3 Ways to Find an Expert Web Copy Writer

If you’re a business owner who depends on the internet for help with your marketing and customer outreach campaigns, then you don’t need to be told how important solid copywriting is. After all, the quality and overall flow of your advertising copy and marketing material can literally make or break the way a potential customer views your product or service.

However, not every business mogul is a crack shot web copy writer themselves. In fact, writing effective copy is a skill that can take quite awhile to master. It takes study, practice, and an instinctual understanding of how people think that really can’t be taught. That’s why more and more businesspeople are turning to professionals for help. Here are some tips on how you can find a terrific web copy writer of your own.

1. Advertise an Open Position
Of course, one way to get in touch with a web copy writer capable of helping you make the most of your internet presence would be to simply advertise a job opening in the newspaper, on a job forum like Monster, or anywhere else those interested in work might be looking. Make sure applicants present resumes, references, and several relevant samples of their previous work in order to be considered. However, be aware that this avenue is most likely to attract people looking for full-time work and full-time employment with all the trimmings.

2. Frequent Freelance Forums
Many people in the market for a web copy writer choose to open up an account on a forum for freelancers, such as Elance or Guru in order to find qualified professionals for individual projects, and with good reason. Today’s freelancers are often just as talented and web savvy as full-time writing hires would be. However, when you hire freelance, you’re able to outsource your web copy work on an as-needed basis. This not only saves you time and money, but it offers you a great deal of flexibility as well. Post projects and let writers bid on them, or approach hand-picked candidates on your own and contact them about your project.

3. Make Contact With a Writing Team
One of the hottest and most effective ways to get yourself matched with a qualified web copy writer these days is to contact a professional writing team with the details of your project. Writing teams are often made up of many individuals, each of which has his or her own unique set of skills and strengths. Plus, all of the writers on the team will have already been prescreened and evaluated, so you’re taking less of a gamble yourself. Not needing to follow up on references or evaluate individual candidates yourself can be incredibly helpful if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands.

Make sure the team you’re considering has a solid reputation and some testimonials to share from other satisfied customers. Ask the team leader plenty of questions in regards to the type of person you feel would be ideal for the job you need done to help improve the likelihood of a perfect match. You just may wind up with a web copy writer (and a potential host of other professional service providers) you’d like to have a long-term relationship with as a result, so look into your options today!

Why You Need Exceptional Web Content

When it comes to success in business, you’re always hearing all about how quality is everything. However, this is actually far from the truth. The fact of the matter is, you can have the most groundbreaking product, the best service, or the most interesting blog in the world… but you’ll still be absolutely nowhere if no one can find it.

That’s where killer web content writing comes in. Well-written web content helps build a bridge of words between you and your customer by making sure they know everything they need to know in order to make an informed decision. In fact, experts agree that the content attached to a given concept can make all the difference in the world when it comes to whether or not someone decides to buy.

Educate Your Customer

Even if he’s already interested in a given product or service, your target customer won’t be inspired to buy if he doesn’t really understand the ins and outs of what he’s getting. Solid web content writing  not only gives the customer a verbal tour of the product’s best features, but it does it in such a way that it’s interesting and fun to read. Even when they’re learning about the bare bones of what a given option is all about, people like to feel entertained and related to as they’re being informed.

Tell Your Customer Why You’re the Best Fit

Convincing your customer that you have something awesome to offer him that could potentially change his life or revolutionize his routine isn’t enough. You also have to convince him that you’re the best guy under the sun to give him what he’s looking for. Effective web content writing commiserates with the customer by identifying with his problem… and then it shows him how this product can actually solve those same problems in a way the competition can’t.

Build a Bridge That Lasts

Although it’s true that web content writing  is primarily about leveraging the powers of the internet to help increase sales, it’s also about building customer relations. Well-written content doesn’t just sell the product in question. It also sells the idea of building a lasting bond with your company to the customer. That said, the best content also encourages your clientele to add your Twitter account to their reading list, like your Facebook page, and sign up for your newsletter or RSS feed. This way, you’re in touch with your clients into the future and you can rest assured that they don’t forget you.

Ask the Experts

Of course, it’s one thing to know that solid web content is the best way to go about selling your products and connecting with your customers. It’s another thing to actually produce that content and make sure that it’s everything it should be. That’s why it might be beneficial to consider enlisting the aid of a professional writing team to better assist you.

A professional writing team can instantly put you touch not only with experts capable of writing excellent web content, but with people who can help you with your social media marketing, SEO strategy, blogging plan, and much more. Best of all, they can do it in a timely manner and for affordable prices that won’t kill your bottom line. Look into your collaboration options today! You’re sure to wind up glad that you did.

