Content Marketing

So are your landing pages realizing a positive ROI or are they “more like bouncing betties?” A great landing page ROI 101 post by Level 343.

And does your copywriting convert? Heather Lloyd-Martin discusses informercial-inspired direct response copywriting techniques at  SEO Copywriting.

“Finally: 2012 Superbowl Ad Neuro-Rankings” are in: Roger Dooley discusses them at Neuromarketing.

Events:

• Usability Week 2012 Conference, hosted by the Neilsen Norman Group, is scheduled for June 25^th thru the 29^th in Chicago.
• Sales Brain announces an open, two-day Neuromarketing Workshop in Phoenix, June 6^th and 7^th.
• Marketing Sherpa’s Optimization Summit 2012 will be held in Denver from June 11^th thru the 14 ^th.
• Marketing Sherpa’s B2B Summit 2012 will be held in Orlando, August 27^th thru the 30^th.
• Content Marketing Institute’s Content Marketing World 2012 is scheduled for September 4^th thru the 6^th in Columbus, OH.

SEO & Search

Avinash Kaushik discusses “Measuring Digital ‘Brand Strength’” at Occam’s Razor

Making the New York Times is “Bing Search Engine to be Revamped as War Against Google Intensifies.”

Bill Ross posts “SEO ROI Measurement: The Only 3 Primary KPIs You Should Care About” at LinchPinSEO

SEOptimise shares “advanced tips and take aways” from SMX London.

When is your first conversion opportunity? The search engine results page: learn how to make your search listings sizzle at SEO Copwriting.

Events:

• SMX (Search Marketing Expo) Advanced Seattle 2012 is scheduled for June 5^th and 6th. Workshops are on June 7^th.
• SES (Conference & Expo) Toronto is scheduled for June 11^th thru the 13^th.
• MozCon 2012 is scheduled for July 25th thru the 27th (in Seattle, of course).
• SES (Conference & Expo) San Francisco is scheduled for August 13^th thru the 17^th.Register before June 16^th for the best rates!
• PubCon Las Vegas 2012 is on for October 15^th thru the 19^th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Register now for early bird rates!

Social Media Marketing

Voicing his dissent with the recommended timing for social sharing, Matt McGee posts “There’s No Best Time to Publish Blog Posts & Social Updates” at Small Business Search Marketing.

Brian Solis pens a most eloquent manifesto, “The Fallacy of Information Overload.”

So what is a “social executive”? Cheryl Burgess posts “7 personalities of a social executive” at Blue Focus Marketing.

Courtney Ramirez weighs the pro’s and con’s of Pinterest vs. Google+ as social media platforms at SEO Copywriting.

Events:

• BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2012, NYC is on for June 5^th thru the 7th in the Big Apple.

Would you like to learn how to write for Google? Just sign up for the free SEO Copywriting Buzz newsletter for lean, no-fluff industry news, either daily or weekly, and get Heather Lloyd’s “25-Point Checklist on How to Write for Google” free!

photo thanks to kaigakyoshite (Roland)

Both of these social networks have broken up the Twitter/Facebook monopoly. In the last year, Google+ has gained 100 million active followers and Pinterest has expanded rapidly to become the 3rd most popular social network.

Not surprisingly, marketers have taken notice. Making Google+ and/or Pinterest part of your social media strategy is a smart move. Based on their early performances, these social networks will be an integral part of an effective social strategy from here on out.

Choosing one or the other isn’t necessary – but it’s a smart move if you want more targeted social media marketing. Each social network has distinct user groups, specific benefits and a few drawbacks.

Taking a Look at the Stats

Understanding the difference between Google+ and Pinterest is as simple as looking at the stats for each social network:

What to know about Google+:

• As of April 2012, Google reports that Google+ now has 170 million active users. (Google)
• As of January 2012, American users spent an average of 3.3 minutes on Google+. (eMarketer)
• Websites using the +1 button generate 3.5x the Google+ visits than sites without the button. (HubSpot)
• Two of the biggest user groups on Google+ are college students and software developers. (Remcolandia)
• 63% of Google+ users are male. (Remcolandia)
• Over 40% of marketers report that Google+ is “useful to critical” for their business. (HubSpot 2012 State of Inbound Marketing Report)
• Google+ is expected to attract 400 million users by the end of 2012. (Remcolandia)

What to know about Pinterest:

• As of February 2012, Pinterest had accumulated 10.4 million users. (AppData)
• As of January 2012, American users spent an average of 97.8 minutes on Pinterest. (eMarketer)
• As of January 2012, Pinterest accounted for 3.6% of referral traffic. (Shareaholic)
• The top interests on Pinterest in the U.S. include crafts, gifts, hobbies/leisure, interior design, and fashion designers/collections. (Ragan.com)
• 80% of Pinterest’s users are female. (comScore)
• Pinterest referrals spend 70% more than visitors referred from non-social channels, including search, according to industry reports. (Wayfair)
• With over 11 million unique monthly visitors (and counting), Pinterest became the fastest standalone website to eclipse the 10 million per month mark ever. (PR Daily)

The growth of both social networks has been impressive – but they clearly have different audiences and different benefits. In order to use one or the other effectively, you need to evaluate your goals.

Know What You Want from Social Media

Knowing your organization’s needs and capabilities for social media marketing will help you select between Pinterest and Google+.

Is your business targeted specifically toward a particular industry, job or gender?

Use the social network that your ideal clients are using. For example, if your target market is developers and other marketers, Google+ is a natural fit. For crafts based businesses, food related companies and products for a female audience; Pinterest would be a much better choice. Speak to the crowd by picking the right platform.

What Type of Traffic are You Seeking? 

Google+ has some unique search engine optimization benefits. Sharing your own links and resources can improve your quality score for your entire site. Having Google+ can enhance your chances for a higher search engine ranking.

