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Yo! Yo! SEO’s Dana Lookadoo on Re-branding and SEO+

Posted on 22. May, 2012 by Laura in Blog, SEO Content marketing, seo content strategy, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques

Today we’re honored to feature our interview with Dana Lookadoo, founder of Yo! Yo! SEO and one of the second wave of SEO women professionals who pioneered the SEO and search industry. Dana was well ahead of the SEO/Search industry curve when she decided to integrate social media and education into her brand. Here, Dana shares her story with us. Enjoy!

Laura: Would you share with us how you came to be a second-generation SEO (woman) professional?

Dana: First, thank you for listing me in your Women who rock SEO: the second wave post! I give credit to the women who were part of the first generation for my inspiration.

Having been in the tech and Web development industry years before focusing on SEO, I was used to male-dominated conferences and meet-ups. My first Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose in 2005 sealed the deal for me: I was inspired by how many women were leaders in search marketing at SES!

I learned a lot from those 1st generation women, i.e., Shari Thurow, Jill Whalen, and Heather Lloyd-Martin, during this time. They openly shared best practices about information architecture, SEO, and copywriting.

I became even more excited that women were such successful technologists, marketers, and communicators! You could say I followed in their footsteps.

I also want to credit a couple of “first generation” men – Andy Beal and Lee Odden. From them I learned a well-rounded perspective about integrated marketing strategies (and less SEO-only approaches).

My initial focus on SEO was birthed out of a fork in the road in 2003.

I had previously co-owned a successful Web development agency in Monterey, CA. Maybe we grew too fast, but my business partner attempted suicide. Pandora’s Box opened up. The result was dissolution of the business.

I regrouped and refocused. Web 2.0 was in its infancy. The shift to a more consumer-centric Web was underway. This fit perfectly with my passions – people, writing, and website usability.

I had no idea the choice to focus on SEO would be so pivotal.

I started Pixel Position, a firm to help people “position” their sites and marketing messages. That was in 2003, and I devoured as much information as I could to help clients develop and design search-friendly websites and content that people wanted to link to and talk about.

The road to a fairly good track record of success was paved with a lot of hard work, study, and doing what’s right for other people. Paying it forward and donating time to help non-profits has been part of that journey. “Give back, and it will be given back to you” has proven true.

Laura: So what is the story behind Yo! Yo! SEO:  What does it mean? (“Word-of-Mouth SEO”)?

Dana: It was time for a change. The importance of social media was growing, and I decided to rebrand, again.Listening and engaging people (online & offline) were pivotal aspects of marketing online. I called it “Conversational SEO.” I wanted to rebrand to express how Social Media and SEO fit hand-in-glove. I was also teaching clients how to optimize their digital content and their online conversations. I wanted an agency name that reflected such.

I played around with names and spent a lot of time researching available domains. I wanted something that expressed the combination of search and social, while also expressing my educational approach.

“You’re NOT On Your Own in SEO” was my initial tagline. Remove the “NOT,” and the resulting acronym is YOYOSEO. The domain was available. The rebranding began.

BUT, I didn’t want people thinking of a yoyo. To reflect the urgency of the growing importance of word-of-mouth and shouting out in social media, exclamation points were added : Yo! Yo!

Yo! Listen up … Yo! Shout it out …

Then there was the logo, which took a few months to perfect. The lips, conversation bubble, and information architecture outline summarized it all.

The Yo! Yo! SEO process is “Word-of-Mouth SEO.” We help companies optimize their online conversations, which means their websites and how they engage in social media.

The rebranding was a lot of fun, and it has paid off 3+ years later.

Laura: Describe for us a classic “day in the life of Dana Lookadoo” in or outside of Yo! Yo! SEO.

Dana: Oh, the days vary dramatically. I’d like to draw a picture of my ideal work day when I feel totally in control, but during the past couple years, days are more “reactive” than I’d like to admit.

Interestingly, working with corporate clients often means you’re part of their team rather than acting as an outside agency calling the shots. Helping to optimize and manage their social media presence often means I spend more time interacting with and getting to know a client’s audience and less time socializing and sharing with my own. I’m closely involved in the content optimization and creation process as well.

Lyena Solomon and I take an advisory and training approach, which means close collaboration is key. We analyze stats and campaign performance while researching to ensure clients are staying ahead of the competition. A lot of time is spent writing and critiquing content while documenting processes and helping clients prioritize their many tasks and needs.

Daily work hats include content developer, community engager, designer, business advisor, marketing strategist, conversion optimizer, analyst, and circus juggler!

