Content Rich: The SEO Copywriting Bible by Copywriter Jon Wuebben » SEO Copy and Site Usability

How to Turn Content into Currency

jonwuebben — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:41:48 +0000

Recently I was very excited to be featured in Sarah Shaw’s weekly blog interview series on the entreprenette. Sarah is a force of nature when it comes to product development and promotion and when I think of people that are doing social media the right way, I think of her. In this interview, Sarah asks a lot of great questions. For those companies that are involved in developing new retail products, like clothing lines, handbags, accessories, etc. this information will prove to be especially helpful. I explain why great content is essential to connecting with your prospects. Content is no longer just required, it is the currency of the web. Listen now!

Check out Sarah’s entreprenette.com for information on her private coaching and other services and be sure to Follow the entreprenette on facebook and twitter!

Changing Small Business, One Business at a Time

jonwuebben — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 01:34:35 +0000

Recently, I presented my new magnum opus: The Content Rich Online Marketing Summit. Reviewing all the important online marketing strategies and tactics, the Summit is an action packed, 2 hour seminar that focuses on results. My goal with these events is to distill it down to the most important teachings and give everyone that came a ton of substance – no fluff – minimal storytelling and lots of step-by-step instructions. I don’t know about you, but so many of the seminars I attend are either a total sales pitch or a bunch of stories stitched together by “get rich quick talking heads.” I’m a busy guy, I don’t want “feel good” anecdotes – I want information!

The inaugural 105 min event (outlined below) was attended by small business people from all over San Diego County and is now available for purchase for only $29.95. It’s action packed and covers the entire spectrum of online marketing and from the feedback we’ve received, attendees got A LOT out of the meeting. The goal? To take it to as many places as we can, spreading the good news of online marketing strategy everywhere we go… Everything for the Beginner. Ideas for the Experts. Check out these clips from some of my recent events!

Here’s how we break it down at Content Rich “Live” (as it’s also called):

I. Elements of Strategy

Keyword Research
Competitive Research
Content
Improving Usability – Design
Social Media
RSS/Social Bookmarking
Blogging
Link Building
Sub Strategies based on type of business
Local Companies
E-Commerce and other web businesses

II. Tactics

Web Content – Copywriting
Landing Pages
Meta Tags
Email – Newsletter Marketing
Press Releases
Articles
White Papers, e-books, reports, demos (free offer content)
Advertising – PPC/ Banner Ads
Video Content
Audio Content (podcasts / webinars)

III. Bringing It All Together – Growing Your Business

12 Step Plan
How do you get all this stuff done?
Analytics – Measure Your Progress
The Future of Online Marketing

The main reason for doing these seminars? #1) A desire to get out there and help as many companies as possible and, #2) the fact that a startling number of small businesses out there do not understand, value or are fearful of Web 2.0 strategies. Perhaps it’s because I’m so focused and surrounded by web type people, but the second point is the interesting one. I would say there are probably a couple million businesses that fall into this category. Why? Lots of misinformation floating around and lots of busy people. With The Content Rich Online Marketing Summit, I hope to change that.

My goal for the Summit, is, of course, a big one: The final date will be a ½ day Blow Out Event, with 500 attendees, lots of great learning and multiple “Tier 1” Marketing Speakers…one date in LA and one in New York City…look for this later this year.

Have some ideas you could contribute or interested in presenting with us? Let me know!

It’s time to get content rich!

Another Vote for Content Building During the Recession

jonwuebben — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:23 +0000

Interesting what happens during challenging economic times – people change. Some get moving, some get desperate, others get smart. For those companies that want to survive, it’s critical to engage in a self analysis and evaluation of current marketing activities. Seems that many are doing just that with what we and many other web, content providers and Search Marketing firms have been seeing in the past few weeks: SEO is red hot right now. In fact, there was a great post on SEOmoz recently that discussed it. They mentioned that online sales, according to Paypal, were up 34% this year over last – another indication that web commerce is where it’s at. As far as we are concerned, copywriting projects have jumped through the roof and book sales of Content Rich have picked up dramatically. I guess you could call it good timing. Bottom line: no matter what state the economy is in, there is always opportunity.

So why is SEO content building so hot right now? A few ideas to consider…

1. The Web is in a League all Its Own
Trade shows, direct mail and other traditional methods of marketing simply cant be compared to the web. Its almost apples and oranges. Why? Because practically everything can be measured on the web. Because the web is affordable. Because email is super efficient and low cost. Because attending webinars doesn’t affect the travel budget. And anyone can get in the mix – big company, tiny mom and pop. If you are looking at the ROI, it wins out time and time again. Web marketing and SEO are becoming incredibly important. Plus, they now have wide acceptance and credibility with almost everyone.

2. Less Spending doesn’t Equal Less Searching
The Dow Jones has lost over 30% of its value, home values are plummeting and people are buying less stuff, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t searching the web to find stuff. In fact, its only going to increase over time. Plus, it benefits from the recession if you think about it. If money is time, wouldn’t you want to save as much time as possible? Why go anywhere to buy anything when you can do it from your home? No need to spend money on gas either. People will continue to use Search and if you are on page one for your keyword phrases, they may click on you!

3. Companies are Looking High and Low for New Prospects
Any downturn in the economy naturally means that less leads are coming in. In times like this, the sales pipeline starts to look pretty vacant. Marketing departments start scrambling and looking at what’s working. 9 times out of 10, the Web is determined to be high on the list. Why? Appearing in the natural listings and having people click on your site is FREE.

4. Building Content is Inexpensive
Whether you write it yourself or hire a SEO copywriter, it’s not that expensive to build new content. And new content=better search position. And better search position=more clicks. More clicks usually means more sales. Most copywriters charge between $100-200 a page for great content. For 5-10 newly optimized pages, that’s a small price to pay for a ton of new leads coming in the door.

So what are you seeing? Whats happening in your businesses? Let me know, I’d love to compare.

Turning Browsers into Buyers: Writing Conversationally

jonwuebben — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:58:53 +0000

One of the best ways to connect with visitors to your website is to write like you talk. In fact, I would say the most under appreciated aspect of good writing is the flow of the words and how they sound when spoken. Good “flow” can make the message resonate. It makes it memorable. Like a good song with a hooky melody, conversational writing can cause the reader to recall what they read over and over again through the course of the day. This kind of command over written language creates a strong connection with your audience and …makes them come back for more. Take for example a good blog. What makes you come back again and again? The informal and conversational tone is a big part of it. The substance of the message is critical too – but it’s not everything. It’s how you say it, right? In this case, it’s how you write it.

Of course, you’ll want to remove all the “ums”, “ahs” and pauses. You don’t want to make your website copy exactly like the way you speak. The other good thing about writing is that you can think about what you want to write before you write it. The spoken word usually requires instant answers and quick-on-your-feet replies. That’s the good news: for those out there who aren’t the best spoken communicators, conversational writing may be made for you.

A few tips and tricks of capturing a conversational tone:

1. Think about how you talk – what makes people want to listen to you? Modulating your voice (changing the volume or pitch) is one way – it makes what you’re saying more interesting. The written equivalent? Combine short and long sentences in what you’re writing. Don’t make them all the same.

2. Use emotion and passion – use bolding, underlining and emotionally charged words to get your message across. Again, just like how we talk – most people use strong adjectives to describe something or emphasize certain words based on the importance of what they are saying.

3. Break the “rules” of English – use run-ons and one word sentences occasionally. After all, isn’t that how we talk? Try it out!

4. Use repetition – use the same emphasized word in 3 consecutive sentences. People do this all the time when they talk. Why? To make a point and drive the message home. You can do the same thing when you write copy.

5. Analyze other good conversational writing and try to mimic it. – Not to toot my own horn, but check out the copy I wrote for www.customcopywriting.com. A big part of what I was trying to do there was write the content in an informal tone – in a way that everyone would understand: from a 3^rd grader to a PhD.

