In business since 2000, Debra shares some of the expertise she’s gained from executing hundreds of link building campaigns with us! Enjoy, as Debra gives her candid take on link marketing – how it’s evolved and where it stands today.

Please share a bit of your background with us: When did you start in SEO? What led you to specialize in linking? (or is it “link building”?)

I’ve always referred to it as link marketing because of the way I work, but most people call it link building.

In 2000 I launched a directory featuring organic food and clothing. It was a small site with about 200 products and a page for organic news.

I was new to the Internet and web design so the directory didn’t look like much but it was packed with great information. I marketed the site by emailing business owners selling organic products and asking them to feature the directory on their sites.

After a couple months I noticed I was ranking in the first three spots on almost every engine I used. I was happy but clueless as to why. When the business owners listed in my directory started asking me to help them rank, I knew I needed help and went looking online for information on internet marketing.

That’s when I found the old Rank Write newsletter Heather Lloyd-Martin and Jill Whalen used to publish. I read several editions and figured out what I was doing.

I ended up working for Jill for a while to hone my linking skills, and once I felt confident to offer link building as a stand-alone service, I launched Alliance-Link.

Prior to 2000, I spent 15 years in the marketing department of Anheuser-Busch and four years before that working for Uncle Sam as a civil servant in the Officers’ Club system.  Both positions gave me a solid marketing education and directly influence the way I work today.

In your opinion, how has the linking-building “landscape” changed over the years’ you’ve been involved in SEO?

You know I’ve been asked this question frequently over the years and I’ve never changed my answer… what I do has not changed but where I do it, has. I’ve always secured links by developing promotions, distributing content or working with the media; since they are core marketing functions it doesn’t matter what the algorithm – that stuff works regardless.

There are many different types of link builders: some people use mass submission tools or pay for links, others send request letters, or use private networks, etc. It’s all good and it all works, which is why I use a little of each when I build links.

No matter how you work, there are definitely more opportunities now. That’s a big change from when I started.  Back in the day, there were no blogs, no Facebook, no YouTube, no Twitter.  When blogging went mainstream and the social media sites took off, opportunity exploded with it.  New sites bring new links and traffic streams, both gold for a linker.

What are the major challenges of link building now, given the search and social merger?

For me the biggest challenge has been keeping up with what’s new. I have to spend more time now than ever before reading, surfing and listening for new opportunities, new sites and new social media trends so I can be an early adopter. Sometimes, it’s just about being first.

What would you say has had the most dramatic impact on link building over the past year or so?

I believe two things have dramatically impacted linking and that’s the implementation of Universal search and the preference engines, especially Google, have given brands in the search results.

I didn’t include Panda because little of what we monitor was impacted and when it was, we found work-arounds so our sites have rebounded.

Unfortunately I don’t always have an easy time working around Universal search results and that can be uber frustrating.

Trying to find a non-brand, “regular” text listing can be a challenge: there’s far less room for them in the top ten since they are sharing space with sponsored ads, shopping, video, news, local, images, and product search. These are space hogs as the visual elements take twice the space as a text listing.

And then there are the brands, plus sites like Wikipedia and About.com. While easier to work around, the brand’s presence can sometimes be puzzling. The search engines harp on providing good content, user experience and quality linking, yet most brand pages in the search results are little more than product listings.

Here’s an example: when I search on the phrase “fresh water fishtanks”, my second result is from a national brand. I have to really hunt for the on-page fish tank information and two annoying pop-ups that hit me when I land.

I find no inbound links to this page so I have to assume it is pulling link pop from the domain.  So I wonder, where’s the good content, quality user experience and inbound links we’re told are needed to rank well? Do those criteria vanish because the page is a brand? Seems so, otherwise the well-optimized independent site should rank first and second –  but they don’t.

You mentioned it was easier to work around brands, About.com and Wikipedia: how do you build links in such competitive areas? 

Universal elements (Google news, shopping, etc.) use different algorithmic factors to determine search results, whereas brands and Wikipedia use algorithmic elements we’re more familiar with.

Things like link popularity, content, and social signals (supposedly) are used to rank and display pages. Dissecting back link profiles around sites like Wikipedia is smart – you find media and content sources in addition to sites that you can either get a link from or get a comparable link.

Earlier I said “sometimes it’s about being first.” Well, sometimes it’s also about having more

About Debra Mastaler

Based in Fairfax Station, Virginia, Debra Mastaler is President of Alliance-Link, an interactive marketing company focused on providing link building training and consultations.

Debra was voted one of the Top SEO Women of 2011 and recently was named one of Search Marketing Standard Magazine’s “Women of Internet Marketing.”  You can get more link marketing wit and wisdom from Debra at her blog, linkspiel, and you can find her on Twitter via @debramastaler.

Want to learn more about SEO copywriting? Check out SuccessWorks’ SEO copywriting training options to see what program suits you best!

Realizing there are several more ways to tell that your sales copy sucks, here Heather addresses three more characteristics that mark bad sales copy – and then shares on how to go about fixing them so that your sales content pops off the page.

Tune in to learn how refining your website’s tone and feel, sharing specific benefits with your readers, and using keyphrases deftly can transform your sales copy from sucky into conversions-driving, reader-focused gold!

1. The tone and feel is off base

While this is an issue that mostly affects B2B sites, any website can suffer from this malady.

• Think about your reader when you’re writing your copy – what would you say if you spoke with them in person?

There’s something about sitting down and writing something – especially Web copy – that flashes some folks back to high school English class.

They then create this very formal-sounding document that would stand up really well in an English class, but when it comes to communicating and connecting online it falls short.

• A more “formal” tone and feel does not make you sound smarter.

In another scenario, there are some companies that believe that a formal tone and feel makes them sound smarter, and automatically conveys that they are an “expert” in their field.

• Newsflash! Formal tone and feel does not an expert make.

So instead of flashing back to that high school or college English class, or thinking that a formal tone and feel is what you need (which, in some cases it could be, depending on your audience and subject matter), again try to think about how you would communicate with folks if they called you directly.

Then, try to translate that to what you are writing online so that some warmth and personality shine through.

• If you’re not sure if you’re connecting in this fluid and natural way online, consider sharing your sales copy with someone who knows you, as well as your company.

