a plan based solely on how to rank high.

· replace *every* instance of a generic term (car) with a keyphrase (red, convertible car).

· add pages of copy simply to appease the search engines.

· rely on useless keyword density ratios and formulas.

· shove keyphrases in everywhere possible. (No, it won't get you banned, but it will sound completely ridiculous!)

SEO copywriting is not the process of writing exclusively for the search engines. It is the process of writing copy to appeal to your visitors, while including elements to help the search engines and your visitors understand what the page is all about.

If you remember who truly makes or breaks your site's success (your customers!) and focus on them, you're sure to create SEO copy that rings true.

Title:

Writing The Perfect Sales Letter

Word Count:

1266

Summary:

Before you actually write the e-book we are going to write the sales letter first. Now I suggest you write it in Microsoft Word and save it. Then we can transfer it to the main “Sales site Page” when we are designing our basic site in step 5

The main reason we are writing our sales copy before we ever write a word in our e-Book is because it hasn’t actually being created yet, which means there is absolutely no limit what you can write in your sales letter. The sales lette...

Keywords:

Article Body:

Before you actually write the e-book we are going to write the sales letter first. Now I suggest you write it in Microsoft Word and save it. Then we can transfer it to the main “Sales site Page” when we are designing our basic site in step 5

The main reason we are writing our sales copy before we ever write a word in our e-Book is because it hasn’t actually being created yet, which means there is absolutely no limit what you can write in your sales letter. The sales letter doesn’t fit the e-Book; it’s the other way around.

Now you can describe exactly what your e-Book will show to the potential customer. There are no restrictions on what you can write in the sales letter. When the sales letter is completed you can then incorporate all the ideas you have come up with into your e-Book

Your sales copy must do the following three things

• Get the attention of the prospects
• Communicate the benefits of the product
• Persuade the prospects into the desired action

Remember the most important part of your page design is your actual sales copy. A fancy website and graphics help but the key is in the words used

Sales letter Structure

• Header/Title
• Promises
• Testimonial
• Info product
• Benefit
• Bonuses
• Guarantee
• Summary

This is the structure that you should use for your sales copy. If you check out the best sales letter they will all follow this formula?

Header

The main function of the header/title is to grab the reader’s attention. The header should be displayed in a large, bold font. This demands your potential customer’s attention and intrigues them to read further on. Include your logo or e-Book cover (discussed later on) close to the header. If you header is not well designed you run the risk of losing the potential customer straight away. Spend time creating your header.

A Promise

This section promises the potential customer a huge benefit which is almost too good to be true. It’s ok if it’s a bit too unbelievable the testimonials will take care of that. Here is an example of such a headline

Discover how my 5 step affiliate programme can increase your income by 10,000 a month

Testimonials

In this section you include testimonials that old/new customers have sent you about your product or service. You probably don’t have any customers yet so email some potential ones your e-book for free in exchange for a testimonial. When you do start selling you can always ask a new customer for one.

Now the testimonials page has assured the potential customer that you can fulfil the promises you made in your header also you have gained a bit of trust from your potential customers so anything else you say that follows the testimonials page will be taken as true. This is the reason why the testimonial is placed at the top to gain trust right away where if it was placed at the bottom after presenting some good sales copy it may be already too late.

Info and product

In this section you will give info on what your product or service is about. You should show your customers a list of problems in this area. Agree with the customers, on how frustrating these problems can be and how you, yourself dealt with these problems. The key is to show the person that you have a deep understanding in this area and you are an expert on the subject. That is very important.

Next you must introduce your product as the solution to the problem. Then you must have a proper e-Book cover design. This is crucial. Many people have never purchased an e-book so you must give them some idea what exactly they will be purchasing

Benefit
This section is basically telling your potential customer of the benefits they will receive from purchasing your product. Show your potential customers the enjoyment they will get from using the product. Give them as much information on your product as you can. Use bullet points to emphasize the benefits. Put in another testimonial just to remind the person that it’s all true. Keeping their trust is highly important.