Alternatively, Pinterest is a terrific referral traffic generator. If you have some interesting visual elements, product pictures or infographics that you want to spread across the social web, Pinterest is the way to go. Sharing visuals and images can bring more targeted visitors directly to your website.

Can You be Involved Enough to Make an Impact?

Before diving in, do you have the resources to manage another platform effectively? Although Google+ users spend less time on the site than Pinterest users do on their social media platform choice, both require investment and community involvement.

You can’t expect to start a profile, update it infrequently and reap any benefits. It’s better to be involved on a few platforms effectively than spread your resources too thin.

Pinterest vs. Google+ isn’t an issue that will go away anytime soon. With their meteoric rise in users and traffic potential, one or the other is worth your businesses’ time. It just depends on your target market, your traffic goals and your resources.

Do you use Google+ or Pinterest? Or both? Why?

About the Author – Courtney Ramirez

Courtney Ramirez is a proud graduate of the SuccessWorks’ SEO Copywriting Certification training program, and CEO of Six Degrees Content. She is passionate about helping small businesses compete with the big boys with skilled SEO copywriting and content marketing. You can connect with Courtney at her brand’s Google Plus page, Facebook, LinkedIn, and on Twitter @CourtneyRamirez.

Today is it: the SEO Copywriting Certification training program – the only online training independently endorsed by the SEO Copywriting watchdog, SEOpros.org – is raising its price! Grab some huge savings and sign up now! Tomorrow will be too late.

photo thanks to TheBusyBrain

Specifically, Heather demonstrates how informercials can inform your writing with structure, clear calls to action, and benefit statements that scream value to the prospect.

Heather admits that she’s actually addicted to informercials because of what they show you about the process of building excitement and getting people really pumped about buying a product, and showing that product’s value so well.

In fact, she’s willing to bet that if you’ve ever watched an infomercial, at least once in your life you’ve thought, “Huh! I want to buy that!” And that’s how powerful informercials can be! Tune in to learn how watching infomercials can improve your writing…

Infomercials can teach you a lot about how to structure your copy

• The scripts are carefully written and designed to build excitement and convert.

The reason why informercials are so powerful is that the scripts are carefully written and designed to build excitement and convert.  The folks involved in informercials know what they’re doing.

• Everything is measured, so producers can see what works and what doesn’t.

And they know that because they measure EVERYTHING: they have a track record of what works, what doesn’t, and so everything they do is designed with conversions in mind.

• Plus, they make companies a LOT of money.

With their amazing set of skills, informercial copywriters make companies a LOT of money.  Here are three things they do very, very well:

1. But Wait! There’s more…

•  How are you promoting the value of your product or service?

We’ve all seen and heard the “But wait! There’s more!” and this is fun, because what they’re doing here is to sell you on the product and then some.

So when you’re watching the informercial you can get excited about the product, but then after you know the price, you find that they’ve added all this extra stuff and that helps pump up the value: so if your were already set to buy the product at $9.95, when you see all this other stuff that you can get for $9.95 then you’re more than ready to buy.

Really think about how you are promoting the value of your product or service!

• Benefit statements are crucial. You need to tell your prospects “what’s in it for them.”

(Yep, that’s Heather’s WIIFM guy in the screenshot.) Are you really showing the customer what’s in it for him? Those benefit statements are crucial. If you watch informericals, you’ll notice that they may talk a little bit about the product/service features, but everything ties back into the benefit statements.

• You want your prospects to think, “I NEED to have this. Now.”

So it’s not just building a little bit of a need – it’s showing that urgency and intensity so prospects are actually excited to contact you!

2. Call now! Operators are standing by!

The second thing that informercials do is the “Call now! Operators are standing by!” They have calls to action everywhere, throughout the informercial.

• Check your copy. Do you make your call to action clear?

The typical format of the informercial is sharing a little bit of information about the product, and then interjecting “how to order.” Then it goes back to sharing a little bit more information about the product, and then again, cutting in with “how to order” with that phone number.

So when you’re looking at your Web copy, you want to check to see that your call to action is clear.

It’s amazing how many pages, both on the product side and the services side, make it hard to understand what that next action step would be, and how to take it.

• Is it easy to take action?

You want to make sure that not only do you have a call to action (e.g., “buy now!” “contact us today!”) but that it’s easy to take action by providing hyperlinks and buttons, and that everything is very clear to the interested buyer.

• Consider adding a call to action in the content, as well as “add to cart.”

If you’re selling a product, like a lot of folks you might have that little “add to cart” button, and that’s great – but consider that you can also include calls to action with the copy as well.

Amazon does this very well, with its checkout message of “Customers like you also purchased…”  That is another call to action for another conversion.

Maybe you want people to download a white paper, so if people don’t buy from you initially, at least they’ve downloaded something from you and/or they’re on your mailing list.

Make sure that Call to Action is in the content.

3. Hurry, this offer is only available for the next few minutes…!

The third thing about informercials that Heather really loves is that “Hurry…” message.

• Limited-time offers add a sense of urgency.

Well, we all know that that “next few minutes” offer is most likely available whenever you call and you ask for it. But that ticking clock – where it shows that there’s a countdown – provides that sense of urgency that people really respond to.

• If you’re running a sale, make sure that you mention the end date.

It’s funny, how you can run a sale and tell folks that the sale ends on Tuesday – and people may not buy anything until Monday night, because they know the sale is ending soon, and so they suddenly they have that sense of urgency,

So if you’re running a sale, make sure that you mention the end date: make it really, really clear because there are going to be those folks who procrastinate to the very last minute, and you want to let them know when the sale ends.

If you’ve been playing with sales and not mentioning an end date, try stating the end date and see how that boosts your conversions.

• Email campaign? Consider sending another email to remind folks of your limited-time offer.

