When a new visitor lands on your website, what’s their reaction? Does your website instantly gain their trust? Or does it have the opposite effect: causing the visitor to think you’re a spammer who’s going to rip them off?

A lot of this will be determined by the copy on your website. If your website copy includes the mistakes in the list below, you’ll look like a spammer, and visitors won’t convert into customers.

1. Using spammy words—There are certain words that immediately set off the spam alarm. Limit your use of words like:

• Amazing
• Secret
• Free
• Millions
• Opportunity
• Winner
• Prizes
• All New
• Bonus
  

2. Having a lot of exclamation points!!!—Nothing screams “scam!” like excessive punctuation. If your copy is littered with dozens of exclamation points, you’ll instantly scare off a lot of new visitors. Contrary to what some people believe, exclamation points don’t make your copy more exciting or interesting. Truly interesting copy doesn’t need to rely on cheap punctuation tricks to make it more compelling.

While we’re on the subject of excessive punctuation, another thing that drives me nuts is the overuse of ellipses. I understand that…ellipses can create a…a more conversation pace…but when you overuse them…it gets annoying…and it looks kind of…spammy.

3. Telling a way-too-good-to-be-true story—We’ve all come across landing pages where the author tells some remarkable story about how the product being sold helped changed his life forever. You see this a lot with supplements, like weight loss pills. The stories always sound way too good to be true, and instead of convincing you to buy the product, they actually raise your B.S. detectors, causing you to get too wary to place an order.

Make no mistake. Stories can be very powerful sales tools. Some of the most famous sales letters of all time used stories to suck readers in and to convert them into customers. However, if your story just isn’t believable at all, it won’t convert readers…it’ll scare them away and ruin your image.

4. Colorized text—Another technique used on a lot of the spammier landing pages is to use different font colors throughout the copy. You’ll see red headlines, important phrases throughout the copy bolded in blue text, and everything else written in black. It looks absolutely terrible from a design perspective, and it instantly feels like spam. I can say with 100% confidence that I’ve never purchased a product from a website that uses the colorized text trick.

5. Stuffing it with keywords—You don’t see this as much as you did in the early days of SEO, but it still happens fairly often. Amateur SEO copywriters will stuff their copy so full of keywords that it’s virtually impossible for a human to read. If your copy reads like this…

Our Houston bike shop is the best Houston bike shop in Houston. Come stop by our Houston bike shop for all your cycling needs. Our Houston bike shop is cheaper than other Houston bike shops, and it features a wider selection than any other Houston bike shop

…then you’re guilty of keyword stuffing. The best SEO copy is copy that pleases both the search engines and your human visitors. It integrates the keywords seamlessly into the content, so that the human isn’t even aware that your page is optimized for the search engines.

Is your copy guilty of these mistakes?

If you’re a blogger, you know that readers are bound to criticize you at some point. They might criticize you for your opinion on a certain subject, your style of writing, or for making a factual error in one of your posts. Whatever the reason, one thing is for certain: You need to know how to handle criticism properly if you want to thrive as a blogger.

Here are some tips to help you out the next time a negative comment finds its way to your blog.

• Don’t automatically delete negative comments—The last thing you want to do is to become a dictator with your comment moderation. The great thing about the blogosphere is that everyone—from the writer to the readers—has a voice. The second you take that away by deleting negative comments, you violate the whole premise behind blogging.

I almost never delete comments. The only time I’ll do so is if the comment is from an obvious troll or if it contains profanity that isn’t suitable for the particular blog. Other than that, I welcome negative comments. Everyone has a different opinion, and negative comments are often a great way to keep the conversation going on your blog.

• Try to see their point—Instead of getting caught up in the fact that someone is criticizing you, take a step back and try to see the actual point they’re making. More times than not, you should be able to understand where the commenter is coming from and why they’re saying these things.

Just because you don’t agree with them doesn’t mean their comment doesn’t have value. Take everything—from the positive to the negative—under consideration.

• Interact with the commenter in a respectful manner—The two wrong ways to handle criticism on your blog are to: 1) Ignore the comment altogether and 2) Get overly defensive and argumentative in your response. Neither of those will help you gain the respect of your readers.