Bonuses

This is a powerful tactic used to increase sales. Including free bonuses with the purchase of your e-Book will increase the perceived value of the e-Book. Also a deadline on bonuses is also a good way to speed up consumer purchases. Bonuses also reduce the risk of money back returns

Guarantee

Offering a guarantee to your potential customers takes the risk off their shoulders. A good guarantee is the final bit in the jigsaw that will make the person finally purchase the product. The agreement is such that if the customer is not happy with their purchases then can get a full refund. You must remember that lots of your potential customers will be “first timers” therefore a guarantee puts their minds at ease. Guarantees can be 30 day, 60 day, or lifetime; however such guarantees must be backed up with an exceptional product.

Summary

This is one of the most important steps in the sales letter; this is where you close the sale. In this section you must include your most appealing benefit and finally ask for the order, because if you don’t they wont. Finally make it easier for them to order like an “order now” button shown below.

At this stage you should start to write your sales letter in Microsoft word we will concentrate on the html design and implementing the sales letter in it in section six but for now just concern yourself with writing your sales letter. To help you here are some of the web’s top e-book publishers sales sites. You can check out my own sales page at http://www.ebookprofitmaker.com

Sales Letter generator

Ok ill now offer you an alternative to writing the sales page yourself. Only use this if you are willing to spend some money. You may want to check out this piece of software that actually writes the sales letter for you. All you do is answer the questions it asks and you will receive your sales letter. You can find this software at sales generator here

Credit card Transactions

Finally you will need to find a credit card processor later on so your e-Books can be ordered. The one I seriously recommend is Clickbank. Ill go into them in more detail in section 6 but for now I want you to know that all these company’s, including Clickbank, have a set of rules that you must abide by to use their software. Don’t panic ill go through these rules now. Basically it involves putting a certain amount of details in your sales letter and product delivery page so you can be accepted by your credit transaction company. So here they are:

You must provide on your sales page:

• Detailed description of your product
• Buy now link
• Explain how the product will be delivered
• Mention how long the delivery will take

* remember theses are rules not suggestions

So that is everything you need to know on how to write your sales letter, hers a quick summary
We need to:

• Write the sales letter before the e-Book
• Sales letter structure must have , header, promise, Testimonial, info and product, benefit, bonuses, guarantee and summary
• You can have your sales letter made by Sales letter generator
• Certain set of rules should be included in the sales letter for the purpose of the credit card transaction company

Title:

Copywriting Makeover: Subtle Changes Make A Noticeable Difference Part 1 of 2

Word Count:

699

Summary:

Changing a few words in your copy can lead to double-digit increases in conversions. If that sounds like a bunch of hype, stick around and I'll show you how it's done.

Keywords:

copywriting, seo copywriting, search engine copywriting

Article Body:

Changing a few words in your copy can lead to double-digit increases in conversions. If that sounds like a bunch of hype from an online infomercial, stick around and I'll show you how it's done.

That's really all that happened with Kneelsit.com, an Australian ergonomic computer chair manufacturer. They had what would be considered a successful site with a continual stream of orders. All the basic information was already included on the home page, but the owner felt as though something was not quite "there" yet. He wanted a fresh approach to the site's copy, so that's what he received. And the results were simply amazing.

The Problems

While Kneelsit had great rankings for their key terms (normally #1 to #4 in popular search engines) keeping those rankings high required some attention to the SEO piece of the puzzle. Conversions, however, were not at their maximum. The business was not suffering, but it did have room for improvement. So, after receiving a sample chair to use during the process, I set (or should I say "sat") out to work.

Once I assembled the chair and rolled it up to my desk, I kept a notepad nearby so I could jot down benefits as I noticed them. In just a few days’ time, I had a long list of features and benefits to refer to.

As I read over the original home page copy (which can be seen here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/kneelsit-home-original.html), I noticed something else. Many of the benefits I had on my paper were referenced (at least briefly) in the original copy. Some were phrased differently than I would later phrase them, but most were there.

However, in this highly competitive industry, I wanted to be sure to keep the uniqueness of the chair on the forefront. Visitors needed to quickly see that the Kneelsit was superior to other computer chairs available. The changing of some verbiage and providing more details in some areas would help keep visitors reading and help them easily distinguish this chair from others on their comparison list.

Once my list of benefits was completed, I began relating these options to other kneeling chairs and to users of ergonomic computer chairs. I wanted to see which benefits on my list were unique in the marketplace. I also wanted to know about the users of these chairs. After all, the buyer is the center of the process and should also be the focus of the copy.