If you’re running an email campaign and it’s a really cool, exclusive sale, you might want to consider sending another email to remind folks that it’s a limited-time offer.

So for instance, send a brief email of “Just 24 hours left for you to purchase your X at this incredible price.”  And see if you get another bump in conversion rates.

Thank you for joining us for this week’s SEO copywriting how-to! As always, if you have a question or topic suggestion for Heather, zip her an email [at] heather@seocopywriting.com, or tweet her [at] @heatherlloyd.

Have a great week, and we’ll see you next Monday!

Would you like to learn how to write for Google? Just sign up for the free SEO Copywriting Buzz newsletter for lean, no-fluff industry news, either daily or weekly, and get Heather Lloyd’s “25-Point Checklist on How to Write for Google” free!

photo thanks to S.wplunkett

Chances are, you said something like, “When a reader visits my site,” or “When someone sees my landing page.”

But if we’re talking SEO, your first opportunity for conversion may surprise you…

It’s the search engine results page (SERP).

This makes perfect sense. Good SEO is more than helping the page rise in the search results. It’s getting folks to click the listing in the first place.

And that’s where the creative work comes in.

Your Title and meta description is more than a place to stick your main page keyphrases. When they’re written with “getting the click” in mind, they pop on the search engine results page. They’ll draw the reader in and make them want to learn more. So, even if your listing isn’t #1, you can still grab some SERP eyeballs and get that click.

Here’s how to do it.

I’ve written a few blog posts about Title creation. When I’m on stage, I discuss how Titles are like the sexy blurb that you’ll see on magazine covers. Those blurbs, like, “What is he really thinking” are written for a particular purpose: To get you to pick up the magazine and leaf through it. Once you’re holding it in your hands, you’re that much closer to buying it.

Think about your own behavior around this. How many times have you been bored at the checkout counter, checked out the magazine covers and picked one up?

Yup. You want your Titles to have the same impact.

These resources should help you create a Title that screams “click me” from the SERP:

How to create clickable Titles. Short on time? This video post will have you up to speed on Title creation in no time!

How to write SEO Titles that get the click.   Are your Titles a bunch of keyphrase separated by pipes? There’s a better way to do it – check out this video for more information.

Can sexy linkbait Titles backfire?  It’s one thing to have a killer Title. It’s another when the Title is misleading. Here’s how to tell the difference.

Of course, it’s not all about the Title (although the Title is extremely important.) Your meta description tells searchers what the page is about. Sure, Google doesn’t always display the meta description we painstakingly write. On the other hand, that’s not an excuse to “ignore” the meta description. They take five minutes or less to write – so it pays to create a good description (especially for Google site links.)

Here are some resources that should help:

Meta what? Quick tips to transform Web page descriptions into killer marketing statements. Tired of Google not displaying your carefully-crafted meta description. Yeah, me too. The Google Snippet Trick will help with this – and you’ll learn all about it in this post (plus some basic meta description tips.)

How to write for Google’s expanded site links.  Do you want the best meta description possible? Check out this video post about how to create them for Google’s expanded site links. There’s a “twist” to meta description creation that may help increase your conversions off the SERP.

Remember, how you write your Titles and descriptions is just as important as how you write the content. It’s always a good idea to check through your site and see how you can improve them for better click through. Just a few tweaks can help drive even more traffic to your site – and that’s a wonderful thing.

Just a few days left until the SEO Copywriting Certification training price increases. Don’t miss out on the lower price. Sign up now!

So let’s turn and face the strange ch-ch-changes, shall we? Enjoy this week’s picks!

Content Marketing

In part two of her series on the “annual website cleanup,” Lyena Solomon details 2^nd quarter analytics and usability audits at Net Sprinter.

Jason Amunwa pens “Help Your Website Sell More: 11 Overlooked Page Elements That Drive Online Sales” at KISSmetrics.

Beth Fox discusses how to make your content pop with five bullet point basics at Content Marketing Institute.

Pamela Vaughan posts “20 Simple Ways to Boost Blog Subscribers” at HubSpot.

Are you insane? It may help: Neil Patel discusses “How to Become a Blogging Superstar” at SEOmoz.

Dewane Muntunga shares “20 Content Marketing Ideas That Really Work!” at Conversion Cues.

Marketing Sherpa’s weekly Marketing Research Chart shows the results of its survey  of 1500+ marketers that answered: “What are the most valuable inbound lead sources?”

Events:

• MarketingProfs University is offering a live, online “Marketing Writing Bootcamp” from May 10^th thru the 23^rd (with on-demand access to the recordings thru April of 2013). Use coupon code SUCCESS to save $200!
• The Content Strategy Conference, ConFab 2012, scheduled for May 14^th thru the 16^th, is completely sold out, but you can catch live coverage via blogs, updates, and the @confab2012 Twitter stream.
• Usability Week 2012 Conferences, hosted by the Neilsen Norman Group, are scheduled for May 14^th thru the 18^th in Washington, D.C., and for June 25^th thru the 29^th in Chicago.
• Sales Brain announces an open, two-day Neuromarketing Workshop in Phoenix, June 6^th and 7^th.
• Marketing Sherpa’s Optimization Summit 2012 will be held in Denver from June 11^th thru the 14 ^th.
• Marketing Sherpa’s B2B Summit 2012 will be held in Orlando, August 27^th thru the 30^th.
• Content Marketing Institute’s Content Marketing World 2012 is scheduled for September 4^th thru the 6^th in Columbus, OH.

SEO & Search

Danny Goodwin summarizes the more notable updates (of 52+) that Google launched in April, besides the Penguin update and Panda “refreshes”, at Search Engine Watch.

Heather Lloyd-Martin’s weekly SEO copywriting YouTube post focuses on “SEO content strategies for Google’s Penguin Update,” at SEO Copywriting.