SEO & Copywriting: 5 Trends for Spring 2013

From what we have seen so far, it looks like 2013 is going to be a pivotal year for content marketing.  Google’s major Panda and Penguin updates last year have changed the face of copywriting forever. As an effect of Google’s newest algorithm updates, low quality websites crammed with keywords have fallen in the cracks and those that provide original and valuable content have continued to grow. If you’re involved in copywriting and search engine optimization, the below trends are definitely the ones you should be following.

#1 Quality SEO copywriting with Google Authorship

Google’s ongoing campaign of championing top notch content will gain even more importance with the introduction of Author Rank this year. So, even if you are a small site, experts recommend that if you do one thing in 2013, getting your Google Authorship status should be it. This helps websites establish legitimacy of their original content and Google will use it to potentially allow these top quality sites to get a prime position in rankings.

#2 Longer and more elaborate content projects

One of the conclusions many SEO copywriters have drawn by analyzing the latest Penguin or Panda updates has to do with the length of content pieces. To get more visibility and better rankings, online articles or blog posts now have to be much longer and to present informational value.  Length is interpreted as relevance and authority and every online business that wants to rank higher for its specific services should invest in relevant content.

 

#3 Focus on relevant information

The average consumer will now read more about a specific market, a product or a line of services, before they decide to spend money; they will be looking at websites with a critical eye, in search for valuable information. This is your chance, as a business copywriter, to start creating work that will help businesses get an expert status in front of their potential clients.  As for the types of content pieces that are considered relevant today, these have widely grown in size and scope. The most successful online businesses will have to come up with more eBooks, white papers and longer article campaigns in order to keep up with market requirements.

#4 More multimedia and a better user experience

When the first Penguin update hit the online world last year, the first and most lasting effect was an increase in YouTube exposure. Now, YouTube gets 800 million unique hits in a month and other multimedia web resources like Infographics, Flickr or Pinterest have grown considerably. So, if you want your copywriting to stay relevant, consider combining written content with podcasts, video creation, and slides. Overall, the businesses that will manage to better integrate website usability with social media, YouTube and mobile applications will be considered the real search engine winners for 2013.

#4 Keywords are still relevant

Many were quick in declaring 2013 as the year when marketers will be losing keyword research. But keywords are not gone for good; they will just have to be used with more clarity and precision. Any dedicated SEO specialist knows that overstaffing website content with keywords equals search engine suicide these days. But key phrases are still playing a major role in determining how and where websites rank. The secret is trying to make your articles or posts more topic focused, rather than keyword oriented.

Many prophesized that SEO is dead, but they couldn’t be more wrong: search engine optimization is alive and kicking. It has just changed radically and it now operates with a different set of values. For those SEO copywriters who are playing the game after the new rules and deliver high-value content meant to engage, attract and retain customers, it looks like this is going to be a grand year!

Top 5 SEO Website Content Strategies for 2013

The playing field for SEO website content has spectacularly changed over the past 12 months. Google’s search engine ranking factors now depend on a number of things, all of which focus on one thing: QUALITY. From diversity and originality of writing to word counts and blogs complete with an Author profile, we’ve lined up the top best 5 SEO website content strategies for your reading benefit.

#1: Diversify, diversify, diversify. SEOMoz’s panel of experts talked about diversifying links, content and strategy in their 2013 post on SEO. Posting the same content, or spun content that is identical to the original, on thousands of different locations, isn’t a good strategy for improving your rankings. Your new blog posts, social media statuses, and circulated content should be as original and diversified as you can get it. Don’t be shy to make new domains, new blog sites, and a lot of new content. The more you do that’s 100% original, the more you will see your rankings increase.

#2: Keyword density isn’t crucial: headlines, and the first and last paragraph matter. Wikipedia says that keyword density mattered the most in the late 1990s. Matt Cutts, Google webmaster, says that it’s not a cookie-cutter method to always follow a fixed keyword density. Forcing the same phrase in there as many times as possible just screams, FAKE! There IS no hard fast rule anymore. Instead, focus on creative headlines or article/page headers, and make sure your first and last paragraph should contain at least one mention of your primary keyword.

#3: Short articles only written for a keyword are out. The verdict is in: you can no longer rank with these.  Any article under 400 words solely written around a keyword, with NO useful information and research, will do absolutely na-da in Google’s pool of ranking factors. Real-life proof? We actually lost a contract on articles and article submissions since the client realized their work no longer counted. The good news is now we’re doing social media and blogs for them. A note to the wise. That doesn’t mean short articles can’t rank: that means useless, keyword-only focused short articles won’t rank.

