An interview I did with Portuguese website Imagens de Marca on the role of Social Media in Business has just gone live on their website. It’s in Portuguese, and while Google Translate does a reasonable enough job for you to get the gist of what I was saying, I thought it might be handy to post the English transcript here. The interview is a prelude to a workshop / training session I’ve been asked to run at the Catholic University of Portugal’s Executive Social Media course in March.

Here’s the interview in English :

Imagens de Marca (IM): What are the topics that you’ll talk about in Advanced Training in Social Media at Catholic University?

Calvin Jones (CJ): I still need to finalise the specific topics and the format of the session with my contacts at the University, but broadly I’ll be covering the huge impact social media is having on the marketing landscape, how the conversation between consumers and brands, and among online consumers themselves, has the power to radically transform business.

To do that I’ll be drawing on industry information from various sources, and offering a few relevant case studies to show how big brands and smaller businesses are using social media effectively.

I prefer to focus on concepts: exploring how the widespread adoption of social media influences people’s behaviour, and through that alters the reality of doing business today.  I think the focus is too often on specific platforms and technologies — and while there’s no getting away from social media heavy hitters like Facebook, Twitter and, increasingly, Google, I think there’s more value in understanding the human side of the equation, and how that might apply to a specific business case.

IM: This area is very requested these days. What is the importance of lectures on this topic in the business world?

CJ: I think it’s vital for businesses large and small to understand the potential of social media channels to help them add value for their customers, gain unparalleled insight into what customers really think, use that information to inform business strategy and build enduring, mutually beneficial relationships.

While almost anything you could ever want to know about social media is available online, if you look hard enough, busy people running businesses don’t have time to wade through oceans of information and keep up to date with the latest trends. They need people who can sift through that information, sanitise it and present relevant, easy to understand ideas that apply to their business.

That’s where talks / lectures / seminars / consulting can add real value.

IM: In your opinion, what is the importance of social media in society today?

CJ: People are social creatures… we’re “hard-wired” to interact with other people. Social media is so popular because it taps into that very biological human need to belong to a community.

Its success isn’t down to the technology… technology is just the enabler that allows richer and more diverse connections between people. Social media breaks down boundaries, and lets us find like minded individuals across geographic and cultural divides. Today we can all find communities where we “fit in”, where we belong. That’s the real power of social media.

The other aspect is the speed at which information spreads through social media — and the proliferation of connected mobile devices that allows real-time sharing of information on a massive scale. The most obvious examples are when global news breaks on Twitter long before it hits traditional media channels… but that ability for instant sharing has profound implications for business too.

In an age where bad experiences can be shared in an instant it’s more important than ever to keep your customers happy — and to be part of the global conversation around your brand.

IM: What are the dangers of social media?

CJ: The dangers of social media from a business perspective stem from the very same characteristics that give it so much potential. The interconnected web of social connections is wonderful for learning about, listening to and connecting with customers in a positive way… but if anything bad news travels across and between those networks twice as fast.

A good online reputation is vital for businesses that want to maintain customer trust and develop strong online relationships. Earning that reputation is hard work and takes time… but a few social faux pas can destroy that reputation alarmingly quickly.

The other big danger… particularly for smaller businesses… is a tendency to “hop” from one shiny-new-social-media platform to the next. It can easily result in spreading yourself  too “thin” across multiple platforms, and investing limited time and resources into areas that are never going to add tangible business value.

I wholeheartedly believe that investing time and resources in social media is vital for many businesses (although not necessarily all — know your business, know your customer, then decide what’s right for you), but it has to be done strategically, in a way that’s going to deliver value for both your business and your customers.

On a social level there are all sorts of dangers surrounding privacy, bullying, identity theft and all of the other risks inherent in any society — the same rules… and the same threats… apply, but the lack of boundaries and constraints add a particular set of challenges for online social communities. I suspect that topic is beyond the scope of what I’m likely to cover in Lisbon.

IM: Social media are powerful communication tools. How can they enhance the relationship of brands with costumers?