The best thing you can do is to politely respond to the reader to push the conversation forward. Be respectful of their opinion, and let them know why you disagree with them. But don’t be rude or uptight as it just makes you look petty and incapable of handling criticism.

• Be willing to learn from them—Believe it or not, you don’t know everything. I like to view negative comments and criticism as learning opportunities. Step back and consider that maybe the commenter is onto something. Maybe they really are right and you’re the one who is wrong.

This might not be the case, but you need to at least be willing to learn from others. That’s the only way you’ll improve as a blogger.

• Don’t feed the trolls—Okay, so not all negative comments have value. In some instances, you’ll get over-the-top criticism from people who are clearly looking to stir the pot and get you riled up. These people are called trolls. They aren’t there to add something of value to the conversation. They just want to cause trouble and to get attention.

In these situations, I say ignore them. Don’t feed the trolls because that’s what they need. They want you to get upset so they can be in control. Don’t give them that power. Ignore trolls, and they’ll go away.

How do you handle criticism on your blog? Share your best tips in the replies.

Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

“Google can make or break my business, so I have to do whatever they say.” I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard similar things from small business owners and webmasters. Do you know what I say to them?

“Then you don’t know enough about running a website to be making this your business.”

Why so harsh? Because I’m tired of the “Google God” nonsense, where people truly believe Google is the be all and end all for any site on the Web. It’s not. It’s a search engine. More importantly, Google is a tool — a tool for finding websites and a tool for helping people find your website.

There’s nothing wrong with Google on the surface (okay, so that’s a bit debatable), and there’s nothing wrong with making reasonable efforts to rank well for truly relevant terms. Still, that’s a far cry from Google making or breaking a business. And if you know what you’re doing, neither Google , nor any other third party will have that much control over your project. Why? You’ll diversify.

Website Survival With or Without Big G

There are other traffic sources out there; some are much better than search engines when it comes to bringing targeted traffic. Even if your Google traffic disappeared tomorrow, you could still run a highly successful site or online business.

“But where would my traffic come from?” you might ask. Here’s a quick list with some ideas to get you started. All of these things can help you attract targeted visitors to your website, without worrying about SEO and potential Google bans if you happen to do something they don’t approve of:

• Run a Blog – If your site already has some traffic, add a blog. The subscribers will keep coming back regardless of search engine rankings.
• Issue Press Releases – If you’re doing something newsworthy in your niche or industry, put out a press release / news release. They’re a great way to build relevant links and traffic not only directly but through your pick-ups (each time the release is republished or used as a source for a story in the media or on other blogs). If you don’t have anything release-worthy, come up with ideas. Release a new tool. Publish a free report. No matter what industry you’re in, you can be newsworthy with your audience with just a little bit of effort.
• 

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  Use Social media – Social networks, social bookmarking, Twitter, etc. can be fantastic sources of traffic that by-pass the whims of search engines. You’ll want to spend a bit of time building your network with these social media tools. The bigger your audience there, the more traffic those tools can bring.
• Advertise - If you have an advertising budget, use it! If not, maybe it’s time to consider one. Sure, free traffic can seem more appealing than paid traffic, but advertising has its benefits. It might save time (and let’s face it, time really is money) when compared to things like maintaining a strong social media presence. It allows you to target very specific audiences as well, by picking and choosing which sites you want to advertise on. Of course, if you’d rather not bother with manually choosing publishers to advertise with, there’s always the option of going with ad networks.

Those are just a few of the most popular and effective ways to get traffic to your website without having to rely on search engines. Can you think of any others? Leave a comment and share your tips with other readers.

The fact that Google is really just a single tool in a much bigger toolbox of smart webmasters everywhere is just one thing site owners seem to forget. Just for fun, here are a few other helpful “reminders.”

• No, industry jargon is not cool. Lose the buzzwords already. If your neighbor’s kid in the 8th grade couldn’t understand your site, it’s time to re-work things. If you cater to the small group that understands and actually likes to talk that way, you’re missing out on a potentially huge market segment that doesn’t.
• 

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  That splash page you think is really sweet, really isn’t. People don’t want to wait for your page to load. They click a link or type in your URL and they expect the information they want to appear… like magic… yeah, that quick. If yours doesn’t, optimize. Trying to be “with it” creatively can really piss off your visitors who frankly couldn’t care less. Unless your site exists specifically to show off such designs or it’s absolutely necessary, don’t. You can be stylish without being slow.
• Your site might be online all the time, but your audience is not. If you’re neglecting offline marketing tactics for your website, you’re losing out on visitors (and potentially buyers). Don’t assume Internet marketing is the only way to market your website or online business.

Have you made these mistakes? Have you made others you’d like to share? Leave us a comment and let us know what else website owners sometimes forget when it comes to managing and marketing their sites.

Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

“Oh my goodness. Can you believe the nerve of that blogger who dared to disagree with that thing that you said? I know what it is. They just wanted more traffic, so they’re leeching off your popularity. By criticizing what you said, they must be trying to rank in the search engines for your name, because you’re just so popular. They expect you’ll link back to them in an angry huff too, sending some of your own traffic their way. But you can outsmart them. Just ignore them! They’ll go away.”

Pause.

Have you ever thought something like that when you saw a controversial blog post about you or a favorite blogger? Sure, I exaggerated a little bit to make a point here, but I’ve actually heard bloggers make these kinds of arguments for why people who write controversial blog posts are just great big meanies. They act like people who tend to disagree with them or call them out on the stupid things they say are simply malcontents, never happy with anything, as if the only way to be happy is to fall in line and become one of their little reader minions or paint even the most blatant stupidity with a rosy glow (and let’s face it, we all say stupid things occasionally). To them I say “sorry sweeties, but you’ve got it all wrong.”

Let’s take a deeper look at blog controversy, especially the kind directed at another blog or blogger, and talk about how to deal with it.

Blog Controversy is not a “Bad” Thing

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Are there some bloggers who attack others solely to get attention? Absolutely. Does that mean that everyone who calls you out from time to time is just out to leech off of your blog’s success? No. You’d be hard-pressed to make a case that even most people writing controversial posts, about you or otherwise, are just using them as stunts to gain traffic.

Controversy is good. It doesn’t mean people are out to get you. It doesn’t mean other bloggers hate you just because they disagree with you, even if they disagree passionately. Even if they really don’t like you, there’s probably another reason they’re writing controversial posts — they have something to say!

How boring would the world be if everyone agreed all of the time, and we never had serious discussions or debates? Without new and different ideas, not only would we be incredibly dull, but we’d suffer from a lack of innovation. I wouldn’t want to live in a world like that. Would you?

Life is full of controversy. The blogosphere isn’t any different, and I’d argue that it shouldn’t be. Not everyone targets the same audiences with their blogs, and there are often many other ways of looking at an issue, depending on which audience you’re targeting.

Not only might another blogger genuinely have different ideas, but their ideas might be better. Yes, you might be wrong from time to time. By blowing off opposing views because you find it easier to feel victimized than look at yourself in a constructive way, you condemn yourself to more “attacks” in the future. When the other blogger is targeting a similar audience, their motives are probably much less about pissing you off and much more about doing what they feel is best for their readers. If that means calling out hypocrisy and what they feel is bad advice from others, then they should absolutely do it. If they don’t, they’re simply being complacent or they’re unaware of what’s happening in their own niche or industry, and that’s hardly helpful to their readers.

We’ve established that sometimes blog controversy is a good thing, because it’s how ideas are spread and how opinions are swayed. We’ve also established that the motives behind controversial posts about you or your blog probably have less to do with you than the other blogger’s readers. But how should you deal with controversy and attacks on other blogs? While that varies depending on the situation, here are a few tips to point you in the right direction:

1. Evaluate the blogger’s motives. – Is there any merit at all in what they’re saying? Forget about your audience and think about theirs. Does it makes sense for them to share those opinions with their readers, or is it completely irrelevant and nothing more than an attack for the sake of attacking you? Controversy doesn’t always have to be “nice” or sugar-coated just to spare your feelings. Are you letting your emotions over the criticism cause you to overreact and jump to the blame game?
2. Do a self-check. – Did you say something hypocritical? Did you say something completely illogical? Might you really be wrong about something? Be honest. You might not like the fact that the criticism is at least sometimes well-deserved but like I said before, everyone says stupid things from time to time. I’m not an exception. You’re not an exception. No one is.
3. 