So, when all is said and done, why does conversational writing work?

Because it makes it easier for your prospect. It makes it easier to get the message across. It makes it easier for them to understand…There’s less thinking involved. Plus, it’s a warmer way of communicating. It makes people more comfortable. And after all, we have become a more informal culture anyway. People almost expect it.

So, try it out on your site and see what the response is. You may be surprised.

Good luck!

SEO Copywriting and Site Usability

jonwuebben — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:39:38 +0000

by Jon Wuebben

Much of what we have learned regarding website usability comes from researcher and writer Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D. He has been called “the best-known design and usability guru on the Internet” and the insight that we have gained through his studies have made a huge impact on how we improve the user experience. Almost all of the findings have a correlation to SEO copy writing, so it’s important that we take a look at some of the key take-aways.

Probably one of the most fascinating findings has to do with how people read on the web. In Nielsen’s groundbreaking eye tracking study from 2006, they recorded the reading behavior of 232 users 17. By having them view thousands of Web pages, it was found that their reading behavior was pretty consistent. It didn’t matter what the site or task was, there was a definite outcome. What did he find? That the dominant reading pattern looks somewhat like a large letter “F” on the page. His findings:

Users first read in a horizontal movement, usually across the upper part of the content area, which formed the F’s top bar.

Next, users move down the page a bit and then read across in a second horizontal movement that typically covers a shorter area than the previous movement, which forms the F’s lower bar.

Finally, users scan the content’s left side in a vertical movement. This last element forms the F’s stem.

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It should be noted that sometimes users read across a third part of the page content, making the pattern look more like an E than an F. Other times the reading pattern made it look like an inverted L. What are the implications for SEO copywriting? Place the most important copy in the areas where the eyes scan!

Writing in the Style of Inverted Pyramids

We know that people are scan reading your web pages. We also know that they are scanning it in interesting F and E patterns. So given these findings, how do we ensure that they get the information that you want to communicate? We do this by writing in the style of an inverted pyramid. What it means is put the most important information first, your major points. Follow this with supporting information and end with the least important details – background, maybe answer a couple of popular customer questions there, etc.

Easy Navigation – Make the Copy Simple to Follow

How many clicks does it take in average for your customers or prospects to find what they need on your site? Have you ever looked? Check out your website analytics program and see what the numbers are telling you. Follow their path from start to finish. This data is invaluable – and can help you re-design and/or rewrite if necessary. How many clicks should it take for them to get to what they are looking for? Probably less than five – but its less about the number of clicks and more about providing an intuitive, easy to follow path – no matter what they are trying to find.

Patterns, Alignment and Consistency

Take a look at each of your pages, individually and collectively. Do they have a consistent look and feel? Does the copy have the same tone and style? They absolutely need to. If you see major differences from page to page, this will not only look bad – it will throw your customers off and sometimes make them navigate to the next site. I know I have done it many times.

Good Contrast Between Text and Background

Although this seems like an obvious usability point, you’d be surprised how many people are still not doing this step right. If you can’t see the copy clearly or have to squint to see it – it’s not working. A tried and true format? White background and black text. That’s how most of the best sites are set up anyway.

Strong Sentence Structure

First is to keep your sentences simple. If they are running five lines and have multiple prepositions and conjunctions, cut them up into digestible pieces. Remember, many people out there (probably 30-40%) are slow readers with remedial comprehension. You need to communicate at a sixth grade level so all potential prospects clearly understand.

Next is the word “you”. Get used to using it! The copy on your website should be all about “you”. Use it in your copy – make it about them.

Keep your paragraphs short. This helps people digest the information easier. Long paragraphs scare people away. They don’t have the time or inclination to want to read the whole thing. And they never will. Think simple.

Usability is an important element in the overall goal of making your site more attractive to prospects and customers. The copy that you place on your site supports its overall usability. Ensure that you go through the above steps one by one with each page on your site so you can take good advantage and be one step ahead of your competitors!