Copywriting morphs into SEO Services!

Who would have thought just five years ago that SEO Services would  be a fully paid-up member of the copywriting fraternity.  And yet, Buzzwords now has a new website page of the same name which we’re promoting through Online PR (practise what you preach, eh!).

In many ways, it’s no surprise that SEO and copywriting have become such close  bedfellows.  If you look at the main elements of SEO that Google is rewarding in the wake of its many Panda Updates, you’ll see that the ‘quality content’ which is now top of the greasy SEO pole does in fact refer back to copywriting skills.

Quality content is essential to the various skill sets used in link building programmes.  I’m thinking here of Online PR, for instance, or Corporate Blogging, On-page SEO Copywriting and Article Marketing.

It’s fortunate that copywriting now forms the central essential skill required for basic SEO.  I’ve been writing offline press releases and articles for many years.  Not far behind is the time spent on website copywriting, blog writing and social media posts.

Clients sill think that SEO is a black art that requires an in-depth knowledge of HTML and other esoteric online tricks.  I’m not saying that a knowledge of this aspect of SEO inputs doesn’t help – it does.  Five years ago, I was so much in awe of  this type of geek-speak – I decided to take a course in  it!

As a website copywriter, I appreciated being able to go ‘behind the scenes’ as it were.  It allowed me to look web designers in the eye and – yo! – I could even join in their geeky conversations.  SEO is a similar discipline in so far as it demands enormous attention to detail.  Where it differs is in the sheer application that’s needed over many weeks to achieve a highly specific goal.  Applying On-page SEO is usually relatively quick.  Link building on the other hand calls for perseverance of a totally different order.

Writing high quality articles and guest blog posts calls for intellectual stamina that would exhaust many people – especially when they’re trying to combine this kind of SEO activity with other ‘day job’ activities! That’s why hiring professional copywriters (with enough insight into SEO to really make a difference) is now a sensible option, especially for owners of small to medium-size businesses who want real value for money that doesn’t involve being blinded by science.

Free Articles on Copywriting, SEO and PR

Are you looking for free articles you can reprint on your website, in your newsletters, or just about anywhere else where your online readers will appreciate a quality article or two?

Buzzwords currently has 16 articles available, the latest of which focuses on the perennial issue of Copywriting Rates. You’ll find plenty about PR Packages, SEO Copywriting and Article Marketing too. As a freelance copywriter, I’m always looking for a new angle on hot potatoes! (Watch out for my latest article on Social Media which is due to appear any day now!!!)

All I ask in exchange for free access to these articles is that you include a link back to Buzzwords’ website, plus the other biographical details at the bottom of each article.

(Finding the page is easy. Just click on Buzzwords’ logo on the right, then click the ‘Articles’ tab.)

Article Marketing – I’m a Diamond Geezer!

When it comes to article marketing (aka article writing, article PR or article submission), I now have Diamond Membership status at article directory <ezinearticles.com>.

This recognition is only given to writers who meet the highest quality standards. I’m happy to take their word for it that I can indeed walk on water!

Diamond status isn’t without its perks either. These include:

• Unlimited article submissions
• Express article approval
• Shorter articles accepted – provided they meet the required standard

This last point is key to Diamond Membership. Maintaining the quality expected of a top-level author also brings its own responsibilities.

That isn’t a problem for me. As a self-avowed ‘perfectionist’, everything I write has to be the very best.

Do you Heart EzineArticles.com, too?

Sales Letter Copywriting Videos to Win New Clients

If you thought sales letter copywriting was an outdated and ineffective way of winning new clients, check out this series of videos by Pete Savage at The International Freelancers Academy – http://bit.ly/h82chT

Pete talks convincingly about using sales letters as one possible option in the confusing array of marketing techniques available to businesses today.

The great value of direct mail of course is that you can target those companies you’d like to have as clients. With other marketing methods such as article marketing, PR and so on, you can only go with what comes along!

Pete emphasises the importance of including an ‘Offer’ in your mailing. It must be something of value, and preferably something that solves a recipient’s problem. An example might be to offer a free report or white paper that addresses a specific problem in your prospect’s industry or sector.

Similarly, the majority of your letter should focus on solving your reader’s problem. Pete suggests that 90% of the letter’s content should be dedicated to this, plus an outline of how your Offer can help. Only then – at least half-way through your letter – should you talk about yourself and your services – the ’90:10 Rule’, he calls it!