Ask them: “Does this sound like me?” and “When I talk to folks online, is it the way I usually sound, or am I making myself sound different somehow?”

A trusted colleague or editor can give you some valuable feedback about how you can loosen up and warm up your copy with personalized content, but still manage to convey a solid and credible business tone and feel.

2. You don’t provide any real information because “you want people to call you.”

Sharing just a hint of your helpful information that doesn’t give away too much may seem savvy. Wrong!

Yes, it may sound edgy, it may sound interesting, but at the end of the day it doesn’t convey the benefits your company can provide prospects.

• Guess what? People probably won’t call you.

If you’re going down this path as a marketing strategy, the very real possibility is that folks probably won’t bother to call you. After all, your competition is only a back-click away.

It’s so easy for folks to realize that “Given company X isn’t providing me with any helpful information, let’s check out what company Y has to offer.”

• Always showcase your value, expertise and benefits.

So be sure to track what your competitors are doing (and not doing) and make sure that you provide substantive information that addresses what your audience cares about.

Giving your readers solid information is a fantastic way to showcase your expertise and value, as well as inform them about exactly what you can do for them.

3. You add a bunch of keyphrases “just in case.”

• It won’t help.
• It will turn off your readers.
• Did I mention that it won’t help?

It’s somewhat (darkly) funny that Google Analytics demi-god Matt Cutts has come out with a video discussing the myth of keyphrase density, and the myths surrounding the myth – only to hear folks say “Well, I know what he said, but I still have this feeling that if I add a few more keyphrases to my content that’s going to make all the difference – I’m going to make all sorts of money and my life is going to be grand!”

Ah, if only it were so. But it’s not real or realistic, so please: Don’t do this.

Instead, focus on your readers and do those things that will best help them.

Remember: focus on your reader, not SEO for SEO’s sake

• Yes, you do want to add keyphrases to your content.
• Yes, you want to make sure that you have those SEO copywriting bases covered.
• But adding random keyphrases or repeating keyphrases or doing anything that detracts from valuable content is not going to help you and it’s gonna turn off your readers, so DON’T DO IT!

Thanks for joining us for this week’s SEO copywriting how-to video! If you have a question for Heather, you can tweet it to her @heatherlloyd or email her via heather@seocopywriting.com. And be sure to check back next Monday for another hot Web-writing tip – it may well answer your question. See you then!

Learn the latest SEO copywriting and direct response skills while realizing your full freelancing career’s income potential: check out the only industry-recognized and highly proclaimed SEO Copywriting Certification training program today!

I received this note from a talented SEO copywriter:

“It’s really true that it’s important to do what one loves – and because I have ADD, I find social campaign management/monitoring, etc. to be extremely difficult, staying on top of Twitter and Google+ and FB and LinkedIn and StumbleUpon and YouTube and and Hootsuite and hash-tags and likes etc. It’s downright painful for me and I’d rather chew glass I’m afraid… 

Is there a place for an SEO Copywriter who has very strong skills in writing website core content, email/landing page campaigns, blog posts, case studies, reports, ebooks, etc. (which is a heck of a lot) — and not do social posts/monitoring too? I was recently asked to submit a proposal for a social campaign and I’m actually dreading it. I don’t even want the project. “

If you cut your teeth on traditional print copywriting, this may really hit home. Once upon a time, you may have been writing catalog copy (for print catalogs,) direct mail pieces and display ad copy.

Today, you’re being asked to research keyphrases, keep up with the latest search engine changes and watchdog social media campaigns.

Which leads many copywriters to ask the question “Is traditional copywriting dead?”

The answer is no. Not really. But things certainly have changed.

Many folks know that I cut my teeth on print copywriting. Long before we were Googling, I was writing ad copy for a local newspaper and developing marketing collateral for screw compressors (really.) Moving to an online environment was a very different experience 14+ years ago. Readability rules changed – since people were reading off of a monitor, that meant presenting the content in a slightly different fashion. Skill sets changed – I had to learn how to research keyphrases and segment them by buyer’s intent. And yes, I did have to keep up with the latest search engine changes and learn the technical lingo.

I think the definition of “copywriter” (and “copywriting”) has changed and morphed over the years. Today, a copywriter may still choose specialize in print communications (print is not necessarily dead and can still gain some great returns.) Or, a copywriter may love writing emails, landing pages and special reports. Or, some copywriters (sometimes called social media writers) may love tweeting, Google+-ing and Facebooking.

At the same time, how we write what we write goes back to traditional copywriting techniques. Show, not tell. Make sure your reader knows “what’s in it for her.” Know what makes your reader tick. The list goes on and on…

So “traditional copywriting” isn’t dead. There’s just more opportunity.

Does this mean that you, as a copywriter, need to embrace and do everything? No. It is perfectly OK to tell your clients, “I specialize in X copywriting” rather than tacking on Y and Z and gritting your teeth the entire time.

Having said that, there are some things that you may want to consider:

If you’re working online, it’s crucial to keep up with the latest search engine changes. Sticking your head in the sand because SEO is “too technical” can hurt your clients (something may change that you need to know about) and makes you look dumb (you want to be able to answer your clients’ questions.) It doesn’t mean that you need to be an expert. Just know what’s going on.

If you’re getting a lot of requests for X, partner with another copywriter. If you’re a print copywriter, the smartest thing you can do (assuming you don’t want to learn how to write online) is work with another copywriter. Then, when a client requests something you don’t like to do, you can hand it off to someone you know and trust. You could even build up a powerful virtual agency with this technique. Imagine being a “one-stop shop” for print, online sales pages/email and social – wow!

Always try something new – but be gentle with yourself. It’s easy to get caught up in the “I don’t want to learn that – I’m already overwhelmed” trap. And yes, it really is easy to overwhelm. Choose one “thing” a quarter that you learn more about. Maybe it’s learning more about SEO copywriting. Or try setting up a Google+ account and build your Circles. Or if you’re more of a sales writer, try your hand at an ebook. Trying things new keeps you fresh and curious. And besides, you may discover that you actually like whatever you just tried – and you can develop a brand-new profit center.

Are your clients asking about SEO and you need to know more about it? Do you have a print background and need to learn how to write online? Check out my SEO Copywriting Certification training for step-by-step help.

