Last week, we dipped our toes into the murky SEO waters and fished out our core, killer keyphrases, then organized and prioritized them into an Excel (or simple legal pad) list.  That accomplished, with some satisfaction (yes?) let’s look at how to grow and refine that list to round out our overall smart keyphrase strategy to optimize conversions!

Ready?  Open up that Initial Seed Research spreadsheet, in whatever form, where you should see your seed keyphrases, their respective search volumes, and the relative priority you assigned to each one, from 1 (highest priority) to 5 (lowest, yet important).

Now, we’re going to run those keyphrases through — yes — our search engine of choice one more time.   This time, we’re tuning into keyphrase specifity:  just because a keyphrase may be relevant to your business, it may not be the best one to use on your site.  For example, think of a payroll service where companies can outsource their accounts payable.  Although the keyphrase “accounts payable” applies to the company, the search results are not specifically focused around someone looking to outsource their accounts payable.

Refining the search with the term “accounts payable outsourcing,” the results are much more targeted and potent for this website:

At the bottom of the search engine results page, you should note additional keyphrase suggestions, under “Searches related to: your keyphrase.” If these additional search terms are applicable and specific to your site, then congratulations!  You’ve just found even more keyphrases!

Next, let’s run a few of our keyphrases through Twitter to get insights into our product/service’s market seasonality, trends and real-time buzz. (We reviewed this strategy in a previous post, but it’s well worth a revisit here.)

Recalling our “leather bracelets” example, from the keyphrase brainstorming post, let’s see what comes up when we run it through Twitter Search:

Going back to our original keyphrase list, the term “leather snap bracelets” may well not have been on it!   If it’s an up-and-coming trend that you hadn’t thought about, voila!  You’ve found a new keyphrase that you know people are talking about!

Finally, let’s take a deeper look into our keyphrases using Google insights.  This free (and yes, fun!) tool is another way we can anticipate keyphrase seasonality, focus our marketing message, and determine market trends.

For instance, let’s say that you run a clothing store.  Notice the trend difference between “men’s clothing” and “women’s clothing”:

There are more searches for “men’s clothing” during the holiday months, while traffic remains fairly flat the rest of the time.  So,  as a clothing retailer, you should make sure that your men’s clothing pages are written, uploaded, and optimized before the holiday months.

If you look to the right of the Google insights page, you will see “rising searches” – another source of additional, trending keyphrases that you’ll want to pay attention to for your ongoing, evolving keyphrase strategy!

So are you about done with all this research?  Does it seem to be taking forever? Take heart:  that means you’re doing it right!  The good news is that once the hard, grinding work is over, with the completion of your initial “seed” keyphrase list, you’ll be able to easily update and refine your list every few months or so by checking for new terms and deleting those non-performing ones.  Yay!

Next week, we’ll talk about how to fill in the other tabs of your Excel (or legal pad) keyphrase document, divide up your keyphrase list, and start creating your per-page SEO strategy!  From there, you’ll have everything in place to start writing.

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I’ve said it before – small businesses can write killer SEO content. When their passion for the written word is translated to the page (or, in this case, to the site,) the end result is entertaining, persuasive and powerful.  I’ve profiled two small businesses, Portland Adventure Bootcamp and Studio Blue Pilates who have both gone the DIY route and seen some spectacular results.

However, many site owners – even folks who are fairly SEO savvy – make some common copywriting 101 mistakes. Here are three most common ones:

• Embrace your size – don’t hide it! Why is it that we’re all size queens when we’re talking about our company? Even if we’re a company of one, we say “we” when we talk to prospects (As in, “We’d be happy to discuss your marketing strategy,) count pets as “team members” and make ourselves sound as big as the big boys. People, small (business) is beautiful. Really. Small businesses provide many advantages that big firms just can’t offer: Flexibility, customization, customer service – sometimes even pricing. Making your company sound bigger than it is can actually lose sales – if people get a whiff that you’re not being completely honest with them, they’ll scoot to your competitor.

• Let your passion shine through. There’s something about the writing process that makes people feel that they’re back in high school English class. The purpose of your site is to connect with your customers, and you can’t do that if you start your home page with, “Welcome to our website. You’re visitor number [insert counter here.]” To break through your block, sit down and think of what you’d tell a prospect during a phone conversation. Now, write that down. See the difference? One version is formula and personality-free, while the other version lets your passion shine through.