CJ: Where do you start? There are so many ways that social media can enrich the business-customer interaction. Keeping customers up-to-date with brand news; offering convenient, cost effective support channels; giving customers a window behind closed doors; putting a human face to your business; building advocacy.Word of mouth… personal recommendations of products or services… has been the holy grail of marketing since business began. Social media lets savvy businesses tap into the richest, most effective “word of mouth” distribution network on earth to reach more customers, and offers them the tools they need to engage productively with them.

IM: What is the best way for brands to work the social media? Can you give me good examples of brands that promote themselves this way, in a good way?

CJ: That’s a tricky question, because there really is no “best” way — and if any social media consultant tries to peddle a generic “fits all” solution for your business you should show them the door.

It’s about building relationships… it’s about doing “human business”. Social media doesn’t really connect brands with people… it connects people with people.

It’s the people behind brands that build enduring relationships with customers, and that’s what ultimately drives value on both sides of the equation. It’s one of the reasons why handing your social media over to the college intern who’s just joined the team for three months isn’t such a great idea.

The real key here is understanding your business, understanding your customers and using social media intelligently in a way that adds value on both sides. Who should be in charge of your social media? People who are knowledgeable, passionate advocates of your brand, your products and services; who are eager to share and love helping people get more out of their relationship with your company.

For me the brands using social media effectively aren’t the ones you see listed in the “Top Social Media Campaigns of 2012″ type blog posts. The whole “campaign” mentality is a throwback to traditional advertising, and really misses the point of social media as a perpetual platform for growing relationships.

Anyone with a budget can throw money at an agency to deliver a viral video campaign, link it to twitter and Facebook, measure the views, follows, retweets, likes and shares and say “hey, aren’t we great…”. But the brands that really “get” social media are the ones who quietly go about building those enduring, value-adding relationships with their customers day-in, day-out. They may well use specific events, content or contests to drive a particular action from time to time, but that’s built on the foundation of a solid platform of ongoing social engagement.

It’s easy to find examples of the former… they’re the ones in the “top-ten” lists and featuring on the industry awards websites. The later are harder to pin down, because they’re not shouting about their successes… and the numbers are harder to quantify.

IM: You have already released two books on these topics. What is the importance of having powerful content as you say? These contents can revolutionise a business?

CJ: Great content drives everything online: it’s your content that helps customers find you, via search and other channels; your content that engages and retains their interest; your content that drives your social media engagement; your content that builds trust and authority; and ultimately it’s your content that convinces your customers to buy your products and services.

Online success hinges on the strategic development and distribution of outstanding content.

Exactly what that content will look like depends very much on your business and your customers — but trust me… nothing is more important online than great content.

IM: One of your books is called “The best digital marketing campaigns in the world”. Can you give examples?

CJ: The examples in the book cover a lot of different digital disciplines… and for the reasons I mentioned earlier many of the case studies featuring social media are centred around big brand “campaign” based marketing. Although they are ageing a bit now there are a couple in there that resonated with me, and demonstrate some of the power of social media.

Pampero’s “Ephemeral Museum” in Lisbon was interesting because it blurred the lines between the digital / social media world and the real-world streets of Bairro Alto, creating a “pop-up” museum that brought the iconic street art of the area to  life for a much wider audience. The €30,000 spent on the campaign generated more than €200,000 of measurable media publicity (thanks largely to viral propagation through social media channels), and thrust Pampero ahead of its leading competitor in the Portuguese market.

There’s more background on the Ephemeral Museum in this YouTube video by Leo Burnett Portugal.

I suspect the real value… in terms of enduring social media engagement and relationships could be substantially higher… it all depends on whether Pampero treated this as a one off campaign, or part of a broader strategy to build and maintain their social media community.

Another that I found interesting was the grass roots Facebook campaign by English music fan Jon Morter to stop the UK X-Facor winner taking the coveted Christmas number one slot in 2009. With zero budget Jon used social media to whip up public sentiment, and ultimately drove the very “non-Christmas” Rage Against The Machine track “Killing in the Name” to the Christmas Number One spot ahead of X-Factor winner Joe McElderry.