Eric Ward debates the definition of “unnatural” links and lists 15 of the most obvious examples with (his self-described link-bait title) “Can There Really Be 85 Types Of Unnatural Links?” at Search Engine Land

Aaron Wall presents a reality check on negative SEO with “Ha! Bullets Can’t Hurt ME” at SEOBook.

One of the original SEO copywriters, Susan O’Neil, discusses how she keeps her clients a step ahead of their competition with “disruptive innovation,” at SEO Copywriting.

Wasim Ismail interviews Heather Lloyd-Martin on SEO, the Penguin update, and more at his blog site.

Jenny Halasz continues her “Keyword Seed Method” series of how-to’s for beginners with “Time To Reap What You’ve Sown From Keyword Seeds” at Search Engine Land.

The source of the SEO industry’s “reputation problem” – “Google Perhaps” – is brilliantly explored by Aaron Wall at SEOBook.

Events:

• SMX (Search Marketing Expo) Advanced Seattle 2012 is scheduled for June 5^th and 6th. Workshops are on June 7^th.
• SES (Conference & Expo) Toronto is scheduled for June 11^th thru the 13^th. Register before May 11th to save up to $300!
• MozCon 2012 is scheduled for July 25th thru the 27th (in Seattle, of course).
• SES (Conference & Expo) San Francisco is scheduled for August 13^th thru the 17^th.Register before June 16^th for the best rates!
• PubCon Las Vegas 2012 is on for October 15^th thru the 19^th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Register now for early bird rates!

Social Media Marketing

Cindy King’s weekly wrap of social media marketing news at Social Media Examiner features Google’s new set of social reports designed to “help you measure the impact of your social marketing initiatives and evaluate the effect social media has on your goals and commerce activities.”

Jason Falls posts “Why Forums May Be the Most Powerful Social Media Channel for Brands” at Entrepreneur.

Google v. Facebook, the mobile version: Greg Sterling cites comScore data in discussing the relative time spent on mobile channels with “Most Mobile Time Spent In Apps: Google Has Top Reach, Facebook Has Highest Engagement,” at Marketing Land.

Noting that highly visible box on the upper right hand corner of Google’s search results page, Newt Barrett posts “Why You May Be Screwed if You Don’t Take Google+ Seriously,” at Content Marketing Today.

Lee Odden discusses search and social optimization with “Is Your Optimization Meaningful or Mechanical?” at Top Rank.

Citing Bitly data, Danny Sullivan discusses optimum times for social sharing with “For Social Success, Post to Twitter & Facebook In Early Afternoons, Tumblr in Evenings” at Marketing Land.

Michael King (“iPullRank”) pens a detailed how-to on maintaining your social shares after a site migration, at Search Engine Watch

Events:

• BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2012, NYC is on for June 5^th thru the 7th in the Big Apple.

photo thanks to Thuany Gabriela

We are delighted to feature this guest post by Susan O’Neil of Website Publicity, who you may recognize as one of “The women who made SEO great.” Here, Susan briefly  summarizes what she and her Website Publicity business do to help her clients stay one step ahead of the competition, with “disruptive innovation.”

Since a company loses its edge if it doesn’t keep innovating, my team and I are always pondering and preparing for the “next big thing” coming our clients’ way in terms of digital marketing opportunities and challenges. To that end, I recently attended Disruptivate, a conference on Disruptive Innovation.

Listening to stories by diverse “disruptors” like Doug Clark of NEF Manufacturing who is reinventing how shoes are made, and Jeff Carlisle of Our Health Connector who is putting our health records under our own control rather than that of healthcare providers, I considered how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was disruptive back in 1998.

All of a sudden, consumers were able to quickly find whatever they wanted simply by forming a query in their mind and typing it into the blank box at AltaVista or one of the 9 other major search engines.

No one told them how to think about their problem, need or desire. In the privacy of their homes or offices, people searched however they wanted and soon learned how to get the new librarians of the Internet to help them find what they were looking for.

Enter Website Publicity & SEO 

That’s when I closed my PR firm and opened @Website Publicity.

By helping to develop and refine SEO, our company was assisting in the disruption of standard advertising for brands pushing their messages out to consumers.

Marketers had to learn how to alter their websites in order to pull in search engine driven traffic by using the new strategies of SEO.  Marketers were forced to think and operate differently, and new businesses offering SEO services were formed and an industry was built.

Now, SEO is the norm. It’s a basic that should be built into everything we put up online.

Pay-per-Click (PPC) isn’t disruptive, either, at least at first glance.  But when you add in innovators like Pinterest, you can see how Search, Social and Mobile marketing are intersecting in new ways that can and will impact our clients’ success in the marketplace.

Marketing tools may change, strategies may change, and certainly the standard bearers in our industry may change, but one thing won’t: disruptive innovation.

It is our job as marketers to observe and anticipate disruptors in order to help keep our clients ahead of their competition, and to be disruptive ourselves when it serves a purpose.

About the Author – Susan O’Neil

As CEO and Founder of Website Publicity, Susan established a digital marketing agency in 1998, long before the internet marketing explosion. She also co-authored Maximize Website Traffic, one of the first books on SEO ever published. Follow Susan at @suejon.

While Google’s Penguin update is targeted towards outright webspam (and suspect linking profiles), like it’s cute animal predecessor the Panda, it still has many site owners frozen in their tracks.

Take a deep breath and join Heather as she explains why you’ve nothing to fear from the big bad Penguin, and how you can move forward with specific SEO content strategies…

Yes, Google is at it again!

Here we had just recovered from Google’s Panda – another black-and-white animal – and now we are faced with its Penguin update:

• The Penguin update targeted “web spam”.
• Impacted about 3-percent of Web queries – especially those with “unnatural” links.
• Site owners are scared. Again.

About those “unnatural” links: in Google’s eyes, unnatural links might have been those that a company purchased, or those resulting from a link exchange where the company may have been getting a large number of incoming links that were not targeted to its market.