A Review of 2012′s Top 6 SEO Changes

Hands down, the top SEO changes for 2012 included Google’s updates, Panda and Penguin.  Now if you recall, Panda was released in 2011, while Penguin was released in mid-2012. Remember how severe the changes got? Keep reading to review.

SEO 2012 Turning Point #1: Spammy links were targeted and de-ranked by Penguin. And you know what hosted a lot of those links? Bad, spammy content that was a) duplicate and copied off someone else, or b) just plain badly written. (No offense to all honest offshore outsourcing endeavors.)  Spammy links included past SEO endeavors that used to work, i.e. spinning links out of a software at the rate of 100 backlinks/hour. Since the spammy links were embedded in content, the content got penalized too, and website owners discovered they had to change their content pronto or risk getting buried forever in Google’s neverland.

SEO Turning Point #2: Penguin AND Panda won’t stop updating.  Did you know the last Panda update, Update #22, was done in November 21, 2012?  So says SEOMoz in their Google Algorithm update tracker. The last Penguin update, #3, occurred this October 3. The two major algorithm updates have been constantly refreshing during the entire year.

SEO Turning Point #3: The SERP Changes. This wasn’t Panda or Penguin, but it was major enough to cause a ripple among the top SEO blogging communities and de-rank a lot of websites. The SERP changes impacted 18% of keywords and basically changed the results page from featuring 10 results to 7 results.  That means if you were on Google’s first page for your keyword, but in 8^th, 9^th, or 10^th place, you were bumped to page 2 immediately when this change came out.  Not a good thing when you’re a major company getting all your clients from your first page ranking—and another reason to invest in more quality website content around your keywords that would push you back up in rankings.

SEO Turning Point #4: Social Media is a huge factor in ranking.

SEO Landing Pages: Why They’re Huge With Google In 2012 (& 5 Bonus SEO Tips)

It’s not chance that our writers have created over 300 individual landing pages this month for client requests – 60% of our overall work load.  SEO landing pages are HUGE with Google.  A private practice recently reported that consistently creating website content was the #1 reason their practice grew in spite of today’s unfortunately low economy.  They also said that creating a consistent amount of said website content will help your business grow faster than any other marketing activity. 

That’s a bold statement to make—but it’s 100% true.  What are landing pages?  Basically, a landing page is built to get someone to a) call you after reading it b) visit your main website.  In other words, the sole purpose is to get someone to land on it, then contact you.  Separate and individual landing pages, and lots of them, will double your profits and double the return of new clients contacting you.  The more you have= the better. 

Landing pages that rank well are hosted on websites with a purchased domain, utilize around 1-4 keywords (specifically “long-tail keywords”), at most, and are 500-1,000 words of original, well-written content in length.  Long-tail keywords drill the keyword to a specific topic, narrowing your competition and increasing your changes of conversion.  For a solid landing page of content, your minimum word count should be no less than 700-800 words.

Landing pages should be created using three standard rules:

1.       Write for the audience instead of the keywords.  Well-written content will be better picked up by Google than keyword stuffed content, ever since Panda 1.0 came into existence.  Get website content writers if you don’t want to write an 800 word landing page yourself.
2.       Never, ever stop with 1—or 5.  Landing pages WILL NOT get you any return if you’re only going to post one.  Well, maybe a stray visitor or two.  If you want to get some serious traffic, a good minimum to start with is 20-50.  (We’re offering full 800 word landing pages with a minimum of 20 pages at $16 each.)
3.       Use either a blog, add new pages to your website, or create individual domain names for each landing page.  A common request we get is to write for a keyword string.  Example: wedding cake bakery Los Angeles.  This keyword gets weaved into an 800-word page which then goes on this domain: wedding-cake-los-angeles.com.  The website owner who got the page then generally creates dozens more domains that incorporate even more focused city names with their service keywords.  These rank very well on Google for the keyword string, which is detailed enough to have very low competition and rank well inside months.  However, this doesn’t have to be the only way landing pages are hosted: they can go on a blog as individual blog posts, or as new pages on a website, in order to get the client ranked higher on Google.

Bonus SEO Tip #1: Use only one space after your periods.  For website content, one space is the new standard.  Why?  It creates less gaps and looks more professional.  However, the rule still stands to use two spaces in your print media and non-website sourced content.

Bonus SEO Tip #2: Quit using Flash.  Multiple sources online, from top-ranking SEO firms to webmaster forums and resources, are raising a valid concern: Flash should be a no-no for any website.  Why?  Google CANNOT crawl a flash website, therefore you have absolutely no chance to rank high.  Secondly, flash doesn’t work well on mobile browsers, eliminating a good bit of your clientele.

Bonus SEO Tip #3: Go mobile with your website.  Global SEO firms like SEOCognition are incorporating mobile capabilities as a standard of basic website creation.  Making sure your website can be viewed on a mobile browser is vital these days.  Multiple statistics cites 20% of all website traffic as coming from a mobile user.  Yet 2% of website owners have made sure their website is mobile.  All the content in the world won’t make a visitor stay on your site, if the interface is non-mobile on their phone.

Bonus SEO Tip #4: Did you know a squeeze page is the same thing as a landing page?  They’re all aimed at one thing—conversions.  Also, a squeeze page can be one image and a video rather than a full page of web content.  However, if you want to rank the squeeze page, you’ll need some solid content with good keyword content and professional writing.

Bonus SEO Tip #5: You SHOULD optimize for more than one keyword in a full page of content.  HighRankings.com included as one of their 8 SEO myths that utilizing one keyword only per page isn’t necessary.  Instead, go for 3-5 per page.  This is true because writing naturally about your business or services will commonly require using more than one of your keywords.

Like this post?  Share, comment, criticize, or just tell us what you think in the comments below.

Gaining Local Traffic: How To Boost Your Web Content In Local Search Results

Last year, 4.7 million searches were typed into Google’s search engine bar on average, daily.  The trend for the past four years has been a 100%+ growth in this search amount every year.  What does this mean for you and your business?  In short: you have an excellent target market for just about any product, niche or service, right at your fingertips, growing daily.  It’s available.  You just have to tap into it.  Remember, your web presence is as only as good as the time, effort and investment you place into it.

The Phone Book Is Out: Google Is In.

Rumor has it the yellow pages aren’t doing so well anymore.  Since today is a world of convenience, more and more people find it easier to type in “Uniontown PA handyman services” than to actually flip through a phonebook and find it.  So it only makes sense that you start focusing on your potential local web visitors than placing ads in the yellow pages.   But how should you start targeting those hundreds of potentials customers searching your service keywords every day?   Here’s  a list of the top 5 things you should focus on locally for your local web content and Internet presence.

#1: Google Places.  Have you registered your location on Google Places?  If not, it’s time to.  Set it up at Google Places for Businesses. Here’s a few quick pointers: when you set it up, take some time to fill out all your information.  Put some of your keywords in the description.  Add pictures of your business, coupons, product details, and anything else to attract local customers.

#2: Use Local Keywords In Your Web Content. Including local keywords in original written web content pages is essential, since “content is king” with Google’s new updates.  Remember, keep that local web content fresh and original: you don’t want any stray spam pushing your website further down.  The more original pages you have, the better: and the longer the word count (500+) the better, too.

With the new Google updates, we cannot ask this enough: does your local content provide quality for readers?  Or is it another spammy, keyword focused page sitting in Google’s millionth search result?  Just remember: Ask not what Google can do for you, ask what you can do for Google.  (Yes, we like to play on famous unforgettable catchphrases of history at times).  Well-written content from an original pen will score you huge favors with Google ranking.

#3: Get Listed In Directories.  This is a big factor in ranking for local search results.  When you list your website in directories, you can get solid links that will improve your rankings and boost your site in local search engine results.  Here’s a list of a few: Yelp, CitySearch, Yahoo! Local, DMOZ, Business.com, and of course the essentials like Google and Bing.  View the top 50 at Hubspot’s Blog.

#4: Publish a Press Release. Since a press release showcases your location and targets local SEO news results, this is an excellent tool to boost your local search engine rankings.  Make sure your press release gets written around a local keyword for best results.  Almost any business can utilize a press release: it doesn’t have to feature news, but it could be as simple as an eloquent “About” feature for your business, product or service.   

#5: Global Services & No Headquarters?  Still, target local keywords.  Chances are the very clients who would buy from you online are looking for your service and a local keyword.  Fitting local searches could mean better business for you than an actual local business.  Why?  You get to target as many local keywords as you want and go big for an even bigger response.

Contact Express Writers today for web content writing, press release writing & publication, and directory submission services.

SEO News for September 2012:

• Pinterest Sends More Traffic Than Yahoo! Search
• New Search Engine Navigation In Beta By Google?
• Rumors Are A New Google Algorithm Update Comes Out This September!
• A Google Reminder: Selling Links = PR Penalty
• 7 Web Practices of Yesterday to Avoid
• Is Your Website a Wow or a Woe?

Bonus:

“How I Smacked Google Penguin In It’s Ugly Little Beak”