Daily non-work hats? I admit it’s hard to turn off the optimization flow outside of work, but I do shut down from social and the computer. I spend time with non-search friends and family and log mile-after-mile cycling. My physical and spiritual parts of my life get a lot of attention as well. Then there’s gardening and organic foods.

I guess you could say I’m addicted to more than SEO.

Laura: You have an impressive list of clients as a business trainer. You also develop classes for corporate in-house training: What is it that you do as a business trainer? (i.e., is it strictly SEO copywriting, or a broader range of subjects?)

Dana: You’ve touched my passion point. Sharing, downloading, showing, teaching, and empowering others with the skills to make a difference fulfill me beyond end. I could sit on the phone or in-person for hours just explaining the hows and whys of various aspects of online marketing, or how to use software.

I used to teach and write a lot of technology courses, including train-the-trainer sessions, Web development, how to use the Internet, software, and Web tools.

Currently, training involves showing marketing and non-marketing departments the importance of SEO, copywriting, and social engagement and how they are a pivotal aspect of reaching out to clients and prospects.

The focus of most training revolves around helping companies in their paradigm shift from “me” messages to “you” terminology, focusing more on personas and their audience. Not-so-glamorous training involves showing best practices for using Photoshop, optimizing meta and Open Graph tags for search and social, tagging URLs with campaign variables, etc.

Laura: If you had to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, what would they be?

Dana: Hmmm… You had to ask the tough stuff. I’ll focus on Yo! Yo! SEO’s strengths and weaknesses rather than my own. (Isn’t that a nice way to skirt a tough question?)

STRENGTHS: We specialize in helping companies understand their audience (personas) to guide them with their online marketing.

That ranges from terms they use (keywords for SEO & PPC) to what attracts them and keeps them engaged (quality content) to what keeps the relationship going (social media interactions). The ultimate goal is to help them close more sales and/or generate leads.

Our key offerings include this approach with SEO at the core:

• Website design/redesign and CMS migration
• Content development and social engagement
• Online visibility audits (SEO, Social, PPC, Usability)
• Training

WEAKNESSES: Limited bandwidth.

Laura: As an SEO professional of some 9 years, what are your thoughts/perspective on the state of the SEO industry?

Dana: It’s an exciting time to be part of SEO and search. Google’s latest algorithms, especially Panda and Penguin, coupled with focus on Author Rank, mean companies who create quality content can finally win without link wheels and article spinning.

We’re not totally there with “clean” spam-free SERPs, but Google & Bing’s increased focus on social signals is helping weed the garden. In other words, companies who focus on the needs of their audience can reap the fruits of their labors.

It’s also a fast-moving time, and “integrative marketing” is key. Pure SEO is a thing of the past.

• Marketers have to take a holistic approach and work closely with clients to help them understand that stuffing keywords and link schemes is not going to produce ROI and may hurt them.
• Companies must be willing to listen by putting the customer first, taking time to build relationships online.
• Quality content is essential, and companies need to stand out from the crowd.
• In other words, they should not be afraid to shout out a Yo!, and show some leg!

Laura: Any words of advice for those just beginning their career in SEO?

Dana: Good question.

• First, realize you can’t specialize in it all. Work your strengths.
• Be realistic to know that this is a career and not an 8-5 job. You have to dedicate to constant study.
• As a minimum, learn how to code HTML.
• Learn how to write for the Web and an audience who has ADD.
• Build relationships with peers in the industry. Don’t go into SEO if you don’t like people.

One more thing, don’t put “Guru” as part of your bio anywhere on the Web!

Laura: Thanks Dana!  :)

Dana: And thanks to you, too!

About Dana Lookadoo - Founder of Yo! Yo! SEO, Dana calls herself a “search geek who prefers people over search engines but optimizes for both.” Her specialty is in coupling audience engagement and social media with SEO. Dana began a career in computing/PC training in 1984, then moved into website development and online marketing. As a business trainer, Dana has developed and conducted technology classes for Sun Microsystems Open Gateway Programs, Monterey Institute of International Studies, U.C. Santa Cruz Extension, and Walmart’s MEM Technology Conference Series. She believes, “Successful engagements require creative tactical planning, implementation, perseverance and presence!” Follow Dana @lookadoo.

Of Panda’s and Penguin’s: learn how to write for Google and avoid a bamboo spanking! 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/image thanks to Top Rank blog

SEO content strategies for Google’s Penguin update

Posted on 07. May, 2012 by Laura in Blog, SEO Content marketing, seo content strategy, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

Welcome back! In today’s SEO copywriting video how-to, Heather addresses the latest topic that has the industry abuzz: Google’s Penguin update. Specifically, she discusses SEO content strategies for dealing with the Penguin.