Regardless, the net result of the Penguin update is that site owners are scared, yet again. They are afraid that whatever they do is going to be “wrong,” that Google’s not going to like it, and that they’ll be popped by yet another animal in algorithmic update form in the future.

So here Heather gets into what the industry is saying about how to deal with the Penguin update, and how to move forward without fear.

Here’s what the industry is saying…

Pulling quotes from three different industry sources, Heather notes (and you can see) that the quotes are very similar in that they all discuss content:

“Blog more and blog regularly: Writing content that is useful for end users will not just increase your reader base but force search engines to crawl, index, and rank your site. After all, engines need good content just as badly (to be relevant to their searchers) as you need their “free” traffic.”

- Bob Tripathi, founder and chief marketer at Instant E-Training, as reported in Search Engine Watch.

• This first quote makes the direct correlation between “[w]riting content that is useful for end users” and your site rankings.

“The thing about great content is that it will generate links. But more importantly, great content will add more value to your site’s visitors. Just be sure to promote your new content. Encourage your visitors and customers to share your content and products.”

- Kerry Dean, Search Engine Land

• “…add more value to your site’s visitors.” : That’s an important point. It’s not just adding content for the SEO benefit of it – that has never been the point of adding content – it’s about adding value to your readers. And yes, people will link to it because it’s an exceptionally good article or blog post.

“Always remember that content is (and will always be) king. That is the rule of thumb in white hat SEO. Do you think websites like SEOmoz and Search Engine Journal need to do any link building in order to rank high in search engines? Probably not, they simply focus on delivering high quality content that people constantly link to from their websites and from their social profiles.”

- Amine Rahal, YOUmoz/SEOmoz

So there is your Penguin, right there in these three quotes: now, you have an opportunity to evaluate your site, asking yourself, “All right, how good is my content?” and “Is this something that is good for readers?”

And this is a great opportunity for all sites – occasionally it’s wise for all of us to go back into our site, look at our content, and see what we can do to make our site even better for the visitors who are coming to us!

So what does this mean?

What we know is that: 

• Well-written content is still a safe SEO (and social) bet.

The operative words here are “well written”: this isn’t content driven by a magical keyword density formula or content that’s been written just for search engine purposes or to attract links. This is content that we know is good for our readers.

So what you can do is:

• Review your site, look for content opportunities, and remove any content mullets.

An example of content opportunities is the humble yet powerful FAQ page.  If you are receiving a lot of customer questions about a product or service that you offer, and you don’t have a FAQ page on your site that answers these questions, then that could be an amazing content opportunity! Develop that FAQ page, and maybe create some blog posts that discuss the FAQ answers in more detail.

As for content mullets – they’ve been addressed here before. You definitely want to remove, change or tweak any kind of out-dated content – you know, that old content that makes it look like your site hasn’t been touched in the last couple of years!

• Ask how you can make your content even better.

Again, this is a great opportunity to go back and look through your site, paying attention to elements like your benefit statements: are they still valid?

How about your site’s tone and feel – how your copy “sounds” to the reader: is there anything that you could tweak to help increase your conversion rate? Or the amount of time folks are spending on your site?

And the final tip is to let your editorial calendar work for you:

• Use your editorial calendar to track content changes/creation.

As with the content mullet, editorial calendars have been discussed here before.  And although it may sound like a complicated process, it’s really as simple as looking at what you want to accomplish and then setting it up on a calendar.

Simply write in what you want to have accomplished on your calendar, so you can keep track of your content and understand where those milestones and deadlines are. Then it’s a matter of creating the content and making it happen!

A few closing thoughts

So don’t fear the Penguin – use it as an opportunity to do all we’ve discussed above.

And while it’s understandable why site owners may be a little spooked by yet another Google update, remember that throughout all of the updates visited upon the SEO content industry, well-written content has proven itself to be a very, very safe bet.

Well-written content is good for Google, but more importantly it’s good for your site and for your readers…and don’t forget: well-written content will help your site make more money!

Thanks for joining us for this week’s SEO Copywriting how-to! If you have any questions or topic ideas for Heather, let her know: you are encouraged to email her [at] heather@seocopywriting.com or tweet her @heatherlloyd. See you next Monday!

Would you like to know more about writing for Google?  Simply visit the SEO Copywriting Buzz page, and sign up to receive either the daily or weekly newsletter (or both), and receive Heather’s “How to write for Google” whitepaper, free!

photo thanks to *christopher* (Christopher Michel)

“SEO copywriting is synonymous with unethical projects”

“[Much of this] SEO content is written by non-native speakers”

In the words of Liz Lemon from 30 Rock, “What the what?”

I was amazed – truly amazed – to read such angry posts in a LinkedIn group.  I knew SEO copy had a bad reputation in some circles. But I had no idea that some freelancers HATED the concept of SEO copy.

The sad thing is, their hatred is fueled by misconceptions. It’s true that spammy copy is out there. It’s true that some clients (still) insist on keyphrase-stuffed content (and will only pay $10 for 500 words.) And if you’re trolling Odesk or job boards for SEO copy gigs, well, you probably won’t find the cream of the money-making crop.

But here’s the thing: SEO content (how it’s supposed to be) is fantastic content. It was never – ever – supposed to be synonymous with spam. (For more information about this, please read my rant “SEO copywriting is dead. Long live SEO content writing“).

Here’s how I responded to the “I hate SEO copywriting” comments…

First, I totally understand the feeling that some folks have about SEO copy. Companies like Demand Media have cheapened the concept, and has given it a horrible reputation. It’s true that you’ll see ads promising writing $5 for writing 500 words – and those 500 words are mindless drivel, at best. It’s sad.