• Tell people how you can help. It’s easy to think, “Well, I’m a Pilates studio, so the benefits are pretty self-explanatory.” Yes they are  – to you. Your prospects aren’t as familiar with your product or service. They don’t have the history. They aren’t thinking, “Pilates will help me sleep better and have more energy throughout the day.” In fact, your prospects are often thinking negative information like, “Last time I tried an exercise program, I didn’t lose an ounce. Can these guys help me, or is it more of the same B.S.?” Showcasing your benefits isn’t “bragging” or “talking about yourself.” It’s merely helping your prospects understand how your product or service meets their needs.

Why aren’t I mentioning keyphrase placement?  Of course DIY small business owners should go through the necessary keyphrase research and SEO content writing steps  – that’s just smart marketing. At the same time, focusing on these three foundational copywriting steps in addition to your keyphrase placement will help convert curious prospects into committed clients. It’s really that easy.

Have a SEO copywriting tip for small businesses? Tell us about it!

Greetings and welcome to this week’s SEO copywriting and content marketing roundup!  The latest news and links tend to cluster around these topics: the multi-faceted and changing face of search engine ranking, outsourcing vs. in-house content marketing, off-site SEO, and yes, the SEO and content marketing fallout from Google’s recent activity at the patent office!

So, who would’ve thunk that it’d be a bad thing to be #1 on Google? Actually, this article’s (seemingly) iconoclastic take on the dangers of ranking No. 1 on Google offers an astute and reasoned view of SERP ranking as an unworthy measurement of SEO mojo:  iMedia Connection.

A thorough case study, Are all Results on Search Engines Equal? examines the relative performance of traditional search engine results versus those up-and-coming, potential threats to the (now two) behemoths, Google and Bing, with implications for SEO, SEM, and social media marketing.

Now how about the mobile SERP scenario?  This SEOmoz post explores the usability of mobile search engine results, in great detail, while raising the question:  will Google eventually combine both mobile and traditional SERP’s into one index?

Onto content marketing:  To in-house or outsource it?  Strong cases for outsourcing are presented by both Junta 42 (Joe Pulizzi) and “expert advice” via Hubspot.  (For one thing:  do you really have the time to do your own content marketing, and keep on it, as well?  Now, be honest….)

There was a positive plethora of pieces to do with offsite SEO (link-building), so a completely subjective sampling follows: Testing the Water with Link Bait, and How to use your Bounce Rate for Link-Building Purposes.

Finally, here are the links to the latest news and fallout analyses of Google’s newest patents for valuing links and ranking blogs, as well as its move towards filtering blog searches.  What does it mean for us?

As you (hopefully!) recall, last week we built our keyphrase “seed” list in our ongoing development of a smart keyphrase strategy geared towards optimizing conversions.  If you need to take a step back and get a grip on the market research preceding this nuts-and-bolts post, please do!  (There are several listed in the blog archive!).  It’s always a good idea to familiarize yourself with the why’s and wherefore’s before you tackle the exact how-to’s!  We’ll be right here when you return, and we’ll see you soon!

Moving on, then:  how do we go about organizing our keyphrase “seed” list so that the keyphrase variations produced through Google’s keyphrase research tool can be prioritized and filtered?   A great way to start is to open an Excel spreadsheet document:

• First, create a tab labeled “Keyphrase Seed List.”  Review your initial Google keyphrase research results and list those keyphrases that are applicable to your business.  (And eliminate those keyphrases that are not, altogether.)
• Insert the average search volume in the cell next to each applicable keyphrase.
• Now, in the next cell, rank how important each keyphrase is on a scale from 1 to 5, with “1” being the most important.
• TA DA & Congrats!  You’ve now generated your initial keyphrase seed list!

Okay!  Now we’re organized and have our initial, killer keyphrases prioritized, 1 thru 5.

Next comes the process of keyphrase filtering, which may best be described as “What to do when….”

1.  …Two keywords accurately describe a product or service, such as “laptop” and “notebook,” or “automobile” versus “car?”  It is possible to use both variations of a search term on alternate pages, such as “laptop” on some pages and “notebook” on others, especially if you find that people are searching for both terms in equal numbers.  However, if the average search volume for one of the two alternate terms in very low, go with the more trafficked term.

2.  …People don’t search for our branded service/product name?  This is a big problem with e-commerce retailers.  They may have a product that’s a “plastic osmosis liquid miracle,” when what the product really is — and what most people would be searching for – is a “water bottle.”

If your branded product names aren’t searched upon, then try to associate them with keyphrases that people are actually more likely to use to describe your product.  In our water bottle example, let’s simply splice the brand name with the winning keyphrase to create: “plastic osmosis miracle water bottle.”  That allows you to keep your branded term, while combining it with a term that people are far more apt to search upon.