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   Don’t play the victim. – Nobody likes a whiny blogger with a “woe is me” attitude all the time. Either there’s merit to your viewpoint and you can defend it when confronted, or there isn’t (and you should be able to acknowledge that). If you made an error, fix it. If you’re holding firm in your beliefs, that’s fine too, but state why (in a comment, on your own blog, etc.) if it’s appropriate to do so, and leave it at that. Acting like people are only out to get you just entices them to criticize your behavior even more.
4. Know when to respond and when to walk away. – Responding to every controversial or criticizing post about you or your blog will do little more than stress you out and waste your time. Then again, ignoring all criticism and controversy makes it look like you’re living under a rock (not a good sign to your readers). Seek balance. If it’s just a flat out personal attack that’s completely irrelevant to my blog’s subject matter, I prefer to ignore it and blame it on a bad day the other blogger’s having. I don’t let it get to me. If they criticize or question a piece of professional advice, I see if there’s merit to their argument (in the context of my own target audience). If so, I either comment on their blog, respond on my own in a new post (if it’s a longer response), or respond to their comment on my blog if they commented rather than writing a new post themselves. Your strategy can certainly be different. Figure out what works for you.
5. Know when to make it personal (and when not to). — I don’t mean you should ever make a personal attack in response to a controversial issue related to your blog (as in a debate about business finance advice turning into a “yeah, well you’re ugly” kind of pissing match — completely irrelevant). I mean you have to know when it’s appropriate to name names, and when it’s better to tackle your side of an issue without the one-on-one element. Here’s my policy. If I know the other blogger can act like an adult and actually have a constructive cross-blog debate, I’ll mention their name and link to their controversial post. If I know the blogger acts like a whiny brat crying about how everyone who criticizes them is so mean, trying to make them out to be some kind of martyr while they in turn take subtle shots at others, then it’s a different story. In that case, I’ll still share my views (probably even more aggressively), but I won’t bother mentioning names or sending traffic their way. Why? Because I don’t have the time to deal with the “oh, poor me — you’re just trying to ride my coattails” garbage that often results. The other scenario where I’ll not name names is when I’m writing a controversial post or response about an issue that’s hotly debated industry-wide. In that case, there might be so many people sharing the same opposing viewpoint, that my response simply isn’t in reference to one of them — it’s a more general commentary. Again, that’s just an example of how I choose to handle certain types of blog controversy. Your policies might be entirely different, and that’s okay.
6. Be willing to learn. – Whether you like it or not, that controversial blogger probably isn’t the only person who feels the way they do. They’re just the only one (or one of a few) willing to be vocal. Others avoid controversy at all cost, and never share their own views publicly. In other words, some of your readers probably agree with them! If what they’re saying makes sense, consider it. If they’re more experienced than you, learn from them. If you still don’t agree with their underlying points, that’s fine. You might be right in that case, or it might be an issue where two different views can both be “right.” Just know that in those situations you might still have some readers who need convincing of the merits of your own viewpoint. If you’re blogging to be an authority source in your niche or industry, it’s important to let your readers know where you’re coming from, whether or not they ultimately agree with you. Leaving lingering doubts might make them question whether or not you’re really worth listening to when it comes to the issues that matter to them.

Remember, blog controversy isn’t always a bad thing, even when it comes to attacking and debating other bloggers’ ideas. It’s a part of a larger conversation. How you choose to be involved in that conversation is up to you and your audience. Misjudging motives, throwing a perpetual pity party for yourself, and covering your eyes when controversy comes along mean your audience is going to get information on those topics elsewhere. In this blogger’s opinion, it’s better to have a voice. After all, if you have nothing to say on important issues in your niche or you can’t back up your views when occasionally confronted then why are you blogging in the first place?

The Directory Journal is happy to announce the release of our first free e-book! This e-book serves as a basic introduction to writing four common types of Web marketing and PR copy — basic Web marketing copy for your website, sales letters, online press releases, and email marketing copy.

The e-book isn’t so much for marketing and PR professionals (who already know this information), but is instead for business owners, webmasters, and independent professionals who would like to be able to write some types of Web copy on their own. We understand that not everyone has the budget to hire professional copywriters, and that others simply prefer the DIY approach when possible. This e-book is for those readers.