My research revealed some of the reasons users would need an ergonomic chair and also the biggest complaints about some of the current ergonomic designs. In addition, I discovered which benefits were common to other ergonomic chairs and which were distinctive.

The Solutions

Armed with the research results, I started crafting the copy to speak to that one person who was forced to sit at a computer all day, in pain, and who desperately needed help. This person had tried several other computer chairs before with little to no results and was getting skeptical about finding a solution.

I looked back over my list of benefits in search of the ones that would not be found in the competition's copy. I focused on one exclusive, patented feature (the axle design) and the fact that the chair was customizable for every body type.

I laid out a plan for the new copy including keyword selection, keyword placement, benefits and key points to be mentioned.

Similar in many ways to the original copy, the new version had some subtle, but powerful, changes. The goal of the new copy was to show the true distinction of these chairs by highlighting the most impressive benefits.

I would also focus on incorporating keyphrases in headlines and sub-heads (where it made sense to do so) and throughout the copy. I had to pay careful attention to making the copy sound natural, as I never want the SEO factors to overshadow the message of the page.

In Part 2 of this series (seen here: http://www.marketingwords.com/articles/articles_subtlechanges2.html), we'll take a look at what went into the rewrite as well as what type of results were achieved with the new copy.

Title:

Business To Business Copywriting Secrets

Word Count:

577

Summary:

Let us show you how to increase your marketing results and get more qualified leads through effective, proven copywriting.

Keywords:

btob, copywriting, direct mail, marketing, advertising

Article Body:

If you want to increase your marketing results and get more qualified leads, you will need to improve the effectiveness of the copywriting on your website, print ads, emails and direct mail.

This is vital because copywriting is your “salesperson in cyberspace, in print and in the mail” … and great salesmanship produces great sales … average salesmanship gets only average or worse results.

Here are the copywriting tips that will improve your marketing results. These are proven based on our copywriting work for over 450 businesses since 1978.

This is a list of what your prospect is thinking as he reads your marketing copy. It’s important to make sure everything is addressed on this list. If you do this, your marketing results will improve dramatically.


1. You’d better have done your research to know what benefits I want most from your type of product or service. If you don’t, I won’t even notice you, and if I do, I won’t even give you a hearing.

2. What do you do? How will it help me? I need to know “what’s in it for me” instantly or I’m gone.

3. Why should I believe you?

4. I already have a supplier for that – why should I listen to you?

5. Make it easy for me to read, understand, navigate, and “scan” your marketing material.

6. I want a specialized expert in your field for my situation or my needs or my type of business.

7. Don’t bore me! I’m sick of corporate talk, business buzz terms and mumbo-jumbo. Almost all business marketing is very dull and boring and I won’t read it.

8. I want ALL the details and specs, including product information, product applications, CAD drawings and plans, costs and shipping. A ThomasNet.com study finds a very large percentage of buyers say these details are not readily available.

9. I want to read copywriting from a real live person talking to me person to person, and not from some emotionless corporation.

10. I won’t admit it on the record, but I make purchases based on my emotions. Sure I need logic and features for verification, but if you can touch my emotions, I’m much more likely to buy from you.

11. I badly want more from my life than just work. I’m very interested in saving time, work and stress.

12. Make it easy for me! You list many different things I can do and I’m confused. What one thing should I do now and why?

13. Don’t overload your website or brochure with fluff – stick only to relevant and helpful information I need. I’m tired of all the irrelevant “filler” information on the web and I won’t read through it anymore.

14. Compare your product or service against your competitors for me if it is really as good as you say it is. Be honest, as I’ll see through any favoritism.

15. Be specific; generalities go right into my garbage.

16. What’s your guarantee?

17. How can I test your product, service or company first, in a low or no cost way, before I make a large commitment?

18. Help me justify the investment to my boss on an ROI basis.

These copywriting secrets applied properly are a main reason one website, direct mail piece or ad can pull 2 to 3 times the response as another for the same product or service. This is why the most successful marketers hire the best outside freelance copywriters they can afford.

Title:

Earn Huge Money Thru Copywriting - How To Become A Great Copywriter

Word Count:

605

Summary:

When one talks about marketing strategies, copywriting for the web is one of the most commendable tools from the marketers' point of view. This is because, copywriting as a marketing tool is an effective way to...