Photo gratitude to tj scenes

Content Marketing

Perhaps the most balanced and comprehensive post to come out all week about the Google+/Search+ hybrid is Lee Odden’s “Google+ Optimization vs. Community Building: Pros & Cons of Google SPYW” at Top Rank.

Need content for Google+ and the Twitter stream? Heather Lloyd-Martin suggests you go “old school” and cultivate your portfolio of marketing tips like the pre-internet copywriters did with their beloved “tips booklets.” At SEO Copywriting.

Level 343 posts a smart discussion about budgeting for online marketing and measuring ROI (bonus – an actual ROI formula) with “Marketing Online – What Was That ROI Formula Again?”

Jeff Bullas discusses five lessons from Coca-Cola’s new content marketing strategy (and builds on his “liquid content” thesis) at his blog.

Adapted from a newly-released HubSpot e-book, an ode to the content editorial calendar – with an exemplary guideline – is shared by Sara Goliger at HubSpot.

Citing PQ Media stats, Brafton News reports that businesses generated more than $39 billion from mobile content marketing in 2011.

iMedia Connection (iMedia25) lists brands that are shaping the future of video marketing by their pioneering efforts in 2012.

Michael Kolowich shares ways to reduce your video content budget at Content Marketing Institute.

Building an online portfolio? Ann Smarty posts a detailed how-to on creating (and publicizing) a master feed of all your guest posts at SEO Smarty.

Heidi Cohen posts five quotes representing the “core principles of content marketing” from David Ogilvy, “the father of content marketing,” at her blog.

Marketing Profs shares three ways to make your content search friendly.

Andrew Dumont outlines five steps to “bootstrapping your PR efforts” at SEOmoz.

B2C (Business 2 Community) shows what black hat content marketing for SEO looks like.

Lee Odden shares five basic SEO troubleshooting tips for content marketers at Top Rank.

So does your sales content suck? Find out how to tell and how to remedy it at SEO Copywriting.

Finally, five “tricks” for generating web traffic when nobody’s at the proverbial helm are shared at HubSpot.

Events:

• iMedia Connection’s (Iconic) Branding Summit is scheduled for February 5^th through the 8^th in Bonita Springs, Florida.
• OMS and SES Search & Social Accelerator in San Diego are scheduled for Feb 6^th through the 9^th.
• MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2012 will be held in Las Vegas, February 7^th through the 10^th.

SEO & Search

Jason Cormier discusses “why your business needs to be on Google+ now” at Search Engine Watch.

Dr. Pete shares four ways to de-personalize Google (un-plus it) in your search at SEOmoz.

Lior Levin posts how businesses can actually benefit from Google’s Search+ at Pandia.

Nathan Safran discusses how Google’s Search+ could threaten its “core search business” at Search Engine Watch.

Kristi Hines lists 40 advanced and alternative search engines at KISSmetrics.

Website Magazine reports that Google is doing the flip-flop on its page layout algorithm “improvement.”

Danny Goodwin reports on Google’s new privacy policy, noting that it combines user data from all Google services, at Search Engine Watch.

Corey Eridon shares “Five Awesome Landing Page Lessons From Real Life Examples” at HubSpot.

Your local SEO checklist for 2012 is posted at Search Engine Guide.

For enterprise-level SEO, Brian Provost posts the ultimate guide to enterprise SEO (25 things to know before you take the plunge) at Search Engine Land.

Avinash Kaushik posts “Google Analytics Tutorial: 8 Valuable Tips to Hustle with Data,” aimed at inspiring the reader to get involved with analytics, at Occam’s Razor.

eMarketer reports that “Google remains king as search ad spending climbs,” and Barry Schwartz elaborates on this further at Search Engine Land.

P.J. Fusco discusses how Google’s Search+ is changing SEO at Search Engine Watch.

Glenn Gabe discusses how Google’s Search+ could impact search engine marketing with seven examples, at Search Engine Journal.

So will Google be changing your titles and descriptions? Bill Slawski examines the question at SEO by the Sea.

Michael Gray discusses how to write blog posts for existing customers (to turn them into repeat customers) at his blog.

Andy Komack poses three questions to three experts about mobile SEO at Blue Train Mobile.

Greg Sterling discusses the results of an eye- and click-tracking study conducted by Mediative, showing that customer reviews and images drive clicks in mobile users, at Search Engine Land.

Neil Patel discusses three ranking factors that matter (“but nobody seems to care about”) at Search Engine Journal.

Geoff Kenyon discusses avoiding over-optimization with targeted anchor text distribution at SEOmoz

George Aspland posts 12 steps to optimizing a webpage for organic keywords at Search Engine Land.

Melissa Fach posts “Klout Myth Busters: Thoughts from the Experts” at Search Engine Journal.

Finally, Ethan Lyon discusses finding guest post links via a custom Twitter search tool (that he made) at SEOmoz.

Events:

• Search Marketing Expo (SMX) West 2012 – is on for San Jose, from February 28th through March 1st.
• The SMX West Session Agenda is now available: Heather Lloyd-Martin will be speaking on “The ‘New’ Killer Content” on March 1st, from 9 to 10:15 a.m. (Pacific time).
• SES Conference & Expo New York 2012 is scheduled from March 19^th through the 23^rd.
• Distilled’s LinkLove is scheduled for March 30^th in London (LinkLove London) and for April 2^nd in Boston (LinkLove Atlantic).

Social Media Marketing

The top 10 social media blogs of 2012 are posted at Social Media Examiner.

Google+ updates headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.

Guillaume Bouchard posts a how-to on harmonizing Google+ with your other social platforms at Search Engine Watch.

Aaron Friedman discusses how G+ is not a Facebook killer and was never intended to be with “Google+ Growing Your Social Network: Quantity vs. Quality” at Search Engine Land.

Rebecca Corliss reports that LinkedIn is 277-percent more effective for lead generation than are Facebook and Twitter, at HubSpot.

Shelly Kramer lists the 12 most effective ways to generate leads on LinkedIn at V3 Integrated Marketing.

Newt Barrett discusses how to put social media marketing to work for your company at Content Marketing Today.