This e-book won’t turn you into a master copywriter overnight, but it will give you a basic foundation in understanding different types of Web copy, how these kinds of Web copywriting can benefit your business, and some of the things you’ll need to know about your target market or audience before being able to write copy that delivers.

You can get your free copy of The Business Owner’s Guide to Better Web Marketing Copy today! Just sign up for our email list near the top of this blog, and your free copy will be delivered right to your inbox. Even better, you’ll receive special offers, DirJournal.com news, and any future e-books we release automatically!

Still not sure about signing up? You can download the first chapter for free right now to help you decide.

Getting ready to write a press release to generate coverage for your company? Before you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), take a look at these 8 common press release writing mistakes. Avoiding them can be your ticket to success.

1. A Boring Headline—When you send your press release out to journalists, you need to remember they’re sifting through hundreds of these releases. The first thing they’ll see on your press release is the headline. If the headline is bland and lifeless, your press release probably won’t even get read.

Your headline needs to immediately grab the reader’s attention. It should be strong and bold, but make sure it isn’t gimmicky or salesy.

2. A Misleading Headline—The only thing worse than a boring headline is a misleading headline. The goal of your headline is to grab the interest of the reader and to clearly communicate what your story is about. Don’t “cry wolf” in your headline just to get the attention of the reader… unless, of course, there really is a wolf.

Here’s a simple way to tell if your headline is misleading. Show only the headline to a few other people. Have them take a guess as to what the story’s about. If they aren’t even close to being right, it’s probably time to rewrite the headline.

3. Hype instead of facts—This is a press release, not an infomercial. Journalists are interested in delivering newsworthy content to their readers. A sales pitch is NOT newsworthy content. Not only will writing your press release as an advertisement cause it to end up in the trash, but it will also damage your credibility with the journalist for a long time to come.

When writing your press release, just stick to the facts. Don’t stretch the truth, and don’t use salesy language. Whenever possible, include statistics and hard proof to back up all of your claims. Be objective but engaging at the same time.

4. Lifeless quotes—It’s always a good idea to use a quote from a reputable source in your press release. This helps to back up your claims, go into greater detail about a certain point, and add a personal touch to the story. However, you won’t achieve any of this if you use stale, lifeless quotes in your press releases. Unfortunately, that’s what most press releases end up containing. Safe, boring quotes that add nothing to the story.

How can you tell if your quote is pointless? If you can remove it without it having any effect on the story, then it’s not adding anything of value.

5. Too much jargon—Get rid of all jargon from your press release. These include industry-specific lingo, and terms only used inside your company. Journalists and their readers won’t understand your jargon.

Instead, focus on using clear language that everyone can understand. Remember, the average newspaper is written at an 8th grade level, so try to keep that in mind while writing your press release.

6. Ignoring SEO basics—With online press release marketing, you can now get more impact from your press releases. See, Google loves press releases. They tend to rank very well in the search engines.

What does this mean for you? It means your press releases need to have keyword-rich headlines, well-placed keywords throughout the story, and keyword-rich back links when allowed. All of this will allow you to increase your search engine presence from your press release marketing efforts.

7. Grammar errors—No better way to look like an amateur than to distribute a press release with grammar errors and other typos. Seriously, it’s not that hard to run a grammar and spelling check. After you do that, proofread it again. It’s also a good idea to let a few other people proofread it too, so that you’ll be bringing fresh eyes to it.

8. Rambling on for too long—Thanks to the internet and social media, news is delivered faster than ever before. Journalists and their readers want their news as quickly as possible.

This means you need to keep your press release short and to the point. Cover all of the necessary details, but don’t throw in anything that doesn’t add to the story. When in doubt, leave it out.

Do you write press releases to generate publicity for your company? Share your best press release writing tips by leaving a comment.

Let’s face it. Your blog sucks. You just aren’t cut out to be a blogger. No one cares about what you have to say. That’s okay. You’re probably more like the majority of bloggers than you think! Most blogs never amount to much. Most bloggers won’t go pro. Some don’t care. They just blog for fun. Others will get frustrated when they realize blogging isn’t easy money, and they’ll quit.