It sounds like what you call “SEO copy” is what I call “spammy copy.” *Real* SEO content writing – the type that Google likes (and doesn’t bounce out of its index) – isn’t like this. It’s always been about writing quality content for readers. Yes, you have to do certain things to help the page position in Google. At the same time, “certain things for Google” doesn’t mean copy that reads like, “Our cashmere sweaters are the best cashmere sweaters online. Buy our cashmere sweaters now for the best cashmere prices.”

Good SEO copy doesn’t read like this. It’s good copy first – and good for Google second.

I’ve been talking about SEO copy for 14 years – and I was a freelance copywriter before I entered the SEO space. It drives me NUTS when I see overly optimized copy. Or I hear about clients who will only pay 10/page and they want something that’s keyphrase stuffed.

Fortunately, Google is (slowly) bouncing those kinds of pages out of their index. The Panda update targeted thin, low-quality content – and sites like Demand really got hit. That was a huge wake up call for clients, SEO companies and writers. They were suddenly put on notice that bad content is…well…bad.

So please know that I’m with you when you talk about spammy copy. Also, please understand that there are many instances of really good SEO content – Brookstone’s site is a prime example. Companies of all sizes have benefitted from good SEO content – I’ve seen it increase conversion rates, drive more traffic and help companies make significantly more money.

And there are many (quality) writers who are able to attract good, high-paying gigs. If it was all 10/page jobs, I would have boogied out of the industry a long time ago.

So, please know that not all SEO content is bad or spammy or repetitive. There are some “good guys” in the industry, too.

I’d love to share some success stories with these folks – they’ve obviously only seen the “dark side” of SEO content. Let’s show them the light.

If you’re a business that has benefitted from SEO content, please tell us how you’ve benefitted. Did you make more money? Increase the number of leads coming to your site? How has SEO content helped you?

And if you’re a freelance SEO copywriter, I’d love to hear from you too! These folks need to know that it’s not all $10/page, offshore work. There are real writers making a real living as an SEO content writer.

C’mon guys. Let’s show the haters that SEO content (that is, GOOD SEO content) is a smart business move…

(And I’m looking forward to your comments – thanks!)

Content Marketing

The data is in and the web is dead: Great read by Gini Dietrich on the (current reality and) inevitability of the dominance of mobile marketing platforms over the desktop PC with “The Web is Dead! Long Live Smartphones!” at Spin Sucks.

Angie Nikoleychuk discusses smart content marketing with “How to Boost the Success of Your Link Bait Before You Hit Publish” at Level 343.

Lee Odden shares “12 Timeless Link Building Tips for Business Blogs” at Top Rank.

Mitt Ray discusses how to write white papers and how to use them as part of your content marketing strategy at SEO Copywriting.

Roger C. Parker shares “3 Tips for Increasing your Content Productivity” at Content Marketing Institute.

Tim Ash discusses clarity in landing page design and content conversions with “Do Your Site Visitors Push Your Buttons?” at ClickZ.

So “Is Your Message Missing the Mark?” Jessica Collier discusses honing your landing page message for the best possible visitor experience at Ion Interactive.

Ian Lurie posts “10 ways to get into big trouble in marketing” (with skimping on content being #6) at Portent.

Need to feed the beast? Heidi Cohen discusses feeding the content development and marketing beasts with “7 Places to Find Cheap Content” at her blog.

Citing a study by Return Path, Pamela Parker discusses the incredibly promising new world of mobile email marketing with “Email Marketers Better Prepare For Mobile Opens, New Study Finds” at Marketing Land.

Illustrating with great examples, Corey Eridon posts “The 9 Must-Have Components of Compelling Email Copy” at HubSpot.

Running an email marketing campaign? Ashley Zeckman posts “Convert More Customers: Tips & Tricks For Running A/B Tests On Your Email Campaigns” at Top Rank.

Jeanne Jennings discusses a case study in which revising the email welcome message with a marketing message dramatically improved open and click-through rates, at ClickZ.

Smart all-around insights into content sharing and optimization are shared at TopRank Internet Marketing News with “Ask an Expert: How Can I Optimize My Online Content to Increase Shares and Exposure?”

Marketing Sherpa’s weekly research chart is on the imperative of content creation in improving SEO effectiveness.

The value of consistency (in showing up on your target market radar) is discussed by Seth Godin at his blog.

Did you miss BlueGlass LA? No worries – two different posts cover it in different ways:

The first, by Kevin Gibbons, “50 Tips & Takeaways from BlueGlass LA,” summarizes his tweets sharing on SEO and search to content marketing and much more, at SEOptimise.

The second, by Jason Miller, shares part one of two of “Ten Takeaways from Blueglass LA” (B2B perspective) at Marketo.

Events:

• CMS Expo Learning & Business Conference begins next Tuesday, May 8^th and runs thru the 10^th, in Evanston, IL. The conference theme is “ Content Management Meets Content Strategy & Content Marketing.” A whole lotta content going down!
• MarketingProfs University is offering a live, online “Marketing Writing Bootcamp” from May 10^th thru the 23^rd (with on-demand access to the recordings thru April of 2013). Use coupon code SUCCESS to save $200!
• The Content Strategy Conference, ConFab 2012, scheduled for May 14^th thru the 16^th, is completely sold out, but you can catch live coverage via blogs, updates, and the @confab2012 Twitter stream.
• Usability Week 2012 Conferences, hosted by the Neilsen Norman Group, are scheduled for May 14^th thru the 18^th in Washington, D.C., and for June 25^th thru the 29^th in Chicago.
• Marketing Sherpa’s Optimization Summit 2012 will be held in Denver from June 11^th thru the 14 ^th.
• Marketing Sherpa’s B2B Summit 2012 will be held in Orlando, August 27^th thru the 30^th.
• Content Marketing Institute’s Content Marketing World 2012 is scheduled for September 4^th thru the 6^th in Columbus, OH.