Keywords:

Copywriting,Copywriting for the Web

Article Body:

There is generally a better way to make a copywriting material, but a lot of people are turning their backs on it due to reasons I beg not to discuss. Potentially powerful copywriting materials are those, which are able to convey the message to your prospective clients. There are good writers in terms of putting their ideas into the copywriting material but are unable to convey and relay the real message to the targeted clients. The purpose of writing an article is to primarily educate the people who read your material. If as a writer you are not able to do that, then you are not complete as a skilled and effective writer. I have given below some few tips on you can make a greatly impacting copywriting material.

When one talks about marketing strategies, copywriting for the web is one of the most commendable tools from the marketers’ point of view. This is because, copywriting as a marketing tool is an effective way to communicate with your targeted clients whatever activities or any updates that a company is engaging into – in a wider geographic range. With the present demand for huge number of copywriters the earning to become a copywriter is just so enticing. Below are some of the tips on how you can earn more money with copywriting:

- When a business owner asks you to do copywriting for them, the aim of that is to advertise and promote their products. In which case, when you do copywriting jobs, you have to make sure that you sell and sell. On your copywriting material, you have to make sure that you get to move your targeted clients to an action either to visit the site or make a purchase. These actions would mean money and more money for the business.

- You have to develop a copywriting material that is full of interest and should promote enthusiasm and immediacy. This will give your prospective clients the drive to do an action about what you are trying to promote and advertise. Overall, a copywriting material that tries to build excitement is more like to sell.

- With copywriting, businesses are not only expecting to generate sales but traffic and list, too. This means that the copywriting material should be able to capture also potential clients thru the e-mail address that you may solicit from them when they get to open and read your copywriting material. Make sure that you give these people enough reasons for them to leave their personal information, say, give away gifts or some freebies like e-book or discounts.

-Choose the topic that you have better knowledge about. Choosing a topic for your targeted clients should be anchored on two things: what interests you and what interests your targeted readers. As a copywriter, you must be able to make these two elements meet at a certain point. Otherwise, if one of these turns out to be not considered during the creation of the copywriting material, a potentially problematic copywriting material is in the making.

- Upon weighing altogether the topic that will best benefit your targeted readers and your own interest, it is now time to come up with the outline of your copywriting material. This is an important aspect of your entire copywriting material because it shall allow for a better and well-crafted copywriting material.

-Always check your copywriting material for any possible grammatical flaws. Maintain a copywriting material that is free from any flaw as this manifests carelessness and distrust from the perspective of the readers. To avoid this, you will need to be proactively checking your works at the end of the completion.

Title:

Writing Helpful Help – A Minimalism Checklist

Word Count:

560

Summary:

User documentation is all too often written by programmers for programmers. It tends to focus on the product’s features, rather than the user’s tasks. Generally, programmers aren’t in the ideal position to be writing user documentation. They’re too close to the bits and bytes, and they’re too far from the user. To them, what the product can do tends to be far more important than what the user can do with the product.

Keywords:

writing checklist, writing for the web

Article Body:

User documentation is all too often written by programmers for programmers. It tends to focus on the product’s features, rather than the user’s tasks. Generally, programmers aren’t in the ideal position to be writing user documentation. They’re too close to the bits and bytes, and they’re too far from the user. To them, what the product can do tends to be far more important than what the user can do with the product.

It’s a subtle – but vital – distinction. Research shows that the key to effective user documentation is writing task oriented help. Even better, write your help according to the minimalist theory. In the documentation world, “minimalism” is a fancy word for a commonsense practice. In basic terms, it means write to your reader and keep it simple.

The theory itself has a lot of twists and turns. If you want to read a great – but slightly wordy – book on the subject, check out the book “Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel”, 1998, edited by John Carroll.

In the meantime, if you can tick every item in the following checklist, you’ll be well on your way to usable online help that both your readers and your managers will thank you for.