It’s that last group we’re interested in today. If you blog for business (to get sponsors, earn ad revenue, sell your own products, reach your customers, etc.), maybe it’s time to stop. Not everyone should blog, and not every business needs one.

Here are five signs it might be time to abort your blog:

1. You’ve been blogging for months, and you’re still excited that your family reads it.

Look. If your blog consists of sharing little family updates and posting photos of the kids, then maybe your family’s your target audience. But if you’re serious about blogging for business, no one gives a rat’s ass if your mommy loves your blog.

Who is your target audience exactly? Prospective customers? Existing customers? Colleagues in your industry? If your target audience isn’t reading your blog, something has to change. Either you seriously suck at marketing it, or your blog just isn’t giving them what they need. It’s probably time to hang up the blogging towel.

2. You sink in time and / or money and get nothing in return.

Returns are important in any kind of business. That doesn’t mean you have to earn a direct financial return from your blog though. There are other types of returns — exposure in the industry, authority status in your niche, leads, being seen as a thought leader, etc. But if your blog offers nothing of real value to your business, then why do you even bother? Don’t.

3. You can’t think of anything new to say.

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Having a bit of blogger’s block is no big deal. We all eventually have a day where we think “what the hell is there even left to talk about?” There’s always something. You can review a site or product. You could interview someone in your niche or industry. You could write a how-to piece. You could post commentary in response to industry news. You could have a cross-blog discussion with another blogger. You get the idea.

The problem is when blogger’s block is no longer an occasional problem but instead a regular state of mind. When there are topics available, but you truly can’t think of anything at all you want to talk about, it might be a sign to quit because the passion is no longer there. When it’s gone, your readers will more than likely notice.

4. Your blog has become a war zone.

You don’t have to go around kissing ass every time you post to your blog. You don’t have to play nicey-nice with everyone else in your niche. It would be highly unusual if you never said anything controversial that pissed some people off.

That said, if your blog is igniting tempers constantly and it’s not your intention to do that, then maybe it’s time to give it a rest. You aren’t reaching your blogging goals. Take some time off to evaluate things. Can you rethink your strategy and give it another try? If not, call it quits before the constant stress of blog bickering takes its toll on you.

5. You’d rather watch paint dry than write.

Credit: rajsun22 via Sxc.hu

Blogging usually means writing. Some people just aren’t natural writers. Some of those folks can learn. Other can’t. It’s not for everyone. If you find blogging to be excruciatingly boring or difficult to the point where you’d rather be doing just about anything else, then quit.

Remember, no matter what you use your blog for — income, company promotion, etc. — you can reach the same end results with other tactics. No one has to blog. If you don’t feel like it’s working out for you, don’t try to force something that probably isn’t meant to be.

Only you can decide whether or not it’s time to abort your blog. If you do decide to kill it, you can do it in several different ways. Here’s what I suggest:

Step 1: Announce the close of the blog in a post.

Step 2: Add a link to the top of the blog directing people to your main business site.

Step 3: Leave the existing content live as an archive to keep bringing in search engine traffic (which you’ll direct to your main site through the link you added in step 2).

Are you contemplating quitting your blog? Why? Have you killed off blogs in the past? What was it that pushed you over the edge and made you close the blog rather than just taking a break? Share your blog-ending stories with us in the comments.

Facebook is the currently the darling of all social media sites. Now that MySpace has been branded “low-class,” Facebook has surged in popularity, and the member status updates help the site function like one big conversation. But Facebook is not a tool to be used lightly. The status updates you post are little insights into your day and your mind, and posting the wrong one is just…wrong.  So here’s a helpful guide to assist you in avoiding annoying me…er…committing a Facebook faux pas.

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1. Never post about what you are eating for breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner, dessert or any other meal. Remember when your teacher caught you sneaking food during school and asked you if you had enough to share with the rest of the class? Well, she (or he) did that because it is rude to flaunt your tasty cookies, soups, meats, cheeses and other divine edibles in front of people who don’t have access to them. Some of you like to really rub our noses in your happy palate and upload a picture of your food—that is really taking it too far. I don’t know about you but, because of these updates, I spend about 90% of my day hungry for crap I can’t even get.