There are some useful hints about the content of a sales letter package, especially the value of including a bulky item that will make the envelope irresistible to open!

Once opened, the letter should feature the Offer in your headline, whilst your company logo is relegated to the bottom of the second page of your letter – ‘subordinating the brand to your offer’.

Then there are the other detailed tricks you can include to improve response rates. These include things like using ‘tick’ marks instead of bullet points, and leaving the final sentence on Side 1 of your letter half-way complete so the reader is obliged to turn to Side 2 to find out more.

In the third of this video series, Pete goes into more detail about the importance of following up on sales letters – and the best ways of doing it. In the meantime, click on the link to International Freelancers Academy and enjoy Videos 1 & 2.

Article Review: PR Packages Part 3 – ‘Newsletters & Online PR’

(To read the complete article – and others in this series – go to: buzzwords.ltd.uk/free_reprint_articles.htm)

Harness the power of the Internet by reaching out to the audience of your choosing. This article highlights the power you can release through a PR Package that combines:

• Online Newsletters targeted at the ‘opt-in’ database you’ve built from your website, blog and e-mail marketing – or using bought-in lists
• Online PR, which clearly has the potential to achieve impressive media coverage with speed and pinpoint accuracy

Interestingly, Online Newsletters can best be characterised as the ‘micro communications’ side of PR, whilst Online PR can be as ‘micro’ or as ‘macro’ as you wish!

The newer format of Online PR can of course reach out across a universe of common interest.  Whether it’s hard-core news or simply outlining ‘what’s new’, the urgency of Online PR differs markedly from Online Newsletters where the approach is more leisurely.

Both can be used in equally strategic ways, however.  A sequence of planned online news releases can be extremely effective, whilst the ‘slow-drip’ effect of newsletters can be supportive either of wider marketing aims or focused on a single, ongoing issue.

Using both techniques in a single PR Package can phase-in messages to your chosen audience in a more sequenced way.  Online PR can be used to disseminate information in a staccato style – sandwiched between the measured yet more expansive Online Newsletter approach.

Article Review: PR Packages Part 2 – ‘PR Provides the Social Proof’

To read the full article (and others in the series), visit: buzzwords.ltd.uk/free_reprint_articles.htm

Although I’ve written extensively on the way PR Packages can create unexpected synergies, this article is the first to explore ‘social proof’ as a powerful marketing benefit. 

Evidence of social proof can come from many quarters, yet few would consider case studies to be up there with the best.  As a complementary offshoot, using case studies in what must be any company’s seminal collateral – its annual report – will showcase third party endorsement in the most prestigious and persuasive way.

Although this particular PR Package may be seen as an almost notional – if not accidental – creation, it highlights the potential of combining seemingly standalone PR techniques.  I would go even further and say that it makes just one small part of a very big case for integrated marketing (including social and digital media as well as offline traditional marketing).

Article Review: PR Packages Part 1 – ‘SEO the Easy Way!’

You can read the full article (and others in the series) by linking from  Buzzwords’ website page: buzzwords.ltd.uk/free_reprint_articles.htm

This article outlines the SEO benefits of combining Online PR and Article Marketing.  Both techniques have intrinsic value in their own right by providing useful information and by generating those all-important inbound links to your website. 

As a PR Package, the two together are an unstoppable and affordable SEO resource.  Whilst the emphasis with Online PR will obviously be on what’s newsworthy, Article Marketing presents valuable information that should ideally be timeless and therefore more likely to generate links for the long term.

The complementary aspects of these marketing tools will appeal to organisations of every type and size.  Each makes full use of the burgeoning numbers of online publishers and directories.  Information suddenly becomes easily and quickly accessible, as well as being available to targeted audiences in almost any country or marketing sector. 

Equally important is the scope for targeted SEO and optimising your website landing pages with the keywords of your choice.  To say this PR Package provides ‘SEO the Easy Way’ is probably the understatement of the year!

‘PR Packages’ Articles Complete the Online Jigsaw

Of the recent articles I’ve written for online submission, there are three (so far) in the PR Packages series.  Each of these focuses on a range of PR and copywriting skills that can be bundled together to achieve various objectives.  These could be for SEO purposes, generating a wider awareness of a company’s products and services, building business or protecting reputations.

The articles are, of course, as much about the SEO process of article marketing as they are about the benefits of Buzzwords’ PR Packages!  I make no apologies for that.  Everything that’s written online should, wherever possible, have the capacity to be re-cycled and fit into your online jigsaw.