SEO & Search

A plethora of posts greets the SEO & search pro with the double-smackdown of Google’s Panda 3.5 (low quality) and Penguin (webspam) updates:

Danny Sullivan distinguishes between the Panda 3.5 (low-quality content) update and the Penguin (outright webspam) update -  including the winners and losers of Panda 3.5, and his correspondence with Matt Cutts – with a clarifying post at Search Engine Land.  (See source, Search Metrics, for the list of SEO visibility winners & losers).

Sullivan’s original post on Google’s Penguin update has some great background information: “Google Launches ‘Penguin Update’ Targeting Webspam In Search Results,” also at Search Engine Land.

Other enlightening posts on Google’s Panda 3.5 and Penguin updates include:

Aaron Wall’s decidedly no-bullshit take, “The Google Penguin Update: Over-Optimization, Webspam, & High Quality Empty Content Pages,” at SEOBook.

Bill Slawski’s “Google Praises SEO, Condemns Webspam, and Rolls Out Algorithm Change,” at SEO by the Sea.

Chris Crum’s “Google Panda Update: 12 Tips Directly from Google,” at WebProNews.

And of course, there’s Google’s own post by Matt Cutts, Distinguished Engineer, on the Penguin (and Panda) update: “Another step to reward high-quality sites,” at its Inside Search blog.

And for those who believe they’ve been wronged by the Penguin Update, there’s:

Danny Goodwin’s “Google Penguin Web Spam Algorithm Update Feedback Form Now Live,” where Matt Cutts is quoted announcing that you can plea your case or report a site that you think is spammy (“negative SEO”), at Search Engine Watch.

Pamela Vaughan’s “What to Do if Your Search Rankings Were Hurt by Google’s Penguin Update” at HubSpot.

And for those who believe they have been hacked by web spammers:

Citing Matt Cutts, Chris Crum reports that included in Google’s Webspam/Penguin update are sites that have been hacked by spammers (“The other kind of spam Google is dealing with”). An explanation and resources for help are at WebProNews.

Crum also reports on Google’s unprecedented move of sharing about the “human raters” in determining its algorithms, at WebProNews.

Asking what we all may be wondering, Bas van den Beld posts “Can We Still Trust Google?” at State of Search.

So how does the Google search engine actually work? Brad Kuenn explains at Vertical Measures.

Another great SEO 101 tutorial, on how to use HTML meta tags, is posted by Kristine Schachinger at Search Engine Watch.

For the more advanced, Ian Lurie shares “4 tips for technical SEO” (“for starters”) that every technical site audit should include, at Portent.

Lyena Solomon posts smart considerations for 1^st quarter website spring cleaning, from SEO and PPC audits to cost-effective social media strategies, at NetSprinter.

Lars Lofgren discusses the four types of Google Analytics goal types that are essential to businesses, at KISSmetrics.

Beyond SEO lies WPO? Krista LaRiviere discusses the all-inclusive “WPO” with “The Hierarchy of Web Presence Optimization” at gShift Labs.

Tim Schmoyer posts the ReelSEO summary for the week with YouTube Changes, Google Indexing Embeds & Adwords for Video – with a video about Google addressing “discovery problems” on YouTube.

Vanessa Fox discusses the expansion of search query data to 90 days using Google’s Webmaster Tools, and kindly offers a refresher, at Search Engine Land.

Josh McCoy discusses SEO competitive analysis with “3 Pillars of SEO Competitive Analysis” at Search Engine Watch.

Julie Joyce posts “Why Link Builders Need To Do More Than Just Build Links” at Search Engine Land.

Sujan Patel posts “Social Shares: The New Link Building” at Search Engine Journal.

Garrett French posts “How Limiting Your Google Queries Makes You a Better Link Prospector” at Search Engine Watch.

Ian Lurie discusses enterprise SEO with “Easy SEO Wins For Big Sites” at Search Engine Land.

Events:

• SMX (Search Marketing Expo) Advanced Seattle 2012 is scheduled for June 5^th and 6th. Workshops are on June 7^th.
• SES (Conference & Expo) Toronto is scheduled for June 11^th thru the 13^th. Register before May 11th to save up to $300!
• MozCon 2012 is scheduled for July 25th thru the 27th (in Seattle, of course).
• SES (Conference & Expo) San Francisco is scheduled for August 13^th thru the 17^th. Register before June 16^th for the best rates!
• PubCon Las Vegas 2012 is on for October 15^th thru the 19^th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Register now for early bird rates!

Social Media Marketing

Mark Lazen pens an insightful read, “Right-sizing your Social Media Management Process,” at Social Media Today.

Level 343’s Gabriella Sannino discusses community building and “friends” with “Stop Everything You’re Doing In Social. You’re Fired.”

Sam Ford posts “6 New Maxims For Social Marketing” at Fast Company.

Josh Peters posts “60 Minutes to a More Efficient Social Business Strategy” at Mashable.

Kate Rose posts “5 Reasons Social Media Isn’t Working For You – And How To Fix Them” at business2community.

Bas van den Beld asks if social media activity can really boost rankings, sharing a fun infographic, at State of Search.

eMarketer posts “For Brands, Social Media Shows Returns but Measurement Hurdles Remain.”

Brian Solis discusses Frank Eliason’s book, @Your Service, with “Do Customers Really Matter to Your Business? Prove it.”

Rachelle Ayala posts the “Seven Sins of Social Networking” at Rachelle’s Window.

Mike Lewis posts “Evolving Social Media Analytics: Insights from Marshall Sponder” at Social Media Today.

If you can’t beat ‘em? In an interesting twist, “Flickr Teams With Pinterest For Easy Sharing & Proper Attribution,” reports Greg Finn at Marketing Land.

So Facebook is about to raise $5 billion from investors. It gets even more interesting with Jeff Bullas’ “20 Interesting Facts, Figures and Statistics Revealed by Facebook.”