Helpful Help Checklist

1. Base the help on real tasks (or realistic examples)

2. Structure the help based on task sequence – Chapter headings should be goals and topics should be tasks

3. Respect the reader's activity – this is generally more about what you don’t do than what you do. Don’t waste the reader’s time by diving off into tangents

4. Exploit prior knowledge and experience – Draw the reader’s attention to previous tasks, experiences, successes, and failures

5. Prevent mistakes - "Ensure you do x before doing y"

6. Detect and identify mistakes - "If this fails, you may have entered the path incorrectly"

7. Fix mistakes - "Re-enter the path"

8. Provide error info at end of tasks where necessary (rule of thumb, one error info note per three tasks is a good average)

9. Don't break up instructions with notes, cautions, warnings, and exceptional cases - Put these things at the end of the instruction, wherever possible

10. Be brief, don't spell everything out, especially things that can be taken for granted

11. Omit conceptual and note information where possible, or link to it. Perhaps provide expansion information at the end of the topic, plus maybe a note that there are other ways to perform the task/goal, but this is the easiest

12. Sections should look short and read short

13. Provide closure for sections (e.g., back to original screen/goal)

14. Provide an immediate opportunity to act and encourage exploration and innovation (use active invitations to act, such as, "See for yourself..." or "Try this..." rather than passive invitations such as, "You can...")

15. Get users started quickly

16. Allow for reading in any order - make each section modular, especially goals, but perhaps tasks (definitely if they can be performed in different order)

17. Highlight things that are not typical

18. Use active voice rather than passive voice

19. Try to account for the user's environment in your writing

20. Before writing anything, ask yourself “Will this help my reader?”

By building these practices into your documentation process, you’ll find that your online help becomes easier to write, shorter, and far more usable for your reader. What’s more, your boss will love you!

Title:

42 Questions for Achieving Optimal Website Writing Results

Word Count:

591

Summary:

The foundation for creating advertising copy or website writing that floods your newly designed website’s copy with cash-in-hand ready-to-buy customers is forged from the interview process between you and your copywriter. The answers to the questions below are crucial to the effective and successful completion of your project.

Keywords:

website writing, website copy, website advertising

Article Body:

The foundation for creating advertising copy that floods your newly designed website’s copy with cash-in-hand ready-to-buy customers is forged from the interview process between you and your copywriter. Subsequent research and the creation of a dynamite promotion all stems from the critical information gathered about your business, your product and service, your customers and your competition. The answers to the questions below are crucial to the effective and successful completion of the website writing portion of your project.

1. What are all the product's benefits?
2. What are all the product features?

3. How is the product different and better than the competition?

4. What does the buyer expect when he spends his money for this product? Do we deliver?

5. What methods, approaches and sales techniques is the competition using?

6. How does the audience for the product differ from the general public?

7. How much can the buyer reasonably expect to pay?

8. Does your average buyer have a credit card or checking account?

9. Will the product be purchased for business or personal use?

10. Can you expect to get multiple sales from your buyer?

11. What is the logical ‘back end’ product to sell someone after he has purchased your product? [‘Back end’ refers to other products in your product line you can offer to someone who has bought the primary product featured in your ad]

12. Will I need to show your product in color?

13. What is the total number of potential customers for this product?

14. Who will buy your product, i.e. teens or seniors, men or women, executives or blue-collar workers?

15. Is there a market for overseas sales?

16. Should I offer time payments?

17. Will the product be a good gift item?

18. Should my copy be long or short?

19. What should the tone of my copy be?

20. Should I test the price?

21. Should I test copy approaches?

22. Is there a seasonal market for the product and are you taking advantage of it?

23. Are testimonials available from satisfied customers?

24. Do I need photographs or illustrations?

25. Which appeals have worked in the past for this product?

26. What objections might arise from a prospective customer? How can I overcome these objections?

27. Should I use a premium?

28. Should I offer a money-back guarantee?

29. Is this item also sold by retail? Are there price advantages I can stress for buying direct from the ad?

30. Should I consider a celebrity testimonial?

31. Can I tie in my copy to sonic news event?

32. Can I tie my copy to some holiday or seasonal event?

33. Does the product sell better in a particular region or climate?

34. Should I consider using a sweepstakes?

35. Can the product be sold through a two-step advertising campaign? [Ads generating queries rather than direct sales]

36. What must I do to convince the reader to buy your product now?

37. Can I use scientific evidence in my sales approach?

38. Have I allowed enough time to write, design and produce my copy?

39. Can I get the customer to order by phone?

40. What approaches used to sell this product have been unsuccessful?

41. Can I get powerful ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures?

42. Assuming the ad is successful, is the client prepared with orders?

Copyright Alan Richardson