Copywriting is a time-consuming business, so it makes sense to make it as cost-effective as possible.  Article marketing is probably at the top end of the spectrum as far as time input is concerned.  And yet, a lot of people don’t realise just how much of a ‘slow burn’ process SEO and link building actually is!

Blogging and online PR will probably give a quicker return per hour spent, but for staying power and generating a wider awareness of you and your field of expertise, articles are more expansive – and definitely more enduring.

Over and above the ‘slow burn’ effectiveness of article marketing, another concern that clients have is centred on how much skill and hard cash need be invested to do a good job.  As a copywriter, I have the skills at my fingertips, so the cost is nil (except for my valuable time, that is!).

What I would say to companies who doubt the power of article marketing is that it will pay off in the medium-term (we’re not talking ‘quick fixes’ here), especially if you hire a professional copywriter who can also help you to integrate all your social media activities.  Like any other form of marketing, you need to invest in the best to see a decent return.

Article Marketing – A Revival!

Writing articles is back on Buzzwords’ SEO agenda – as is blogging! It’s all part of an inter-linked approach to generating more traffic to the main website using social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

There’s a lot of scepticism about using Facebook and Twitter for business. Personally, I think the best approach is to leverage every digital marketing opportunity to generate a buzz around what you’re up to! Simple, but there’s no doubting the rewards that plenty of online activity brings in the SEO stakes.

To illustrate the point, every article I write is linked from ezinearticles to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. My blog posts go direct to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Squidoo. Twitter goes straight to Facebook. And there’s a dedicated ‘Free Article Reprint’ page on Buzzwords’ website - buzzwords.ltd.uk/free_reprint_articles.htm – which features all my articles (as standalone and optimised web pages) for use by anyone, anywhere.

The net effect of all this is to create a virtuous cycle of activity and interest in what Buzzwords is doing – and of course generating traffic to the main website. A major reason why social media doesn’t work for so many companies is because they aren’t active enough in writing and creating the various blog posts, tweets, Facebook entries, articles and website updates needed to shake Google’s tree.

The reasons for this are really quite simple: lack of time, commitment and the opportunity cost of time and attention wasted doing what is a non-core activity – not to mention the lack of confidence in some quarters to write what’s needed to the standard that won’t let the side down.

All of this is a great shame. To give social media a fair crack of the whip needs confidence and commitment. Without it, the endeavour is doomed to failure. To coin a phrase, it’s really a question of reaping what you sow.

Buzzwords’ Article Marketing – Free Reprint Articles

For a taste of article marketing in action, visit the new Free Reprint Articles page on Buzzwords’ main website.  You can read a selection of  Mike Beeson’s recent articles at buzzwords.ltd.uk/free_reprint_articles ( just add the ‘www’ and stir!).

These cover SEO copywriting, article marketing, PR packages and case study copywriting.  All articles are available for FREE reprinting by webmasters, bloggers and publishers of e-zines and online newsletters – anyone in fact who needs high quality online content.

All that’s asked in return is that the article wording isn’t changed and that Buzzwords’ URL as it appears in the ‘resource box’ is included in full.

SEO Copywriting and Ongoing Optimisation

When it comes to SEO copywriting, one of the biggest problems I face as an SEO copwriter is persuading clients that optimising their websites is an ongoing process.  Most think it’s like writing a brochure.  Choose a set of keywords, wait awhile – and hey presto!  Google loves me!  Not.

Probably one of the best vehicles for encouraging clients to embrace SEO copywriting as an ongoing concept is to sign up for a content managed website (CMS).  There’s no substitute for being in control – whether the client writes the content, or a copywriter is commissioned to do it.

Of course, this involves finding out about basic on-page SEO copywriting skills like keyword research, meta tags and knowing what goes where.  An even bigger potential problem is with off-page SEO copywriting and link building.  Even with a CMS, the downside to building links is that it takes lots of time and effort.  That’s why it makes sense to leave it to a professional SEO copywriter.

Ongoing optimisation is definitely not a quick fix when it comes to creating a successful website.  Fine-tuning keywords and meta tags, for instance, doesn’t generate results overnight.  Nor does article marketing. 

With all the other demands of running a business, ongoing optimisation will inevitably slip down the list of priorities, especially if progress is slow.  Employing a copywriter who also monitors the results of SEO copywriting activities is probably the best way to approach optimisation.