It’s a classic example of the power social media has to mobilise opinion, disrupt convention and affect real change in a relatively short space of time.

IM: What are the best marketing strategies for businesses entering the digital generation?

CJ: There are no prescriptive formulas — social media is about building relationships with the people who matter to your business.

The post Social Media for Business — interview with Imagens de Marca appeared first on Calvin Jones.

Was your website hit by Google’s recent search engine algorithm updates?

Did you see a negative impact on your rankings, your traffic and ultimately your revenue?

Lots of websites suffered as Google rolled out various stages of its sequential Panda and Penguin updates (I wonder who picks out the names at Google?). They generated masses of online buzz, and varying degrees of indignation from site owners and SEO agencies who saw rankings plummet.

I don’t like this game… the rules keep changing

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is an uncertain game at best. After all those pesky search engines keep changing the rules. One day you’re riding high in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) reaping the rewards of the “free” organic search traffic your clever SEO expert has attracted – the next you’re in Cyber-no-man’s-land – buried on page four of Google, your torrent of search traffic reduced to a trickle.

HELP!

The rules aren’t changing – search engines are just finding more effective ways to apply them

Bemoaning the fact that search engines change their algorithms is like complaining that your neighbour mows his grass too often, or not often enough. It’s their algorithm, and within reason (and the law) they can do what they like with it.

Search engines are constantly refining the way they operate in a quest to deliver the most relevant and useful search results to their users. That’s a really difficult thing to do… particularly as the level of dross online continues to escalate… but search engines (particularly Google) are getting better at it all the time.

Changes to search engine algorithms (and there are lots of them) are fundamentally trying to improve the search experience for users: connecting them with the quality content they’re looking for first time, every time. They don’t always get it right… but ultimately that’s the aim.

Looking after users makes search engines richer – and can do the same for your business

This is not rocket science.

Well, OK, understanding the intricacies of search algorithms might be close to rocket science… but as a marketer and business owner that’s not what you really need to focus on.

What you do need to focus on is the relationship between search engines, your prospective customers and your online content. When the goal is to attract, engage, retain and convert you’ll find understanding people and understanding business a lot more useful than understanding the underlying technology.

Back to search basics

The basics are simple enough: the search engines “prime directive” is to deliver relevant content to users based on their search query. The better the search user’s experience, and the more relevant the results the more users will gravitate towards that search engine, maintaining and boosting it’s share of the massive search market. A larger market is more attractive to advertisers, and more advertisers means more dollars in the search engine’s coffers.

But a search engine will only retain that market share (and the slice of advertising revenue that represents) if it continues to return the highest quality, most relevant content to increasingly discerning search users.

The rules of the game don’t change… they’re the same as they have always been. Search engines are striving to deliver the “best match” content based on a user’s specific search query – they’re just using a slightly different blend of signals to determine what that content is.

As a marketer it makes all sorts of sense to create content that matches what your customers are actually looking for. It’s also sensible to present that content in a way that makes it easy for search engines to index and rank, and easy for people to share.

The theory, at least, is pretty straightforward.

Investing in content is the only way to future proof SEO

Effective long term SEO revolves around effective content.

By focussing on content that delivers what your customers and prospects are looking for you not only align your business with their goals – resulting in much better targeting and ultimately much higher conversion rates – you also align it with the search engines’ prime directive.

That’s important… because if you get it right it should mean future search algorithm updates will work in your favour.  The ranking of relevant, authoritative content should IMPROVE as content optimised to exploit search engine loopholes slips out of sight.

Great content is social – it just begs to be shared

Any SEO consultant worth his or her salt will recognise the increasing importance of social signals in for SEO. While some of those social signals will come from a business or brand’s social media activity, the bulk of those signals are driven by… you guessed it… targeted, relevant content.

Great content just begs to be shared far and wide, across all of the social networks your customers are active on. People are hard-wired to share stuff… it’s what we do – and now we have more ways to share and distribute the great stuff we find online with all of our friends and colleagues.

By creating content that’s worth sharing your customers and prospects become your ready-made distribution network, helping to connect more and more people with your content. That’s great for your business in all sorts of ways… and ultimately has a positive impact on your SEO.