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)

6 steps to a smart (sane) Google+ strategy

Posted on 28. Feb, 2012 by Laura in Blog, seo content strategy, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips by Industry

Another social network? What’s a brand to do!

There’s no denying it – Google+ is going to be an important part of social media and search from now on. Its enormous growth in the past seven months has gotten the attention of the search industry, competing social networks and marketers alike. Google+ has more than 90 million users – nearly as much as LinkedIn, but not even close to Facebook’s 800 million.

Even though the Google+ numbers pale in comparison to Facebook (for now), its “Search Plus Your World” (SPYW) integration in Google search results opens up Google+ content to the billions of worldwide Google users.

With the introduction of SPYW, Google+ social content is becoming part of Google search engine results. If you’re logged into Google while doing a search, you’ll see Google+ pages from related users and brands. You’ll see pages that people in your circles have given a “+1” and you’ll also see images under individual search results of users who have shared that particular page. In addition, sites that have been “+1’ed” are pushed higher in search engine results.

Even if you aren’t logged into Google while doing a search, your search results are still being affected by Google+. A search for the term “SEO” displays two user profiles related to the term:

Imagine your brand or personal profile getting this kind of exposure in regular search results! Clearly, Google+ deserves more of your time.

With the popularity of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – how does your company find time to embrace Google+? With so many social networks on your plate, adding another can seem like a major challenge.

Here are six steps that you can use to embrace Google+ and get all of its benefits without losing your mind.

1. Claim Your Page and Manage Your Circles

If you don’t have a Google+ brand page, it’s time to get started. You can create a Google+ business page from a personal Google+ account, which in turn requires a Gmail account.

If you’re a larger organization, you’ll need to decide which person in your company will create and manage the page. (This is one feature that has sparked some criticism of Google – if that employee or manager leaves, what becomes of the company’s Google+ page?)

There are dozens of guides out there that detail how to circle other users and optimize your profile. I’m not going to delve into that here, but keep in mind these two points:

• You can promote your Google+ business page on your personal profile in order to encourage more users to migrate to your business page.
• You can also circle users via your business profile in order to get them to circle you back.

Focus on developing circles for specific purposes. You’ll get a lot more leverage from your sharing if it is targeted to user groups.

For instance, you can create circles for current customers and prospects, and then additional circles for competitors so you can see what they are up to on the social network.

2. Focus on Becoming a Topic Expert 

With its strong SEO capabilities, it’s possible to make a big splash in your niche industry with Google+. Since the platform is relatively new, there’s still ample time to stake your claim as a top provider of small business financial advice, cloud-based communications apps, or gourmet chocolate gift baskets.

Optimize your business profile for your niche keyword terms and then make a habit of sharing related news. Pretty soon, your company will be well known for your topic specialty.

Remember to select a topic that is related to your product and/or service and supports what your ideal customers are interested in. Users are more likely to take interest in “Tips for Great Road Trips” then “Come See How Awesome Our Tires Are.”

3. Share Content Regularly

There’s nothing worse than sharing content on social media and then disappearing for an indefinite amount of time. No matter what your marketing schedule looks like, pick a frequency and commit to it for at least 8 weeks.

After that time, you can look back at your results and decide whether less or more sharing would be best for you.

As well as sharing your own posts and content from other sources, you can also make use of Google+’s longer post length. You can post entire articles on the platform rather than having to direct users to a different location.

In addition to sharing regularly, be sure to participate in the community. The same rules for Twitter and Facebook apply here – respond to comments, comment on other shared content, and engage with your audience.

4. Use Photos More Often

Google+ is a beautiful platform for photos and they really stand out in the stream. Unlike Facebook,  where users can upload photos in albums, Google+ images are loaded as individual posts. This feature gives your photos much more prominence.

Make it a point to use photos as part of your regular updates. You can add images from your company, charts and slides from presentations, infographics, and more to enhance your presence on the platform.

5. Share Your Posts Directly With Your Circles

With just an extra step you can “push” special posts and updates directly to your circle members. While you shouldn’t use this feature all of the time, it’s helpful for promoting your most important blog posts or company announcements.

When you post an update, you can hover over the name of a circle with your mouse. A box will pop up listing a few of the members of the circle and asking if you want to notify the users of the post.

Your circle members will then get an email about the post (if they’ve opted to receive notifications from Google+).