Set a six-month target.  Monitor the rankings of the web pages you’ve optimised.  (Remember: Google ranks pages and NOT websites!)  Monitor and compare rival keywords.  Search for new keywords and compare their performance.  And look closely at which aspects of your SEO copywriting are working – and those that aren’t!

The importance of your website as the focal point of all your online marketing cannot be over-stated.  It follows therefore that the effects of your site’s rankings on sales lead generation makes SEO copywriting and ongoing optimisation one of the most important online activities in which your company should be investing.

Buzzwords launches online copywriting packages

With the emphasis very much on SEO copywriting, Buzzwords has launched a range of online copywriting packages.  These should be of particular interest to SMEs and the budget-focused departments of larger companies.

The synergies which come from combining SEO copywriting with website copywriting and the link building activities which encompass online PR and article marketing make complete commercial sense. 

To approach all of these in a piecemeal way misses the point.  It may save money in the short term but, by ignoring the benefits of cross-referencing all these powerful skillsets, money is undoubtedly being left on the table.

Buzzwords’ online copywriting packages can be tailored to every client’s needs, with budgets being dictated by activity levels.  With online marketing becoming a mainstream activity, to ignore the benefits of SEO copywriting implicit in online copywriting packages is to leave a gaping hole in any company’s marketing strategy.

A Merry Copywriting Xmas!

It’s been a pretty momentous year, what with the world economy and all that!  On the copywriting front, I have to say that things are holding up pretty well.  With Buzzwords’ new Content Managed website and growing demand for SEO copywriting services, 2009 looks promising. 

I guess it’s about being flexible and cost-effective.  Providing clients with the right type of copywriting and PR services means making sure that clients can see a good return on their investment.  There are, of course, no guarantees when it comes to customer response rates – especially in a recession.  Safe to say, however: some things work better than others. 

I’ve already mentioned SEO copywriting.  To that could be added sales letter writing, creating effective website landing pages for those clients who want to do Pay-Per-Click advertising and generally making sure that all aspects of a website are working well from both a usability and SEO point of view. 

Online PR and article marketing could be worth considering – and there’s always the added bonus of generating quality inbound links (an important factor for improving search engine ranking).  The creative use of newsletters and case studies could also pay off.  It depends largely on your target audience.  Horses for courses and all that! 

Anyway, it’s Xmas Eve – so I’m outta here!  Have a good Christmas, and a prosperous New Year!

SEO copywriting meets PR – hello Article Marketing!

Submitting articles to publishers – online or offline – is a highly effective way to generate interest in a company or person, especially in a niche market which has its own specialist media. ‘Selling in’ feature articles has always been – and remains – a mainstay of PR and media relations.

The advent of the Internet as a marketing tool has seen the evolution of many traditional offline methods into full-blown techniques which boost search engine rankings through the clever use of search engine optimisation (SEO) and SEO copywriting.

Article Marketing relies for effectiveness on linking the websites of online directories, e-zines, blogs and other websites to the landing page URL of the article sender.  Also vital is ensuring that every article has keyword-optimised content for maximum search engine recognition of the landing page published.

The skills of the SEO copywriter (and other online marketers and SEO professionals) in identifying appropriate keywords and using them in opportune ways as the article and landing pages are written creates a wonderful synergy.  Google also rewards the quality and relevance of inbound links with potentially higher rankings for website pages to which published articles are linked.

 

 

SEO copywriting beats the economic slowdown!

Search engine success starts with SEO copywriting.  It’s the most cost-effective marketing tool around.  You’ll see a clear and rapid return on your investment in the shape of higher search engine rankings and more website traffic.

For REAL immediacy, of course, there’s Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising.  Whether this counts as SEO copywriting is a moot point, although PPC does rely heavily for its success on good keyword selection that relates to tightly configured AdGroups, well-optimised landing pages and keyword-focused small ads.

It hardly matters, but PPC is firmly rooted in the search engine marketing (SEM) stable.  For purists who see SEO copywriting solely as a way to achieve higher website rankings, we have to be talking about optimised website copy, complete with appropriate keywords, meta tags and smooth, semantic syntax!

Other link-building tools which also draw on SEO copywriting skills include online PR and article marketing although, in this context, their SEO uses are focused on improving a website’s search engine rankings.

For businesses looking to generate sales and qualified leads in the most straightforward and cost-effective way, SEO copywriting and the improvements it can make in organic search engine ranking make it an essential secret weapon in any marketer’s armoury.