3.  …You want to use a product make/model as a keyphrase?  Great!  Once people get to the tail end of the buy cycle, they will indeed be searching highly specific terms.  Use those specific make/model keyphrase on your products page!

4. …You’re a B2B company with a keyword that is highly specific to your industry.  Is it OK to use it?  By all means, yes!  This is one of the times that a keyword is so tuned in to an industry that the search results should be most relevant and capture targeted traffic.   Just to make sure, though, it’s a good idea to run the keyword search on a couple of different search engines; if the results match your offerings, then definitely include the keyword/phrase on your list!

Stay tuned, as next week we’ll dig even deeper, using fun and free tools to grow our selection of  killer keyphrases to use throughout our site!

Why do we let Google have so much power over how we produce Web content?

I was reading a Search Engine Watch article where Kevin Gibbons was stressing how Google is never the “only customer.” Still, at every conference (most recently, Search Engine Strategies, San Francisco,) I hear people saying that they’re looking for a writer who can “write for Google.” They don’t care about how the article sounds to their customer – heck, that doesn’t even cross their minds. They’re just focused on 1,000 word articles with a magical keyphrase density.  If they only had that, the rest of their SEO campaign would be smooth sailing.

People, let’s get with the program.  “Writing for Google” without thinking of your customers is like praying to some sort of angry, vengeful god, hoping to appease it with odd rituals and violent sacrifices. Instead of killing people, businesses place their content on the sacrificial block and pull out it’s still-beating heart. Stripped away is writing to inform, entertain, or tempt people into taking the next conversion step. Instead, it’s all about what the Google Gods “want.”

Mind you, Matt Cutts has never said, “Stuff your content with keyphrases.” In fact, he’s stressed quality content – as has Seth Godin and a string of other smart marketers. When conferences do have content sessions, speakers stress customer personas, writing for your audience and yummy, engaging content.

So why do we let one engine have all that power? Why do we sacrifice our conversions and our branding for what we think Google wants? ‘Cause Google has never said, “Go forth and write 1,000 word articles with a 6 percent keyphrase density.”

Here are some of my ideas – and I’d love your thoughts:

• The SEO industry gives clients a mixed message around content. We get on stage and stress how it’s important, and then some SEO companies outsource the content to India, pay their copywriters $20 a page, or don’t offer content services at all.
• The search engines purchase “content mill” companies (I’m looking at you, Yahoo,) where writers are paid bottom-dollar…and the quality is questionable at best.
• SEO conferences don’t have a lot of “how-to” SEO copywriting training sessions. AWAI does…but their market is freelancers, not businesses. Mind you, I’m blessed to be speaking on those SEO copywriting panels…don’t get me wrong. But when a good 70% of all panels stress “good content,” I wish there was more of an emphasis of what good SEO content even *is.* Ten minutes of SEO copywriting talk-time is not enough.
• Many online SEO copywriting resources are sub par at best. They report “tactics” that are incorrect and/or outdated. This makes it hard for the average business owner to know what’s right – and what’s been written by a clueless individual who touts their “expert” status after working online for two years or less (ahem.)

So what say you? SEO copywriting is the foundation of so much SEO and social media “stuff” – including Tweets, sales pages, white papers and blog posts. What do we have to do as an industry to get folks moving in the right direction…as opposed to the “keyphrase stuffed, it’s all about Google” direction?

‘Cause at the end of the day, Google doesn’t pay your bills. Prospects that convert into customers DO pay them. Why aren’t we focusing on the customer experience instead?

Psychology and emotion are huge elements of SEO content marketing and copywriting, yes?  The Psychology of SEO, posted in Search Engine Journal, breaks it down nicely so you can better wrap your head around it, from finding your focus to understanding your own self-limiting mental constructs.

Speaking of self-limiting psyche-outs, check out this post: Is Your Freelancing Psychology Broken? An honest look at what we think we believe vs. what we actually do is a bit, well, unnerving and good reading!

So, having conquered our own inner demons, how do we go about ridding ourselves of those without?  When do you to say goodbye to an SEO client?  This post offers a helpful outline to employ when defining your own fine line between “should I stay or should you go?”

Balanced and fair, now:  what should you look for in an SEO copywriter? And who better to answer this question than Success Works’ CEO Heather Lloyd-Martin?  A succinct and most insightful guide addresses the ten questions the business owner should ask their prospective SEO copywriter.