It’s a good way to highlight important content and make sure it’s being read by your relevant audience – just don’t abuse this feature and alienate your target readers.

6. Analyze Your Results and Plan Accordingly 

Like other forms of marketing, analysis and planning are going to be the key to success with Google+.

However, with Google+ the process is a little different.

Unfortunately, due to Google’s encryption, it’s impossible to analyze the visits you’re receiving from the Google+ platform in any meaningful way.

So, the best way to monitor your Google+ results is to take note of how many responses you’re getting, which topics are being reshared and whether or not your profile (or business profile) is showing up in the search engines.

Once you’ve gathered your results, look at how you can improve your performance:

• Do you need to actively circle more users?
• Do you find that your photo updates are getting more comments and shares than other updates?
• How are you doing in the search engine rankings: Do you need to optimize your profile and updates to include important niche related keywords?

With these steps, you can make sense of Google+ and leverage it for your business. I’d love to hear how you’ve adopted Google+ and how it’s working. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

For further reading:

• SEOmoz: Why Every Marketer Now Needs a Google+ Strategy
• iMedia Connection: 6 Reasons Why Adding Google+ to Your Web Presence & SEO Strategy is a Good Idea
• Marketing Land: Seeing Long-Form Post Success On Google+, Facebook Raises Character Limit By 1100%
• SEO Copywriting: Google Circles and the future of SEO Copywriting

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.

Want to dramatically increase your income as a freelance copywriter? Consider getting your certification in SEO Copywriting, taught by the widely-recognized pioneer of the SEO industry, Heather Lloyd-Martin. Her training is the only online SEO Copywriting Training Program independently endorsed by SEOPros.org. Check into it and make 2012 the year you turn your biz around!

photo thanks to Bruce Clay, Inc. 

Queen of Link: Interview with Debra Mastaler

Posted on 07. Feb, 2012 by Laura in Blog, SEO Content marketing, seo content strategy, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques

Today we are honored to feature our interview with link-building expert, Debra Mastaler.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About Debra Mastaler

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

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

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

How do readers consume your content?

Posted on 10. Jan, 2012 by Laura in Blog, SEO Content marketing, seo content strategy, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques

Guest Author, Lyena Solomon

You are an SEO copywriter. As a matter of fact, you are a pro who makes a living doing just that – writing for websites. You write great content that aims to convert visitors. You know all about keyword research and call to action. You figured out who your audience is and did persona modeling. You know your way around analytics.

What you also know oh so well is how hard it is to convert a website visitor. User intent is often a mystery when you look at a search query.

Usability SEO tips can help optimize your pages. Still, your job is to grab the user with your content, get them interested, convince them to sign up or buy, and, finally, spread the word about your fabulous company.

Get ready for some tricks and tips on how to make your copy revenue-generating. The fascinating psychology of user behavior (combined with PPC testing) will make you a mind-reader. Well, not exactly, but close enough to get you a raise as the best converting copywriter.

Know Your Audience

When you are writing a post you have the audience in mind.  Is it a “Methodical” engineer? Or a “Humanistic” activist, passionate about a cause? Could it be a “Spontaneous” visitor who wants to learn a new skill? Or, possibly, an information-hungry “Competitive” blog scanner?

These user behaviors were observed and described by Jakob Nielsen in one of his eye tracking studies. The study did not address web copy specifically. However, we can learn quite a lot from it.

User behavior on your page is relevant to how users will consume your content. Jakob Nielsen outlines 4 types of behavior:

• Competitive (type A)
• Methodical (type B)
• Spontaneous (type C)
• Humanistic (type D)

If you keep them in mind when writing your copy, your content will be sticky and appealing.

Your audience will consume your content as follows:

• Competitive browsers will quickly look at the header, note the highlighted content, scan the bullet points, and gloss over the menu. They will quickly make a decision about your page and their next action.

• Methodical users will use similar logical approach to your content.  They will scan the page but more carefully, reading not only highlighted portions, but the text around them. They will study the menu and possibly links to learn more on the subject. They will pay attention to details.

• Spontaneous visitors suffer from copy ADHD.  They will look at everything quickly, focusing on nothing, looking for something they can do on the page. If they see anything interactive, they will want to check it out.  That includes sharing, comments, voting, ranking, polls, etc.  They will be attracted to pictures and video, pretty buttons and fancy design.

• Humanistic types will look for anything in the content that relates to them.  They will also be drawn to the pictures and design, but will spend more time examining it than a Spontaneous user.  They will share your content with their friends only if it resonates with their beliefs and emotions.

