Getting conflicting advice from consultants about SEO can be very off-putting.
Of course, it’s a new science (is it a science?) and so it’s probably not too surprising that people are still learning.
‘Gut instinct’ is not likely to be quite good enough in an activity that has so much new detail to learn. But when the specialists you consult don’t agree, the whole thing certainly becomes challenging.
Some consultants are very specific with requirements about text. “Use your keywords in a subhead between the third and fourth paragraph,” they say. “Be sure to use your keywords at the end of the last sentence on the page.”
Well, such instructions do not sound right to me. They are far too restrictive. If you follow them, the chances are your copy will become distorted. As a writer, my feeling is that you should always write for readers, not search engines.
Based on our own considerable experience at Action Words, here’s our four-step guide to writing for the web:
1 Identify keywords
The first step relates to research. You have to find out what your keywords are. What are the words or phrases that most prospects use when they are looking for your type of business? And you might get a surprise. If you are in the tourism sector, you may consider you offer ‘discount accommodation’, but people actually search for ‘cheap hotels’.
2 Produce impactful text
When you write, it is best to put the keywords to one side. Write in your normal way. Produce the best possible text with your audience in mind. You are communicating personally with an individual site visitor.
3 Insert keywords as appropriate
With your draft text completed, go back to your keywords and see where you can fit them in comfortably. But you need to be careful here. It’s not a matter of forcing them in, no matter what. Just slip them in where they fit nicely. Don’t spoil the natural flow of what you have written.
4 Your page tags should feature your keywords
For your page descriptions and page titles, keywords are essential. Your site visitors see the title tags at the top of their browser windows when they visit your site. The description tag is what the user sees on the search engine results page, so obviously it needs to include a clear statement about what you offer. In all tags you need to use your keywords.
There’s way more than this involved in search marketing, of course, but if you follow these four steps when you are writing your online copy you will be setting yourself up for success.
31 July 2009
Interruption advertising on the outer: Cannes
At long last, it’s official.
Interruption advertising is over.
Television is not the future.
That’s the conclusion many marketers are taking from the 56th International Advertising Festival at Cannes in the south of France, where some 6000 advertising specialists gathered for the week of 21–27 June 2009.
Commenting on the trends seen at Cannes, the chairman and chief creative officer of BBDO North America and president of the film and press juries, David Lubars said, "the way the world is heading is towards voluntary engagement". In other words, we are moving away from interruption.
The long list of award winners at Cannes was dominated by innovative attempts to engage consumers and deeply involve them in brands. Not blast them.
The most coveted prize at the festival went to an ad that wasn't made for TV.
Plus, as if to ram home the point, a PR campaign broke the record for winning the most awards at any one festival.
The expert jury at Cannes bestowed the festival’s Grand Prix Award to the Philips interactive film "Carousel", created in Amsterdam by the global agency, Tribal DDB. With a three day shoot and five weeks of post production, the film promotes the latest entrant into the television market from Philips, the CINEMA 21:9.
In PR, it was a simple campaign for Tourism Queensland – which became a worldwide story – that grabbed the festival's first PR Grand Prix Award, as well as the top prizes in the direct marketing and cyber categories.
Probably every reader of The Scoop became aware of the “Best job in the world” campaign that was created by the Brisbane agency, Cummins Nitro. This PR effort began with world-wide classified advertising seeking applicants for an "island caretaker".
The Cummins Nitro campaign attracted tens of thousands of candidates who uploaded video applications saying why they should get the job.
Tourism Queensland claims that the campaign generated the equivalent of more than $80m worth of media advertising. (BTW the job went to "ostrich-riding, bungee-jumping" charity worker Ben Southall, from Hampshire in the UK.)
"The idea had so much scalability to be a global idea that all the judges had seen and heard of it, no matter where they came from," said one of the judges, MaryLee Sachs. Sachs is US chairman and worldwide director of marketing communications at Hill & Knowlton.
Interruption advertising is over.
Television is not the future.
That’s the conclusion many marketers are taking from the 56th International Advertising Festival at Cannes in the south of France, where some 6000 advertising specialists gathered for the week of 21–27 June 2009.
Commenting on the trends seen at Cannes, the chairman and chief creative officer of BBDO North America and president of the film and press juries, David Lubars said, "the way the world is heading is towards voluntary engagement". In other words, we are moving away from interruption.
The long list of award winners at Cannes was dominated by innovative attempts to engage consumers and deeply involve them in brands. Not blast them.
The most coveted prize at the festival went to an ad that wasn't made for TV.
Plus, as if to ram home the point, a PR campaign broke the record for winning the most awards at any one festival.
The expert jury at Cannes bestowed the festival’s Grand Prix Award to the Philips interactive film "Carousel", created in Amsterdam by the global agency, Tribal DDB. With a three day shoot and five weeks of post production, the film promotes the latest entrant into the television market from Philips, the CINEMA 21:9.
In PR, it was a simple campaign for Tourism Queensland – which became a worldwide story – that grabbed the festival's first PR Grand Prix Award, as well as the top prizes in the direct marketing and cyber categories.
Probably every reader of The Scoop became aware of the “Best job in the world” campaign that was created by the Brisbane agency, Cummins Nitro. This PR effort began with world-wide classified advertising seeking applicants for an "island caretaker".