Finally, a melancholy goodbye to Yahoo as the force behind its organic search results in the U.S. and Canada, as it officially hands over the reins to MSN’s Bing:  So Sad, Yahoo Finally and Officially Gave Up On Search.

But let’s wrap this up on a high note, shall we?  Belying the title, SEOmoz’s Answering Hard SEO Questions adds some welcome levity to the subject!

Noel took the next logical step in his career — from being an HR and MarCom professional (writing for humans) to an SEO copywriter (writing for humans and search engines).  He used his copywriting skills to persuade his company to sponsor his enrollment in the Success Works’ SEO Copywriting Certification training program.  ”Success Works’ program provided me with everything I was ‘searching’ for online, vis a vis SEO,” says Noel.

What got you interested in SEO copywriting?

The writing’s very clear on the web  SEO copywriting is the future of all copywriting because the web is the future, and at the center of the web is SEO copywriting — where human-enticing conent and bot-baiting SEO compete for the Home turf (pun intended).

What SEO copywriting projects are you working on now?

I’ve started optimizing my company’s website using the course manual as a blueprint.  However, because  I’m a full-time HR and MarCom professional, I have been turning down online B2B SEO copywriting projects from potential clients.  But now that I have an SEO copywriting certification and a logo from Success Works, I’ve started work on my own SEO copywriting website, which ranks #1 on Google: Effective Human Resources Writing.

I’ve also begun to apply the best practices I learned from the training program to the three, theme-based, content-rich websites I own, and have completed the outline of my e-book, “Organic Search Engine Optimization Secrets Every Brick-and-Mortar CEO Should Know.”

What do you find most rewarding about SEO copywriting?

I’ve been in HR for over a quarter of a century and in MarCom almost a decade. Out of all the campaigns I’ve launched in these two functions, in-house SEO campaigns were absolutely free, the returns were huge, and the results more measurable.  Can anything be more rewarding than that?

Does your in-house SEO copywriting present unique challenges?

Yes.  My industry is in the infrastructure sector (manufacturing, to be precise) where mechanical engineers rule and when it comes to the web, they seldom “get it.”  On the other hand, I’ve had to interact with external SEO experts who work only for the search engines.  Though I’ve worked with IT and external techies, it’s my SEO copywriting skills that make me unique and therefore, feted by both:  my company and the SEO techies!

What have you found to be the most immediately applicable skills you learned from the SEO Copywriting Certification training program?

SEO editing — it’s the easiest and the first thing one can do with an existing website. But besides the up-to-date knowledge I gained and the best practices I learned, the certification is sure to give a huge boost to my credibility, especially when credibility is such a big factor on the internet, should I decide to go freelance on a part-time basis.  The Success Works’ SEO Certification logo will enhance my own SEO copywriting website’s corporate look and feel, and the certificate is documentary evidence that my expertise is confirmed by a widely-recognized, third-party industry expert!

What are your other interests and passions?

I spend my leisure hours in my colonial villa in a 16th-century fort, in the company of my extended family and my dogs.  I don my singer-songwriter hat and play with my collection of guitars and synths; at other times, I work on my web-base info-publishing business, “Noah’s Mark Publishing.”  Occasionally, I add pages to the manuscript of a historical romance novel set in the Indo-Portuguese era.

Building your core keyphrase “seed”  list

Every SEO copywriting and content marketing campaign works with a core (“seed”) list of researched keyphrases that reflects the entire buying cycle,…and yes, that can translate into one monster of a list!  If you have a ten-page site, your seed keyphrase list will most likely contain fewer then 100 keyphrases.  At the other end of the spectrum, if you’ve a large e-commerce site, you’re probably looking at thousands of keyphrases across product categories, brands, and sub-categories.

Regardless of the relative depth and complexity of your site, the same SEO strategy/conversions goal applies:  Get found, then convert!

Let’s begin at the beginning.  Your first task, while seemingly daunting, is actually very simple:  brainstorm your keyphrases.  Put yourself in the customers’ shoes and try to figure out the terms they would most likely use to find you.  Don’t forget keyphrases that reflect customer preferences, such as:

• Your location (essential if you want local traffic)
• Product brand names
• Product makes/models
• Individual/Unique (U.S.P.)

If you’re working on a large site with multiple sections, and feeling overwhelmed, simply choose one section of your site and do SEO research just for that:  “Eat the elephant, one bite at a time!” (The same advice applies to smaller sites.)  The ultimate goal is to conduct keyphrase research across all site sectors/buying cycle phases, incorporating your brand terms, products/services, and general, overarching keyphrases.