All these types of visitors respond to different types of content. Obviously, you cannot create a separate page for each of them, but you can format the content based on your audience.  The trick is to figure out whom your content appeals to best.

Plot your content on page

Your keyword research and the main topic should indicate to some extent, what kind of user would be most interested in your content.  If it is a piece about green technology, for example, your Humanistic types would be your primary target.  If you are writing about gadgets, I would focus on Competitive and Methodical types.

Put your main point in the first paragraph for the Competitive user. Make sure your call to action, sharing buttons, subscription offers are above the fold. Use bold and italic fonts to make your copy scannable. Make sure they know quickly what the next step is, i.e. call to action.

Elaborate on the main points for the Methodical visitor.  Add references and links to other relevant articles. Comparisons, reviews, opinions, tools will keep a Methodical visitor on your page longer. They might even subscribe to your newsletter.

Select a cute and fitting image for your content to attract the Spontaneous visitor. Have sharing and “like” buttons easily available.  A Facebook widget showing their friends liking the site will definitely help convert this type of visitor. If you can include some kind of calculator or poll – do it. Make your content more interactive and you will make a Spontaneous visitor stick.

Include some benefits or emotional points for the Humanistic type. Perhaps, include Facebook comments feed or Twitter feed if at all appropriate.  Reviews and endorsements will convince a Humanistic visitor to take the action that other people like them took. “Sign this petition” or “Vote against this” calls to action will work well.

About the Author – Lyena Solomon

Lyena has 15 year experience in SEO, analytics, website usability and navigation. Her consulting company, NetSprinter, LLC, works with local and global businesses to craft marketing strategies that improve the revenue. Lyena recently joined Yo!Yo!SEO as a Web Optimization Analyst to help focus on website monetization.

Would you like to learn more about SEO copywriting and boost your income, too? Claim the best of both worlds by signing up  for the SuccessWorks SEO Copywriting Certification training program, now offered at a hefty 30% discount. Use coupon code SEOCOPY-30 and invest in your future while saving nearly $180! (Offer ends January 14, 2012.)

Want better conversions? Get specific with your benefit statements

Posted on 19. Sep, 2011 by Laura in Blog, Conversion writing, Direct reponse copywriting, Freelance SEO copywriting, In-house Content Marketing, seo content strategy, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques, web writing

Welcome back! This Monday’s SEO copywriting how-to video post is about how specifics in your online writing help you sell more. Heather developed this piece in response to a reader question about how to increase the effectiveness of their web copy. In looking through the reader’s web content, Heather realized that one of the opportunities the copywriter could leverage was to make their marketing copy more specific.

While the general reader benefit statements were powerful, honing them to highly tangible and specific ”what’s-in-it-for-me” language is what this copywriter needed to do to improve their conversions. So for those of you who have been struggling with writing better sales copy and are looking for any advantage you can find, you should find this most helpful:

1. So these are so-so benefit statements. (Let’s make them better…)

• Boost your revenue!
• Let us help you save time!
• Save money!

The challenge? People have different ideas about what “boosting revenue,” “saving time” and ”saving money” mean. The web copy doesn’t paint a picture. This is where the specifics come in…

2. Specifics take a good marketing statement and make it sexy

• Boost your revenue by 30%!
• What would you do with an extra hour every day?
• Slice your expenses by $2,000 a month!

So you can see how these highly specific benefits, expressed in such personalized, concrete and precise terms, can be something simple to leverage…

3. So what does this mean to your online writing?

• Track how you’ve helped your customers – what specifics can you uncover?
• Try to back up any “general” benefit statement with an exact number or percentage.
• Don’t feel compelled to “round up.” If you’ve boosted profits by 27.6%, it’s OK to use that stat.

If you haven’t yet asked your customers for testimonials, now would be a great time to start. Ask them if they can provide you with any precise specifications in terms of numbers and percentages. Studies have shown that accurate, factual spec’s (e.g., 27.6% as opposed to 25- or 30%) are found to be more credible by prospects. And besides, it’s the truth of the matter!

Try these suggestions and watch your conversions improve!

Thanks for tuning in and please drop Heather your question  at askheather@seocopywriting.com. See you next Monday!

Target your web copy with an ideal customer profile

Posted on 06. Sep, 2011 by Laura in Blog, Conversion writing, Freelance SEO copywriting, search engine writing, seo content strategy, seo copywriters, SEO Copywriting Certification, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques, web writing, Working with clients

Guest Author, Courtney Ramirez

There’s something at the center of every great web copy page. It’s not keyword selection or the call to action, although those are both important factors. It’s the customer. Understanding the customer is at the heart of good copywriting – but to make truly great SEO copywriting you need to go one step further and create an ideal client profile.

