Awhile back I received an email from Jak. He was writing to tell me I needed his SEO help. He wrote:
“I was surfing through your website and realized that despite having a good design; it was not ranking on any of the search engines for most of the keywords pertaining to your domain. We can do higher search result on major search engines.”
You get poorly written, borderline spam emails like this one, too. I know because many of you have told me you do, and you’re often concerned. Should you be worried about your ranking? Do you need to invest more in SEO? Is Jak the right guy for the job? Read More »
Businesses have long relied on direct mail, advertisements, and catalogs to promote their product or service. This is not news. But here is a piece of news: Traditional sales-driven marketing pieces don’t work like they used to work, because of the new lady in town.
She’s named Content Marketing. I’m sure you’ve heard of her. Her name has turned into a buzzword these days.
Content Marketing knows everything about your business, your industry, and the needs and wants of your target market. With the help of Content Marketing, you will turn your business into a publishing company. Content Marketing convinces your customers and could-be customers to depend on you for the information they need.
Your new girlfriend is one demanding lady.
Read More »
When I first started working as a website content writer, I spent a big chunk of my day reading online. I had to know about all the SEO discoveries as they were discovered. I needed to know what all the marketing gurus were saying as they were saying them. I left countless blog comments. I re-tweeted endlessly.
After several months of being inundated with information and kissing strangers’ butts, something bad happened. Something really bad.
I wanted to quit.
Read More »
Dr. Seuss (real name = Theodor Seuss Geisel) said, “Virtually every page is a cliff-hanger – you’ve got to force them to turn it.”
This applies to your web copy, too. Page content and blog posts need a beginning that pulls in readers and keeps them clicking.
Tips for Creating Dr. Seuss-Approved Web Content
Tip 1 – Create a snappy headline that plays on the reader’s problem.
“My trouble was I had a mind but I couldn’t make it up!” ― Dr. Seuss, Hunches in Bunches
Let’s say ABC Company sells doors. They get web visitors just fine through the search engines, but then most people only stick around on the site for a few seconds and never call. And here’s why: front and center on the home page the headline reads, “Welcome to the ABC Company Website.” Read More »
In John Vorhaus’ The Comic Toolbox: How to Be Funny Even if You’re Not you’re schooled on how to be funny and how to write funny. I don’t care if you want to do stand up or if you want to dominate the web, there are tips in this book that will help you write better.
Here are seven things Mr. Vorhaus taught me (or reminded me) about web content writing.
Humor is truth and pain.
Most of us can get a laugh from friends, but that’s by accident. To produce a reaction from people you don’t know (a/k/a your website visitors), find out what hurts them and then talk about it honestly. Read More »
No one judges you for caring about the latest celebrity scandal. But if you’re like me, you judge popular magazines for creating unpleasant online experiences. Who wants to deal with all those extra bells and whistles on the page when there is gossip to read?
Below are some of the ways that magazines could improve. Business owners take heed: You should do the same.
Make it quick.
Experts say a site should load in four seconds or less. If it doesn’t, you’ll lose visitors fast.
I waited 17 seconds for this Esquire article to load. Maybe it was the six banner ads and the video that automatically loaded on the page that created the delay.
Speaking of videos… Read More »