MarketingProfs reviews (Ant’s Eye View) Chris Carfi’s Social Engagement Journey, comprised of five social stages, with “Socialize Me! In Stages, Though, Please.”

Martin Solar posts an industry discussion of the “true nature” of social media ROI at Search Engine Journal.

Casey Zeman posts five ways to brand your (new) YouTube profile at Social Media Examiner.

Lauren Indvik reports that Pinterest has become the top traffic driver for retailers via an infographic at Mashable.

Kaila Strong discusses seven creative ways that your brand can use Pinterest at ClickZ.

Pamela Vaughan posts “the ultimate guide to mastering Pinterest for marketing” at HubSpot.

Dave Copeland explains how Pinterest uses your content without violating copyright laws at ReadWriteWeb.

Jeff Bullas posts a how-to on taking advantage of the latest Facebook updates at his blog.

Neil Patel posts no less than 100 ways to become a Twitter “power user” at Quick Sprout.

Website Magazine posts “awe-inspiring” Twitter brand page designs and tips.

Rae Hoffman-Dolan (“Sugarrae”) discusses turning customers into fans and followers at OPEN Forum.

Brian Solis discusses five trends that will change CRM at his blog.

Finally, Corina Mackay posts three new apps to help you manage your social networks at Social Media Examiner.

Events:

• Starting today: Social Media Examiner’s online Small Business Success Summit 2012 will run from February 1^st through the 23^rd.

Want you own mini weekly roundup delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the free weekly SEO Copywriting Buzz newsletter, with the latest SEO Copywriting posts, expert interviews, how-to’s, and hot copywriting tips!

photo credit to Miguel Virkkunen Carvalho

Alice’s Journey

I am a beginning SEO web writer with 30 years of business and technical writing knowledge and experience. As an online web writer certified in SEO, I specialize in copywriting for small businesses. I have an extensive background in training business and technical writers to communicate clearly. My clients have included major aerospace companies as well as businesspeople from a variety of industries.

My entrance into training technical people was an accident that may remind you of how you got into the business. Most people don’t start their childhood hoping that when they grow up they’ll become SEO copywriters. How did YOU get to this place?

I started as a classroom elementary school teacher. I decided to get a Master’s degree in Reading to become a reading specialist. I soon discovered that all of our courses specialized in Psycholinguistics (how the brain processes information). After graduation, I began to give workshops to other teachers and parents showing them a new way to teach their children to read.

I loved working with adults and became disaffected with teaching children and working for our huge school district. I found a kindred spirit, whose husband happened to be the head of corporate training for a major aerospace company. “They need people to teach writing,” she said.

We spent a year learning as much as we could about teaching adults to write better. Based on my knowledge of Psycholinguistics, we built our program around how readers process the written word. Finally we were ready to launch our business, In Plain English Associates.

My partner’s husband told us one of his employees was looking for a business writing course. We decided I would call her and not let her know who my partner was so she wouldn’t feel pressured. I called on a Thursday and she said, “We filled that business writing class, but we need a technical writing course. Do you do that?”

“Of course,” I said, fingers crossed, and set an interview for the following week. I needed time to go to the technical writing book store and find out what a technical writing course should include.

As it turned out, the technical writers were fine when writing their technical information. They just needed more organization, captions, and bullet points. Their main problem was writing to multiple readers including management, customers, and other non-technical people in the company. We taught them to write clearly and concisely, that is in plain English.

So I, a little kid from the tenements of Brooklyn who wanted to be an M-G-M musical comedy star, became a trainer and later a technical and business writer—and now an SEO copywriter.

What was your journey?

A Brief Interview with Alice

What attracted you to SEO Copywriting?

After completing various business writing projects for clients, I realized that I needed more persuasive tools to help my clients convert prospects to customers.

What SEO Copywriting projects are you working on now? 

My main project is creating my own website and making sure that I use all the best SEO practices to attract clients for my new business.

What do you find most challenging/interesting about SEO copywriting?

My greatest challenge is trying to balance SEO keyphrases and good customer-oriented writing. I tend to write in a conversational tone, but when I review what I wrote, I discover that I didn’t include important keyphrases in my headings and captions.

What have you found to be the biggest “take-aways” from the SEO Copywriting Certification program?

I was delighted to discover that Heather spent the first two segments on getting to know your customer. Influenced by my study of Psycholinguistcs, my underlying principle in teaching writing since 1983 has always been getting to know your reader (prospect, customer) and understanding what their questions, concerns, and problems are.

Heather also validated for me the importance of communicating clearly and concisely in a conversational tone, an integral part of training by In Plain English Associates.

Finally, I appreciated learning about how to apply the best practices to ezines, blogs, and all social media elements.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

What free time? When I do have some, I teach friends to play bridge. I play bridge, lead a weekly creative writing workshop, and play guitar and sing.

Any words for those considering enrolling in the SEO Copywriting Certification program?

I tried studying on my own using free ebooks and blogs, but it wasn’t until I took Heather’s course that I realized how all the parts fit together. SEO includes much more than just learning how to find the best keyphrases.

I especially appreciate how generous Heather is with her students, even after they complete the course. She is always aware of the latest Google trends and makes sure her graduates are aware as well.

And I will be very proud to have my certification badge on my new website!

Alice Zyetz‘s new website (Alice Zyetz.com) is under construction, but you can find Alice on LinkedIn.

Would you like embark on your own writer’s journey and make more money doing so? Learn the latest SEO copywriting and content marketing skills and techniques through SuccessWorks’ SEO Copywriting Certification training and make 2012 your best year ever!

It’s true, writing sales copy is really difficult if you’ve never done it before. There are several ways you can inadvertently go wrong, and many DIY folks don’t know how to go about checking their sales copy to see if they’ve done it right.

So without your knowledge, much less your intention, your sales copy might suck!

Don’t despair. Tune in as Heather addresses the most common sales copywriting mistakes, and how to check your sales copy to ensure you’re not making them…

Your writing focuses on the product/service – not the reader.

• How many times did you include your company name and the words “we” and “our”?
• Readers want to know what’s in it for them.

http://www.futurenowinc.com/wewe.htm

When you’re brand new to sales writing – or even when you’re experienced, but things just aren’t clicking when you sit down to write – it’s all too easy to focus your copy on your company, and/or your product or service. You’ll use the words “we” and “our” a lot, and mention your company name over and over.