Brittany Darwell reports that “Facebook says it sent more than 160 million visitors to Facebook-integrated mobile apps last month,” at Inside Facebook.

Hide and go Facebook tab seek? Nancy McCord posts “Facebook Business Pages – The Hidden Tabs – Can You Find Them?” at SiteProNews.

Ann Smarty discusses how to analyze your tweeting style from the readers’ perspective with 3 “addictive” tools at Internet Marketing Ninjas.

Dan Zarrella discusses the free Twitter tool, TweetCharts, which allows you to analyze Twitter data for any search term (and more), at HubSpot.

Nisha Kaushal posts “Why Twitter Needs to Change to Keep Up with Social Media Marketing” at Webbiquity.

Harry Gold posts “27 LinkedIn Social Media Marketing Tactics” at ClickZ.

Stephanie Sammons shares “5 Tips to Build and Grow Your LinkedIn Network”  at Social Media Examiner.

Events:

• BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2012, NYC is on for June 5^th thru the 7th in the Big Apple.

photo thanks to cnystrom (Chris Nystrom)

How Can You Use White Papers In Your Content Marketing Strategy?

Below is a list of the different ways in which you can use your white paper as part of your content marketing strategy:

1. Generate leads

White papers can help you generate leads. They are normally used earlier in the sales cycle when the customer is still looking for the perfect solution.

Through its informative nature, a white paper helps to educate the client about the problem they are facing and what they need to do to solve the problem. After the solution to the problem is provided, an option to use a readymade solution is offered.

As all the informative content provided earlier in the white paper shows the reader that the company that produced the white paper knows what they are talking about.

By displaying their expertise, the company’s hope is that the reader will want to work with them – trusting their solution to them rather than trying to accomplish it on his/her own.

2. Improve your brand image

White papers don’t have to be just used for generating leads. They can also help you build a brand image by educating your readers. By exemplifying problems and their solutions, you can explain how your company is run or how you are managing a certain project.

A great example of this is a white paper by Carol Tice, which she wrote for a big software company. The white paper didn’t pitch a product or service to the reader. It simply educated the reader about how the company makes an effort to recycle computers.

This type of white paper not only helps build a good brand image – as in the above example, it showed that the company cares about the environment – but it also helps them generate new clients, as people who are passionate about protecting the environment will likely prefer to work with them.

3. Make your products or services stand out

Using a white paper you can show your clients that your product is better than your competitors. In the white paper you can analyse different types of services and their flaws and let your readers know how these problems could affect them.

After you have made the problems clear you could let your readers know what the best solution would be and write this solution in relation to your product or service. This will show your readers that your product or service is much better than your competitors and it will convince them to hire you.

An example is a white paper I wrote for an electrical services firm that offers its services to offices and homes. The white paper demonstrates to the reader why it’s better to use a proper firm that offers all services than to hire tiny firms or electricians who work on their own. This helps my client show potential customers that their service is the best option.

4. Build a mailing list

Having a mailing list is one of the most important requirements of a blog or a website as it can help increase traffic, build relationships and generate leads. Normally just trying to convince people to sign up to your mailing list can be an extremely hard task, but if you give them a free gift like a helpful white paper in exchange for signing up to your newsletter, you can considerably increase the number of subscribers you get.

How To Get Started With Writing White Papers

Writing white papers can seem like a daunting task, but by following the right tips and techniques, the process can be simplified.

A few tips to help you get started:

1. Read

Before you start writing white papers, you need to read all the information you can find about white papers. This includes books, blogs, and free guides you can find on the internet. This will help you learn a lot about white papers.

Another thing you could do is study well written white papers. This will help you learn more about what white papers are, how they are structured, how they are written, etc. Once you get to know how good white papers are written, you will find it easier to produce a quality one of your own.

2. Write

Once you know what white papers are and how they are written, you can start writing them. You can start writing your first white paper on an imaginary company or on your own company. This will give you some practice and experience to help you write better white papers in the future.

Writing can be divided into three parts:

a) Research

Before you do any actual writing you need to perform some research. Research can be in the form of reading and/or interviews. Read anything you can get hold of: website copy, other white papers, brochures, annual reports, articles, blogs, etc. Also interview the experts who work in your company. These experts can educate you about the product or service.

During this research process, find out more about the target audience and the best subject for your white paper.

During these interview and reading sessions make sure to take down notes of all the important points you come across that you think you could use in the white paper.

b) Structure

After you have gathered enough information for your white paper, you can outline its structure. A basic white paper structure starts with a headline, followed by an introduction. After the introduction the problems faced by the reader are discussed in detail and after that the solutions to the problems are discussed clearly. Finally, after the problems and the solutions comes the “persuasive brochure” section of the paper, which consists of the company information and product/service information.

c) Writing

Once you outline the structure and you know where all the information needs to be placed, you can start writing the white paper. Choosing the structure makes the writing part extremely easy. The writing part just consists of writing the content in the right places in the white paper. These are the places you’ve already decided while developing the structure.

After you finish writing the white paper, placing the appropriate content in the right places, you may find that you need to do some rearranging and rewriting so that all the elements flow logically. This final reworking and editing process will help ensure that your white paper is professional, educational and persuasive. You can then use your white in your content marketing, lead generation, and branding!

About the Author – Mitt Ray

Mitt Ray is the Director of imittcopy. He provides more white paper writing tips on his White Paper Blog, where you can download his free white paper on How to Write a White Paper.  Mitt is also the Founder of Social Marketing Writing where you can download his free guide, “How to Promote Yourself With Pinterest.” He is also the author of the book White Paper Marketing. You can follow him on Twitter @MittRay.

Don’t miss out! The SEO Copywriting Certification training price is increasing to $769 on May 15th. Register now for the best price!

photo thanks to katerha (Kate Ter Haar)