In an Ideal World, Who Are You Doing Business With?

When you create an ideal customer profile, you’re basically answering this question. Who do you want to do business with? The biggest mistake I see clients make is that they assume that everyone needs their product or service. This happens with everyone from solopreneurs to large corporations. No matter what your size, you need to narrow your scope and find an ideal client. Your ideal client is uniquely suited to what you have to offer.

Does this mean that you’ll turn away consulting clients who don’t fit your exact ideal or set up your shopping cart so only certain people can make a purchase? Of course not. When you focus on marketing to your ideal client you’ll naturally get business from people who are “nearly ideal.” Not everyone you attract will be carbon copies of one another.

Creating web copy pages with an ideal client profile in mind will make the process a lot easier, and a lot more effective. It will help you reach out to those ideal and nearly ideal clients in a more precise way.

With an Ideal Client Profile, You’ll Benefit From:

• Easier keyword selection – You can tap into the exact words that your clients would use to describe your product or service. By getting into their head, you can find keyword phrases that represent their research phase, their decision making phase and their buying phase.
• More targeted copy – Writing to an audience that includes everyone and your grandma can really muck up your copy. By focusing on just one person, you’ll know exactly what type of language to use.
• Clearer calls to action- The more you know about your ideal client and what motivates them, the better your conversion rates will be.

Now that you know about the gloriousness that can come from an ideal client profile, it’s time to piece one together.

Building Your Ideal Client Profile – A Few Rules

• Your ideal client is not your target market. Your ideal client is part of your target market but they are different. Think of it this way – your target market is your vineyard and your ideal client is that one perfect bunch of grapes that is perfectly ripe. Your vineyard includes lots of perfectly fine bunches, but you want to pick the perfect one.
• The more specific, the better. Don’t be afraid to get really specific with your ideal client profile. Many businesses resist this type of narrowcasting because they believe that it will put a cap on their profits. Not so! If you know your audience well, you’ll be converting your ideal clients and nearly ideal clients at a better rate than casting a wide net and trying to market to everyone.

Building Your Ideal Client Profile – 3 Steps

Step One – Demographics

The demographic characteristics of your ideal client will detail their age, income, location and other quantifiable factors.

For example, an inner wealth coach focuses on working with high income women in Los Angeles, between the ages of 35 and 65, who have more than $2 million in net worth. This demographic information is an important starting point because already we can tell that the copy will be geared toward a female reader and keywords should include location.

Step Two – Psychographics

Demographics were the tried and true way to research a target market but due in part to the Internet, they are not enough to zero in on an ideal client. Online demographic groups can mingle to create new groups based on motivations, interests and feelings. Psychographic information helps you zero in on the intangible similarities between the members of your target market. With it, you can get a clearer picture of your ideal client.

The same inner wealth coach has psychographic quantifiers for her ideal client. She mainly works with women from that demographic group who feel trapped in wealth and aren’t sure how to cope with the feelings of being extremely privileged. They are looking for something more than just a weekly shopping spree on Rodeo Drive. They want to find their purpose and use their wealth to create good in the world. These psychographic elements will affect how the copy will position this particular coach’s services and will create the tone for the web content pages.

Step Three – Fleshing Out the Persona

Finally, it’s time to put your creative writing cap on and flesh out your ideal client profile into a persona. Look over the demographic and psychographic characteristics and create a person to fit those details. Give the person a name. Tell their back story. Get really specific and you’ll be able to understand how to reach your audience better.

For example, Stacia is a 42-year-old woman who lives in Beverly Hills. She has been married for 18 years and has a 15 year old daughter and 12 year old son. She is married to Greg, who is the CEO of a major entertainment company. She believes that she can do more with her money. She worries about raising her children in affluence and making sure they come out with good values intact. She likes bargain shopping but doesn’t know if it’s “okay” for her to shop at Costco. She has several causes that she is interested in supporting but doesn’t know how to start supporting them in a real and lasting way beyond making financial donations.

Find a picture on Flickr to match your ideal client profile so you know who you’re writing for. Get as detailed as possible with your ideal client, especially with large websites where you’ll need a lot of copy. By taking the time to create a profile you’ll find your SEO copywriting will be much more effective and easier to write.