Credit: nemo5576, everystockphoto.com

2. Never post about the games you are playing. The other day, I was struck and saddened by a friend of mine who I assumed had been laid off. I assumed this because she posted a status update asking for laundry supplies. Fearing the worst, I was about to start a relief fund for her when a few hours later I saw she had updated her status to say, “Thanks” to all the members who had given her supplies and that now she needed help fighting the Russian Mafia. It took me a while to try and understand how my friend, who is an accountant, could have gone from reconciling columns of numbers to fighting the Russian mafia. As I reassessed my life, wondering how there could be so much I didn’t know about her, she posted another update that begged for help with, “a bunch of illegal transaction records” in New York. This was it. Now she’d gone too far. Over the course of 8 hours my friend had progressed from law-abiding accountant, to pauper, to Russian crime fighter, to New York crime-committer. It turns out she was actually posting these updates as part of some online Mafia game she was playing. Unbeknownst to her, I went on a massive emotional roller coaster over her game. Not cool. Not cool at all. If you are using Facebook for professional contacts, this type of update is even worse.

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3. Stop making everyone feel guilty. Just about everyone has some cause that really means something to them. Whether it’s prostate cancer, diabetes or curing Alzheimer’s there is probably a pre-written status update that you can paste into your page to show everyone how much you care. The problem with this pre-written message is that it always includes this manipulative, guilt-inducing clause to try and get your friends to post the same message — “93% won’t Copy and Paste this, will YOU make this your status for at least ……one hour?” Way to make them hate your cause, manipulator.

Credit: aschaeffer, everystockphoto.com

4. Don’t talk about the underwear you are wearing… no matter what. One day this week, I was confused as I read my friends’ seemingly cryptic updates about colors. I spent the day reading updates like, “Purple with leather straps,” and “White with lace.” I thought everyone was just posting nonsensical color and material combinations until I found that some genius told women to post the color of their bra for breast cancer awareness. While this helped me better understand my mother’s brazen, “None! Let the puppies breath!” update, it did little to help me understand WHY people were doing it. After all, is there anyone who isn’t aware of breast cancer? And since there was no donation accompanying these updates, who exactly did they help?

Remember, your Facebook updates are supposed to be insights into your day that either friends or other professionals will enjoy reading. Talk about what’s going on in your life, what you are excited about, what you are concerned about, and what you are working on. They can be fun, funny and clever, deep and meaningful, or run-of-the-mill. Oh, and if your kids are on Facebook, never, ever, ever, ever talk about your underwear.

The success of both your organic SEO and your PPC campaigns rely directly upon keyword research. Target the right keywords, and you’ll get quality traffic from customers who are ready to buy your products and services. Target the wrong keywords, on the other hand, and you’ll get buried in the search results and/or get low-quality traffic that doesn’t convert.

• Do: Focus on long-tail phrases—Long-tail keywords are those phrases that are very specific to the product or service you’re selling. As an example, let’s suppose you offer dinner cruises in Galveston, Texas. Some potential long-tail keyword phrases include:

1. Galveston dinner cruises
2. Dinner cruise in Galveston
3. Romantic dinner cruise in Galveston, Texas

Now, these are just a few basic examples, but the point is that long-tail keywords very specifically describe what you have to offer. As a result, these phrases tend to be easier to rank for, and they often attract customers who are late in the buying cycle. This means a higher conversion rate from the higher quality traffic you’re receiving.

• Don’t: Target keywords that are too broad—Before I became a freelance copywriter, I worked as a copywriter at an SEO firm in Houston. While I was there, we had a client that manufactured and sold windows. The client told us that he wanted to rank #1 in Google for the term “windows.” Clearly, he didn’t understand that: 1. It would be impossible to make that happen and 2. Targeting broad keywords is a poor strategy as it attracts low-quality traffic that’s next to impossible to convert.

• Do: Target seasonal keywords—Seasonal keyword research lets you target phrases that get high search volumes for a brief period of time each year. For example, people will likely search for ski apparel during the fall and winter months. Likewise, searchers looking for swimsuits and sun block will probably be doing so during the spring and summer months. Use Google Trends to analyze seasonal search volume for various keywords in your niche.

• Don’t: View keyword research as a one-time task—Keywords are always evolving. There are new phrases to target and new search trends to jump on. Never assume that once you’ve done your keyword research, you never need to do it again. Keyword research should be performed on a regular basis to ensure you’re getting maximum search engine exposure.