Content based SEO: forget quick fix, invest in the long-term

Improving your SEO by focussing on delivering targeted, relevant content isn’t easy. This is no quick fix solution – but then quick fix answers tend not to work for long.

It takes time, commitment and sustained investment to build and execute a content strategy that delivers enduring, cumulative business value. But make that commitment and you’ll start to see a real difference in your long-term search engine optimisation.

Search Engine Updates: no worries!

Focus your SEO around relevant, user-focused content that delivers real value and pretty soon you’ll stop worrying about search engine algorithm updates altogether. As your content strategy starts to bite you’ll find the updates have less impact on your business.

In fact over time those updates are likely to have a a positive effect on your rankings as the search engines gradually weed out the oceans of low quality content out there whose rankings are artificially boosted by less sustainable SEO techniques.

Future proof your SEO – invest in your content!

Photo Credit: By Gaspirtz (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The post How to future-proof your SEO appeared first on Calvin Jones.

Creating high quality, relevant content is the best way to get customers to trust your brand, get search engines to consistently deliver targeted traffic to your website encourage wider sharing through social media and ultimately drive more business your way.

Social media, SEO, Content marketing – they’re all connected, and the common thread is quality, relevant content.

Here’s a great info-graphic that covers some basic reasons why you need content at the top of your priority list when marketing your business online.

Why you need content for SEO

The post Content for SEO–Infographic appeared first on Calvin Jones.

‘Whatever the device you use for getting your information out, it should be the same information.’

- Sir Tim Berners-Lee

There really is no such thing as mobile marketing… at least not in the way the majority of marketers seem to think about it today.

That may seem like an odd statement given that analysts at Gartner predicted global mobile ad spend would reach US$3.3 billion by the end of 2011, and will jump to a massive $20.6 billion by 2015, but bear with me.

A quick glance at the headlines across a selection of mobile-centric web sites reveals that a lot of pundits are treating mobile as the shiny new marketing channel of choice  for hip brands that want to engage with their tech-savvy customers. But in reality mobile is nothing of the sort. When we talk about mobile we’re not talking about mobile marketing — we’re talking about mobile internet access.

Mobile is not a marketing channel

Mobile is not a marketing channel… it’s just a portable and convenient way for people (your customers and prospects) to access information and interact with their peers over the internet wherever they happen to be. It’s the mobility that’s new… the engagement channels are still mostly the same.

I was looking at a presentation on Slideshare recently called “Why Mobile Social Media Matters”. It was in many ways a well put together presentation, full of lots of interesting facts and potentially useful statistics. But its fundamental premise was inherently flawed. Mobile social media doesn’t exist! Posting to Facebook is posting to Facebook whether you do it from your mobile phone, your laptop, your state of the art gaming desktop or your playstation portable. Likewise twitter, consumer reviews, blog comments and any other social media platform you care to mention.

Treating mobile as a discrete marketing channel, as a lot of marketers and a worrying number of online “experts” seem to be doing, I think spectacularly misses the point. It undervalues the huge underlying potential that makes mobile so valuable to your business.

Different… but still the same

Mobile is probably the single biggest development in digital marketing since the inception of the internet, but the marketing channels you harness to engage with people through their mobile devices are still the same. The net IS STILL the net, regardless of the device you use to access it. Social media IS STILL social media no matter the device you use to interact with your peers; the world wide web IS STILL the world wide web, whether you’re accessing a mobile-optimised version of a site or the belt-and-braces full-browser version… I could go on, but you get the idea.

That’s great news for marketers… because we don’t have to re-learn all this stuff from scratch. The intricacies of digital strategy are still much the same; the lessons you’ve already learnt about marketing your business online still apply when your customers choose to access your marketing content through a mobile device.