About Courtney Ramirez:

Courtney Ramirez is a certified SEO copywriter and content marketing consultant. As a student of search engine marketing, web usability and social media, she’s been able to craft a writing style that is both inviting to readers and ranking factors. After dabbling in print journalism, she’s written exclusively online since 2005 and manages a small team of excellent writers at Six Degrees Content. She and the team work with solopreneurs who are overwhelmed by content marketing, small businesses who need a website booster shot and marketing companies who want to offer content without the hassles of hiring writers and managing projects in house.

Courtney prides herself on excellent customer service and is semi-addicted to the Sims 3. When she’s not typing away at the keyboard, she is spending time with her husband, an author, and two daughters.

How to resonate with your readers through web page “tone and feel”

Posted on 22. Aug, 2011 by Laura in Blog, Conversion writing, SEO Content marketing, seo content strategy, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques, web writing

Have you ever wondered what is meant by the “tone and feel” of a webpage, or by a website’s “voice”?

You’re not alone. Having received a number of questions from folks about just this subject, Heather addresses the importance of your web pages’ “voice” in today’s SEO copywriting how-to video post, and specifically how to use it to “speak” to your readers.

1.  You hear a lot about a page’s “voice” or “tone and feel”: so what does that mean?

• It’s as simple as writing online copy in the same manner as you would speak to a prospect.

It really is as simple as that. So when you are writing content, you want how you say what you say to be in a way that the prospect will think, “okay, this person is just like me…they understand what I need and I feel more comfortable buying from them.”  Establishing that resonance with your readers helps them take that next conversion step.

• As discussed before, with online copywriting, it is all about the prospect: that prospect is wondering “what’s in it for me?”

It’s one thing to have benefits – and it’s very, very important to have benefits – in your copy, but if you can convey those benefits in your writing in a way that resonates with your target audience, that can make a HUGE difference with conversions.

• So generic online writing = bad, in that you won’t get the conversions that you want, or the readers that you want, because you’re not connecting with you target audience.

2.  A mini- case study of achieving target audience resonance by changing up a website’s tone and feel:  Fashion Forward for women 25 -35 years old.

This is a well-defined demographic – women 25 to 35 years old – and the copy talks about this discount sterling silver jewelry that’s designed for both daily and evening wear.

That “evening wear” may not be resonating with that target audience, and you can be sure that it’s definitely not resonating with those who shop exquisite Oscar de la Renta jewelry. So if you’re dealing with a younger target audience, they’re probably not shopping high-fashion designer jewelry, especially through that site.

3.  Solution:  copywriting that “sells” the benefits in a different way…

We completely tweeked the copy – altered it’s tone and feel — so it fit that particular target audience.  The site ended up getting a huge increase in conversions because while the copy was saying the same thing, it was saying it in a way that really resonated with the target audience.

The site ended up with a completely different tone and feel – a completely different voice – and that made a huge difference in its effectiveness.

4.  So, before you upload a new page, ask yourself:

• Does the writing reflect how my target audience communicates?
• What can I do to make the copy more personal?
• Am I using terminology that my target audience may not understand?
• Does the copy “pop” off the page and make you want to take the next action step?

Remember you want your content’s tone and feel to match – resonate with – your target audience, and there is no excuse for boring copy!

An important reminder: if you’ve been thinking about signing up for the weekly SEO Copywriting Buzz newsletter and taking advantage of the 30-percent discount on SEO Copywriting Certification training, don’t procrastinate any longer – this hefty discount will end August 31^st!

Thanks for joining this week’s how-to! Do you have a question for Heather? Great! Zip it on over to her at askheather@seocopywriting.com and be sure to check in next week – it may well be the subject of next week’s video. See you then!

How I do what I do: confessions of a content curator

Posted on 09. Aug, 2011 by Laura in Blog, SEO Content marketing, seo content strategy, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques

Yes, I love content. Worthwhile, pithy content that I can sink my teeth into. I bookmark, curate and condense this content, and share it with you all via the SEO content marketing roundup each Wednesday on this blog.

I’m often asked how I go about it.

I feel a bit abashed in saying that I have no system per se, no formula to offer. But I can tell you this: I know “quality” stuff when I see it, immediately. And you’ll often see it in my Twitter stream, or liked, or recommended, or Google Plus’ed.  But to date, I cannot honestly delineate a rhyme or reason, method to my madness, anything that might help you all out. Sorry!