• Do: Study your competition—Studying your competition’s SEO efforts is important for a few reasons.

1. It lets you gauge your chances of ranking well for certain keywords
2. It allows you to identify and capitalize keyword phrases they’re overlooking
3. It helps you find new keywords to target

Competition analysis should always be apart of your SEO campaign and keyword research process.

• Do: Localize your keywords if applicable—Are your products or services available only in a specific region? If so, you should geographically target your keywords to reflect this. The earlier example of “Galveston dinner cruises” is an example of properly localizing your keywords. Targeting geographically-specific keywords attracts higher-quality traffic and makes it easier to grab top search engine placement.

• Don’t: Assume all keyword research must be done online—Before you use your favorite online keyword research tool, spend time doing some offline brainstorming. I like to take out a notebook and jot down various phrases I think describe the products and services being targeted. Ask others what they would search for if they were looking for these products or services online. After you’ve jotted down a good number of ideas, start to enter these phrases into keyword suggestion tools to refine your keyword research.

Which keyword research tips would you add to this list? Please share your thoughts in the replies.

Credit: Sean Dreilinger via Flickr

Linkbait. You’ve probably heard of it. You probably know people who love it. You probably know people who hate it. Maybe you’ve even used it. Linkbait gets a bad rep, put on the same level as spam by some. Others see it a bit differently though. We understand that there is good linkbait as well as “bad” linkbait, just as email isn’t inherently evil just because it’s a tool used by spammers. Where do you fall? How do you feel about it?

Let’s take a look at the good sides of linkbait today, and how it can benefit your business website. But first, let’s cover some basics for those less familiar with it.

Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

What is linkbait?

Linkbait (or link bait if you prefer) is just what it sounds like — something you release online in order to get people to link to you.

Why does linkbait get a bad rep?

The very word “bait” makes us think of traps, so it’s probably the misleading moniker that plays the biggest role in linkbait being dubbed the big bad wolf of the SEO world in the minds of some. That’s not fair though.

Yes, it can be misused. Think of a ridiculously hyped-up blog post title designed solely to suck you in, but followed by a post that doesn’t deliver the promised goods. That’s linkbait at its worst — sensationalist garbage. It doesn’t represent the full spectrum of linkbait however, so don’t judge based on association. Hey, would you want people to judge you based on what they know about your crazy Uncle George? Probably not.

Linkbait is good for you — Here’s why:

Linkbait needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis, just as you would judge the people who create it. What are their motives? Obviously they want to attract links, but there’s more to it than that when people create “good” linkbait.

It’s not just about benefiting you and your website. It’s about benefiting your visitors. Great linkbait does that. You’ll provide amazing content. You might offer a free tool. Whatever kind of linkbait ideas you release, great linkbait involves natural linking. You don’t have to beg and plead and try to con people out of their links.

You simply offer something that’s really worth linking to! There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s called offering value. When you provide real value to your visitors, they’ll happily spread the word about your content, your business, or your website.

What are some examples of linkbait ideas?

There is no single correct formula for successful linkbait. It comes in many forms. Here are some linkbait ideas to get you started on the path to creating more rewarding content, both for your site and your visitors.

1. Write a comprehensive (and illustrated) tutorial.
2. 

   Credit: BigStockPhoto.com

   Release a free tool or calculator.
3. Release free software (or a free trial).
4. Write and offer a free e-book or report.
5. Write a controversial post, tackling an industry issue from a new perspective.
6. Attack someone else’s controversial material.
7. Write a list post (100 resources for your niche audience for example).
8. Launch a contest with great prizes that people can get excited about.
9. Create and post an entertaining video.
10. Line up an interview with a major player in your niche or industry.

There are countless linkbait ideas available, and some of the best became linkbait naturally rather than by design (great content has a way of doing that). If you’re struggling to come up with ideas of your own, take a look around the Web. What’s on the front page of Digg today? What are people tweeting about? What struck you as so awesome recently that you had to spread the word about it?

Don’t be afraid to use linkbait. It’s not unethical in any way, especially if your visitors are a top concern when creating it. So don’t buy into the naysayers. They just don’t have the full picture.