From a marketers’ perspective what’s really changed with the widespread adoption of mobile devices is this:

1. the immediacy of having access to information and services wherever you happen to be
2. the additional functionality afforded by modern mobile hardware (like GPS sensors, motion sensors and touch screens), which extend the scope of marketing possibility.
3. the way these combine to alter your customers’ perception, expectation and ultimately the potential utility of your marketing content

Focus on the human side of the mobile equation

As with everything else in the digital marketing arena, it’s the human element of the mobile equation — how it’s influencing consumer behaviour and interaction — that makes it so powerful. Ultimately mobile internet access is convenient: it helps make people’s lives easier. Mobile devices are portable, they’re accessible, they’re always on. They give us access to what we need, when we need it. That naturally has profound implications for marketers.

One of the fundamental problems I see with the current in-vogue perception of mobile marketing as a “shiny new marketing channel” is the inherent assumption that we can somehow control the way people choose to access our content. We patently can’t; the customer controls that side of of things, all we can do is ensure our marketing content adapts seamlessly, however our customers choose to access it.

The quote from Sir Tim Berners Lee that I opened the article with sums things up pretty well: information should, wherever possible, be platform independent — and I think that applies to marketing content as much as it does to any other type of information. That presents challenges, certainly, but it maximises choice and flexibility for consumers, and ultimately increases the value and reach of every bit of marketing content you produce.

So do you need a mobile marketing strategy? The short answer is no!

Do you need to integrate mobile elements into your existing digital marketing strategy? The answer is almost certainly yes.

How you do that has more about understanding your customers than it does about understanding the underlying technology. Mobile success isn’t about launching a new mobile-targeted ad campaign, commissioning a new smartphone app or hiring a mobile agency to craft exclusively mobile content for your brand. It’s much broader and deeper than that, and should permeate your entire digital strategy across all channels.

If you can really understand the human side of the mobile equation: how your customers integrate mobile devices into their lives, how that’s influencing their perceptions, expectations and behaviour, then you’re well on your way to reaping maximum reward from the burgeoning potential of mobile.

How you make it happen… that’s just logistics.

First published in “Marketing Magnified” e-Journal of the CMO Council

The post Why we’re getting mobile marketing wrong appeared first on Calvin Jones.

Great surprise in yesterday’s post – my author copies of Understanding Digital Marketing, 2nd Edition arrived.

I have to say I really like the new cover design “in the flesh” and it’s fantastic to have an up-to-date version of the book out there. Great timing too – as It’s an excellent reference book to accompany the digital marketing mentoring work I’m doing with small to medium businesses at the moment through the Digital Business Hub programme.

If you haven’t seen it yet check out Understanding Digital Marketing on Amazon.co.uk or Understanding Digital Marketing on Amazon.com, or if you’re digitally inclined take a look at the Kindle edition of Understanding Digital Marketing.

If you’ve read it… please let us know what you think – ideally through posting a review on Amazon or on your own blog (just be sure to link back so we can find it easily).

I really hope that the book helps businesses get more out of their foray into digital marketing, and helps flatten the ludicrously steep learning curve faced by many businesses as they venture into the online marketing space.

The post Understanding Digital 2nd Edition hits the shelves appeared first on Calvin Jones.

I had another look at Bing this morning. And soon wished I hadn’t

Microsoft’s “decision engine”, disappointingly, is still trailing way behind search leader Google in the relevance stakes. The only decision I made based on the results delivered by Bing this morning was to run promptly back to the safe haven that is Google Search.

Google doesn’t always get it right, of course… but by God it’s streets ahead of its wannabe rival.

An example of Bing’s irrelevant results

I launched a new website on Irish wildlife and natural history a couple of weeks back. It’s still very early days, and I’m not expecting it to rank highly in organic search results quite yet. For now I’m very much focussed on building a foundation of great content… the other stuff will follow.

However, it means I am interested in what search engines are serving up on keywords relevant to Ireland’s wildlife, nature and the environment. That’s what prompted me to trot over to Bing this morning and type Ireland Wildlife into the search box.

Oh dear!

Number one result, according to the “Decision Engine” is a page from… wait for it… The Forest Preserve District of Cook County (Illinois). It’s a nature bulletin from March 1978 (nofollowed that one… let’s not perpetuate the idiocy) highlighting the fact there are no snakes in Ireland. It goes on to give a broad brush overview of Ireland’s natural history from an Illinois perspective. Riveting stuff!

How on earth can that be the most relevant and authoritative page in the world for a user searching for info on Ireland’s wildlife from Co. Cork? Yes, I know I can “Narrow results to only pages from Ireland”, but in all fairness I shouldn’t have to!

On the date of writing Bing’s top 5 results for “Ireland wildlife” contained a US page, a Northern Ireland Tourism page, a UK wildlife page, the generic Wikipedia entry for Ireland and… drumroll… our very own National Parks and Wildlife Service. Hallelujah… a relevant result!

Google, on the other hand, serves up the Irish Wildlife Trust homepage in pole position for the same query (spot on), followed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Fota Wildlife Park in Cork, a “Proud2beIrish” page on Ireland’s Wildlife and my @WildIreland twitter stream (which is very nice of them).

It’s only one example, sure… but you decide which search engine you think is better at relevance!

The post Google still trouncing Bing on relevance appeared first on Calvin Jones.

I’ve long been an advocate of effective list management and email marketing for small businesses. When I talk to small business clients I always recommend using a professional email marketing service to manage their newsletter and email campaigns.

If you want to stay in touch with your email list effectively you’ll only get so far using contact groups and the BCC field in your desktop email client. Outlook is no place to manage your email marketing, and once your list grows bigger than a couple of dozen addresses you’re going to need dedicated software – if for no other reason than it makes your life (and mine, if I’m working with you on your email campaigns) SO much easier.

There are a lot of email marketing services out there, but one of my favourites is Benchmark Email – a full-featured web based service that’s easy to use, delivers professional results with a minimum of fuss, and makes building and managing your email lists and campaigns really easy. It even integrates with your social media accounts.

Here’s a 90 second video summary:

I’ve used benchmark on several clients’ email campaigns, and recommended it to several others, and they’ve all been very happy with both the web-based service and the results. So if you’re looking for an email marketing solution for your small business, give Benchmark a try… it will make your life a lot easier.

The post Small Business Email Marketing appeared first on Calvin Jones.

Link building is probably the hardest part of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). But high quality incoming links are one of the most important components of your search engine optimisation strategy.

Search engines are always looking for better ways to assess the quality and relevance of search results. A significant part of Google’s search ranking algorithm looks at the incoming link profile of your pages, and uses that to help gauge the relevance and authority of your content.

So good incoming links are critical to getting your site in front of your customers for your key search terms.

But how do you go about getting quality backlinks?

• Buy them? Er… no!
• Blast the myriad local web directory sites with “free” and paid listings for your business? Er… no!
• Write a gazillion articles for online article directories in the hope that they’ll be published widely around the web? Er… no!
• Ask nicely? Well, maybe… but you need something compelling for other websites to link to – otherwise why would they bother sending visitors your way?

Effective link building is about adding value for people – and the way to do that is to create original, high quality content.

Content: the most powerful link building weapon in your digital marketing arsenal

When you create compelling, informative and useful content on your website you’re adding value for your visitors… but you’re also doing much more than that.

You’re creating a reasons for people to share, and for other sites to link back to your content.

Good content by its very nature encourages people to share, and with social media sites going from strength to strength sharing great content is easier than ever.

Encouraging people to share high quality content with their online peers and communities is a great strategy… because it ticks multiple boxes all of which benefit your online business.

• Sharing drives direct traffic to your content via the shared link.
• Sharing helps to build your reputation and authority across online communities.
• Sharing encourages backlinks from other site owners who like what they read.

Building a sustainable, high quality, natural link profile for your site is a crucial part of your site optimisation strategy. Getting it right depends a lot on the quality of the content you provide.

When you add content to your site, ask yourself is this something that will add value for my visitors, is it something that I would link to, is it something another website owner will want to share?

The post Links… how to get them the right way appeared first on Calvin Jones.

Designers have a tough job. Understanding the brief, weaving the client’s needs into an aesthetic yet functional design, one that resonates with the target audience to deliver measurable results is a tricky business.

It’s even more tricky when the same client takes your winning design, throws in their home-brew copy… and then wonder why it’s not working. Naturally it’s never their copy that’s to blame… it’s your design that’s not delivering!

Sound familiar?

Adding value for your graphic design clients

Good copywriting and good design go together hand-in-glove. It’s the perfect synergy.

When the design and copy work seamlessly together the resulting website, flyer, brochure, (insert marketing collateral of choice), etc. is better by an order of magnitude. No matter how good the copy is, it will never achieve its potential without great design… and likewise, even the best design can’t deliver the goods unless it’s teamed up with great copy.

When designers and copywriters work together the result is always a better for the client. Period! Yes, it may cost more, but in terms of value it delivers in spades.

For the freelance graphic designer, teaming up with a pro copywriter to work on client projects makes a lot of sense – from off-line flyers to direct mail packages, PDF downloads to full corporate websites, teaming the right words with the right look and feel is what delivers results.

It can also help to differentiate your freelance design business from the pack – adding another string to your proverbial bow.

If you’re a designer, and want to add value to your client’s projects by working with a professional copywriter feel free to drop me a line.

The post Graphic designers and pro copywriters–a perfect match appeared first on Calvin Jones.

1. Know who you’re writing for

Here’s a clue… it’s not you, and it’s certainly not the sub-committee of executives/managers who will sign off on the project.

When it comes to writing effective web content (or any other form of content for that matter) you should be writing for one group of people, and one group of people only: your target audience. The better you know the people who will ultimately be consuming your content, the more effectively you’ll be able to tailor your writing to meet their needs, not yours.

2. Know what you’re aiming for

If you don’t know where you’re heading, there’s a fairly good chance you’ll never end up where you want to be.

When you’re writing web content: you should have a clear goal in mind before you start writing. Write for your audience first and foremost, but do it with a particular goal in mind. Your goal could be to get someone to buy a product, request a follow up call, sign up for your newsletter, download your e-book, click through to another site or simply to inform or entertain. The point is you need to know what it is BEFORE you start

Writing effective web content is all about aligning the needs of your target audience with your business goals.

3. Words are the key to online “findability”

It doesn’t matter how good your content is, it’s worth nothing if nobody reads it.

While social media referrals are growing as a source of targeted web traffic, the way the vast majority of visitors will still find your online content is through their favourite search engine. Every piece of content you write should be optimised for specific targeted keyword phrases (you already know what they are for your site… right?).

That said the days of liberally scattering keywords through your prose and agonising over metrics like keyword density are long gone. Introduce your selected keywords organically into your writing, and use related phrases and expressions that help search engines interpret what your content is about, but always bear in mind point 4 below.

4. Write for humans, not robots

Your website is for people, not search engines, so make sure your content addresses the needs of your human readers first.

As a rule of thumb, if you find yourself doing anything to give your content a boost in the search engines at the expense of readability and usability for your human audience stop and rethink. Successful websites are about conversion, not traffic. If your content doesn’t deliver for human visitors once they arrive all traffic will do is consume bandwidth.

5 “Scanability”

Whether you choose to write short copy or long copy will depend largely on the tastes of your particular target audience — but one thing that’s almost universally acknowledged (and that’s a rare thing online) is that long passages of unbroken text are a bad thing. People simply won’t read them.

Your average web user is a fickle and impatient beast, accustomed to tapping in to vast seams of information quickly and extracting only the relevant nuggets. It makes sense therefore to make it as easy as possible for your visitors to scan your content quickly and pick out bits that are relevant to them.

• Summarise important information early, before going on to provide more detail if necessary (inverted pyramid).
• Use headings and bullet points to break up large chunks of text and make your content easy to scan — but only use them where it makes sense.

Remember everything you do should be designed to make your content more useful / relevant / readable and entertaining for your human readers.

Most of all though, get to know the people you’re writing for. Your readers are online, find them, interact with them, talk to them, listen to them. Employ social media as a vehicle to engage with and learn about your target audience, their likes, dislikes, wants and needs — then tailor your content accordingly.

Image credit:  Some rights reserved by FindYourSearch

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