Call it a journalist’s hunch or just plain common sense or some sort of intuition.  Or not.  But for what it’s worth, here is what I do when curating content:

1.  Check the most credible sites and news sources

My daily diet of blogs and news includes: Top Rank Marketing, Content Marketing Institute, Conversation Marketing, Level 343, Copyblogger, Seth Godin, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, and then a ton of other Search Engine, SEO, and Social Media authorities and paper.li’s (yes, I find great value in paper.li’s from certain sources). And this list is by no means exhaustive or exclusive, or representing “site endorsements.”  I follow many other blogs and news sources. Just offering up my triage.

2.  Check my email inbox

I also make a point of tracking alternative sources of content, search, social and SEO blog posts and news.

I can only do so much internet research in a week – or day – so for instance: although social media marketing is not my primary passion, I keep in touch via email subscriptions with a number of social media sources.  As well as content, search, and SEO.  My inbox is intimidating.

I fillet my way through it ruthlessly.

3.  Keep my mind and digital ears open

I am always checking the Twitter stream (sorry, Google+) for news and links relevant to the industry.  For me, Twitter provides absolute web gems from sites and sources far and wide, in real time.

No voice or source of substantive content is neglected on its face. But again, it really is a matter of time and energy. Quite often, I’ve happened upon a thread that seeds the theme of my roundup from a brand spanking new source. The Twitter stream proves time and again to be a serendipitous source of inspiration for me.

So what say you?

That all said, I am wide open for your suggestions as to what you would like to see in the Wednesday SEO Content Marketing Roundup, or who you would like to hear from in the Tuesday guest posts.

Shoot me an email: laura@seocopywriting.com and I will be happy to oblige   Look forward to hearing from you!  (And sharing the latest SEO content marketing roundup with you tomorrow).

Til then,

Laura Crest

Twitter: @ljcrest

How to create a customer persona

Posted on 08. Aug, 2011 by Laura in Blog, Conversion writing, Copywriting, online writing, SEO Content marketing, seo content strategy, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques, web writing

Greetings! This week’s video how-to answers a reader question:  “How do I create a customer persona?” Creating a customer persona is a fundamental step that is often overlooked by businesses both large and small.

Join Heather as she explains the purpose of developing a customer persona, as well as how to got about it:

When your prospects read your online copy, there’s only one thing they want to know:  “What’s in it for me?”

The purpose of creating a customer persona is to get to know the person who is reading your stuff or buying from you.  And at the end of the day, what matters to that person is what is in it for me? So everything you write – be it sales copy, blog, or article – should be targeted to your customer persona. The “what’s in it for me?” customer question is the essential one you need to answer.

• And then you need to consider that you’re looking at different types of folks who may be visiting your site, reading your content, or considering buying your products or services.

An explicit example:  Would you “sell” the same way to these 35-year-old guys?

A lot of folks will claim that they have a product or service that appeals to everyone, so they can’t write copy specific to any one persona.

Well, consider this example of two 35-year-old men:

• Customer Persona #1/Momma’s Guy:  He lives at home with his mom, enjoys ham radios and bagpipes, reads magazines about military history, and dates maybe once a year.
• Customer Persona #2/Metro Guy:  Lives in a downtown condo, enjoys scotch and fine dining, reads exotic travel magazines, and dates several times a month.

So would you write the same for them?  No, probably not.  Each guy has different hopes, fears, desires, pain points, and objections to overcome.

This example speaks to the importance of customer persona.  When writing online content, you’ll want to delve deeper into your readers’ persona.

Some Questions to Ask When Developing a Customer Persona

There are a lot of questions that you need to ask at the very beginning of the process when creating a customer persona.

If you’re a freelance writer, one of the first questions to ask your client is if you can view their customer persona documents so that you can capture the reader you’re writing for. Or, if you’re working in-house and don’t have access to customer persona profiles, then this presents a great opportunity to go back and revisit your copy to discover what content is really resonating with your readers.

A list of questions to start out with are:

1. Do you have multiple target audiences?  (As referenced before, Constant Contact does a fabulous job of segmenting verticals on their landing page).
2. How old is your typical buyer/reader?
3. What level of education have they reached?
4. What are their average income levels?
5. What benefits are important to them?  (What is important to one 35-year-old guy may be irrelevant to another, as noted above).
6. What magazines do they read?
7. What sites do they visit and trust?
8. What objections do you need to overcome in the copy?

In the end, you want to know your customer persona like you know your best friend. Your copy will resonate with the customer, and convert!

Thanks for tuning into this week’s SEO Copywriting how-to.  If you have a question for Heather, just zip it on over to her at askheather@seocopywriting.com.  Hope to see you next Monday!