The Cummins Nitro campaign attracted tens of thousands of candidates who uploaded video applications saying why they should get the job.
Tourism Queensland claims that the campaign generated the equivalent of more than $80m worth of media advertising. (BTW the job went to "ostrich-riding, bungee-jumping" charity worker Ben Southall, from Hampshire in the UK.)
"The idea had so much scalability to be a global idea that all the judges had seen and heard of it, no matter where they came from," said one of the judges, MaryLee Sachs. Sachs is US chairman and worldwide director of marketing communications at Hill & Knowlton.
Target precisely. But with care.
Regular readers of The Scoop will know that precise targeting is a theme of mine.
You need to do whatever you can to get to know your audience and to customise offers that connect with the people you want to win over.
Smart marketers want to know as much as possible about prospects in order to tailor their brand image. The more you know about the people you are trying to reach, the greater your chance of executing exactly the right message to the right audience at the right time.
However, you need to do all this with care.
Let’s say I acquire information that tells me that certain households have two dogs. I could go to these households saying “because you have two dogs, xyx dog food will suit you”. However, such an approach is likely to generate a negative reaction. “How do they know we have two dogs? Where did they get my name?”
Use the information by all means, but don’t push it into people’s faces.
Today, marketers and their data collection practices are under the spotlight like never before. For companies with brands to protect, the scrutiny can be uncomfortable.
There is a real balancing act going on. On the one hand, you don’t want to be the next negative headline in the popular press. But equally, you don’t want to be so reluctant to embrace new marketing intelligence that your competitors gain an advantage.
As you are trying to get the balance right, one of the questions to look at is, would they be shocked? If there was full disclosure of all the facts, would your prospects be upset?
Calculate how shocked your average consumer would be to learn what information is being collected about his/her behavior and how you plan to use it in a campaign.
To help yourself here, use only a reputable data provider. And be sure that you understand what the provider does to create a profile or segment to which you advertise.
Pay special attention to highly sensitive areas of information, including medical, financial and details about children.
Follow this issue in the news, and watch for practices that are widely criticised. These are the ones that will raise your shock rating if you are using them.
If your promotion is online, providing an easy opt out is also an obvious way to give people an added level of confidence.
You need to do whatever you can to get to know your audience and to customise offers that connect with the people you want to win over.
Smart marketers want to know as much as possible about prospects in order to tailor their brand image. The more you know about the people you are trying to reach, the greater your chance of executing exactly the right message to the right audience at the right time.
However, you need to do all this with care.
Let’s say I acquire information that tells me that certain households have two dogs. I could go to these households saying “because you have two dogs, xyx dog food will suit you”. However, such an approach is likely to generate a negative reaction. “How do they know we have two dogs? Where did they get my name?”
Use the information by all means, but don’t push it into people’s faces.
Today, marketers and their data collection practices are under the spotlight like never before. For companies with brands to protect, the scrutiny can be uncomfortable.
There is a real balancing act going on. On the one hand, you don’t want to be the next negative headline in the popular press. But equally, you don’t want to be so reluctant to embrace new marketing intelligence that your competitors gain an advantage.
As you are trying to get the balance right, one of the questions to look at is, would they be shocked? If there was full disclosure of all the facts, would your prospects be upset?
Calculate how shocked your average consumer would be to learn what information is being collected about his/her behavior and how you plan to use it in a campaign.
To help yourself here, use only a reputable data provider. And be sure that you understand what the provider does to create a profile or segment to which you advertise.
Pay special attention to highly sensitive areas of information, including medical, financial and details about children.
Follow this issue in the news, and watch for practices that are widely criticised. These are the ones that will raise your shock rating if you are using them.
If your promotion is online, providing an easy opt out is also an obvious way to give people an added level of confidence.
Does your job involve writing for the web?
Lots of questions arise about writing for the web.
The one rule that matters most in online writing is this: keep your audience in mind.
If you're writing web copy for a life insurance company your approach will be very different from writing for the world's coolest bungee jumping site.
You must ensure that the words on your site resonate with your audience and inspire loyalty and trust.
It's not about you. It's about them.
When visiting a website, users want to know how the business can help them. So before creating web content, you should:
> Identify likely users and the benefits they're looking for.
> Identify how you deliver those benefits. Provide tangible support for the benefits you promise, including product/service features, competitive advantages, case studies and testimonials.
> Prioritise benefits. Ensure that the benefits you're highlighting are the most important ones for site visitors.
The Action Words one-day course “Web writing that works” is designed to help your people overcome the key challenges of writing in the online world.
For a four-page outline, email now: vikki@actionwords.com.au
The one rule that matters most in online writing is this: keep your audience in mind.
If you're writing web copy for a life insurance company your approach will be very different from writing for the world's coolest bungee jumping site.
You must ensure that the words on your site resonate with your audience and inspire loyalty and trust.
It's not about you. It's about them.
When visiting a website, users want to know how the business can help them. So before creating web content, you should:
> Identify likely users and the benefits they're looking for.
> Identify how you deliver those benefits. Provide tangible support for the benefits you promise, including product/service features, competitive advantages, case studies and testimonials.
> Prioritise benefits. Ensure that the benefits you're highlighting are the most important ones for site visitors.
The Action Words one-day course “Web writing that works” is designed to help your people overcome the key challenges of writing in the online world.
For a four-page outline, email now: vikki@actionwords.com.au
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