Brainstorming brilliant keyphrases

Let’s start with this example:  Your client is in the business of selling bracelets both locally and nationally, through their website.  And let’s assume that you want to focus your efforts on “leather bracelets” versus other possibilities for that section of their e-commerce site.

Some possible “seed” keyphrases to begin your research could be:

• Leather bracelet
• Leather bracelets
• Braided leather bracelet
• Women’s leather bracelet
• Men’s leather bracelet
• Women’s jewelry
• Men’s jewelry
• Silver bracelets (for contrasting results/negative research)

Now, let’s do some keyword research using Google’s free tool.  Here are the initial results for the search term “leather bracelet”:

What do these initial results mean?

“Advertiser competition” refers to how competitive the search term is if you were to run an AdWords (PPC) account.  But don’t let a highly competitive phrase discourage you!  Depending on who/what your competitor’s are, the size of your site, and other SEO factors, it could be very possible to rank in the top ten of search engine results.  This presents a great opportunity for you to assert your unique selling proposition!

“Approximate average  search volume” or “global” results gives you a rough idea of how heavily searched the keyword phrase is over a 12-month period, while “approximate search volume”or “local,”  shows the monthly/seasonal search trend statistics.

In considering the yearly-averaged, approximate search volume, understand that even poorly trafficked terms can be important to your campaign, depending upon what you’re selling.  This is especially true of B2B marketing:  there may be only three searches/month for a particular piece of industry-specific equipment, but capturing just one of these web surfers could result in a huge, six- figure sale!

For your content message, you’ll want to look hard at the “approximate/local search volume” results of keyphrase research.  People tend to search more for different products/services at different times and seasons of the year.  Referring to our “bracelets” example, it’s clear that searches for “silver leather bracelet” spiked in April.  It follows that you’d want to generate a lot of solid content around “silver leather bracelet” for a spring SEO campaign focus.

So try this:  run your most general keyphrases through Google’s keyword tool, and see what happens.  Now, you have your SEO “seed” list.  Then run those keyphrases from your seed list though the keyword research tool, and see what happens…A more refined list!  That’s how you can “drill down” and distill the most effective, high-octane keyphrases, from the most general over-arching terms down to the most specific, to use throughout your content to capture your prospects’ clicks!

Stay tuned, as next week we will discuss the process of “keyphrase filtering”!

The latest news from the Search Engine Strategies (SES) San Francisco Conference-Expo (part of ClickZ’s Connected Marketing Week), as reported via live blog at SEO Roundtable yesterday and summarized today at Top Rank, addresses the changing SEO content marketing landscape, while noting the one thing that does not change:  Content!

Highlights from SES San Francisco include:

So where is search going? Search marketing professionals representing IProspect, Acquisio, and Yahoo each presented their respective take on the subject.  Among the more notable predications for the next five years:  1) People will no longer use search engines; like the computer, search will evolve; and 2) Search results will become increasingly real-time and connected (eventually, the platforms of choice will be twitter, blogging, and social network influences).

But don’t despair!  Content will rule the day! Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, spoke on Content Marketing Optimization, delivering a comprehensive presentation on the 10 essential steps for your organization to achieve success.  The upshot: the core of any search or social media marketing program focuses on content.  The question presented:  what exactly is content marketing?  Great stuff!

Other notable presentations recapped by Top Rank include: Conversion Optimization Secrets and the keynote address by a “celebrity” CMO.

An insightful summarization and perspective of the big idea behind the Connected Marketing Week/SES San Francisco is Garry Przyklenk’s What the Heck is Connected Marketing?

And a special shout-out to Heather Lloyd-Martin, CEO of SuccessWorks, and SEO Copywriting/Content Marketing Expert, for her SES presentation on Creating Great Content! Whoot!!

Finally, check out this not-to-miss compilation of 10 Essential SEO Interviews with the best and brightest of SEO copywriting experts, including our Heather Lloyd-Martin!

Many of you have asked if I could create an in-person seminar series where participants could work through some writing exercises and ask specific questions about their site.  After all, it’s one thing when I tell people to “write good Titles.” It’s another when I can help people step-by-step and provide instant feedback.

The seminar is a powerful mixture of “talking head” presentations (the first half of the day) paired with hands-on help (the second half.) Check out the  SEO copywriting seminar agenda for the full agenda and details.

The training isn’t finished just because the day is over!  If you sign up for the seminar, I’m giving folks free access to my online SEO Copywriting Certification training ($599 value.) For three months after the training, registered participants can go online, listen to the conference calls and refine their skills even more.

Won’t you join us? Let’s improve your positions and your conversions together – sign up today!