Creating Great Content – SBM Unleashed
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for small business web sites is their content. This session, taught by Heather Lloyd-Martin of SuccessWorks Search Marketing Solutions, will reveal why content and copywriting plays such a huge role in the success of your web site. It is designed to show what type of content is essential to include and provides some tips and insight into how the words you use can impact the actions people take once they reach your web site.
Heather begins by stating that content needs to resonate with audience. Small
businesses have an advantage in this as they know their business, their
customers and don’t have all the red tape that large corporations typically do
in approving content. So what is the big deal about content? Search engines love
content. Users need it as well. It allows you to connect with your audience.
Content also helps build your brand, sell things, educate, build trust and so
much more.
Heather makes the statement that most everything people know about SEO
copywriting is wrong. The reason for this is that most “SEO copywriting” info
forgets that content needs to convert. She shows a ridiculous example of copy
that is just stuffed with a bunch of keywords. I
wrote about this a while back showing an example of how a computer tech shop
stuffed content with keywords.
Heather shows a case study where a Amsterdam travel related site got themselves
banned from Google for duplicate content, had to spend $4,000 a month on AdWords
to get any traffic in the door, but them fixed their duplicate content problems
and started creating valuable content on the subject of traveling to Amsterdam.
They got back in the Google index, and started to rank very well for many key
phrases related to Amsterdam.
An important ingredient in content is that it has to show the user “what’s in it
for them.” The content write needs to understand why people buy and then cater
to them with content. Good content needs to include “benefit statements.” You
can always add keywords to copy or make sure content is focused on specific
subject but if you miss the benefit statements, you will be missing out on
conversions.
Heather next talks about keyword research which allows you to get inside your
user’s head to see what they are thinking about. She mentions two tools that
allow you to do keyword research –
Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery.
Some free alternatives include Google’s keyword tool. For a more extensive list,
check out
a
list I put together a list awhile back on our company blog.
In doing keyword research, review your own site to see what key phrases match
pages that already exist. At the same time, are there new pages you can develop
that will allow you to target some of the phrases on your list? heather suggests
uses up to three keywords and/or phrases per page to target. Yes you can overlap
on other pages but use specific pages to focus on specific key phrases.
Heather next provides some examples of what you can include on your site as far
as providing informative content. Examples include FAQ pages,
designer/manufacturer information pages, “how-to” pages, articles, product
reviews, newsletters and blogs.
Some rules of thumb for content:
Heather shows some real life examples of keyword editing (where you insert
keyword phrases in copy) and shows how simple it is to use keywords and phrases
in copy while the copy remains in a natural language.
She finalizes her session by showing how important it is to properly optimize
title tags. She points out how important the SERPs are as a first point of
conversion. I’ll add here that it is important to include keywords in title tags
but at the same time have titles that attract conversions (click-thrus).
============================
Note: These are raw notes taken while live-blogging sessions at the Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference in Columbus, Ohio. Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors.
David Wallace is CEO and founder of SearchRank, an original search engine optimization and marketing firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is experienced in search engine optimization and marketing, pay per click and pay for inclusion management, directory submissions and web site design usability. David is a frequent contributor to various search engine related forums, an active editor of popular directories such as GoGuides.org, Joe Ant and Zeal and has had several articles published on industry related sites. Since 1997, David along with his company have helped hundreds of businesses both large and small increase their search engine visibility and customer acquisitions.
I agree and I think the content of a website is the most important aspect in a success of a website. Website design is also important but I think design is useless if there’s no excellent content.
Read by small business people, our newsletter delivers a digest of articles from the top search engine marketing experts. You will learn about:
Our newsletter is the perfect way to stay up to date with all of the latest trends, events and techniques in using search engines to grow your business and make more sales. Subscribe here. Your email address will NOT be given to third parties.
FreeFind Site Search Engine – FreeFind adds a “search this site” feature to your website, making your site easier to use. FreeFind also gives you reports showing what your visitors are searching for, enabling you to improve your site. FreeFind’s advanced site search engine and automatic site map technology can be added to your website for free.
Buy UPC Codes
Get your products listed online!
Search marketing information for small business owners.
Fetching the best small business news.
A friendly place to share small business ideas and knowledge.
Small business support through education, resources and community
The directory of the best small business sites and tools.
Copyright © 1998 – 2018 Search Engine Guide All Rights Reserved. Privacy
Research & References of Creating Great Content – SBM Unleashed|A&C Accounting And Tax Services
Source
0 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks