Every day, you have the opportunity to do a variety of different things that might steer you in a particular direction.
Being a freelance seo writer, you need to adapt your strategies.
Google is changing a lot in 2010. The playing field is being shuffled right now, and it is not terribly clear who the victors will be. Will it be the spam doctors, or the specialists? Will anyone outside the SEO sphere give a hoot?
The end result is going to be the same thing that has been happening now for years. There is a change in Google, and people start acting like the Pope is pooping in Times Square.
Look, it is easy, and always has been easy. Build a good site. Mean it. If you struggle to express yourself, hire someone like me. But get your individual message across. You still have time to be brilliant.
There has never been a more exciting time than now. Capture that essence for someone who hires you, and being an SEO freelancer makes a lot more sense.
Showing posts with label copywriting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label copywriting. Show all posts
Friday, August 20, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Better Barter Bison
When I got home the other day, sitting on my porch was huge white Styrofoam box the UPS guy dropped off. Before I even got to it, I could feel my excitement build: I was getting paid for some work I did - in bison.
One of my clients owns a bison farm up in Wisconsin. He is a really solid guy, and an emergency vet with a huge heart for critters. His sites needed some light work (a couple hours or so), so in exchange, I swapped him for some of the bison he processed.
He got some of the web advice and work he needed. I got summer sausages, buffalo bacon (smoked right on the farm!), and jerky - in addition to 2 beautiful T-bones. A great trade for me - meatastic in every way. I trust he feels it was a meaty trade as well.
Even nicer, is the added bonus that we both left the project feeling great, both totally willing to keep our relationship solid.
Go Ahead - Trade!
I have talked about it before in here, but bartering is a perk of this profession I have always enjoyed. The bison is just one of many examples -
I have used writing and web skills, or some SEO copywriting to get pizzas, desserts, outdoor lights on my home, massages, interior and exterior home repairs, tile work, landscaping, computer service, counseling, web development, paintings, tickets, dinners, and so much more. I am a complete whore with my verbs.
I look at it like this: bartering often helps businesspeople who genuinely want to get ahead, but lack the capital to afford me. That's OK - if I have less bison to buy, I am earning in a way that is fine by me. Paying me from their own pool means they are not really spending much, you know? Time for time.
Balance, Grasshopper, Balance
The bottom line is something I take very seriously. Money is what drives my stability and I focus very directly on growing my year-over-year annual earnings.
However, money means taxes, paperwork, tracking, bank accounts and all kinds of attention to things that don't really float my boat. By offering an alternative like bartering for some projects, I can reduce my headaches and still come out ahead.
Depending on the year and the cash flow, sometimes I tend to lean much more heavily toward barter - the beauty, is I do it when it feels right only. One harsh reality of corporate communications is that I get paid for things I believe in a lot less!
If you want to see what barter can do for you, ask. Many small business owners will love the idea. I have been denied tons of times, but I also have connected in many places where I wasn't really consciously looking for work.
The benefits are clear: You can stay busier during slow times, or do things where your heart and soul are treated with a little more respect. You can acquire things, services, or experiences that are meaningful to you. Many times, there can be serious tax advantages to consider as well.
I would talk about this more, but I have some bison to devour.
One of my clients owns a bison farm up in Wisconsin. He is a really solid guy, and an emergency vet with a huge heart for critters. His sites needed some light work (a couple hours or so), so in exchange, I swapped him for some of the bison he processed.
He got some of the web advice and work he needed. I got summer sausages, buffalo bacon (smoked right on the farm!), and jerky - in addition to 2 beautiful T-bones. A great trade for me - meatastic in every way. I trust he feels it was a meaty trade as well.
Even nicer, is the added bonus that we both left the project feeling great, both totally willing to keep our relationship solid.
Go Ahead - Trade!
I have talked about it before in here, but bartering is a perk of this profession I have always enjoyed. The bison is just one of many examples -
I have used writing and web skills, or some SEO copywriting to get pizzas, desserts, outdoor lights on my home, massages, interior and exterior home repairs, tile work, landscaping, computer service, counseling, web development, paintings, tickets, dinners, and so much more. I am a complete whore with my verbs.
I look at it like this: bartering often helps businesspeople who genuinely want to get ahead, but lack the capital to afford me. That's OK - if I have less bison to buy, I am earning in a way that is fine by me. Paying me from their own pool means they are not really spending much, you know? Time for time.
Balance, Grasshopper, Balance
The bottom line is something I take very seriously. Money is what drives my stability and I focus very directly on growing my year-over-year annual earnings.
However, money means taxes, paperwork, tracking, bank accounts and all kinds of attention to things that don't really float my boat. By offering an alternative like bartering for some projects, I can reduce my headaches and still come out ahead.
Depending on the year and the cash flow, sometimes I tend to lean much more heavily toward barter - the beauty, is I do it when it feels right only. One harsh reality of corporate communications is that I get paid for things I believe in a lot less!
If you want to see what barter can do for you, ask. Many small business owners will love the idea. I have been denied tons of times, but I also have connected in many places where I wasn't really consciously looking for work.
The benefits are clear: You can stay busier during slow times, or do things where your heart and soul are treated with a little more respect. You can acquire things, services, or experiences that are meaningful to you. Many times, there can be serious tax advantages to consider as well.
I would talk about this more, but I have some bison to devour.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Balancing Writing and Webwork
In the last week, I have been shifting from a mostly writing perspective to a mostly building one. It is the desires of my clients - I am simply going where there is a need.
This brought to mind a question from one of the Emory students a couple weeks ago, when I was up there mingling with them at a mixer. She asked, "Do you think you have stayed busy because you have more than writing to offer clients?"
I had answered yes, because I do think it is my ability to do more than just write that creates this little niche of mine. I could, probably, focus more concretely on writing and turn the tide, but I don't know that I ever would.
One of the reasons I like doing more than writing, is that I like doing more than writing. I know people who don't, and they focus much more solidly on writing gigs. To me, there is a lot you can do if you know what to do with the writing and the end result, because it helps you close the gap. Instead of me handing my content to someone else to develop, I finish it off. In many cases for me, it allows me to offer way more to the client for less.
So while this week is more building than writing, I do know that is only this week so far. For the last 3 months, I have not built as much as I wrote. Yin/Yang. Balance.
This brought to mind a question from one of the Emory students a couple weeks ago, when I was up there mingling with them at a mixer. She asked, "Do you think you have stayed busy because you have more than writing to offer clients?"
I had answered yes, because I do think it is my ability to do more than just write that creates this little niche of mine. I could, probably, focus more concretely on writing and turn the tide, but I don't know that I ever would.
One of the reasons I like doing more than writing, is that I like doing more than writing. I know people who don't, and they focus much more solidly on writing gigs. To me, there is a lot you can do if you know what to do with the writing and the end result, because it helps you close the gap. Instead of me handing my content to someone else to develop, I finish it off. In many cases for me, it allows me to offer way more to the client for less.
So while this week is more building than writing, I do know that is only this week so far. For the last 3 months, I have not built as much as I wrote. Yin/Yang. Balance.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Work Again Postpones Work
Landed a couple of great copywriting gigs. One is pretty SEO-heavy - building out a catalog of really nice product descriptions. The other is more generalized - I am doing some press releases and content pages for a retailer.
But both gigs are the result of cold calls from the site. The site is old, and I was in the process of updating it...but now I am sidetracked again with other things to do.
Unfortunately, this is a trade I have had to make repeatedly over the last year or so....but I will get to my rebuild sooner than later. It is a personal goal more than anything else, because professionally this old site seems to do just fine for me.
Knowing Your Limits
So the SEO copywriting tip that best applies to my situation here, is to know your limits. For instance, I know, with the 2 newly signed clients, one other new one I have starting later this week, and the existing clients I serve regularly, I am pretty much at maximum capacity for the next 3 months. This is great - I look forward to the new work, and the money will be nice when it is all said and done.
But at this point, I need to be really careful in balancing my workload and managing my client's expectations. If I am not careful, being busy becomes being frantic, and that hurts the copy and that is never good. I know my limits, and I am about there right now - very comfortably busy, but not frantic or harried. I don't want it to go any further.
However, freelancing experience tells me that when it rains, it truly pours. So I expect more of this - more cold calls and existing relationships asking for favors and projects. And I'll need to determine when enough is enough.
Usually, I determine whether or not I can do more work based on the creative demands I have during any given day. To me, most site building and code maintenance is pretty easy to do on auto-pilot, while writing can be much more mentally demanding.
And there is a definite sway of the dollar to consider. If I have a client that I know pays well and is responsive, I am much more inclined to do all I can to keep them wanting more. If a client is a demanding, cheap, pain-in-the-butt (and believe it or not, there are a few) I feel no anguish in letting them find someone else.
I will end up picking the jobs I most want to do, and either delaying or passing completely on the rest. I do my best to be judicious in evaluating the demands of each experience, so I can feel like each is receiving my best. My clients are paying me to make sure of it, and I don't disappoint.
But I do so often get a little too happy with my commitments...Iwant to do everything for everybody all the time, so I might get a little overwhelmed if I am not careful. I will do my best to follow my own advice here.
And I will also take the problem of being too darn busy...it is a really nice problem to have.
But both gigs are the result of cold calls from the site. The site is old, and I was in the process of updating it...but now I am sidetracked again with other things to do.
Unfortunately, this is a trade I have had to make repeatedly over the last year or so....but I will get to my rebuild sooner than later. It is a personal goal more than anything else, because professionally this old site seems to do just fine for me.
Knowing Your Limits
So the SEO copywriting tip that best applies to my situation here, is to know your limits. For instance, I know, with the 2 newly signed clients, one other new one I have starting later this week, and the existing clients I serve regularly, I am pretty much at maximum capacity for the next 3 months. This is great - I look forward to the new work, and the money will be nice when it is all said and done.
But at this point, I need to be really careful in balancing my workload and managing my client's expectations. If I am not careful, being busy becomes being frantic, and that hurts the copy and that is never good. I know my limits, and I am about there right now - very comfortably busy, but not frantic or harried. I don't want it to go any further.
However, freelancing experience tells me that when it rains, it truly pours. So I expect more of this - more cold calls and existing relationships asking for favors and projects. And I'll need to determine when enough is enough.
Usually, I determine whether or not I can do more work based on the creative demands I have during any given day. To me, most site building and code maintenance is pretty easy to do on auto-pilot, while writing can be much more mentally demanding.
And there is a definite sway of the dollar to consider. If I have a client that I know pays well and is responsive, I am much more inclined to do all I can to keep them wanting more. If a client is a demanding, cheap, pain-in-the-butt (and believe it or not, there are a few) I feel no anguish in letting them find someone else.
I will end up picking the jobs I most want to do, and either delaying or passing completely on the rest. I do my best to be judicious in evaluating the demands of each experience, so I can feel like each is receiving my best. My clients are paying me to make sure of it, and I don't disappoint.
But I do so often get a little too happy with my commitments...Iwant to do everything for everybody all the time, so I might get a little overwhelmed if I am not careful. I will do my best to follow my own advice here.
And I will also take the problem of being too darn busy...it is a really nice problem to have.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
SEO Copywriter Tip
Been a while since I shared an honest to goodness seo copywriting tip. Here's a good one: don't work too hard.
I don't mean don't spend all of your time writing - we both know how foolish that would be. I mean instead, to simply write good pieces and don't sweat the seo tweaking...at least not right away.
If you're writing an article, do a little research so you can pull in some quotes or links that punch up the validity of your argument. Links out to other resources are good SEO practices, and they help your article too. Why? Because if you build the validity of your argument, you build your validity (over time) in the search engines.
Of course, the competitiveness of your niche matters a lot here. But from an seo copywriter's perspective, the approach is always from the same point of origin: reaching the audience in a unique way. So the SEO copywriter tip is don't spend too much time on SEO copywriting tricks...spend it on reaching audiences through the power of your writing.
Blending Strategies
Here's another SEO tip for Writers: Don't Underestimate Press Release titles
I had an experience a few months ago, where one of my clients was blasting a press release written by another PR firm. They asked my opinions on some of the potential SEO value we could get-we had a couple days to look at it before the scheduled release. So I worked with the PR firm to revamp the title, and the edit the first few lines of text. It was a few simple, but strategic changes, bringing some specific keywords to the front of the piece.
This was a good example of blending team strategies to reach a better conclusion for everyone. Knowing this article was going to be blasted and then heavily scraped (and it was), we were able to re-tool the title and introduction and get lasting results for the targeted keyphrases. The PR firm were experts at what they did, and my clients made the right move by bringing me in to help when they did.
9 months later, a direct-match search on the targeted keyphrase still shows 8 of the top-10 Google results are where this article was picked up--my client's site being in slots 2-3 at the moment (it varies in the top 12 slots). Many of these scraped articles have the links I embedded in them, many are instead straight up text. But the point is, for this key phrase a user is likely to read about my client 8 out of 10 times on the first page. And by having this article on some very reputable news sources, my client gets instant credibility and direct connection to the keywords I placed in the title.
I don't normally search too deep, but I am certain I have a really nice chunk of the top 100 slots for my client in some way here.
So this project, a press release, was really a huge success because the client had the foresight to bring in the elements they needed as they needed them. The event was covered by a PR firm, experienced in spreading the news. It was tweaked by an SEO Copywriter to get a little more mileage from the effort. The client probably spent about $2,000 to pull it together.
The results are traffic, links, and a direct match for this valuable keyword that will likely last for a good long time. A related conversion can be worth tens or even hundreds of thousands to this client, so even one sale more than justifies the cost.
So, the tips I leave you with are to work on a piece of writing to make it effective. When it is a solid piece of writing, look back over it with more of an SEO slant. Weave in a few keywords, if possible, to the title and first few paragraphs...but don't sacrifice readability for keywords. You're better off with a tighter, simpler article than one forced into answering objectives involving word count, keywords, or anything else sometimes evaluated by SEO writers.
Show the value of your skills by blending into team situations. Respect project hierarchies, but don't be afraid to suggest changes based on your expertise and experiences...it is usually why you are in the room to begin with. When you can seize an opportunity that offers long-term value, don't be afraid to make an investment, or to jump in with both feet.
SEO should stand for Search Engine Opportunity, if you ask me.
I don't mean don't spend all of your time writing - we both know how foolish that would be. I mean instead, to simply write good pieces and don't sweat the seo tweaking...at least not right away.
If you're writing an article, do a little research so you can pull in some quotes or links that punch up the validity of your argument. Links out to other resources are good SEO practices, and they help your article too. Why? Because if you build the validity of your argument, you build your validity (over time) in the search engines.
Of course, the competitiveness of your niche matters a lot here. But from an seo copywriter's perspective, the approach is always from the same point of origin: reaching the audience in a unique way. So the SEO copywriter tip is don't spend too much time on SEO copywriting tricks...spend it on reaching audiences through the power of your writing.
Blending Strategies
Here's another SEO tip for Writers: Don't Underestimate Press Release titles
I had an experience a few months ago, where one of my clients was blasting a press release written by another PR firm. They asked my opinions on some of the potential SEO value we could get-we had a couple days to look at it before the scheduled release. So I worked with the PR firm to revamp the title, and the edit the first few lines of text. It was a few simple, but strategic changes, bringing some specific keywords to the front of the piece.
This was a good example of blending team strategies to reach a better conclusion for everyone. Knowing this article was going to be blasted and then heavily scraped (and it was), we were able to re-tool the title and introduction and get lasting results for the targeted keyphrases. The PR firm were experts at what they did, and my clients made the right move by bringing me in to help when they did.
9 months later, a direct-match search on the targeted keyphrase still shows 8 of the top-10 Google results are where this article was picked up--my client's site being in slots 2-3 at the moment (it varies in the top 12 slots). Many of these scraped articles have the links I embedded in them, many are instead straight up text. But the point is, for this key phrase a user is likely to read about my client 8 out of 10 times on the first page. And by having this article on some very reputable news sources, my client gets instant credibility and direct connection to the keywords I placed in the title.
I don't normally search too deep, but I am certain I have a really nice chunk of the top 100 slots for my client in some way here.
So this project, a press release, was really a huge success because the client had the foresight to bring in the elements they needed as they needed them. The event was covered by a PR firm, experienced in spreading the news. It was tweaked by an SEO Copywriter to get a little more mileage from the effort. The client probably spent about $2,000 to pull it together.
The results are traffic, links, and a direct match for this valuable keyword that will likely last for a good long time. A related conversion can be worth tens or even hundreds of thousands to this client, so even one sale more than justifies the cost.
So, the tips I leave you with are to work on a piece of writing to make it effective. When it is a solid piece of writing, look back over it with more of an SEO slant. Weave in a few keywords, if possible, to the title and first few paragraphs...but don't sacrifice readability for keywords. You're better off with a tighter, simpler article than one forced into answering objectives involving word count, keywords, or anything else sometimes evaluated by SEO writers.
Show the value of your skills by blending into team situations. Respect project hierarchies, but don't be afraid to suggest changes based on your expertise and experiences...it is usually why you are in the room to begin with. When you can seize an opportunity that offers long-term value, don't be afraid to make an investment, or to jump in with both feet.
SEO should stand for Search Engine Opportunity, if you ask me.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Changes in Attitude
The search engines change. All the time. Rank for something today, and 3 months from now, you might be nowhere to be seen.
So as a freelance SEO copywriter, what does this mean to you?
Change. Because you must to survive.
How To Change
If you know you must change to keep up, the question then becomes how to do it.
There's not really a good, clean-cut "it always works like this" answer for you here. Some changes (like the always increasing value in links, or specific links from specific sources) are relatively easy to see, and easy to accommodate. But most often, changes in the search engines are really pretty subtle, so if you are not watching them all the time, you may miss out.
Crank Out The Pages
A freelance SEO copywriter needs to know what works (as far as textually) better than other options when writing a webpage. So it is imperative to have lots of active sites going at all times, in various niches, so you can tweak them and play around and see what happens.
Blogs are good ways to test change, because they tend to get lots of traffic, you can crank out different types of text to see what sticks and why. You can host them a number of different ways too, which can tell you a lot. And perhaps best of all, they can be free...so you can launch a bunch of them (all with different objectives) and feel free test your theories.
If you don't have theories to test, you may be in the wrong profession.
What It Is
Most often, I am simply given a list of keywords to develop. It's my job to create something from nothing, and I rarely get much direction from most clients...they don't know how to express what they want other than they know they want new pages.
In the past, it was all about page/word count. For instance, right up until early last year, a client might have given me a list of 500 keywords, and want a page of 250 words devoted to each with specific keywords in them...it was a lot of bread-n-butter gigs to say the least. And I stayed really busy doing it, too -- I made a great income by simply being literate, so my wooden pages were grammatically correct and not nauseating.
Many times I knew little about what I was writing about and had no time to research, but the clients didn't care as long as there were keywords in the pages, I matched their company tone, I was on top of the sentence structures and all the keywords from the list were handled. Good for them, better for me - I switched on auto-pilot and spit out thousands of pages.
Fast forward to now, and that strategy doesn't work.
Now, I still get a list of keywords but the clients tend to want more solid materials, because lowest common denominator stuff stays below the fold. So if this was the only thing I knew how to do (filling up hollow pages with hollow text), I would be really screwed right now. But I am not at all screwed, because I know what is happening in the engines, and am pleased to say, it is much better to write solid, meaningful work and build links to it than to simply pile keywords into bland filler. I appreciate the shift anyway...for even though many experts always said this was true about solid SEO techniques, it was far too easy to manipulate the engines with repetition for most people to care about the actual VALUE. Those people are likely watching their cherished rankings fall now, because there is no structure under their efforts, no meat to go with the potatoes.
I don't see the search engines moving backwards. Instead I see them continually trying to refine the ways to determine a page of content is worthwhile...using links and other references is not new, but it is a much stronger part of the algorithms than it used to be.
What It All Means
What this all means to you, dear SEO copywriter in the wings, is that you need not concern yourself as much with what the search engines want, and just need to be a good writer. The money train for pap and fluff has stopped, and it won't be starting back up.
Are keywords still important? Hell yes. But relevancy, and craft, and solid writing are FINALLY much more apparent to the engines than it was in the past. This is a golden opportunity for a good writer, because you can focus much more on your craft, and leave the tweaky manipulative things to someone else. It wasn't always this way...I was there a couple years back when it was all about keywords, and knowing how many to hit and how hard to hit them. I was part of the mess that is now on the Internet - sorry, there were mouths to feed.
But sometimes, a little change is the best possible thing you can hope for.
So get lots of sites going...don't belabor them, just create platforms on which you can write. And write, and write and write. See what is working, and what doesn't. See what creates an audience, engages readers, and encourages traffic to build. Study traditional copywriting, and learn those lessons well.
But just keep writing -- it is, after all, what an SEO writer does for a living.
So as a freelance SEO copywriter, what does this mean to you?
Change. Because you must to survive.
How To Change
If you know you must change to keep up, the question then becomes how to do it.
There's not really a good, clean-cut "it always works like this" answer for you here. Some changes (like the always increasing value in links, or specific links from specific sources) are relatively easy to see, and easy to accommodate. But most often, changes in the search engines are really pretty subtle, so if you are not watching them all the time, you may miss out.
Crank Out The Pages
A freelance SEO copywriter needs to know what works (as far as textually) better than other options when writing a webpage. So it is imperative to have lots of active sites going at all times, in various niches, so you can tweak them and play around and see what happens.
Blogs are good ways to test change, because they tend to get lots of traffic, you can crank out different types of text to see what sticks and why. You can host them a number of different ways too, which can tell you a lot. And perhaps best of all, they can be free...so you can launch a bunch of them (all with different objectives) and feel free test your theories.
If you don't have theories to test, you may be in the wrong profession.
What It Is
Most often, I am simply given a list of keywords to develop. It's my job to create something from nothing, and I rarely get much direction from most clients...they don't know how to express what they want other than they know they want new pages.
In the past, it was all about page/word count. For instance, right up until early last year, a client might have given me a list of 500 keywords, and want a page of 250 words devoted to each with specific keywords in them...it was a lot of bread-n-butter gigs to say the least. And I stayed really busy doing it, too -- I made a great income by simply being literate, so my wooden pages were grammatically correct and not nauseating.
Many times I knew little about what I was writing about and had no time to research, but the clients didn't care as long as there were keywords in the pages, I matched their company tone, I was on top of the sentence structures and all the keywords from the list were handled. Good for them, better for me - I switched on auto-pilot and spit out thousands of pages.
Fast forward to now, and that strategy doesn't work.
Now, I still get a list of keywords but the clients tend to want more solid materials, because lowest common denominator stuff stays below the fold. So if this was the only thing I knew how to do (filling up hollow pages with hollow text), I would be really screwed right now. But I am not at all screwed, because I know what is happening in the engines, and am pleased to say, it is much better to write solid, meaningful work and build links to it than to simply pile keywords into bland filler. I appreciate the shift anyway...for even though many experts always said this was true about solid SEO techniques, it was far too easy to manipulate the engines with repetition for most people to care about the actual VALUE. Those people are likely watching their cherished rankings fall now, because there is no structure under their efforts, no meat to go with the potatoes.
I don't see the search engines moving backwards. Instead I see them continually trying to refine the ways to determine a page of content is worthwhile...using links and other references is not new, but it is a much stronger part of the algorithms than it used to be.
What It All Means
What this all means to you, dear SEO copywriter in the wings, is that you need not concern yourself as much with what the search engines want, and just need to be a good writer. The money train for pap and fluff has stopped, and it won't be starting back up.
Are keywords still important? Hell yes. But relevancy, and craft, and solid writing are FINALLY much more apparent to the engines than it was in the past. This is a golden opportunity for a good writer, because you can focus much more on your craft, and leave the tweaky manipulative things to someone else. It wasn't always this way...I was there a couple years back when it was all about keywords, and knowing how many to hit and how hard to hit them. I was part of the mess that is now on the Internet - sorry, there were mouths to feed.
But sometimes, a little change is the best possible thing you can hope for.
So get lots of sites going...don't belabor them, just create platforms on which you can write. And write, and write and write. See what is working, and what doesn't. See what creates an audience, engages readers, and encourages traffic to build. Study traditional copywriting, and learn those lessons well.
But just keep writing -- it is, after all, what an SEO writer does for a living.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
A Happy SEO
What makes a freelance SEO writer happy? Success.
This week, for one site, I was able to capture 9 of the top10 spots for my targeted keyphrase. SERP domination like that is what I call success--it made me very happy to line everything up carefully, pull the trigger and watch it all fall into place.
This week, I was able to optimize and launch a new site for a long-standing client. I built it from the ground up to replace the canned Go Daddy template site he had. in doing so, I not only improved his look and feel, but I took his 8 page site and made it into a 60 page site--only creating 3-5 new pages of content. He had extremely long pages full of great information--I simply helped him to re-think the informational architecture, and put the same content out there in smaller, more focused bites. I am writing a case study on this project because his was a very common dilemma, and I think what we did to fix it could help many people.
This week, I was able to look at some traffic stats that showed improvement over last month--slow, steady climbing, which is exactly what I want. While huge dramatic leaps are cool, they also seem to prelude huge dramatic drops as well...when a site continues to build and grow in a steady fashion, it seems to have longer-lasting results.
This week, I was able to mentor 3 up-and-comers, sharing whatever I could with them. We spent a few hours talking about strategies in SEO writing, and what to do or not, and why. They were energetic and plugged-in--I wish them all great success.
This week, the bass started biting...I caught 15 large mouth beauties last night. Looks like freelancing will once again take a back seat to my fishing fetish.
This week, I received 4 Braves tickets as a bonus for doing some good work. Look forward to taking my family out for a nice evening.
And it's only Wednesday!
This week, for one site, I was able to capture 9 of the top10 spots for my targeted keyphrase. SERP domination like that is what I call success--it made me very happy to line everything up carefully, pull the trigger and watch it all fall into place.
This week, I was able to optimize and launch a new site for a long-standing client. I built it from the ground up to replace the canned Go Daddy template site he had. in doing so, I not only improved his look and feel, but I took his 8 page site and made it into a 60 page site--only creating 3-5 new pages of content. He had extremely long pages full of great information--I simply helped him to re-think the informational architecture, and put the same content out there in smaller, more focused bites. I am writing a case study on this project because his was a very common dilemma, and I think what we did to fix it could help many people.
This week, I was able to look at some traffic stats that showed improvement over last month--slow, steady climbing, which is exactly what I want. While huge dramatic leaps are cool, they also seem to prelude huge dramatic drops as well...when a site continues to build and grow in a steady fashion, it seems to have longer-lasting results.
This week, I was able to mentor 3 up-and-comers, sharing whatever I could with them. We spent a few hours talking about strategies in SEO writing, and what to do or not, and why. They were energetic and plugged-in--I wish them all great success.
This week, the bass started biting...I caught 15 large mouth beauties last night. Looks like freelancing will once again take a back seat to my fishing fetish.
This week, I received 4 Braves tickets as a bonus for doing some good work. Look forward to taking my family out for a nice evening.
And it's only Wednesday!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
SEO Copywriting Tip
I know I promised some SEO copywriting tips, and have not yet delivered...so here's a really simple one for you to chew on.
Crosslinking Your Content
So you have a nice site, you have it built well, and everything is ready to go. You have plenty of good content, the navigation is clear and works well, and you have both an html and an XML sitemap in place. How else can you help to increase the assumed relevance of your content? One simple answer is crosslinking your content.
Why do It?
The engines might clearly see the pages you have out there, but what do they think of them? If each page only has a navigation link, and a link from the sitemaps to it, it is what I call a "dangler," which means it is kind of floating out there. Think of a tree branch with a single leaf on it.
Danglers might be important pages to you and your site, but the spiders only see it dangling...so they don't understand that these are so important to you. Cross linking your pages from within the body content gets rid of this situation--and instead of a site filled with danglers, the spiders start to see it as a nice little compact web of information.
It's Easy.
All you need to do to crosslink your pages is to link important words to pages that help illustrate what those words are. They don't have to be exact matches to work well either. For example, let's say you have a site about getting small business money containing a page giving loan details, and you want this page to really stand out among the rest.
Look through the other pages, and find out where you are talking about loans, financing, money, or other similar ideas. Hyperlink these references to the loans page. They might be single words (like loan, loans, financing, money, etc.) or might be short phrases like "getting business loans" "small business financing options" and so on.
I have found that a contextual reference is increasingly important--meaning simply that you don't want to only look at linking the word "loans" to make the page for loans work. If it is a related idea/term, it will help you to associate it with your loans page...the engines (especially Google) are doing this more and more as time rolls on. Think of it like anchor text..because that is, after all, exactly what it is. And just like you don't want every anchored link on someone else's site to say the same thing about your site, the same holds true within your own architecture. Show the engines that your loans page is about all things related to loans, and you will find the juice you need.
How Many Links are Enough?
There is no single answer to how many links are enough...but don't go completely crazy with this idea. Ultimately, you are linking these terms and phrases to help the user learn more. If you overdo it, it becomes kind of a hassle to look through your site, and it starts looking like you are simply trying to manipulate the system which is never a good thing.
As a general starting point, if I have about 300 words on a page, I might look to hyperlink about 10 of them to other pages. It may be more, but not too often less. This gives some depth to the contextual content without going nutsy with it...and it has never had an adverse effect on me doing it this way. I am reasonable with what I am trying to accomplish, not spammy. If I have one page I am trying to really boost, it will get linked from a bunch of pages, but I try to mix it up and "spread the wealth" across all the pages as best I can.
When your page is linked from a couple or more places in your site, it takes on a little different stature in the eyes of the spiders (do search bots have eyes?). It will diminish the dangling, and overall, make the search engines happier with what they find on your site. Will it boost rankings? Probably not...but it will make each page stronger, which will increase the assumed strength of the domain--which definitely will end up helping you in organic search.
Just do it.
Internally cross linking pages is one of the easiest, and cheapest ways to help you get more mileage out of your SEO efforts. I am surprised at how many people don't employ this simple strategy...but look at the sites doing well in your niche, and I'd be willing to bet that they are doing it. Just jump on in--as long as the links all work (very important--don't allow broken links in your site!), it will have a positive effect. Hard to measure perhaps, but positive nonetheless.
Get linking!
Crosslinking Your Content
So you have a nice site, you have it built well, and everything is ready to go. You have plenty of good content, the navigation is clear and works well, and you have both an html and an XML sitemap in place. How else can you help to increase the assumed relevance of your content? One simple answer is crosslinking your content.
Why do It?
The engines might clearly see the pages you have out there, but what do they think of them? If each page only has a navigation link, and a link from the sitemaps to it, it is what I call a "dangler," which means it is kind of floating out there. Think of a tree branch with a single leaf on it.
Danglers might be important pages to you and your site, but the spiders only see it dangling...so they don't understand that these are so important to you. Cross linking your pages from within the body content gets rid of this situation--and instead of a site filled with danglers, the spiders start to see it as a nice little compact web of information.
It's Easy.
All you need to do to crosslink your pages is to link important words to pages that help illustrate what those words are. They don't have to be exact matches to work well either. For example, let's say you have a site about getting small business money containing a page giving loan details, and you want this page to really stand out among the rest.
Look through the other pages, and find out where you are talking about loans, financing, money, or other similar ideas. Hyperlink these references to the loans page. They might be single words (like loan, loans, financing, money, etc.) or might be short phrases like "getting business loans" "small business financing options" and so on.
I have found that a contextual reference is increasingly important--meaning simply that you don't want to only look at linking the word "loans" to make the page for loans work. If it is a related idea/term, it will help you to associate it with your loans page...the engines (especially Google) are doing this more and more as time rolls on. Think of it like anchor text..because that is, after all, exactly what it is. And just like you don't want every anchored link on someone else's site to say the same thing about your site, the same holds true within your own architecture. Show the engines that your loans page is about all things related to loans, and you will find the juice you need.
How Many Links are Enough?
There is no single answer to how many links are enough...but don't go completely crazy with this idea. Ultimately, you are linking these terms and phrases to help the user learn more. If you overdo it, it becomes kind of a hassle to look through your site, and it starts looking like you are simply trying to manipulate the system which is never a good thing.
As a general starting point, if I have about 300 words on a page, I might look to hyperlink about 10 of them to other pages. It may be more, but not too often less. This gives some depth to the contextual content without going nutsy with it...and it has never had an adverse effect on me doing it this way. I am reasonable with what I am trying to accomplish, not spammy. If I have one page I am trying to really boost, it will get linked from a bunch of pages, but I try to mix it up and "spread the wealth" across all the pages as best I can.
When your page is linked from a couple or more places in your site, it takes on a little different stature in the eyes of the spiders (do search bots have eyes?). It will diminish the dangling, and overall, make the search engines happier with what they find on your site. Will it boost rankings? Probably not...but it will make each page stronger, which will increase the assumed strength of the domain--which definitely will end up helping you in organic search.
Just do it.
Internally cross linking pages is one of the easiest, and cheapest ways to help you get more mileage out of your SEO efforts. I am surprised at how many people don't employ this simple strategy...but look at the sites doing well in your niche, and I'd be willing to bet that they are doing it. Just jump on in--as long as the links all work (very important--don't allow broken links in your site!), it will have a positive effect. Hard to measure perhaps, but positive nonetheless.
Get linking!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
The KPIs of SEO
Helping the Suits Understand the Value of SEO Copywriting
Times are getting better on SEO Copywriters, at least in my experience. More people are understanding the value in what it is we do. That said, I have found that if you can use numbers to show how your letters have improved and increased the important numbers (the dollars, baby!), you can seem like a wizard, a prophet or a saviour. Maybe a bit of all 3.
The Suits only understand crunching numbers. Graphs and charts. Spread sheets and data analysis. Creativity is lost in many boardrooms...it is replaced by a cold, unfeeling business sensibility. They want numbers that clearly map out probable futures. Knowing this to be the case, as an SEO you need to look at numbers that can be improved and measured, numbers that actually support your value.
What you'll need to look at is what they call KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators. For me, I referred to some experts on the web (like Matt Cutts, Aaron Wall and SEOBook, Search Engine Watch and Webmaster World to name just a few) to verify I was thinking the right way about what to measure for search engine optimization. Once I was on the same page as the experts and better understood what to measure, as well as how and why, I felt I was ready to pitch.
Why KPIs are So Important
It may vary by a client's specific needs, but usually, I am asked to help increase sales, or more specifically, conversion rates.
Conversion rates mean that I make more visitors do what the website owner wants them to do, like buy a product or sign up for a service. So not only am I expected to drive more visitors into the site by increasing its presence in the search engine results, I am also expected to make a user focus on a specific action once they arrive. The only way I know to properly measure this is through KPI analysis. If I can't draw a straight line (or at least a mildly wobbly one) from what I am doing to the increases in conversion rates, I won't be working very long.
The numbers used for measuring KPIs are going to come from some kind of analytics and tracking program. The most common ones I see used to monitor and analyze traffic are Google Analytics, Omniture, ClickTracks and WebTrends. They all operate essentially the same way--looking at log files or using tracking cookies to see what people do in your site.
These analysis tools can spit out reports, do comparisons and analysis, and in the end, will help you be able to hang tough in the boardroom.
An Example of Measuring the KPIs of Search
Let's use an example of an established site, coming to me to increase the sale of their widgets.
The site owner has been using Google Analytics, and shares statistical information for the past 14 months. For the purpose of this illustration, we'll assume that the coding of the site is already tight, and that there are no issues or glitches in the collection of the data I am reading. I don't have to tweak the coding, I simply have to use SEO copywriting skills to improve the rankings and the conversion rates.
Step 1: Collect Historical and Relative Data
I will first look to see where the site is to-date. 14 months of data should help me to see what the average traffic is every month and if there are any seasonal trends in the business to evaluate. If possible, I will use more than just the Google data, simply because I want to be sure the numbers I am seeing are as accurate as possible.
Inside the Analytics, there is a lot to learn. I review the number of visits, pages per visit, the bounce rate, the time on each page, and when possible, the forward paths through the site. I also need to know the referrals and the number of visits driven by organic searches (with the associated keywords), and like to see the ratio of new-versus-returning visitors as well as their raw numbers.
Depending on the widget community, I may also analyze current market trends or shifts that happen outside the website itself--these are imporatant things to consider, because if the market is strong, weak, growing or shrinking (collectively) it may have a direct effect on my ability to improve the sale of widgets for my client.
Step 2: Keyphrase Analysis and Targeting
I will quickly start identifying the keyphrases truly important to the sale of the widgets. Sometimes the client knows what these are, which is great. In my experience, the business owner is often a little too close to the subject matter to see it objectively, and they don't really know what an end user is actually typing into a search engine to find the widgets. What they believe and what really happens on the web might create quite a gap to fill. They might think that people understand that "widgeting widgets that offer a beneficial widgetry" is the most accurate description of their product, but fail to see that people are only typing in "widgets" to get what they want. Or vice versa. Point being, I don't want to go only by what the business owner thinks will work--there is data available to illustrate what actually does work.
I usually ask them to tell me what they would most like to rank for and then I use some keyword analysis tools to look deeper, and see what searches are actually happening on the web. I use the engines to review the top SERPs (search engine results pages) for these searches, to get a feel for the competitive landscape. It may be much easier for me to show some progress and ROI in "Nashville widgets" than going after "widgets" on its own...in most cases in SEO, less competition means greater chance for success.
And Then, We're off and Running:
Once I am sure I am looking at the right KPIs, I do the following:
Set a baseline - using the 14 months of data, I create a monthly average for each KPI. This is the starting point--it creates something tangible to measure and improve.
Create a list of Targeted Keyphrases - using keyword tools and web research, I target a specific list of keyphrases. I then break these down into primary, secondary and tertiary keyphrase groups based on search volume and/or previous conversion rates. Each page to optimize has a primary, secondary and tertiary keyword (or keyphrase) assigned.
Create a spread sheet - I build out a spread sheet in Excel to bring all these things together into one easily understood (and share-worthy) document. I add columns for every month to enable ongoing reporting and show month-over-month variances. There is an Excel page(tab) for the on-site stats (the KPIs from Analytics) and a tab for Keyphrases' SERP positions (which I manually review--some automated review tools cause penalties). Sometimes I include another tab that offers the details of any work done between reports.
Why It Works
This Excel sheet makes what I do real, and offers something tangible to the business owner. All he or she knows, is that they want to sell more widgets online. But by me taking the time to carefully structure an accurate document of my efforts to do so, they can better understand the methods to my madness. Better still, if some efforts seem to work better than others, this sheet will help us to see (in numbers) what that really means to the bottom line, and helps put the greatest push behind the most probable successes. This means I am showing them how to spend less money to earn more of it--a beautiful thing for us all.
There is no true rule of thumb that works for every situation here...organic search is not a science. However, by knowing that measuring KPIs accurately can mean job security for me and more money for my clients, it is one step into the boardroom I am always willing to take. If I set it up properly, clients eventually tend to get really excited about what organic SEO can mean to them.
Cha-ching.
Times are getting better on SEO Copywriters, at least in my experience. More people are understanding the value in what it is we do. That said, I have found that if you can use numbers to show how your letters have improved and increased the important numbers (the dollars, baby!), you can seem like a wizard, a prophet or a saviour. Maybe a bit of all 3.
The Suits only understand crunching numbers. Graphs and charts. Spread sheets and data analysis. Creativity is lost in many boardrooms...it is replaced by a cold, unfeeling business sensibility. They want numbers that clearly map out probable futures. Knowing this to be the case, as an SEO you need to look at numbers that can be improved and measured, numbers that actually support your value.
What you'll need to look at is what they call KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators. For me, I referred to some experts on the web (like Matt Cutts, Aaron Wall and SEOBook, Search Engine Watch and Webmaster World to name just a few) to verify I was thinking the right way about what to measure for search engine optimization. Once I was on the same page as the experts and better understood what to measure, as well as how and why, I felt I was ready to pitch.
Why KPIs are So Important
It may vary by a client's specific needs, but usually, I am asked to help increase sales, or more specifically, conversion rates.
Conversion rates mean that I make more visitors do what the website owner wants them to do, like buy a product or sign up for a service. So not only am I expected to drive more visitors into the site by increasing its presence in the search engine results, I am also expected to make a user focus on a specific action once they arrive. The only way I know to properly measure this is through KPI analysis. If I can't draw a straight line (or at least a mildly wobbly one) from what I am doing to the increases in conversion rates, I won't be working very long.
The numbers used for measuring KPIs are going to come from some kind of analytics and tracking program. The most common ones I see used to monitor and analyze traffic are Google Analytics, Omniture, ClickTracks and WebTrends. They all operate essentially the same way--looking at log files or using tracking cookies to see what people do in your site.
These analysis tools can spit out reports, do comparisons and analysis, and in the end, will help you be able to hang tough in the boardroom.
An Example of Measuring the KPIs of Search
Let's use an example of an established site, coming to me to increase the sale of their widgets.
The site owner has been using Google Analytics, and shares statistical information for the past 14 months. For the purpose of this illustration, we'll assume that the coding of the site is already tight, and that there are no issues or glitches in the collection of the data I am reading. I don't have to tweak the coding, I simply have to use SEO copywriting skills to improve the rankings and the conversion rates.
Step 1: Collect Historical and Relative Data
I will first look to see where the site is to-date. 14 months of data should help me to see what the average traffic is every month and if there are any seasonal trends in the business to evaluate. If possible, I will use more than just the Google data, simply because I want to be sure the numbers I am seeing are as accurate as possible.
Inside the Analytics, there is a lot to learn. I review the number of visits, pages per visit, the bounce rate, the time on each page, and when possible, the forward paths through the site. I also need to know the referrals and the number of visits driven by organic searches (with the associated keywords), and like to see the ratio of new-versus-returning visitors as well as their raw numbers.
Depending on the widget community, I may also analyze current market trends or shifts that happen outside the website itself--these are imporatant things to consider, because if the market is strong, weak, growing or shrinking (collectively) it may have a direct effect on my ability to improve the sale of widgets for my client.
Step 2: Keyphrase Analysis and Targeting
I will quickly start identifying the keyphrases truly important to the sale of the widgets. Sometimes the client knows what these are, which is great. In my experience, the business owner is often a little too close to the subject matter to see it objectively, and they don't really know what an end user is actually typing into a search engine to find the widgets. What they believe and what really happens on the web might create quite a gap to fill. They might think that people understand that "widgeting widgets that offer a beneficial widgetry" is the most accurate description of their product, but fail to see that people are only typing in "widgets" to get what they want. Or vice versa. Point being, I don't want to go only by what the business owner thinks will work--there is data available to illustrate what actually does work.
I usually ask them to tell me what they would most like to rank for and then I use some keyword analysis tools to look deeper, and see what searches are actually happening on the web. I use the engines to review the top SERPs (search engine results pages) for these searches, to get a feel for the competitive landscape. It may be much easier for me to show some progress and ROI in "Nashville widgets" than going after "widgets" on its own...in most cases in SEO, less competition means greater chance for success.
And Then, We're off and Running:
Once I am sure I am looking at the right KPIs, I do the following:
Set a baseline - using the 14 months of data, I create a monthly average for each KPI. This is the starting point--it creates something tangible to measure and improve.
Create a list of Targeted Keyphrases - using keyword tools and web research, I target a specific list of keyphrases. I then break these down into primary, secondary and tertiary keyphrase groups based on search volume and/or previous conversion rates. Each page to optimize has a primary, secondary and tertiary keyword (or keyphrase) assigned.
Create a spread sheet - I build out a spread sheet in Excel to bring all these things together into one easily understood (and share-worthy) document. I add columns for every month to enable ongoing reporting and show month-over-month variances. There is an Excel page(tab) for the on-site stats (the KPIs from Analytics) and a tab for Keyphrases' SERP positions (which I manually review--some automated review tools cause penalties). Sometimes I include another tab that offers the details of any work done between reports.
Why It Works
This Excel sheet makes what I do real, and offers something tangible to the business owner. All he or she knows, is that they want to sell more widgets online. But by me taking the time to carefully structure an accurate document of my efforts to do so, they can better understand the methods to my madness. Better still, if some efforts seem to work better than others, this sheet will help us to see (in numbers) what that really means to the bottom line, and helps put the greatest push behind the most probable successes. This means I am showing them how to spend less money to earn more of it--a beautiful thing for us all.
There is no true rule of thumb that works for every situation here...organic search is not a science. However, by knowing that measuring KPIs accurately can mean job security for me and more money for my clients, it is one step into the boardroom I am always willing to take. If I set it up properly, clients eventually tend to get really excited about what organic SEO can mean to them.
Cha-ching.
How You Look: Keeping it Real
Potential clients want to see themselves in your work.
They want to know that you understand their desires, that you can see things from their perspective. They need to know you get it. They come to you with a situation, and want you to bring skills and experience that can accomplish something tangible.
SEO Copywriting is not usually about satisfying an artistic ego. Although let me qualify that statement--because the better you get at doing SEO copywriting, the more of an art form it becomes. But really, it is purposeful writing designed to increase profitability. While there is definitely an art to it, it is all about the numbers. If you can't increase and maintain higher web traffic and conversion rates, you are not satisfying the most basic purpose of SEO Copywriting.
How you pitch potential SEO clients, and how you look at what you do is something I have found essential to succeeding in this business. Keeping it real is often kept simple by having some numbers to crunch. I was very reluctant to embrace numbers, being the word nerd I am. However, these are excellent tools to make the Suits perk up and take notice.
Being a creative in a non-creative environment is always a little strange. But meet them on their terms, and it is amazing how much freedom you can receive. If I go to a company and pitch an SEO project, I know that we need to talk about my writing in real numbers. We need to look at what they want to invest, and what kind of return they can expect from this investment. It is up to me to manage this correctly, letting them know I understand the goals and bottom line.
If I am successful in pitching my dreamscape using real numbers, they tend to let me do what I do without much interference. I get a wide berth, sometimes a budget, and a deadline. SEO work is great, because you can see results almost immediately when things are all clicking well. This means I don't have to promise the moon. I can say, "I will help to drive the traffic from this proven keyphrase" and it is always received well, especially if I can show positive traction in a few weeks or less. When you are able to punch it up with some traffic stats and some supporting sales data, the intrinsic value of SEO copywriting really sells itself.
Let Them See Themselves in What You Do
Be easy to work with. I try to show a new client what happened in the past, and what I learned from it. I have some case studies showing numbers--I have screen shots of former successes with the stories behind them. I have spread sheets, and graphs if these help to illustrate a point. I try to use whatever language and whichever tools work best to have a new client see what their own efforts can become if they take me on board--I want them to see themselves in the same position as one of my previous success stories and visualize how I will impact their projects.
I am honest, and don't promise glitter on snowflakes or anything I can't really do. Since a lot of what I do is SEO, I don't promise top-10 rankings--instead, I try to promise progress, but only if I am sure I can deliver it. I can't guarantee how a search engine is going to treat a website, but I have a pretty good idea. So I can almost always reasonably promise progress, and monitor the numbers to make sure I can deliver something that can be measured. I stick closely to what I know I will be able to control, and steer clear of issues that are not within my scope. I make my pitch in a warm, authoritative tone using a language they can understand, and then I back off to let them decide if they agree.
Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. I don't get every job that comes up, and have had plenty of disappointments because I was passed over for something I really wanted to do. I have found though, that it works for me more often than not.
I may not land all the gigs I want to do, but of those I do tackle, none feel forced, or something I am doing reluctantly. Because I can honestly believe in my clients, and like them, and want them to succeed, it is much easier to enjoy what I do for a living and avoid professional burnout.
And I can't help but think that this is a big part of the reason why I have been pretty successful so far. I love what I do, and I am willing to take the time to learn how to speak to people in their most comfortable language. If I need to, I am now more able to crunch numbers, or use some charts and formulas if they are what is called for in a meeting. I am learning that speaking a wider range of business languages increases my own bottom line, and that is pretty cool.
My real point to all this is I have found that as an SEO copywriter, I need to be able to speak in real terms (and yes, even use numbers and charts and stuff) about the real impact to expect from a project. If I can help them understand what it is I do and why I want to work for them, it makes what I do tangible and real. At that point, like I said, the SEO writing part of it really sells itself.
They want to know that you understand their desires, that you can see things from their perspective. They need to know you get it. They come to you with a situation, and want you to bring skills and experience that can accomplish something tangible.
SEO Copywriting is not usually about satisfying an artistic ego. Although let me qualify that statement--because the better you get at doing SEO copywriting, the more of an art form it becomes. But really, it is purposeful writing designed to increase profitability. While there is definitely an art to it, it is all about the numbers. If you can't increase and maintain higher web traffic and conversion rates, you are not satisfying the most basic purpose of SEO Copywriting.
How you pitch potential SEO clients, and how you look at what you do is something I have found essential to succeeding in this business. Keeping it real is often kept simple by having some numbers to crunch. I was very reluctant to embrace numbers, being the word nerd I am. However, these are excellent tools to make the Suits perk up and take notice.
Being a creative in a non-creative environment is always a little strange. But meet them on their terms, and it is amazing how much freedom you can receive. If I go to a company and pitch an SEO project, I know that we need to talk about my writing in real numbers. We need to look at what they want to invest, and what kind of return they can expect from this investment. It is up to me to manage this correctly, letting them know I understand the goals and bottom line.
If I am successful in pitching my dreamscape using real numbers, they tend to let me do what I do without much interference. I get a wide berth, sometimes a budget, and a deadline. SEO work is great, because you can see results almost immediately when things are all clicking well. This means I don't have to promise the moon. I can say, "I will help to drive the traffic from this proven keyphrase" and it is always received well, especially if I can show positive traction in a few weeks or less. When you are able to punch it up with some traffic stats and some supporting sales data, the intrinsic value of SEO copywriting really sells itself.
Let Them See Themselves in What You Do
Be easy to work with. I try to show a new client what happened in the past, and what I learned from it. I have some case studies showing numbers--I have screen shots of former successes with the stories behind them. I have spread sheets, and graphs if these help to illustrate a point. I try to use whatever language and whichever tools work best to have a new client see what their own efforts can become if they take me on board--I want them to see themselves in the same position as one of my previous success stories and visualize how I will impact their projects.
I am honest, and don't promise glitter on snowflakes or anything I can't really do. Since a lot of what I do is SEO, I don't promise top-10 rankings--instead, I try to promise progress, but only if I am sure I can deliver it. I can't guarantee how a search engine is going to treat a website, but I have a pretty good idea. So I can almost always reasonably promise progress, and monitor the numbers to make sure I can deliver something that can be measured. I stick closely to what I know I will be able to control, and steer clear of issues that are not within my scope. I make my pitch in a warm, authoritative tone using a language they can understand, and then I back off to let them decide if they agree.
Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. I don't get every job that comes up, and have had plenty of disappointments because I was passed over for something I really wanted to do. I have found though, that it works for me more often than not.
I may not land all the gigs I want to do, but of those I do tackle, none feel forced, or something I am doing reluctantly. Because I can honestly believe in my clients, and like them, and want them to succeed, it is much easier to enjoy what I do for a living and avoid professional burnout.
And I can't help but think that this is a big part of the reason why I have been pretty successful so far. I love what I do, and I am willing to take the time to learn how to speak to people in their most comfortable language. If I need to, I am now more able to crunch numbers, or use some charts and formulas if they are what is called for in a meeting. I am learning that speaking a wider range of business languages increases my own bottom line, and that is pretty cool.
My real point to all this is I have found that as an SEO copywriter, I need to be able to speak in real terms (and yes, even use numbers and charts and stuff) about the real impact to expect from a project. If I can help them understand what it is I do and why I want to work for them, it makes what I do tangible and real. At that point, like I said, the SEO writing part of it really sells itself.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Who You Know: Making Connections
I am sure you've all heard, "It's not what you know, it is who you know." This is very true in business, and remains so in SEO copywriting.
Does this mean that you need a jammed-up rolodex? Not necessarily (but it helps, of course). Every business card collection has to start somewhere.
What it really means, is that you have to make a strong impression when you do get a shot because this will almost always lead to another. It can take some time to build a reputation and collect the experience that leads into another job, but it can be done.
For me, it was about diligence. I was good at doing cold calls and good at presenting myself. I had very little experience, but every job that was relevant was painstakingly documented. Once I had a few of these, I presented them in a uniform manner as a portfolio leave-behind. When I had enough stuff, I built a website, and used it like an online resume.
I initially had free business cards printed, then I made some at a copy center where I also made some cheap flyers and one-sheets about using a copywriter. I went out and stuck these in mailboxes and doors, posted them wherever business people flocked. I used them until I could afford to buy some stuff that looked better.
Hate to admit it, but I ran out of printed stuff as leave-behinds a long time ago. I will qualify this with the fact that almost all of my work comes through the web. I do have a print sample portfolio in case it is requested, but I don't have copies of it. I do have pdfs of lots of work at the ready though--and this has proved to be an indispensible way to communicate with potential clients about copywriting gigs. Portfolios and samples are 100% electronic as often as not in this field, and getting more common every year.
But at first, I found printed materials to be wonderful at helping make a client feel more cared for, and well attended. Why? First of all, I was willing to come into the office to make the right impression. Once there, it was obvious I was careful in how I presented my work. I clearly had pride in what I had accomplished, and when possible, I offered some kind of case study or report on how my writing made more money for someone in my past.
So for me, it was not a question of who I knew, because I didn't know anybody. It was more of a question of what did I want these new folks to think of me when I did get a chance to meet them? I wanted them to think of me as detailed, precise and organized. Creative, accessible, and quick. And busy. I always wanted them to think I was too busy to waste time.
Be the Ball, Danny...Make Your Future
It seems funny to me now, but I used to make it seem like I was much busier than I actually was. If I was in a meeting and a follow-up was called for, I didn't have to check my day planner...I knew I was almost always free. But this never stopped me from pulling out the planner and suggesting one or two other times. Why? Because I wanted them to feel like I was in demand. I didn't lie, I was just cryptically evasive. They wanted to believe I was really busy and talented, because it answered their needs. I simply complied, and many times it helped to get me the job.
But it is important to note, once I got hired, my work was able to stand on its own merit. I didn't miss deadlines. I was available for calls and direction. I offered suggestions, but only if asked. I could match the tone of virtually any company in any medium, and switch gears mid-stride without breaking a sweat. In a nutshell, I tried to make sure I was a dream to work with so the people who hired me would remember me.
For me, this simple strategy worked well. One guy talks to another guy, and soon different reps from the same companies I was doing projects with started calling. They talked to friends, and soon other businesses were calling. My need for continued cold calls started to dwindle, my calendar started to fill up. I actually had to start using a day planner and moving some meetings around for real. I had to turn down some work, pass some on to other writers I knew.
So what did I learn? That who you know always matters. Every meeting, every single interaction is important. That careers in specific corporations might last for a very short time, but a well established relationship will transcend these changes. I have had many clients leave one position and enter a new company only to call me again, and start me down a whole new path of projects. I earn a new company for the resume, and they know that they can depend on me--a win-win, as I like to call it.
One thing I have learned is that the players within the creative industry are shifting and changing all the time, but the work is always there. And as the players move on to new games, they are trundling their rolodexes, their Outlook contacts and their business cards to the new desk. I have benefited many times from these career shifts--I work hard to try to never view any business relationship as unimportant, which again, feels really easy to do most of the time.
Eventually, work usually tapers off from any one specific client. They might be finishing projects and moving on to other directives, or whatever. They often bring someone in-house because you have shown them the benefit of having good writing available. Hate when work starts to taper from a good client, but by this time, I tend to have other folks to take their place, and it rolls on.
I have been really lucky. Work has not been too hard to find for the last couple years, though it was a little leaner for sure when I was starting out. I don't think this is because there was any less work--just that I couldn't personally get considered for it. I didn't know anybody.
That is not the case any more--I can pitch most anything and have no inhibitions. I have no fear of the boardroom--I get energized talking to suits. Selling myself, and selling them on their personal gains to be had from the craft of SEO copywriting. I am getting better at talking in languages once alien to me--using numbers where only letters used to be.
But best of all, I have made some great connections through it all. I have worked with creative directors, webmasters, business owners and Marketing Execs who all come back to me when they get a new project that needs some copywriting or SEO attention. Sometimes, it is just for an opinion. Sometimes it is for a small project, and sometimes for a big one. I try to handle them all the same, and continually increase the circle of who I know.
Can't speak for everybody, but this has certainly worked well for me.
Does this mean that you need a jammed-up rolodex? Not necessarily (but it helps, of course). Every business card collection has to start somewhere.
What it really means, is that you have to make a strong impression when you do get a shot because this will almost always lead to another. It can take some time to build a reputation and collect the experience that leads into another job, but it can be done.
For me, it was about diligence. I was good at doing cold calls and good at presenting myself. I had very little experience, but every job that was relevant was painstakingly documented. Once I had a few of these, I presented them in a uniform manner as a portfolio leave-behind. When I had enough stuff, I built a website, and used it like an online resume.
I initially had free business cards printed, then I made some at a copy center where I also made some cheap flyers and one-sheets about using a copywriter. I went out and stuck these in mailboxes and doors, posted them wherever business people flocked. I used them until I could afford to buy some stuff that looked better.
Hate to admit it, but I ran out of printed stuff as leave-behinds a long time ago. I will qualify this with the fact that almost all of my work comes through the web. I do have a print sample portfolio in case it is requested, but I don't have copies of it. I do have pdfs of lots of work at the ready though--and this has proved to be an indispensible way to communicate with potential clients about copywriting gigs. Portfolios and samples are 100% electronic as often as not in this field, and getting more common every year.
But at first, I found printed materials to be wonderful at helping make a client feel more cared for, and well attended. Why? First of all, I was willing to come into the office to make the right impression. Once there, it was obvious I was careful in how I presented my work. I clearly had pride in what I had accomplished, and when possible, I offered some kind of case study or report on how my writing made more money for someone in my past.
So for me, it was not a question of who I knew, because I didn't know anybody. It was more of a question of what did I want these new folks to think of me when I did get a chance to meet them? I wanted them to think of me as detailed, precise and organized. Creative, accessible, and quick. And busy. I always wanted them to think I was too busy to waste time.
Be the Ball, Danny...Make Your Future
It seems funny to me now, but I used to make it seem like I was much busier than I actually was. If I was in a meeting and a follow-up was called for, I didn't have to check my day planner...I knew I was almost always free. But this never stopped me from pulling out the planner and suggesting one or two other times. Why? Because I wanted them to feel like I was in demand. I didn't lie, I was just cryptically evasive. They wanted to believe I was really busy and talented, because it answered their needs. I simply complied, and many times it helped to get me the job.
But it is important to note, once I got hired, my work was able to stand on its own merit. I didn't miss deadlines. I was available for calls and direction. I offered suggestions, but only if asked. I could match the tone of virtually any company in any medium, and switch gears mid-stride without breaking a sweat. In a nutshell, I tried to make sure I was a dream to work with so the people who hired me would remember me.
For me, this simple strategy worked well. One guy talks to another guy, and soon different reps from the same companies I was doing projects with started calling. They talked to friends, and soon other businesses were calling. My need for continued cold calls started to dwindle, my calendar started to fill up. I actually had to start using a day planner and moving some meetings around for real. I had to turn down some work, pass some on to other writers I knew.
So what did I learn? That who you know always matters. Every meeting, every single interaction is important. That careers in specific corporations might last for a very short time, but a well established relationship will transcend these changes. I have had many clients leave one position and enter a new company only to call me again, and start me down a whole new path of projects. I earn a new company for the resume, and they know that they can depend on me--a win-win, as I like to call it.
One thing I have learned is that the players within the creative industry are shifting and changing all the time, but the work is always there. And as the players move on to new games, they are trundling their rolodexes, their Outlook contacts and their business cards to the new desk. I have benefited many times from these career shifts--I work hard to try to never view any business relationship as unimportant, which again, feels really easy to do most of the time.
Eventually, work usually tapers off from any one specific client. They might be finishing projects and moving on to other directives, or whatever. They often bring someone in-house because you have shown them the benefit of having good writing available. Hate when work starts to taper from a good client, but by this time, I tend to have other folks to take their place, and it rolls on.
I have been really lucky. Work has not been too hard to find for the last couple years, though it was a little leaner for sure when I was starting out. I don't think this is because there was any less work--just that I couldn't personally get considered for it. I didn't know anybody.
That is not the case any more--I can pitch most anything and have no inhibitions. I have no fear of the boardroom--I get energized talking to suits. Selling myself, and selling them on their personal gains to be had from the craft of SEO copywriting. I am getting better at talking in languages once alien to me--using numbers where only letters used to be.
But best of all, I have made some great connections through it all. I have worked with creative directors, webmasters, business owners and Marketing Execs who all come back to me when they get a new project that needs some copywriting or SEO attention. Sometimes, it is just for an opinion. Sometimes it is for a small project, and sometimes for a big one. I try to handle them all the same, and continually increase the circle of who I know.
Can't speak for everybody, but this has certainly worked well for me.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Who You Are: Selling Yourself
Clients are going to buy when they are comfortable. This is true for when you write, and when you sell your SEO Copywriting skills. So think of your job as making them comfortable with you...you need to make them willing to do what you say, and trust your expertise.
What do you do you if you don't have that expertise? Sorry, but there are no shortcuts here. You will have to earn it. You have to prove you can write, and that your writing makes a solid business investment.
Get Working-- And Get Them Talking About Your Work
The best way to do this quickly is with a client list and some testimonials. It worked for me anyway--I had zero experience, but started building it. I had every satisfied client write a paragraph or two about using my services. At first, I traded work for a testimonial or two if it was worth it--and believe me, it was. Someone else's praise for me made potential clients feel they were risking less by using me--it's pretty obvious strategy. One I don't even use much anymore--you honestly need this less and less as your career grows. But when you are creating a new career, testimonials are like gold.
Another way I quickly pulled ahead of the pack was an ability to hit impossibly quick, huge deadlines. Why? Because I was hungry. But I never promised the impossible. I did what I said I could do, hardly ever flexed from an initial budget quote (which was always competitive, not too low or too high) and I was immediately better than other writers my clients had used. It escapes me, but it is true--simply deliver the goods as requested in a respectful manner, and you can quickly build a solid reputation. I am glad so many people suck at what I do--makes it a little easier to shine and not tarnish my slacker image.
A little bit of a reputation can go a long way in getting writing gigs. You have to have some work that is real, work that shows a benefit to the client or a Return on Investment (ROI). If it is too early in your career to be able to show this, you now have a goal. Pitching SEO is never easy, even when the audience is plugged-in and ready to bite. Demonstrate an ability to earn a dollar, and you will help pave your career as an SEO Copywriter...trust me. SEO copywriting is a financial question for many businesses so it is up to you to have the right answer.
If you haven't even yet begun to write, much less for money, get started.
There are a million places to publish stuff online, so you have absolutely no excuse not to write. From porn to poetry with all stops in between, get out there.
But do keep this in mind--writing for money is not like writing for a blog or website or something that you have control over. Don't go to a business meeting with your poetry, or a short story your aunt (who is a librarian) loves. You won't work like that, I promise.
Instead, write some articles specific to the area of work you are after. Give them away if you have to, but make them stellar. Make someone happy with what you have to say, and get them to say so. Just once.
Web writing for real business money is calculated. Tallyed-up at the end of each day. What you think hardly matters--you are a verb-churning monkey to a lot of the people you will encounter. So be it--wear it proudly. Certainly beats cleaning up after the verb-churning monkey, or possibly being married to the verb-churning monkey.
But like any good monkey, you must hurl your wares with care--this is after all, a career you are building.
What do you do you if you don't have that expertise? Sorry, but there are no shortcuts here. You will have to earn it. You have to prove you can write, and that your writing makes a solid business investment.
Get Working-- And Get Them Talking About Your Work
The best way to do this quickly is with a client list and some testimonials. It worked for me anyway--I had zero experience, but started building it. I had every satisfied client write a paragraph or two about using my services. At first, I traded work for a testimonial or two if it was worth it--and believe me, it was. Someone else's praise for me made potential clients feel they were risking less by using me--it's pretty obvious strategy. One I don't even use much anymore--you honestly need this less and less as your career grows. But when you are creating a new career, testimonials are like gold.
Another way I quickly pulled ahead of the pack was an ability to hit impossibly quick, huge deadlines. Why? Because I was hungry. But I never promised the impossible. I did what I said I could do, hardly ever flexed from an initial budget quote (which was always competitive, not too low or too high) and I was immediately better than other writers my clients had used. It escapes me, but it is true--simply deliver the goods as requested in a respectful manner, and you can quickly build a solid reputation. I am glad so many people suck at what I do--makes it a little easier to shine and not tarnish my slacker image.
A little bit of a reputation can go a long way in getting writing gigs. You have to have some work that is real, work that shows a benefit to the client or a Return on Investment (ROI). If it is too early in your career to be able to show this, you now have a goal. Pitching SEO is never easy, even when the audience is plugged-in and ready to bite. Demonstrate an ability to earn a dollar, and you will help pave your career as an SEO Copywriter...trust me. SEO copywriting is a financial question for many businesses so it is up to you to have the right answer.
If you haven't even yet begun to write, much less for money, get started.
There are a million places to publish stuff online, so you have absolutely no excuse not to write. From porn to poetry with all stops in between, get out there.
But do keep this in mind--writing for money is not like writing for a blog or website or something that you have control over. Don't go to a business meeting with your poetry, or a short story your aunt (who is a librarian) loves. You won't work like that, I promise.
Instead, write some articles specific to the area of work you are after. Give them away if you have to, but make them stellar. Make someone happy with what you have to say, and get them to say so. Just once.
Web writing for real business money is calculated. Tallyed-up at the end of each day. What you think hardly matters--you are a verb-churning monkey to a lot of the people you will encounter. So be it--wear it proudly. Certainly beats cleaning up after the verb-churning monkey, or possibly being married to the verb-churning monkey.
But like any good monkey, you must hurl your wares with care--this is after all, a career you are building.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
How Do You Get Started in SEO Copywriting?
In the past year or two, I have been speaking more to college students about how to do SEO copywriting. Hopefully, this will address one of the most common questions I get.
I know I make what I do sound pretty sexy sometimes. Many turned-on students ask me, "How do I get started In SEO Writing like you?" I sometimes have to beat them down with a stick.
The best answer to writing for SEO, is to simply write better. SEO stuff comes after learning more about good writing, not prior. In time, you will be able to use SEO goggles to see the world but don't rush it. Let SEO be an acquired skill, augmenting your desire to become a writer.
Become more adept at speaking to specific audiences. Learn all you can about completing a thought. Get better at making an argument. Defending a position. Making a sale. You'd be amazed at how some simple mechanics and a little spark can keep you really busy.
Search is based on being viewed as an expert in your field. The search engines are trying to provide relevant results using really sophistacted, ever-changing formulas. They are far from perfect, and they change a lot.
My best suggestion is, don't ever focus on writing what the search engines want because it is a moving target. If you are learning tricks, they probably have a very limited shelf life. Don't write for a formula, write for a web user. If you do it well, there is plenty of work.
Focus on good writing, and good solid content. Take pains to avoid bad writing, and you are well on your way to good SEO writing. Isn't that simple?
Nothing else will work for you for very long. Don't bother with it. SEO Writing is only the right move if you want to write, a lot. SEO is a speciality, it is a subset of being a writer.
That all said, there are ways to get started in SEO writing simply because people are so starved for original content. It is a great place to get some writing experience. How you get started and how much you can actually make at this will depend on a lot of different factors.
I figure that will be good fodder for some new posts.
We'll look at Who You Are, Who You Know, How You Look, and see where that gets us.
I think I am going to like this...
I know I make what I do sound pretty sexy sometimes. Many turned-on students ask me, "How do I get started In SEO Writing like you?" I sometimes have to beat them down with a stick.
The best answer to writing for SEO, is to simply write better. SEO stuff comes after learning more about good writing, not prior. In time, you will be able to use SEO goggles to see the world but don't rush it. Let SEO be an acquired skill, augmenting your desire to become a writer.
Become more adept at speaking to specific audiences. Learn all you can about completing a thought. Get better at making an argument. Defending a position. Making a sale. You'd be amazed at how some simple mechanics and a little spark can keep you really busy.
Search is based on being viewed as an expert in your field. The search engines are trying to provide relevant results using really sophistacted, ever-changing formulas. They are far from perfect, and they change a lot.
My best suggestion is, don't ever focus on writing what the search engines want because it is a moving target. If you are learning tricks, they probably have a very limited shelf life. Don't write for a formula, write for a web user. If you do it well, there is plenty of work.
Focus on good writing, and good solid content. Take pains to avoid bad writing, and you are well on your way to good SEO writing. Isn't that simple?
Nothing else will work for you for very long. Don't bother with it. SEO Writing is only the right move if you want to write, a lot. SEO is a speciality, it is a subset of being a writer.
That all said, there are ways to get started in SEO writing simply because people are so starved for original content. It is a great place to get some writing experience. How you get started and how much you can actually make at this will depend on a lot of different factors.
I figure that will be good fodder for some new posts.
We'll look at Who You Are, Who You Know, How You Look, and see where that gets us.
I think I am going to like this...
Saturday, March 15, 2008
What Seo Copywriting feels like, at least for now
Doing what I do for a living, I've seen some definite flows and ebbs in market perception.
Search is still pretty young as a business concept to many people, and I find I explain what I do for a living a lot. I don't mind. SEO writing is a little strange. I understand why it may seem weird to someone who doesn't stare at a screen all day, someone not obsessed with the Interweb like me.
But clearly, organic search is pretty well acknowledged for what it is worth. An ability to demonstrate consistent ROI speaks for itself. Same goes for paid search and ad programs and the like---used correctly for the right type of marketing, and SEM can be very successful. I believe most businesses benefit from both organic and paid search, and most can see the benefit if they don't in some way already harness it.
But still, I find myself attending my son's school functions, explaining again to another blank stare, "It's called SEO...search-engine-optimization. S-E-O. I am an SEO writer. " From the looks I receive, I think they believe my line of work has something to do with monkeys.
Oh, the crazy life on the Interweb.
But I am not complaining. Search, may be a little weird as a profession, but I am comfortable here. I like being cyber-geeky. I can't think of anything I'd like to do more than being a search nerd. So to me, being an SEO writer at this point is a pretty cool thing to be. I don't know a ton about what the professional climate is like out there for other folks, but when I do get out of the cave and get to talking to other SEOs, it seems we are all doing pretty well as a group.
I lucked out, in that I was in a few good places at the right time, and really got into some cool stuff where search is concerned. I continue to do SEO copywriting every day, cranking out amazing numbers of pages (if I do say so myself). Why? Because I like writing, and I have found solid writing is at the core of many SEO strategies. I would say all of them, but I am sure someone would call me out on it and I am not going to haggle semantics. But who are we kidding? Good writing is at the core of everything.
As a writer who gets paid, I have to be careful all the time with what I say and how I say it. I don't have to be that careful here--I want a little sloppy fun. I will only edit everything 2-4 times.
So I am going to start next week with some SEO tips, copywriting style.
I am still trying to warm up to blogging. You kids, and all your newfangled Interweb thingies...
Search is still pretty young as a business concept to many people, and I find I explain what I do for a living a lot. I don't mind. SEO writing is a little strange. I understand why it may seem weird to someone who doesn't stare at a screen all day, someone not obsessed with the Interweb like me.
But clearly, organic search is pretty well acknowledged for what it is worth. An ability to demonstrate consistent ROI speaks for itself. Same goes for paid search and ad programs and the like---used correctly for the right type of marketing, and SEM can be very successful. I believe most businesses benefit from both organic and paid search, and most can see the benefit if they don't in some way already harness it.
But still, I find myself attending my son's school functions, explaining again to another blank stare, "It's called SEO...search-engine-optimization. S-E-O. I am an SEO writer. " From the looks I receive, I think they believe my line of work has something to do with monkeys.
Oh, the crazy life on the Interweb.
But I am not complaining. Search, may be a little weird as a profession, but I am comfortable here. I like being cyber-geeky. I can't think of anything I'd like to do more than being a search nerd. So to me, being an SEO writer at this point is a pretty cool thing to be. I don't know a ton about what the professional climate is like out there for other folks, but when I do get out of the cave and get to talking to other SEOs, it seems we are all doing pretty well as a group.
I lucked out, in that I was in a few good places at the right time, and really got into some cool stuff where search is concerned. I continue to do SEO copywriting every day, cranking out amazing numbers of pages (if I do say so myself). Why? Because I like writing, and I have found solid writing is at the core of many SEO strategies. I would say all of them, but I am sure someone would call me out on it and I am not going to haggle semantics. But who are we kidding? Good writing is at the core of everything.
As a writer who gets paid, I have to be careful all the time with what I say and how I say it. I don't have to be that careful here--I want a little sloppy fun. I will only edit everything 2-4 times.
So I am going to start next week with some SEO tips, copywriting style.
I am still trying to warm up to blogging. You kids, and all your newfangled Interweb thingies...
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Freelance SEO Writer Blog Begins
Hello. My Name is Marty Lamers.
I write for a living. Sometimes I like it, sometimes it bites, but most often I truly love it.
I have a lot of freedoms I don't take for granted. I make a good living at a corporate gig and as a freelancer through my company Articulayers.com. I think I succeed because I believe in what I do.
So the reason I am starting this blog, is I keep wanting to update my own freelance company site, but that involves a lot of coding and thought. And code is cold and unforgiving. And then there's more search engine optimizing. And more studying and research, and more work and all that effort...ew.
I have actually been way too busy to allow myself the time to redo my site...at least that is my excuse.
So my poor old site sits there, never getting updated.
Nice corporate image, you say. I know. Weak, you supposed Internet pro, you snarl. I know. i should be ashamed.
But I figured I could do this blog a little more often, and hopefully, have some fun with it. Blogs are as easy as it gets, I think.
I will leave it out here for a while, and post some freelance copywriter experiences in it...or talk about SEO stuff, or do whatever comes to me as necessary, fun, or whatever.
For the most part, this is a blog for people considering entering this field. It'll have some tips and stuff, but most of it will be just insight that should serve to help you understand more about what a guy like me faces being an SEO Copywriter for a living.
I make no apologies for this content.
I'll be back soon, hopefully with something to say.
-m
I write for a living. Sometimes I like it, sometimes it bites, but most often I truly love it.
I have a lot of freedoms I don't take for granted. I make a good living at a corporate gig and as a freelancer through my company Articulayers.com. I think I succeed because I believe in what I do.
So the reason I am starting this blog, is I keep wanting to update my own freelance company site, but that involves a lot of coding and thought. And code is cold and unforgiving. And then there's more search engine optimizing. And more studying and research, and more work and all that effort...ew.
I have actually been way too busy to allow myself the time to redo my site...at least that is my excuse.
So my poor old site sits there, never getting updated.
Nice corporate image, you say. I know. Weak, you supposed Internet pro, you snarl. I know. i should be ashamed.
But I figured I could do this blog a little more often, and hopefully, have some fun with it. Blogs are as easy as it gets, I think.
I will leave it out here for a while, and post some freelance copywriter experiences in it...or talk about SEO stuff, or do whatever comes to me as necessary, fun, or whatever.
For the most part, this is a blog for people considering entering this field. It'll have some tips and stuff, but most of it will be just insight that should serve to help you understand more about what a guy like me faces being an SEO Copywriter for a living.
I make no apologies for this content.
I'll be back soon, hopefully with something to say.
-m
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