• What you want to do is change the focus of the sales content from features to benefits, telling your readers how your product/service helps them.

One of the things you can do when double-checking the focus of your sales copy is to go through and count how many times you’ve used the words “we” and “our,” as well as your company name.

• Or, you can try this cute little tool called the “wewe” monitor. Simply put your sales page URL into the “wewe” tool and it will give you a score that reflects how many times you have focused on the company rather than on the reader. It’s a fun tool worth checking out!

You’re repeating yourself. Repeatedly.

• Repeating yourself = sloppy writing.
• Tighten up the copy and delete any repetitive content.

Repetitive copy is not a mistake reserved for brand new sales writers – it can mar the content of experienced writers who just haven’t quite got the flow of a new writing project yet.

With repetitive copy, the writer might mention a concept or a benefit statement in one paragraph, and then again in the next paragraph – maybe in a slightly different way – and yet again further down the page…

• That is sloppy writing, because it stretches the sales page out longer than it needs to be. Also, repeating a benefit statement may preempt the inclusion of another – possibly even more powerful – benefit statement while cluttering your copy.

So check your sales copy for repetition, tightening it up and deleting any repetitive content.

• If you’re having difficulty seeing where that repetitive content is, then it might be a good idea to give your sales page to an editor, or a trusted someone who can check your work and give you honest feedback.

Your copy is TDL (too damn long)

• Long-form sales letters/Web pages work – if you know what you’re doing.
• Don’t make your readers scroll through useless information.
• Try splitting your information up on multiple pages instead.

Often, a sales page will run too long if the person is new to sales writing, or if they’re experienced but haven’t quite gotten into the flow of the project.

In either case, the writer is throwing everything s/he can think of into the sales page to see what sticks. Besides ending up with a really long sales page, chances are the copy has repetitive content.

• You want your sales page to be as long as it needs to be to convey the information you want it to convey.

While there’s no hard and fast rule for sales page length, the “sweet spot” is usually around 250 to 500 words…BUT that depends completely on your target audience!

You want to avoid writing a long-form sales letter unless you really know what you’re doing. People who know how to write lengthy sales copy online have tested a lot of approaches – it’s what they do, they’re experts. Anybody else who tries it is not likely to see the same results.

What most likely will happen is you’ll end up with 10 pages of copy that your readers will have to scroll through to find out how to take action. You don’t want to do that.

• If you find that your page is getting TDL, but you have so much that you want to say and it’s important information that you what on your site somewhere, try splitting the content up on multiple pages. That way, your readers won’t be overwhelmed with this long, 15,000-word essay!

Thanks for joining us for this week’s SEO copywriting how-to video! If you have a question for Heather, you can tweet it to her @heatherlloyd or email  heather@seocopywriting.com. And be sure to check back next Monday for another hot Web-writing tip – it may well answer your question. See you then!

Want to learn more about sales writing and SEO? Check out SuccessWorks’  SEO copywriting training options to see what program suits you best!

photo credit to josef.stuefer

The “tips” booklet.

Companies would pay a lot of money for writers to pour through their past articles and ferret out tip-worthy content.  These tips were typically turned into a softcover booklet (like “101 Pet Care Tips.” Or “50 Ways to Stage Your Home,”) that sold at trade shows, given away as prospect “leave-behinds,” or marketed as a free gift.

Tip booklets were extremely popular. Readers loved them. Companies loved them – they made great giveaways, and they could be very profitable. Plus, they were (fairly) easy to write.

I realized that there were so many businesses that didn’t post on social media because they didn’t know what to write. At the same time, these companies are leaving money on the table – Google’s brave new “Search Plus” world shows that posting on social networks is more important than ever.

If this sounds like you, it’s time to go old school – and wow ‘em with your expert tips. Here’s how you can leverage this technique and make it work for you:

1. Write a bunch of tips that relate to your product or service. Don’t worry about writing something as long as a blog post – you’ll want to look at posts that weigh in at 140 characters or less. If you want to play with Google+, you’ll have more of a character count…but thinking short and sweet can make the tips creation process go faster.

For example, a vet could create tips like:

• Cat health tips
• Dog health tips
• Facts about dogs/cats
• How to introduce a new pet into the home
• How to handle a pet with separation anxiety
• When to vaccinate your pet.

2. Comb through old marketing materials and pull out anything that you could massage into a tip. Be sure to check out:

• Past newsletters (print and online)
• Past direct mail pieces
• Old blog posts or articles

You can also get ideas for new tips by reading trade magazines, your local newspaper – even listening to the radio. Once you’re in the tip-writing zone, you’ll be amazed how easy they are to brainstorm and write.

3. Next, figure out a daily tips “editorial calendar.” For instance, a vet could segment his tweets/Google+ posts like this:

Monday:  Tip/fact about dogs

Tuesday: Tip/fact about cats

Wednesday:  Pet health tip

Thursday: Answer a reader question (this is great for reader engagement.)

Friday:  Post an article and share why your readers should read it.

Or, maybe you’re a personal (or virtual) assistant. An editorial calendar may look like this:

Monday: How to save time on X.

Tuesday:  How to organize your office

Wednesday: How to save time on common tasks

Thursday:  Easy computer tips and tricks

Friday: Answer a reader question

See how easy it is?

Of course, you can (and should) share more posts – the vet may share a cute picture of one of his furry patients. Or the virtual assistant could post more than one tip a day. But this “old-school” strategy makes sure that you’re doing something – and giving your readers useful information that they’ll want to read (and share.)

Need someone to help you comb through your marketing materials and pull out engaging, on-message tweets? I can help – contact me to find out how.

Photo thanks to laffy4k 

Meanwhile, the big G is roasting in both internal and external PR debacles with its self-serving Google+ corruption of search results, and Facebook rolls out its widely-anticipated open graph app’s.

Whatever your calling – content, social media, SEO and/or search  – you’re sure to find a post or two to illuminate your world here…Enjoy!

Follow-Up on The SOPA Saga

Todd Wasserman reports that SOPA is no more as Lamar Smith, the chief sponsor of the bill, pulls it (for now) at Mashable.

Miranda Miller warns of an emerging threat to online privacy and freedom in the way of legislation forcing internet service providers to collect and retain data on all users, at Search Engine Watch.

Ian Lurie rips into both SOPA and content thieves at Conversation Marketing.

Alexa Steele discusses the #stopSOPA protest as “one kick-ass internet marketing campaign” at The Website Wordsmith.

Content Marketing

Level 343 discusses using the old-school marketing concept of “AIDA” (Awareness/Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) as part of a smart internet marketing strategy.

Heidi Cohen shares seven tips for creating content “that pulls prospects in” at Content Marketing Institute.

RINF News discusses “the bold new face of article marketing.”

Five (likely) flaws in your mobile content marketing strategy are shared by Scott Forshay at Mashable.

Citing data from Marketing Sherpa’s 2012 Email Marketing Benchmark Report, Adam T. Sutton discusses the top three tactics for list growth at the Marketing Sherpa Blog.

Pamela Vaughan posts the ambitious and comprehensive “Everything Marketers Need to Measure and Prove Content ROI” at HubSpot.

Alexa Steele posts “12 SEO Content Commandments for 2012” (part 2 of 2) at Business2Community (B2C).

Andy Havard posts a nine-step guide to creating and marketing your own video content (“for free!”) at SEO Copywriting.

Incredible stat’s from YouTube: Danny Goodwin of Search Engine Watch reports that YouTube is now serving 4 billion videos a day.

Mike Lewis discusses why online video marketing is essential for marketers in 2012 at Socialnomics.

John Jantsch discusses marketing as “the ongoing operation of a system” at Duct Tape Marketing.

Stephanie Tilton discusses how to join the ranks of “best in class” content marketers at Content Marketing Institute.

Finally, Heather Lloyd-Martin shows how to tap customer testimonials in creating your site’s sales page content via her weekly video post at SEO Copywriting.

Events:

• Langley New Media’s 2^nd Annual Content Marketing Retreat is slated to begin tomorrow, January 26^th (and 27^th) in Langley, Washington (state).
• iMedia Connection’s (Iconic) Branding Summit is scheduled for February 5^th through the 8^th in Bonita Springs, Florida.
• OMS and SES Search & Social Accelerator in San Diego are scheduled for Feb 6^th through the 9^th.
• MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2012 will be held in Las Vegas, February 7^th through the 10^th.

SEO & Search

Quantum growth: TechCrunch posts “Apple’s Massive Numbers And Some Context,” noting that Apple’s 2012 first quarter profit of $13.1 billion is equivalent to its fourth quarter revenue of 2010.

WordStream’s Larry Kim posts a breakdown of the top 10 industries contributing to Google’s 2011 advertising revenues of $37.9 billion, complete with an infographic noting each industry’s commonly-used keywords and their cost per click.

Citing comScore’s December 2011 data and Media Matrix rankings, Matt McGee reports on the widening gap between the “big three” search engines and Facebook (in terms of both aggregate and unique visits) at Marketing Land.

Kate Freeman posts “Bill Gates Recalls Final Talks with Steve Jobs” at Mashable.

Danny Sullivan pens a detailed post on the introduction of the “Don’t Be Evil” tool, backed by Facebook and Twitter, at Search Engine Land.

At Search Engine Watch, Miranda Miller explains the intent of the “Don’t Be Evil” tool:  “…to call Google on the carpet over the preferential treatment given their own Google+ posts and pages in organic search results.”

The “Don’t Be Evil” tool is available at Focus On The User.

Citing Larry Page’s ultimatum to Google employees, Sarah Lacy discusses Google’s internal PR nightmare with Search Plus Your World (SPYW) at pandodaily.

David Angotti discusses Google’s new user account registration requirements in “Google+: Growth by Brute Force,” at Search Engine Journal.

TheNextWeb reports that Google is now allowing users to start conversations directly from its search results.

Matt McGee posts his in-depth interview with a “Google Search Quality Rater” at Search Engine Land.

A.J. Kohn posts “The Ultimate Guide to Google+ SEO” (covering “every aspect and angle of Google+ and how it impacts search”) at Blind Five Year Old.

Brian Whalley shares “Five Google+ Tricks to Dominate Google Search Results” at HubSpot.

TechCrunch discusses Google’s new privacy policy in its ongoing war with Apple, Facebook and Twitter with “Google Stockpiles Data Ammo Through Privacy Merge, Guns To Win Relevancy War.”

Danny Sullivan submits a proposal for a social network détente (specifically Google, Facebook, and Twitter) at Search Engine Land.

At Search Engine Roundtable, Barry Schwartz reports on Google’s new page layout algorithm change that could penalize and downgrade sites that are “top heavy” with excessive ads above the fold.

Referring to Google’s page layout algo change, Kevin Gibbons posts “Did Google Just Roll-Out Panda 3.2 (2012 Edition)?” at SEOptimise.

Will Reynolds posts the interesting “Never Worry About an Algorithm Update Again, a History” at SEOmoz.

Aaron Doades discusses “Understanding Keywords in Search Retargeting” at Search Engine Land.

Bill Slawski posts the insightful “Google’s Query-Based Analysis and Reranking of Search Results” at SEO by the Sea.

Ardala Evans discusses how to use the Intelligence feature of Google Analytics at Vertical Measures.

Ian Lurie shares an updated version of his Google Analytics tutorial (Install) at Conversation Marketing.

Kristi Hines posts an excellent how-to on getting “actionable data” out of Google Analytics at KISSmetrics.

Hugo Guzman discusses social media influencer outreach and SEO link-building strategy with “What fishing with my dad taught me about link building.”

Rand Fishkin posts his answers to “43 (Twitter-solicited) questions about search, social, content, conversions and more” at SEOmoz.

Tim Ash continues his ClickZ blog series on fixing your website with “Step 3: Determining What to Test.”

Neil Patel discusses the importance of website design for SEO with “How to Design Your Blog for Awesome SEO” at QuickSprout.

Finally, at RINF news, Mike Meaney promotes Ann Smarty’s MyBlogGuest as a resource for keeping your website fresh with guest posts.

Events:

• Search Marketing Expo (SMX) West 2012 – is on for San Jose, from February 28th through March 1st. Early bird rates expire January 28^th.
• The SMX West Session Agenda is now available: Heather Lloyd-Martin will be speaking on “The ‘New’ Killer Content” on March 1st, from 9 to 10:15 a.m. (Pacific time).
• SES Conference & Expo New York 2012 is scheduled from March 19^th through the 23^rd.
• Distilled’s LinkLove is scheduled for March 30^th in London (LinkLove London) and for April 2^nd in Boston (LinkLove Atlantic).

Social Media Marketing

Facebook’s integration of 60 apps with its Timeline headlines Social Media Examiner’s weekly news.

HubSpot also reports on Facebook’s launch of its “much-anticipated open-graph applications,” as does Shelly Kramer of V3 Integrated Marketing.

Another perspective on the Facebook apps roll-out is posted at SEOHacker, with “Facebook is blurting out your private information.”

Lance Ulanoff questions the timing of Facebook’s apps launch (“Facebook Timeline-ageddon: Why Now?”) at Mashable.

Maya Grinberg discusses what marketers need to know about Facebook’s Timeline at Social Media Examiner.

Lee Odden posts “11 ways to get smarter and stay current in a world of social information overload” at Top Rank.

Lauren Schaefer lauds the benefits of Pinterest, the hot new social-sharing (“virtual pinboard”) platform, at {grow}.

According to stats and data from Hitwise and comScore, Pinterest “is growing like gangbusters,” at Marketing Land.

Citing survey findings from Borell Associates, Matt McGee expresses relief that small businesses are measuring social success “the right way” (with new customers) at Small Business Search Marketing.

Mark Burgess discusses the strengths of Google+ for small businesses at Blue Focus Marketing.

J.R. Pittman shares her epiphany about what “build your brand story” actually means at Level343.

Ekaterina Walter (guest) posts “Brand-Jacking: Social disaster or the highest form of flattery?” at Brian Solis’ blog.

Jeff Bullas shares his top 10 social media posts from 2011 at his blog.

MarketingProfs shares five ways to boost B2B fan engagement on Facebook.

Sexy Social Media recommends five tools for enhancing your Twitter experience.

CompuKol Connection posts why it’s necessary for the media to be social.

Seth Godin discusses icky mercenary and obligatory social sharing with “Trading favors.”

Ashley Zeckman shares four tips for “avoiding the social media time suck” at Top Rank.

Finally, Brian Solis posts “Looking Beyond 2012: Trends for Leading Transformation.”

Events:

• Social Media Examiner’s online Small Business Success Summit 2012 will run from February 1^st through the 23^rd.

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photo credit: Jachin Sheehy

Guest Author, Andy Havard

All too often, bloggers and small businesses miss out on great content marketing opportunities due to budgetary constraints. Does that resonate with you?

Did you know that online video couldn’t be a more cost-effective and convenient marketing approach for any product, brand or service?

And you must know that online video is the hot and growing – and most likely indefinite – trend for content marketing?

Here, I’m going to tell you exactly how you can master this medium with 9 steps to creating and marketing your own videos from home, for free!

1. Location Is Everything (Yet Nothing at All!)

A common misconception about creating video content to market on the web is that you need to hire out lavish studios or rent out a space in which to film. In fact, all you really need is a room in your apartment or house that has a wall or a space you can stand in front of comfortably. (You could even use a bit of garage space for that matter).

Once you’ve found a space, you need to make your background as tailored to your niche and style as possible.

For instance, if your brand is quite personable and informal you might find the natural look of your room suits your video perfectly.  Or if you’re looking for that Apple-esque, Google-ish white sheen, there are a few simple ways to create that effect:. use a white wall, white papered walls, or a white sheet to cover the wall to form your sleek white background.

You can boost the brightness and overall look of this background with your lighting and post-production editing.

2. Set Up Your Camera

More than likely, you already have a variety of cameras in your possession – for instance your mobile phone, tablet, computer, and obviously your camcorder or digital camera. If you don’t have access to any such equipment, then alas! You’ll need to purchase or borrow a means of recording video.

You’ll want to steady and stabilize your camera to make your footage as good (i.e., professional and non-wobbly) as possible. This can easily be accomplished using a desk, chair, or even a bookshelf – anything that serves to keep your camera level and still during filming.

You’d be surprised at what household furniture you can use to do the same job as a $100 tripod!

3. Set Up Your Lights

Understandably, hanging a sheet on your living room wall might not fill you with a lot of confidence or optimism. The slick , professional background look you (may) want to achieve starts to take shape when you add your lighting.

Your choice of lighting can range from industry-standard fluorescent lights to three strong standing lamps.

You’ll need to position two of these lights on either side of your backdrop (one to the left, the other to the right of your subject). Then place a third light near your camera at a 30-degree, downward angle to your on-screen subject. This set-up will help to illuminate your backdrop and make it look crisp and bright.

As with your makeshift tripod, you can use household lamps to do the job of studio-grade lighting. To maximize your light level, try to shoot in an area that is naturally light, but not over-exposed to sunlight. You can then use household lamps to smooth out the lighting in your shot. Try to make sure that no shadows are being cast on your subject or background.

4. Record Your Sound

You’ll probably find your digital camera has a built-in microphone that provides a good sound quality for your video. Failing that, your computer or phone more than likely will, which you can sync up later on.

If for some reason there’s no microphone present in any of your devices, you will have to invest in an inexpensive external microphone to capture your audio.

When you’re recording your sound, try to keep audio levels consistent as changes in volume could cause the sound to distort. Try to allow time for a sound recording test before you record your final audio.

5. Edit Your Video

If you’re feeling a little discouraged or cynical about the bedsheet stuck to your wall, your computer camera, living room lamps and make-shift tripod, take heart: your editing process is where the magic happens. You really can make your online video the exciting, engaging piece of online content that you envisioned!

You can get download free, easy-to-use editing software for a PC (Windows) or Mac, such as Windows Movie Maker or iMovie, both of which are more than sufficient for your video editing needs.

By altering your contrast/brightness you will be able to boost your backdrop and improve the lighting of your shot, creating that studio-quality background. You’ll also be able to use your software to edit your video into a short, sharp, essential piece of online content.

6. Upload Your Video To The Web

There is a wide array of free video-sharing sites to which you can upload your video content, such as Vimeo, Viddler, Dailymotion, Flickr, Tumblr, and of course, YouTube.

Considering that YouTube  is the worlds’ #2 search engine and the most popular video-sharing platform, it’s the obvious choice as an upload point for any web video. But if you have the time, it’s worth uploading your video to as many platforms as possible.

After you’ve uploaded your masterpiece, you can then link from the video-sharing platform to an embed on your own website or blog, giving you some link-love while ensuring you reach your target market.

7. Optimize Your Video For Search Engines

When you upload your content to free hosting sites be sure you’ve optimized it for the search engines. You may have guessed that Google’s YouTube content is especially visible in Google’s search engine results - if properly optimized.  And as a platform, YouTube offers a considerable array of video SEO tools.

By using titles, descriptions, tags, and closed captions that feature the keywords and phrases relevant to your brand and video content, you can be sure that your video is ticking all of the SEO boxes.

8. Market Your Online Video with Social Sharing

The video-hosting sites (in Step 6) offer some fantastic marketing avenues. The majority of them readily integrate with Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn, allowing you to post your content in Pages, Groups, Discussions, Wall Posts and Statuses.

You can also explore features such as YouTube’s Video Response, where you can use your online video content to comment on other users’content. By making use of the tools free hosting sites offer, you can market your content easily and cost-effectively to a staggeringly wide audience.

9. Track Your Online Video with Analytics

Tracking the analytics of your video is the most effective way to ensure it is achieving the goals you’ve set out to accomplish.

Google Analytics, YouTube Analytics and Facebook Insight are all great free tools for measuring conversion rates, social media growth and viewership. By tracking your video through these three tools you can measure the success of your video on every level.

It’s always advisable to check your video data frequently in order to keep an eye on its progress. If it’s failing to achieve your goals, you can alter your current strategy to better optimize your content and improve the numbers.

This is the year of content marketing with video, and it is a “trend” that’s here to stay. Don’t be left in the dust – follow these steps and take full advantage of this truly awesome opportunity to grow your business and readership with video content!

About The Author: Andy Havard

Andy Havard is a Marketing Executive at Skeleton Productions, a UK based Internet video production company. You can connect with Andy via his company’s Facebook page, or directly via LinkedIn and Twitter.

Would you like to upgrade your copywriting skills and income? Learn the latest SEO copywriting content marketing skills and techniques through SuccessWorks’ SEO Copywriting Certification training and make 2012 your best year ever!

For many of us, writing a sales page can be challenging. You may be a really great blogger, able to write about anything, or you may be a small business owner wanting to write your own sales copy for your website…in any case, if you’ve never written persuasive copy before, it can prove to be very difficult.

Fortunately, there is a rich resource you can tap for crafting convincing sales copy: tune in and learn how you can draw on your happy customers’ testimonials for the specific content you need to write a killer sales page…

Sales writing can be challenging…

• You need to tell your prospects ”what’s in it for them.”

All of the content that you write needs to be customer-focused: your prospects want to know what’s in it for them.

• But if you’re new to sales writing, it’s easy to write about features and forget about benefits.

If you’re brand new to sales writing, or if you don’t’ do it all that often, it’s easy to lapse into a discussion about the great features of your product – its color, shape, and dimensions – rather than how those features can actually benefit or otherwise help your prospect.

In the case of a service, you may say “we offer a, b, and c” but fail to say how these offerings can improve your prospects’ bottom line.

Testimonials provide valuable insight…

Here’s an easy way to work around the features vs. benefits conundrum and jump-start the process of writing a kick-butt sales page: rather than starting the sales writing process first, instead have the first step be gathering customer testimonials about your product or service.

• Why not discover what your customers love about your product or service?

By discovering what it is your customers love about your product or service, you’re spared trying to guess or make a judgment call about what the most important benefit statement should be. You can simply gather customer testimonials and find out for yourself!

• When you write your content, you can refer to the testimonials and create better benefit statements.

In crafting your sales copy, you can refer to your customer testimonials to provide content rich with tangible, specific benefit statements.

For example, maybe you own a pilates studio and have helped a lot of people with back problems. If you see that specific benefit mentioned time and again in your customer testimonials, then you might weave it into your sales copy: “We help people with back problems,” and then add a sample testimonial.

Or, it might be that you own a company that helps other companies with their accounting. Perhaps you can say that you helped company X streamline their accounting process, and even made it fun…If that’s the feedback from your clients – that they enjoy working with you and find it fun to work with you – then by all means use it in your sales copy!

Consider asking questions like…

Using client testimonials is a different way to slant how you write the sales page.

When you’re getting ready to send out those requests for testimonials, rather than say “ Hey Bob, you’re a great customer and I’m wondering if you would write a brief testimonial for me” – which might strike Bob as headlights strike deer, or elicit something that doesn’t work the way you’d hoped – instead refine your request, such as:

• How has my product/service helped you? Please be specific.

The hope here is that folks will talk about how they saved or made money working with you – something that speaks to how working with you helped improve their bottom line.

• What were your challenges before finding my business?

In this way you can take your customer’s story and weave into your sales copy.

• Why did you decide to work with my company over my competitors?

The answer to this can enlighten you as to your U.S.P. (Unique Sales Proposition) and provide specific insights to include in your sales copy.

You can simply put these questions in an email, taking care not to overwhelm – maybe limit them to five.

Once you’ve gathered your customer testimonials, you will have a fantastic platform to write that sales page!

This approach provides four benefits…

• The writing process will go much faster. You don’t have to “guess” at benefits.
• If a testimonial is really good, you can expand it into a case study, interview, or blog post.
• You’ll have powerful “specifics” that you can weave into your Web copy.
• You’ll have testimonials!

And as a final note: remember to sprinkle your testimonials throughout your site – you’ll wow your prospects even more!

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s SEO copywriting video! If you have a question for Heather, you can tweet it to her @heatherlloyd or email  heather@seocopywriting.com. And be sure to check back next Monday for another hot Web-writing tip – it may well answer your question. See you then!

Want to learn more about sales writing and SEO? Check out SuccessWorks’  SEO copywriting training options to see what program suits you best!

photo credit: Mathyld